The time when a website was just a simple set of HTML pages has gone by. It's true, just five or seven years ago simple websites developed with HTML and JavaScript were usual. Nobody thought there could be another option. However, year by year, Internet becomes a place where companies can interact with their clients, can develop online showrooms and online shops, can announce the latest news, and even make market researches. A new era of dynamic web development has come.

Preconditions

Dynamic web development, in other words, server-side programming, is a newest stage in development of modern websites, platforms that integrate such roles as representative, entertaining, interactive, communicative etc. When you talk about a dynamic website, you always have in mind that it is developed with J2EE, PHP, .NET, or other programming language. The cornerstone here is that the website is programmed.

However, any usual WWW-user doesn't bother himself with technologies. He really appreciate  if he can perform complicated activity or develop a complex solution with the use of the mouse only. Visualization that Microsoft has introduced has become an issue that average PC user would never reject.

So we have come to a contradiction. An average Internet user that would like to have a website is no longer satisfied with facilities HTML and JavaScript provide. Meanwhile, there are not so many people that would learn at least PHP in order to develop a website. Moreover, they even won't be satisfied if someone else will make programming but the site management would require programming knowledge too. So here we come to 'visualization'.

Visualization => CMS

As an answer for the requirement for visualization of the whole process of web development and website maintenance, web content management systems (CMS) were developed. The cornerstone here is that with the use of CMS one shouldn't be a programmer as well to develop a dynamic website. There is a graphical shell where an average user with only a mouse and simple logic can develop a website of any complexity and enhance it with such interactive tools as forums, polls, feedback forms, automatic menus, protected areas etc. Although, some systems require to know at list basis of HTML and PHP, there is a big set of CMSs that provide a user with a perfect visualization of the whole process from design development up to website maintenance.

It becomes possible because of the structure of any managed with CMS website. It consists of such elements as:

1. Design templates (it's an HTML version of website's design along with proper code for interactive elements).


2. Adjustable modules (those are independent programs (polls, forums, newslines etc.) integrated into the CMS; they have their own graphical interface for adjustment).


3. Content (it's the texts and graphics individual for each particular page).

Through variation of those three elements with the CMS's graphical shell any average user can develop a dynamic website in several simple steps.

There is a good article about it at the Xitex WebContent M1 website: http://webcontent-m1.com/m1/en/product/develop_dynamic_website

Who can benefit

Although there are several thousands of different content management systems, the market is still growing. And it will be growing as long as people develop new websites. The solutions that are currently present vary from freebies to systems with the cost of up to several thousands of U.S. Dollars. They are either simple, or too complicated. They are either for SMEs or for huge corporations. They can be used for the website management only, or they can be enhanced with facilities to serve as workflow and document repository systems.

Whatever CMS it will be, it will be beneficial for both parties:

1. Customer that needs a dynamic website.


2. Web Development Company that develops this website.

The reason for that benefit is common – when you use CMS for web development the operational costs for both development and maintenance are reduced drastically. That's mainly because you should just adjust several preprogrammed modules that are already ready to be used. Then you make the layout and put those modules wherever they are to be. No programming – no additional expenses.

That's obvious, the most of websites have common functionality. So the most of websites can be developed with a proper content management system. That is why, whether you are a company that is looking to a long life of its website, hence, its permanent maintenance, or you are a web development company that takes care about its customers' satisfaction the investments in a content management technology should be your first step to reap the most beneficial result of your activities.

About the Author
Alex Polonski is a Senior Sales Manager at XITEX Software Company, Ukraine. The company works in offshore software development market since 1999 and has a fair expertise in J2EE and .NET technologies. Among company's own-developed and marketed solutions, one can see a J2EE content management system, Xitex WebContent M1.