When it comes to Content Management on the Internet there are many different solutions available, some which you pay for and many which are free (and open source). CMS Made Simple is one of the better open source content management systems available, especially when it comes to smaller sites, which may be static or dynamic. Some of the features that CMS Made Simple offers which I find helpful and unique include a menu manager (which allows for different menus on different pages), a separation between the layout code (CSS) and the page code (HTML), and of course a permissions based system which allows for different users to have control over different areas of the site.

Installation

Installation of CMS Made simple was a breeze, there were 3 options available for installation (Shell, FTP and cPanel), although it was said the Shell was the most reliable method I am more comfortable using cPanel. After I uploaded the CMS Made Simple files and created a database for the CMS, I was able to follow a simple installation process which was very easy to follow.

Once CMS Made Simple was installed my site was ready to use, and even came with dummy content illustrating what CMS Made Simple could do. Overall I found the installation process easy to follow and had my site ready to use in less than five minutes.

Getting Started

Once you have installed CMS-Made-Simple on your web server one of the first tasks you should do is to clean up all of the dummy content that came with the installation. There is nothing worse than your personal or business web site showing content that was only meant to illustrate how the CMS works. You can now upload your own CSS and Template (or continue using the pre-installed template if you wish).

Publishing Content

Once you have the dummy content cleared away and a working template you like, you can start adding content to your new CMS-Made-Simple web site. The most common method of adding content is to create a new page, you can specify many settings on that page such as the template used, along with the content itself. Pages are edited using the page manager, and CMS Made Simple also has built in permissions that allow for editors to edit articles (with limited non administration permissions).

Modules

CMS Made Simple has a large amount of modules available for download, some such as the news module also come pre-installed. Personally I am a fan of using the news module as an article manager, as it has options for displaying extracts on one page and the full article on it’s own page. There are also ‘bridges’ available for linking CMS Made Simple to forums such as SMF and PHPBB.

Final Words

In closing I have found CMS-Made-Simple to be an easy to use CMS with great features. I found the install to be quick and painless to follow, and once the site was up and running adding content was just as simple to get up. The amount of modules available rivals such CMS as WordPress, and CMS Made Simple is actively developed. Overall if you are looking for a light CMS for a smaller to medium sized web site (with static or dynamic content) then CMS-Made-Simple is right form you.

This article was written by Ryan Bailey, an experienced Web Developer.