A content management system (CMS) is an online platform that underlies many websites and enables the website owner or webmaster to easily administer the website. This can be as simple as making changes to text and images on the website or as complex as changing the layout and complete look and feel of a website.

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Content management systems are designed and built to enable business owners or employees to make changes to websites without the need for advanced technical knowledge and know-how. CMS platforms will often include WYSIWIG (What You See Is What You Get) editors that function in much the same fashion as well-known word processing software like Microsoft Word.

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Content management systems come in various forms including custom-built applications specifically tailored to a business's needs or pre-built open source applications such as Joomla or WordPress.

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Content management systems are deployed using various web technologies including PHP or ASP scripting languages and MySQL or MSSQL databases. These technologies are the core of a content management system's user-friendliness.

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Content management systems are used by millions of websites as a way of reducing costs and increasing efficiency. CMS platforms remove the need for companies to constantly contact web developers when changes are required. This means no additional web development charges or waiting times for the changes to be implemented. Changes to the website can be completed instantly and easily by internal staff when required.

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Although content management systems allow the not-so-tech-savvy web user to make changes to a website, they do still require an initial design, set up and build by experienced web developers.

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BigBang provides a professional website solution that includes the upload, template installation and deployment of the WordPress CMS for your business.

WordPress is an open source blogging platform and content management system based on the PHP scripting language and MySQL database technology. WordPress was originally designed as a blogging platform, giving users a simple-to-install online application to design, create, and manage a blog.

 

Over time, WordPress has grown in popularity, with millions of users worldwide. It has become the number one content management system worldwide, powering 22% of all new websites. Further to this, WordPress has grown as an application. Since its inception WordPress has sprouted thousands of new features and functions that have enabled it to become the number one content management system not only for blogs, but for an array of websites.

 

WordPress enables users to create pages, manage content including text and images, and extend its functionality with plug-ins. WordPress also has a template-based system using a template processor that enables the easy install and deployment of pre-made design templates. This functionality allows almost any WordPress user to install and change WordPress themes with the click of a button while maintaining the information on the site.

 

WordPress' advanced plug-in architecture allows users to effortlessly install plug-ins from a library of over 17 thousand. These plug-ins are designed to extend the features and functionality of WordPress beyond the out-of-the-box feature set. Plug-ins can be found for almost any requirement, from SEO and eCommerce to gallery and user management.

 

BigBang provides a professional website solution that includes the upload, template installation and deployment of the WordPress CMS for your business.

PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor is an open-source, server-side scripting language used for websites and online applications. A PHP interpreter is installed on a server so that when a website is built using PHP the server can read this PHP as instructions and translate these into the website you see.

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PHP is known as a server-side scripting language, which means all the code is processed before it reaches your computer. The server where the website files are stored processes the PHP and output is generated which is then sent to your computer/web browser.

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PHP allows for complex instructions to be processed on the server in a secure manner. This could include accessing a database or storing login credentials within the code. If a website is developed using PHP a user cannot see or read any of the PHP code because it is processed on the server before the output is sent to the user. The output of the PHP code is usually HTML/CSS pages that are read and understood by your web browser.

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Because PHP can execute complex instructions including querying a database and sending log in requests to a server in a secure manner it is an ideal language for the development of Content Management Systems (CMS) such as WordPress.

 

BigBang provides business web hosting solutions that include support for PHP and other scripting languages.

HTML or Hypertext Markup Language is the most basic coding language for the web. HTML is known as a client-side language, compared to PHP for example which is a server-side language.

HTML is a mark-up language. This means it is not used to manipulate data or provide complex instructions for a website but rather it is used to simply change the look and feel of text and images on a website.

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HTML provides a way of structuring a web page's images and text using HTML tags. These tags work as a pre-set list of instructions that are interpreted by your web browser. The tags can 'mark-up' text to provide formatting, spacing, sizing and distribution on the page. Along with CSS, HTML is used to give each and every website its individual look and feel.

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets are formatting and design instructions that go hand-in-hand with HTML. CSS provides a way of extending the formatting instructions provided by HTML tags so that a web page's layout, colors and fonts can be manipulated.

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CSS, in the same way as HTML, is read and understood by your web browser. An HTML web page references design and formatting instructions within a CSS file. These instructions are then interpreted by your web browser and the colors, fonts and layout you see are all governed by the CSS.

JavaScript (JS) is more than just a mark-up language like HTML. JavaScript is a scripting language used by web developers to write complex instructions for a website to enable extended functionality and design features.

 

JS is similar to PHP in the sense that it is a scripting language; however it is important to note that JS is a client-side scripting language, whereas PHP is server-side. This means that although JS can be used for more complex scripting, it is limited in its security and its application. JavaScript used on a website is easily viewed by any user which means the instructions and any information contained within the JavaScript itself can be read.

 

Although JavaScript does have limitations in application it, and its associated libraries, are widely adopted as the language of choice for web developers looking for a quick and easy way of achieving dynamic functionality on a HTML/CSS only website.