Content Management and the Web

The Web has moved forward in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years, with technology playing a big part in its evolution. This has allowed us to perform a variety of tasks using the Web, from booking a flight overseas, to chatting with friends using videoconferencing and much, much more. The uses are almost limitless and we are seeing new applications for the Internet being developed daily.

One area of the Web which has seen technology promote its evolution is in Web content management. Traditionally, updating a Web site involved editing the HTML code, using cryptic tags and code to create a page. Web publishing was seen as a magical art only to be performed by the mythical Webmaster, the dark lord of CyberSpace. Anyone daring enough to delve into Web design was stepping into the world of the unknown…..

That is, until the advent of the first WYSIWYG editors. Allowing the uninitiated to dabble in Web publishing, these tools made it simple for anybody to create, design and publish content to the Internet. New personal Web sites began popping up, allowing any Joe Blow to become a publisher. The Web grew at an exponential rate, with millions of pages being added online on a daily basis. The Web as a dominant player in modern life was born…

Just as we thought it couldn’t get any simpler, a new technology evolved, allowing for decentralised, collarborative content management. The new vehicle of choice for most Web site owners is the CMS, or content management system, a scalable, powerful, data-base driven technology which is pushing the Web to even greater heights.