What Features Should You Demand from a CMS?

Source: Pixabay.

A CMS (or Content Management System) has quickly become a vital tool for a vast variety of companies in the business of publishing content either for themselves or their valued clients.

A solution to clunky, code-based HTML content management, a good CMS will effortlessly allow authorised users to submit, publish and edit content – amongst a raft of other ‘must-have’ features (which are often somewhat less than that moniker suggests!).

From the likes of CMS giants WordPress to smaller alternatives like Radiant, there are dozens of companies that are exceptionally eager to transform your eagerness to streamline publishing into yet another user for their platform.

Needless to say, choosing a CMS can be a confusing task.

However, you won’t find us comparing direct feature sets here. Instead, we’re going to share with you the six features you should be demanding from your Content Management System so you can spend less time head-scratching and more time doing what you excel in: writing.

So, let’s get into it.

Solid core functionality

It’s perhaps an obvious point but before you find yourself distracted by design, permissions and WAF support, you need to ensure that your CMS of choice offers the core functionality you require.

Make a list of what you need in a CMS now and what you may need from it in the future and ensure any CMS you cast your eye over meets those basic needs. After all, you might not need the ability to alter the structure of your pages now but you may in the future.

Quick and easy installation

A CMS should never slow you down, especially in installation. Days spent launching and configuring your CMS are days of work lost. Check with the community to find out how easy installation is before you get started.

“Nimbusoft Aurora” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by ghalfacree

Strong administrator privileges

It’s highly likely that your CMS will have a) more than one user and b) a hierarchy of users. A simple and powerful administration interface that can manage multiple users, their content, and their publishing schedule is vital. Don’t forget about Two Factor Authentication (2FA) as well.

Web Application Firewall

Web security is more important than ever, especially in an age where hacks have brought countless companies both large and small to their knees. Web Application Firewalls (WAF) protect your website by acting as a gatekeeper for all traffic attempting to access it, filtering out the harmful traffic through advanced algorithms and human input.

CMS are complex software applications which, if compromised, can put all your time and monetary investments at risk. As such, you should always ensure that you use a WAF to defend your website.

Extendibility

No business stays the same and, as you change, so will your demands on your CMS. The ideal content management system should be able to evolve with you, with easily extendable features. It’s an area WordPress, in particular, excels, with a vast library of user-created extensions.

Multiple website support

It’s an increasingly popular feature and one that we consider essential both for today and for tomorrow. You may currently only be running one website but with success or a new idea will come the need to manage more than one.

Being able to manage those websites from a single location without having to source (and potentially pay for) an entirely separate CMS will be a godsend.