What is a CMS?
CMS is short for "Content Management System", also known as a publishing system. The main purpose of a CMS is to simplify content production on a website, and to organise the content in a good way.
Do you need a CMS?
Not every website needs a CMS.
This is important to point out. At the same time, it is very common for a website to need updates at least once in a while.
Usually a distinction is made between static content pages and websites with dynamic content. Dynamic refers to the need for continuous editing, new content production, SEO work and/or more.
If you have a static website that stays unchanged for a long time, a CMS will sometimes be unnecessary. In that case you might as well skip the technical setup around a CMS, and instead contact your developer to make necessary changes to the page's content.
When should you choose a CMS?
The reason a CMS so often sits underneath websites is that website owners want to be able to work with content without working in code files or depending on developers.
A CMS usually makes sense as soon as you need changes at regular intervals. How regular, you ask? That is hard to answer, and depends on how easily you can change your static alternative website.
Example: a static HTML file where you want to change the wording of the lead paragraph. If you have to send the change request to a developer and they must make the change in the code, the total price depends on the developer's hourly rate and the complexity of the change. Let's say it took 30 minutes at an hourly rate of NOK 1,300. Then you pay NOK 650 for the change as a one-off sum.
How many times can you allow yourself such a change before the cost becomes a problem? At the same time, remember that the timing of the change largely depends on the developer's capacity at that moment.
If you have a CMS at the core, you simply make the change yourself in the CMS, exactly when it suits you.
Usually the design and rules, along with the available content blocks, are defined in the CMS. That way content producers have a concrete toolbox for creating content the way they want.
This toolbox can be adapted to your needs, and further developed as desired.
What separates different CMSes?
There are very many CMSes out there. This is partly because there are also many alternative programming languages underneath (PHP, Node, Ruby, Python and more), but also because there are many different approaches to how content and the CMS should be structured and worked with.
Some CMSes are heavily oriented towards blog posts and their categorisation (WordPress), while others are more oriented towards data structure regardless of what kind of data it is (Sanity & Craft CMS). There are also specialised CMSes aimed at e-commerce (Shopify or WooCommerce).
Which CMSes does Vasser know?
We have worked for many years with a wide selection of CMSes. The common denominator for all the systems we know is that they are either PHP-based or so-called headless systems.
Examples of PHP-based CMSes are Craft CMS, Kirby CMS, Statamic, WordPress, Drupal and Joomla.
Examples of headless CMSes are Sanity, Contentful and Centra.
What should you consider when choosing a CMS?
The choice of CMS should be made with care. There are wide ranges in pricing models, security levels, update frequency and usability.
Some CMSes can seem tempting because of widespread use and low/no entry price. It is nevertheless important to understand that widely used does not necessarily mean the system is best suited. The price of the solution you choose should also be assessed over a longer time period than just the immediate cost at the start.
WordPress, for example, is highly exposed to security holes. It can be a very cheap entry ticket, but over time it becomes more challenging to find serious website suppliers out there willing to take over companies' existing WordPress websites. Especially if they are outdated. Much of the same applies to the competitors Webflow and Wix.
Another point worth thinking about is where the data actually resides. Do you have your own server, where you have full ownership of the data? Sanity's or Webflow's own CMS modules, for example, can seem tempting in the short term, but an overlooked differentiator from traditional self-hosted solutions (like WordPress or Craft CMS) is the long-term perspective. Where is your data? And what happens if the product no longer exists in 5 years? What options does the system offer if you want to move/migrate to another solution down the line?
Regardless of CMS, you should make sure the system is continuously kept up to date, so security and usability are regularly improved.
Why we at Vasser like Craft CMS
We always believe projects should not begin by defining the CMS – the needs should determine the best choice of publishing system.
Nevertheless, we very often recommend Craft CMS.
We consider it one of the very best when it comes to usability, security and flexibility. It also has a long track record, and there is a growing and very mature community of Norwegian Craft CMS developers.
Craft CMS is also strongly focused on accessibility. Read, for example, about the W3C's own assessments, which landed on Craft CMS as the solution for their updated website. Read more about Craft's commitment to accessibility on their own blog.
Another thing we are truly passionate about at Vasser is long-term thinking. Craft CMS is built on traditional technology (PHP, MySQL) that has proven extremely robust over many decades. Furthermore, you have the big advantage of full control of 100% of the content, both database and code, on your own server.
What about alternatives to Craft CMS?
In cases where we feel Craft CMS is overkill, we often lean towards the somewhat simplified system Kirby CMS.
Kirby CMS is the optimal solution for small websites with simple content editing needs.
The biggest advantages of Kirby CMS over Craft CMS are that it is even easier to get up and running, requires fewer server resources (cheaper to run), and is a so-called "flat-file system", meaning it does not use databases. This gives extremely fast performance out of the box, and suits small websites especially well.
Where Craft CMS shines is often when the amount of content starts to grow large. But you get remarkably far with Kirby CMS too.
Do you have questions?
Let us know if anything about this topic feels unclear. We are happy to discuss it!
Also read our article: 7 tips for a good and user-friendly CMS.
