One of the struggles I have had recently is determining the best way to allow my clients to update the content on their websites. Although there are a myriad of content managment systems to choose from, in my experience most of them are too complicated for the needs of the clients I normally work with.
I have personally become a convert to using WordPress as the backend for most sites that I design. By doing so, I can update most client sites from anywhere in the world through the WordPress web based interface. This is a great advantage as I am no longer tied to the various desktop software applications in my office in order to accomplish most updates.
With the exception of blog themes that I have done, none of the clients for whom I have setup WordPress as a CMS system have ever updated the content on their sites. Not a single one. This isn’t a client failing, but rather I feel that WordPress is just a bit too complex for most clients.
Enter CushyCMS
Earlier this week I stumbled upon a simple content management system called CushyCMS. In keeping with the claims made at their website, CushyCMS clearly is simple to use. It took me five minutes to setup CushyCMS to control the content at one of my own websites. Five minutes.
The CushyCMS interface is simple, intuitive and user friendly. It’s hard for me to imagine any client who will not be able to use it to update their content. I look forward to using it on a client site that I am currently developing.
One of the best features of CushyCMS is that it allows the web developer to control which particular page sections the client can update. No longer does the developer need to worry that the client will disrupt the navigation elements on the page, for instance. By applying a simple CSS class
class="cushycms"
to any page element, the developer is able to limit the client to only modifying the content of those particular elements. Brilliant idea and integrated nicely into the CushCMS package.
Although I have only been testing CushyCMS for several days now, it’s clear to me that I will be able to use it on many future website projects. I recommend that you take a look at CushyCMS to see if it meets your needs and those of your clients.
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