Services
Content Management Sites
A website that can be edited utilising a piece of software called a Content Management System (or CMS).
The CMS sits behind the main site and is used to configure the site, manage the information and display the data to the user. Data is stored in a database and even the design layout and styles are often stored in the database too.
A database driven website (which is a CMS site) is one where the links that users click sends variables and settings to the database and returns different content, layouts and styles accordingly - all based on the value of those variables and the set up of the site.
So, on this site, you can see that the URL is something like:
http://www.oobainteractive.co.uk/index.php?pageID=107
pageID is a variable that is set to 107 and by that variable being in the link, the system looks up in the database for the page that has the unique ID of 107. It finds the template assigned to that page, the title text, navigation name, page text and what navigation bar to display on the right hand side.
The website only has one true page... that is index.php. But it displays different information depending on the variable values that are sent to the CMS. It's all very clever.
A CMS system means that clients can log into the CMS and amend their site themselves. They can add/edit/delete pages and upload images without the need for any programming knowledge or paying a web agency any additional money.
A CMS website does cost more... however, it easily pays for itself if you want to make a lot of regular changes to your site.
