Content Management Systems

The advent of Content Management Systems is one of the hallmarks of Web 2.0. A Content Management System gives you advanced control over all aspects of publishing a website and provides a number of additional features not found on traditional html websites. Content Management Systems are typically composed of two sections: a live site with a user interface that includes both static and dynamic content, and an administration section where the display of the content and the functionality of the site can be modified. Your site’s visitors browse through pages as they would with any traditional html website, but a CMS website usually includes more options for participation. Blogs, forums, wikis, comments, and user profiles give your community more of a chance to become involved on your domain.

CMS websites can also manage ecommerce functionality alongside your published site information. Orders can be managed from the administration section, and products can be published in the same manner that you create blog posts or other site content. Content Management Systems typically use a mySQL database to serve content, and most are written in PHP, ASP .Net, or other web programming languages based in the configuration of your servers. If you are looking to expand your website to include social networking and social bookmarking functions, you will want to consider a CMS website. Touch and Click has extensive experience in Content Management System integration and deployment, and we specialize in Open Source solutions.

Using Open Source software can considerably reduce your initial cost of investment in a CMS, and includes many advanced features not found in expensive proprietary software packages. Open Source software is developed by a community of users and is typically released under a GNU, GPL, or Creative Commons license, making it free to use and modify for commercial purposes. The great advantage of many Open Source SMS platforms is their modular structure. Starting with a core program with basic functionality, you can expand and add new features to customize your website individually. Touch and Click provides software development facilities that include the programming of new modules for CMS websites, as well as creating new themes and templates. Using themes and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for the design of a website gives you the ability to customize its look and feel uniquely.

Our graphic artists work together with our coders, module developers, and systems administrators to build CMS websites that push the boundaries of what has traditionally been possible on the web. We are active members of the Open Source developer community, and release our modules and themes to the public for redistribution with the client’s permission. We have worked closely over the years with such packages as: Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, WordPress, Liferay, TYPO3, Xoops, and Dolphin. For ecommerce, we implement solutions using stand alone programs like OScommerce, Zen Cart, and Magento, as well as CMS modules that plug into the popular platforms listed above.

Whether you are considering an informational web site with multimedia content, an ecommerce site, or a social network, a Content Management System is a good choice for your new website. If your old site is showing its age and you are looking to upgrade it, contact Touch and Click about transferring the content to a CMS. Create a site with all of the features that users demand – blogs, forums, wiki pages, comment sections, and user community. All of our CMS designs are optimized for search engine placement. Touch and Click provides web design, module development, theme and template creation, as well as copywriting, SEO, and monthly management services for CMS websites.

Contact a Touch and Click customer service representative for more information on web design and ecommerce with Content Management Systems.