I am just learning web design and the lanugages used to code good websites. When I first became a member of this great forum, and up untill today, I thought that most proffessional web developers coded everything from scratch.

 

But I just read a high-octane thread about wordpress and other cms apps and discovered that alot use wordpress etc to build their entire websites!!

 

Have I miss undertood this, I thought wordpress was used for blogs as I asked in another thread how best to create a blog on a website and was pointed to wordpress.

 

Can someone explain just what is a cms and what you guys use it for?

 

thanks

It is true that a lot of developers/designers use wordpress at the base of their websites. I assume this is due to its functionality, flexibility and ease of use. Many designers opt to design their own wordpress themes and if done right can create websites which at first glance, are not noticably wordpress based.

 

On the other hand, there are designers who prefer to build their sites from the ground up, but may wish to set up wordpress in order to easily manage a blog. They would usually design a custom theme which matches the feel of their site. Take this site for example. (You should notice that the blog page design matches the overall feel of the site almost exactly, although it is wordpress based).

 

As for your question, CMS basically stands for 'Content Management System' and is often used to quickly manage and/or edit pages on a site using a WYSIWYG editor. CMS' can be installed by designers to easily manage their own sites without having to download their pages, edit them and re upload them. Or a designer can set up a CMS on a site made for a client, so an individual with little to no coding knowledge would be able to continously update their site with ease. Wordpress can be considered a CMS as it offers all the main features of a typical CMS.

 

I hope that clears a few things up for you.

Perhaps it helps to think about it logically and in terms of the components of a website.

 

A CMS is exactly what it says on the tin - A Content Management System.

It manages content. Not the design.

 

Web designers make website designs! Web developers are often required to build in some sort of scripting to handle content.

Content can be anything from the text and images on a page, to a contact form and how its used, to a blog.

 

Content and Design are both heavily inter-related and completely separate.

 

Something like Wordpress is incredibly useful for managing content, for example if your client wants to be able to change their text on a regular basis, add images, or publish news then you don't have to get involved constantly. However in order for their to be content there must be some form of layout/structure so Wordpress comes with "themes" or "skins", but these are 100% customisable.

 

It is possible to create a design without regard for the CMS and then make it work with the CMS afterwards. The design is the frontend, the CMS is the backend. One is the paintwork, the other the engine under the bonnet.

 

Am I making any sense or helping at all?

Thanks fellas, I think I'm getting close to understanding now.

 

I'm still a bit grey on how the content of a site can be content manged by say wordpress if the site wasn't originally created in wordpress.

 

Also, how would a client manage their content using it? would it be done online or offline then upload the changes?

 

Sorry if I sound a bit dull.

From what I have seen, there are two ways it is normally done. Here are two scenario's to help you understand.

 

Example 1:

A designer designs a site from scratch (XHTML/CSS). They then decide they want a blog on their site and opt to use wordpress. They then upload the wordpress installation they downloaded from the wordpress site (usually to a directory named 'blog' or something similar). They'll complete the installation and wordpress will be installed to the directory 'blog'. Think of it as a whole new site in essence. Then from their main site, the designer will create a link named 'blog' which will navigate to www.website.com/blog (since wordpress was installed to a directory named 'blog'.

 

Example 2:

A designer wants to create a website for themselves/their clients but doesn't want to go through the hassle of coding the site from scratch/managing it etc. Therefore they set up wordpress. They install wordpress to the root directory of their site and log in to the Admin panel to change their settings and add/edit stories. If designers choose to use wordpress to manage their sites, they usually create their own custom themes to give it a personal touch.

 

From those two examples, what i'm trying to make clear is that if you already have a website designed (XHTML/CSS). You cannot then install wordpress and use it to manage the content on your already created pages (that i know of) however, with other CMS' you can (such as cutenews). You can however install wordpress to a directory and link to it from your main site if you're using it for a blog for example. Think of it as like an extension to your site.

 

On the other hand, you could choose to use wordpress to manage your site completely. In which case you wouldn't code a site, but would rather just install wordpress instead and modify it to your liking.

