Professional CMS: 10 features you need to know
A professional CMS has many features that are essential for deploying an internet or intranet site. The aim of this article is to give you all the best CMS practices to adopt when creating a professional website. There are many advantages to using a CMS to create a professional website or e-shop.
You don't need to be a computer expert or speak HTML, content managers can help you create a website step by step, from choosing domain names and site types to web hosting and the natural referencing of each web page.
The 10 essential features of a professional CMS
Creating a website without basic technical knowledge requires a professional CMS. Ideal for content management, you won't need any knowledge of HTML code to create a site. Here are the 10 essential features of a content management system!
1. A responsive theme
You need to find a system that allows you to create a responsive site, i.e. one that adapts to any screen size and any device (mobile, tablet, laptop, etc.). This is even more important for an e-commerce site, as mobile shopping is booming.
2. The ability to integrate easily into the development process
All the trades involved in designing a showcase or e-commerce site (designer, developer, graphic artist, etc.) must be able to participate in the creation of your site separately. The technology must be able to be industrialised to streamline their work.
3. A tool for web referencing
Your professional CMS must enable you to rank well on Google using SEO tools. Natural referencing is essential if you want your professional website to be visible.
4. A flexible workflow to better adapt to your company's internal organisation
You need to be able to define the exact business process for your site. Who writes it? Who validates? Who takes care of the technical side? Content creation software can provide you with a CMS definition of your processes, and model your business processes to make your internal organisation more efficient.
5. Interoperability
To create a professional website, you also need to be able to manage access and modification rights to your heart's content, and your professional CMS must be able to create links between your interfaces intuitively and without access restrictions.
Marketing example: on your site, you have put a contact form online where potential customers can enter their email address and contact details. For smooth contact management, you can connect your site to your CRM tool.
6. Optimum security to prevent hacking
Data backup is essential, as is the security of your online site: you need to be protected against piracy. These are the two essential services for creating your website.
7. A tool that simplifies the work of designers
While certain platforms such as Wix or Jimdo make it easier to create an aesthetically pleasing site, the professional CMS makes it easier for designers to get involved. Using a WYSIWYG editor, you can see in real time what your page looks like and where the content fits in.
8. A scalable tool that can be used for complex developments
Once the tool has helped you learn how to create a website, the website creation software should also allow you to do more advanced specific development to develop a business application and meet all your business needs.
9. Good monitoring tools
The open source solution must have good monitoring tools, or be integrated with external tools. There are many advantages to this, as these tools will allow you to see the number of users online, the most frequently viewed articles, technical failures, and many other important details.
10. SSO mode
The content management system must allow you to log in to all your connected applications once: this is SSO, or " Single Sign On".
The Plone open source CMS: additional benefits for professionals
The Plone open source solution combines the 10 features explained above, but also goes further: it meets the specific needs of professional business requirements. Let's take a look at how to get the most out of the Plone CMS, and when choosing this CMS is essential. Here's how.
A professional CMS that adapts to your business, not the other way round
Finding a solution capable of adapting to your sector, your activity and your business is often a never-ending task. The Plone solution integrates the web into your company's IS (information system). For example, adapting a site into an intranet becomes simple without the need for specific project tools.
For example, the publisher uses the same authentication base for all IT tools, which is very important for companies that have multiple IT programmes (ERP, CRM, CMS, etc.). To obtain customised publication circuits, you can flexibly specify your own workflows.
The Plone system ahead of the rest
Its undeniable advantages make it easy for you to manage your website:
- the Plone CMS is the most secure, enabling you to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applicable in Europe in May 2018,
- this professional CMS offers powerful scalability, so you can adapt the CMS to your needs as your site grows,
- The proven extensibility of the CMS gives you absolute comfort when you want to extend the CMS to additional uses and interface with it,
- In terms of accessibility, it complies with standards, with a special mention for the fact that a Braille-readable site can be deployed with Plone!
Soon to be the most famous because of its resources?
Plone's popularity is growing as many of its capabilities are being extended. There are 2 remarkable functions linked to the language.
Multi-site management combined with multilingual management makes it possible to deploy a site (and an intranet) in several languages, in different parts of the world.
There's also a major advance in the CMS's search capabilities : attachments (at the office level) are indexed in full text to provide a more comprehensive search.
A community of experts to choose yours
Another strong point is that you are opting for free (open source) software with a large community of experts. The great advantage of Plone is that you are working in a documented environment with a dynamic community.
For example, many professionals and companies have chosen the Plone CMS for all its capabilities:
- Google,
- the FBI, the CIA,
- Nokia,
- Cambon Partners,
- etc.
Some companies, such as Cambon Partners, Afdas and the town of Goussainville, have chosen to call on experts identified within the community to handle all their requirements and technology needs.
Pilot Systems is responsible for many of the enhancements to the software:
- secure and reliable online payment
- staging system,
- authentication management module,
- PDF generator,
- directory interfacing (LDAP),
- etc.
In addition to its mastery of technology, Pilot Systems offers major expertise in the hosting and application outsourcing of solutions based on Plone and Python. To date, the expert has hosted almost 18,500 sites.
Creating a professional website has never been so easy
Choosing a professional CMS for your own website or intranet depends on your expectations and your specific business uses. For example, a site editor should enable you to overcome your lack of knowledge of HTML and CSS. Relying on a free but reliable web host can open the doors to the Internet free of charge via a dedicated server.
But keep your specifications to a minimum: if you want to exploit the full potential of an online CMS, make sure you have a CMS that can handle all the possibilities you have in mind. You can create a web project on your own: very often, if you want to become a professional reference in your sector, you need to be supported by an expert capable of understanding and integrating your challenges.
Article translated from French