The heart of a website - Content Management System (CMS)

A Content Management System (CMS) is the heart of any modern website and a defining factor for speed, safety and security of the website. Having a great CMS can mean the difference between a site that is a constant headache and a site that works smoothly for your business.

Years ago, when we started MiracleworX, there was no CMS. We hand coded every page and cross linked them manually. Yes, even sites which had hundreds of pages. We used search and replace tools to update multiple pages and it was an awful and tedious process. This was when even the concept of CMS was not there.

Coming back to today, we have CMS engines that make setting up and running even thousand page sites a breeze. It has become a defining edge allowing web design companies to manage a larger number of sites with a smaller team. Our website maintenance efficacy and efficiency is extremely high due to our CMS plugged into client websites.

So what does a CMS typically do?

It allows us the following:

• Update the menus
• Add/ Edit/ Delete pages on the site including meta tags for SEO
• Manage documents and images
• Provide secure, function based access to verified users (Manage logins, basically)
• Manage inputs from forms and other call to action items

Basically everything you will need to manage a website with minimum coding intervention.

So what kind of websites need a CMS?

In today’s world, the answer is simple. All sites, big or small, irrespective of functionality and industry should have a CMS plugged in the back. However a large number of sites on the net today are still missing a CMS which is quite shocking.

A CMS was traditionally required for

• Websites with frequent updates
• Marketing-driven websites running ad campaigns
• Multi-page or content-heavy sites
• Multiple people managing content
• Long-term digital presence plans

But now a CMS is a must, for any and all sites. It’s simply too easy to plug in a CMS and the benefits are too many.

The MiracleworX CMS

Many years ago we started out like many web design agencies with common CMS like Wordpress (Still the most popular CMS in the world) or Drupal (which is practically extinct now). But we quickly realized that for our clients we needed something better, lighter, safer and faster. We were fed up with the security and stability issues of Wordpress which plague many sites even today. So we started developing our own and MiracleworX CMS was born. Yes, the name’s not quite original but it was what we stuck with.

Today all of our clients' sites run happily on Miracleworx CMS and is enjoyed by our client teams who handle their site updates.

Benefits of the MiracleworX CMS

• Very light code base which is easy to setup and provides fast page loads
• Extremely simple user interface which allows even novices to manage/ update a site
• CMS backend is separated from the frontend unlike other CMS systems allowing for security and flexibility.
• Extremely flexible and adaptable for any use cases including custom development.

Common issues with CMS systems to avoid

There are literally thousands of CMS systems out there and it's easy to get confused and create a mess that is difficult to clean up later.

A few things to watch out for:

• Avoid bloated CMS systems that are like buying the cow when all you want is the milk. Some CMS systems come with vast libraries, a fraction of which are actually used. Pick light, fast and secure systems.
• Avoid going with the flavour of the month. Just because a CMS is popular does not mean it's right for you. Take a look at your requirements and select a CMS that's right for you.
• Make sure the CMS is updated regularly by the developers. Many CMS systems are abandoned after a few years, forcing users to switch. Without regular updates the CMS will become vulnerable to security issues or just break down with each server software upgrade.
• Too much dependence on third party plugins. This is one of the main issues with Wordpress, which depends on thousands of third party plugins, even for basic tasks. This creates huge security and stability issues as many plugins are badly coded or some are even malicious.

In Conclusion

With each version of MiracleworX CMS, we focus on security, stability and add features only if absolutely required. We fight to maintain a light codebase which is easy to maintain and update. We rely on the fact that we can add any functionality required if the need arises and does not need to be in every instance of the CMS.

Most importantly, our clients are happy and satisfied and it allows us to conduct website maintenance efficiently and effectively.