Content Managed Website
Development and Hosting

It’s already been two years since I wrote here about the Web 2.0 or social networking phenomenon and argued that powerful social web tools like blogs, wikis and podcasts and platforms like YouTube and Facebook can help third sector organisations operate more efficiently, generate more funding, and affect more lives.

In the intervening time, of course, we have seen an absolute explosion in this trend, helped in no small part by the way in which the judicious use of these kinds of tools helped to get an American president elected, and now it seems everyone is rushing to jump on the bandwagon for fear that they be left out of the opportunities that the new social media can offer.

As with any investment in information technology, though, it’s important to have a considered business strategy and clear objectives before you launch into using social media. So before you sign up for your Twitter account and set about inviting friends to your Facebook site, here are some key things to think about as you build a social networking strategy for your organisation.

We recently looked at Web 2.0, the new interactive web, and the tremendous opportunity for third sector organisations to increase their effectiveness and impact using tools like blogs, podcasts, wikis and social networking frameworks.

One of the most powerful developments in the Web 2.0 arena is what are called ‘rich internet applications’, full replacements for software applications that run over the internet and in your browser, rather than from your PC or laptop. These web apps are often referred to under the rubric of ‘cloud computing’, a term derived from technology diagrams that typically illustrate the internet using a cloud.

One of the most popular IT buzzwords in the last year or so is the so-called ‘web 2.0’ or ‘social web’. It seems like everybody is talking about it, even if most aren’t sure quite what it is! While it has all the hallmarks of a fad, web 2.0 is actually a game-changing phenomenon, the beginning of a new era in technology. And it’s one that promises to help third sector organisations operate more efficiently, generate more funding, and affect more lives.

There is no hard and fast definition of ‘web 2.0’, but in essence, it refers to new internet tools and technologies created around the idea that the people who consume media, access the internet, and use the web shouldn’t just passively absorb what’s available, but should be active contributors.

‘Content management’ is all the rage these days in website development circles. But what exactly is content management, and why might your organisation benefit from it?

Unlike a traditional ‘static’ website, in which every page is created in HTML using a web design application, a website built around a content management system (CMS) organises your website’s content – text, images and other files – within a back-end database. The front-end of the website is made up of a number of custom design templates through which this content is presented. Changes to the content can thus be made through a database interface without affecting the overall site design.

No special software is required for visitors to a content-managed website because when the web server sends your web pages to the visitor they are sent as plain HTML, so it looks and works just like a static site.

A content-managed website offers organisations a number of significant advantages over a traditional website...