 

As for your question about how clients would manage their content using wordpress. That is done via the online wordpress admin panel, usually located at 'www.yoursite.com/wp-admin.php', depending on where you installed wordpress to. The clients just need to log in to the admin panel and have full access to features which will allow them to manage news on their site.

 

I hope you understood that somewhat and I wasn't just rambling on without making any sense.

From what I have seen, there are two ways it is normally done. Here are two scenario's to help you understand.

 

Example 1:

Example 2:

From those two examples, what i'm trying to make clear is that if you already have a website designed (XHTML/CSS). You cannot then install wordpress and use it to manage the content on your already created pages (that i know of) however, with other CMS' you can (such as cutenews). You can however install wordpress to a directory and link to it from your main site if you're using it for a blog for example. Think of it as like an extension to your site.

 

On the other hand, you could choose to use wordpress to manage your site completely. In which case you wouldn't code a site, but would rather just install wordpress instead and modify it to your liking.

 

As for your question about how clients would manage their content using wordpress. That is done via the online wordpress admin panel, usually located at 'www.yoursite.com/wp-admin.php', depending on where you installed wordpress to. The clients just need to log in to the admin panel and have full access to features which will allow them to manage news on their site.

 

I hope you understood that somewhat and I wasn't just rambling on without making any sense.

 

Dood, that was perfection. You must be a teacher, it made perfect sence and it answered all my questions that I had but didn't know how to articulate, if you know what I mean.

 

So thanks alot, I feel confident now that I am not missing anything of the basics, you've been a big help.

 

I don't plan to go into proffessional web design or anything, but I've seen some companies charging thousands to create a site with client side content management capabilities, are they taking the mick, or are they using some very flash applications?

 

Thanks so much

A teacher, lol if only. I'm only 19 so i've got some way to go yet if I wanted to become a teacher.

 

As for your question, I think the reason some companies charge as much as they do for custom made content management systems is possibly because, due to their experience, they are able to hand code a CMS which is tailored to your exact needs. Other CMS' you may find, may not possess all the features you require. They may be poorly coded or not very secure and so on and so forth.

 

Therefore if you're going to be paying someone to design a CMS for you, you'll be wanting perfection. You'll be able to tell them the features you want and will have them implemented in the way you wish. You can also assume it will be coded well and will be secure, as the people who specialise in that kind of thing have probably been coding for a long time and know their stuff. Why else would they be charging such high prices?

 

Hope that helps.

Yes it does, thanks

 

19 is not that young, I had a friend once, Tom smith, he became a teacher when he was five and worked at his local junior school in Australia, but the pupils couldn't understand him when he spoke and the parents kept telling him to not be so condersending at parents evenings and he wet his pants once so he got the sack, that's what tom smith said anyway.

Yes it does, thanks

 

19 is not that young, I had a friend once, Tom smith, he became a teacher when he was five and worked at his local junior school in Australia, but the pupils couldn't understand him when he spoke and the parents kept telling him to not be so condersending at parents evenings and he wet his pants once so he got the sack, that's what tom smith said anyway.

 

WTF? Five?

WTF? Five?

 

That's what tom smith said.

 

But then again he said his mum got eaten by a shark, but she can't have done because she made me dinner once when I went round to his house. There was loads, and it was a bit bland but I was to polite to leave any, so I ate it all but I nearly cried because I wanted to be sick.

That's what tom smith said.

 

But then again he said his mum got eaten by a shark, but she can't have done because she made me dinner once when I went round to his house. There was loads, and it was a bit bland but I was to polite to leave any, so I ate it all but I nearly cried because I wanted to be sick.

 

For someone who's supposedly at the age of 26, you sure do have an over active imagination.

Over active? is that good or bad? active is good right? No, I am of course joking, it's hard to get my sort of humor through text on a computer screen. You'll get used to it though.

I would guess that Tom Smith might be addicted to crack, either that or you are.

 

Either way, good luck!