What is a content management system? A content management system (CMS) is an application that helps you create and manage a website via a human-friendly interface rather than needing to work directly with code.
From that CMS definition, all content management systems:
- Are digital. They’re applications used on computers, sometimes offline, but more frequently online.
- Help users create, format, edit, and publish content. This may include support for media, written content, or drop quotes based on the CMS, but the core idea is that you can make and publish some sort of content.
- Store the content in a database. Again, the supported database and hosting types vary from CMS to CMS, but the content always gets logged inside a database.
- Give access to multiple users. One CMS may have unique user permissions, while another might allow for specific editor, author, and admin roles.
- Present the content. As mentioned, this usually happens on the frontend of a live website, but some content management systems allow for private or even offline publication.
