What is a content management system?

A content management system allows you to control your entire ecommerce website without having any special web design skills.

You can add products, images, information, pages and links simply by typing your information into the administration area of the site.

The administraion area is the secure, password protected 'back end' of your site. It is where all the configuration options are set and contains an editable catalogue of your products.

When you enter information into the admin area of your site, it is saved in a database file called a MySQL database. The database file can be easily backed up so all your information is kept safe and secure.

When people visit the 'front end' of your ecommerce website, the information from the database is automatically retrieved and layed out in a pretty design.

Most websites built today use a content management systems and database. It is rare for a website to be created from scratch using pure html code. By using a database, information is much easier to store and retrieve. Changes can be made quickly and easily without any knowledge of html or other coding skills.

What makes a good content management system?

Not all content management systems are created equal. A good content management system must be:

Easy to use
Secure and password protected
Able to update information quickly
Intuative
Well documented

A content management system makes running your ecommerce website a breeze. Simply enter in your product data and your products become available for sale online instantly. Step by step instructions are provided and even novice Internet users can be publishing products and information within a couple of minutes.