8 June 2010
CMS or not to CMS? That is the question.

CMS a.k.a. Content Management Software (or System) in basic terms allows you as the end user or owner of the finished web site, to update or edit the content, both text and images, within your web site at any time.

However, you need to bear in mind that the integration of CMS into your site will carry some cost - not a lot - but some additional cost, and therefore you need to weigh up if that additional cost is actually worth it.

CMS comes in many flavours - php based or backend database driven, single user or multi login user based systems, and each one will have different requirements and costs.

Many people will ask for a site that can be "easily updated as and when I want". However in reality, unless you are actually going to take or make the time to do the updating yourself, and on a regular basis, paying extra for CMS may not be a wise move.

Check to see how quick and what costs are involved in your site developer doing your site updates and maintenance against the cost of incorporating a CMS - you might be supprised to find that sometimes it's more cost effective to leave it to your developer to do it for you, unless you are really updating your site on a regular basis.