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What is a Content Management System

Web Considerations — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:32:09 +0000

A content management system (a.k.a. CMS) is a software solution that provides website content editing by way of administration tools that are designed to allow users with little or no knowledge of website design to create and manage website content with relative ease. In most cases, if a user is familiar with programs like Microsoft Word, they will have little difficulty adapting to a CMS solution.

Most CMS systems use a database to store content, images, and other data assets that might be needed by the system. The website displays the content to website visitors based on a theme design. These “theme designs” are also often referred to “skins” or “templates”. The administration can usually be accomplished via any web browser. Meaning, the content can be managed from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection.

The really cool thing is that at any later time, the “design” can be changed giving your website a brand new look without affecting the content.

Using a Content Management System

A good CMS allows non-technical users to make changes to a website with very little training. A CMS may require a web developer to set up and add additional features, but it is primarily a website maintenance tool for non-technical users.

There is certainly a wide variety of content management systems but at Web Considerations, we have selected WordPress as our preferred solution. WordPress is an open-source blog and publishing platform that is used by over 14% of the world’s biggest websites.

WordPress is often used for a blog only but it is also a very popular content management tool due to its expandability and customization flexibility. By using WordPress, you can turn a normal website into a shopping cart, a members only site, sell digital downloads and many other functions that will grab and hold your website visitors attention.

Page Speed and Optimization

Web Considerations — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:29:06 +0000

Even with today’s fast broadband connection, page speed optimization is still an important part of web development and most certainly needs to be a part of any website design. It should be considered almost as highly as search engine optimization (SEO).

Speeding up your website is important but not just to the website owner but to anyone who uses the internet. A faster site creates happy users and visitors. Everyone knows that if a website is slow to respond, people will be far less likely to spend time there.

What Makes for poor Page Speed Optimization?

Poor page speed optimization
Bloated code
Large imagery
Poorly written CSS
Bad hosting configurations

Just to name a few…

This is in addition to slower internet connections and older computer that your website visitors may have.

Speed Your Website Up!

We will take a look at your entire website including the HMTL, PHP, CSS and any other applicable code and clean it up taking out white space and outdated technology and formatting make it more search engine friendly.

We will also compress your files and all imagery making it less bloated and heavy usually reducing the file size as high as 50% or more. Lighter page weight equals smaller file size which equals FASTER LOAD TIMES.

As an added bonus, we will look at your hosting configuration and make applicable changes that allow your web server to compress files even further before showing them to your website visitors. It will also “cache” them on the user’s computer so it won’t even have to deliver it across the internet the next time.

A little too technical here? Don’t worry, we will be glad to discuss it further if you give us a shout.

WordPress Theme Design and Services

Web Considerations — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:42:03 +0000

Web Considerations specializes in the development of WordPress theme designs and works to ensure that your new design will be unique and that no other website or blog will share the same design created for you. We will work with you closely and provide expert suggestions ensuring the new theme design meets usability and design standards.

Why a Custom WordPress Theme Design?

A custom WordPress theme helps you to launch your website or blog to a new and exciting level. Your own identity, logos, favorite colors and own ideas can be incorporated that will help your website stand out and not be counted with the same old look.

Why WordPress?

WordPress is the best and one of the most popular blogging solutions that are available today. Due to its free and open-source engine, WordPress has gained widespread popularity throughout the world with a community of more than 1000 contributors working on improvements to WordPress platform. Utilizing its own API, WordPress developers have created a practically unlimited number of plug-ins that allow you to extend the standard functionality even more.

By using WordPress, website owners can manage their own content. Many website owners have no interest in operating a blog but will use WordPress to make updates, add or change images, add new pages and etc. to their own website without knowing anything about website design. Imagine, no more paying website developers a fee to change content on your website!

Browser Validation

Web Considerations WordPress themes will look equally beautiful in all modern browsers like Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome and Opera. Before your new design is finished, we test how it looks and functions in each of the most popular browsers so no matter which platform your visitors use, you design will look great.

Web Standards Validation

We also check all of our XHTML and CSS code to make sure it is W3C valid. Code validation, although not always seen by your web browser is very important. It plays a major role in how your website functions and even plays a role in how the major search engines judge your website. To us, it just doesn’t make sense to develop a website or blog unless it passes validation.