What Is a Content Management System (CMS)?
Overview
A Content Management System (CMS) is software that allows you to create, manage, and publish website content without needing to write code from scratch. It serves as the structural framework (or “bones”) of your site, allowing you to customize the design and functionality using Themes and Plugins.
Why use a CMS?
- Speed: Get your website live quickly.
- Ease of Use: Requires limited technical knowledge.
- Independence: Ideal if you do not have dedicated developers on your team.
The “Big Four” CMS Platforms
While there are hundreds of options available, over 70% of CMS-powered websites rely on one of the following four platforms. Choosing the right one depends on your technical expertise and the goals of your website.
CMS Platform | Best Used For | Technical Level |
|---|---|---|
WordPress | Blogs, Small Biz (with WooCommerce), Portfolios | Beginner / Intermediate |
Joomla | Social Networks, Portals | Intermediate |
Drupal | Enterprise, High Security | Advanced (Developer Required) |
Magento | Large Online Stores | Advanced (Developer Required) |
Example CMS Options
The following are more in-depth explanations of the “Big Four” CMS options. There are other options available online and available through Softaculous.
WordPress
As the world’s most popular CMS, WordPress powers over 40% of the web. It boasts the largest ecosystem of themes and plugins, allowing you to build almost any type of website without custom coding. While it is the industry standard for blogging, it is also a powerful choice for business websites, portfolios, and even e-commerce stores.
Joomla
Joomla strikes a balance between user-friendliness and technical flexibility. It offers more complex content organization tools out-of-the-box than WordPress, making it a strong choice for social networking sites, membership portals, and multilingual websites. It handles e-commerce well, often serving as a middle ground for those who need more structure than WordPress but less complexity than Drupal.
Drupal
Drupal is a developer-focused platform known for its robust security and ability to handle complex data. It is the preferred choice for enterprise-level websites, government portals, and high-traffic sites (like The Weather Channel) that require granular control. However, it has a steep learning curve and generally requires a developer with PHP experience to manage effectively.
Magento
Unlike the others, Magento is built specifically for e-commerce. It is designed to handle massive product catalogs and complex store operations for large online retailers. While it offers incredible power and flexibility for online sales, it is resource-intensive and typically requires a dedicated team of developers to build and maintain.
Next Steps
Once you have selected a platform, you must install the software on your server. Please select the guide below that matches your hosting control panel (cPanel or Plesk).
If you are using cPanel / WHM:
- Installing WordPress with cPanel
- Installing Joomla with cPanel
- Installing Drupal with cPanel
- Installing Magento with cPanel
If you are using Plesk: