content management system

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A content management system (often abbreviated as CMS) is software used to create, enter, edit, update, delete content on a website, even on indieweb sites.

Why

CMS are meant to make creating and managing content easier. In many ways, they can give you the ease-of-use that silos generally provide. In addition, a CMS usually comes with well defined structures for your content and with plugins to give you indie functionality such as webmentions. If a CMS isn't good enough to change your behaviour to post to your own site first / instead of a silo (e.g. plenty of "old school" bloggers that tweet but fail to post notes on their own site), then that CMS is not good (and you should thus write your own or improve another, whichever is easier.).

To CMS or not to CMS?

There's no way around a little bit of tinkering. But using an existing, proven CMS can be the most effortless way of getting an indie website. Many members of our community use a CMS. However many also don't. They use static pages which they edit in an editor or they use a static site generator. While not as convenient as a CMS, those solutions may work just as well.

Use an existing CMS or write your own?

Why re-use a CMS

Why you should re-use an existing CMS, and help contribute to it:

• There's no way around a little bit of tinkering. But using an existing, proven CMS can be the most effortless way of getting an indie website.
• Leverage the fruits of labor (millions of hours!) other people and CMS communities have invested.
• Benefit from domain experts in those communities. Watching for exploits and quickly shipping security patches is a key example. Small independent CMSes may generally be smaller targets, but are also less secure and hardened.
• Spend your time and energy on other projects that are more likely to be adopted by others and benefit the community
  • It takes a large amount of duplicated effort to get even a *barely* decent CMS, and almost all of that effort is duplicated
• It's usually a better use of effort, more collaborative and inspiring, and more community-oriented to join and improve an existing CMS like Known than build your own from scratch
• If you're not scratching your own itches as easily or fast as you'd like or making your CMS as or more awesome/beautiful than silos, then yes, stop writing your own CMS and use an existing one.

Why write your own

Why you should write your own CMS for your personal web site, in short:

• Scratch your own itches
• As long as people are posting to silos *instead of* posting to their own site, we lack good CMSs, and you should help by starting with your own.
  • Make it as awesome / beautiful or more than any silo you currently use
  • Nearly all existing CMSs suck at UI/UX compared to silos.
• A "barely decent" CMS may be exactly what more people can use - not these overdesigned behemoths that require nasty sysadmin work and have tons of regular security exploits
• People here have built amazing things because they started with the freedom and low learning curve of their own CMS
• More CMSs means more ways to rapidly iterate with UI - catching up in UI/UX is the #1 thing we're behind on compared to silos
• Existing communities tend to be monoculture laden and slower to change, slower to iterate, and may not share your priorities (e.g feature parity with silos).

Articles advocating your own

• 2003-04-23 Jeffrey Zeldman Unsyndicate
• 2003-04-23 Tantek Çelik Rolling your own

Examples

A list of available CMS and their tech requirements. Please also see our projects where community members show how their sites are built.

There's more. Please help keep this register updated. Also if you use any of these systems, please add your name.

See Also

• projects