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What is a CMS (Content Management System) ? |
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A static web site is like a printed brochure, it supplies the visitor with lots of information about your organization. It does not change from day to day. The same information is displayed six months from now as today.
A dynamic web site has content that change frequently, daily, weekly, sometimes every time you refresh the screen. Examples of dynamic content are newsletters, classified ads, discussion forums.
There are 3 approaches to building a web site that has changing content:
Custom designed site - in this case you have a design firm build a site and have them change content when needed. This means you pay every time you want a change on your site, or you purchase and learn the tools to change the site yourself.
Custom designed web application - in this case you have a web site built that has a back-end or administrator area where you can login and change content via custom screens. This type of web application would be designed specifically to your requirements. It could require a lot of programmer time up front to build and will be expensive. Adding a new feature (like classified ads) means paying a programmer to build the new functionality and administration into the site.
Content Management system - a CMS is a pre built web application specifically designed to allow a non-programmer to maintain (add/change/remove) content from the web site. The core system allows you to add any content pages you like. The system is designed to support add-on features so you can add functionality for little or no cost. This building block approach allows you to create a site with features you want without paying a programmer to create a custom new items.
Delegate to spread the work. The administrator can create other admin or manager accounts to maintain some or all of the site content.
A CMS is the most cost effective way to get a feature rich web site up and running. The down side to a CMS is that it is not built just for you, you do not have 100% control over how it works or how it looks. The CMS we use offers many features and is flexible in its ability to change look via templates.
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Is a CMS difficult to learn? |
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There is some learning required however we chose a CMS that has a good administration side user interface. Adding a new page, for example, is quite like creating a document in any word processor. There is good user's guide and several 3rd party books that can help you conquer the learning curve.
There is an especially good book on Mambo that is applicable to Joomla as well, Mambo: Your visual blueprint for building and maintaining Web sites with the Mambo Open Source CMS
We offer administrator support and packages where we do the content entry for you.
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Do I have to use your templates or can I supply my own? |
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You can use any Joomla template. There are many, many templates available off the Internet. Some are free, some not. The templates we supply are original designs modified to include your association name and image(s).
We can also make a template from your current web site. Call or email for an estimate.
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Can I add other add-ons? |
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Yes, your administrator account will have full control and can add any Joomla add-on. Or, if you find an add-on and want us to install it that can be arranged also.
We can also make a template from your current web site. Call or email for an estimate.
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Can we make PDF files available? |
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Yes, it is quite simple to upload a PDF file then add a link into any content page. We have samples to show you how.
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How do I get all my accounts setup? Do I have to do them manually? |
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If you can supply an excel spreadsheet or even a text document with names and email addresses, we can import them into the system for you. We set them with a standard password which the resident could change when they login. |
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How long does it take to get problems fixed? |
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I make every effort to deal with problems within 24 hours (less that that usually) but I am a one man operation and if I get exceptionally busy it may take longer.
Please Note:
Joomla and the supplied modules and components are open source and supported by their authors or the community. What that means is that changes to the way something works are not likely to be accommodated and fixes to problems are subject to the authors timetable. If a problem is identified to me I will investigate immediately and apply a known fix if one is available.
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How do I get problems resolved? |
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As the 'Website Service' concept is a new offering, I have no defined protocols established yet. You would email me and I investigate.
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How much web space storage? |
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I have not defined limits at this time. I know about how much space a condo association will need based on my other customers. As long as the spaced used is reasonable and fit-for-purpose (ie: related to running a condo, no music file sharing, etc) then I am flexible.
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What about design support? |
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I will make minor modifications to a template and/or front page to personalize it to your association (photos of the complex, etc). Content will be pretty standard and look like the demo site. I have no problem granting admin access if you or one of your residents wants to take an active roll in content creation and get fancy with content pages. |
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What about admin support? |
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I am always available to answer email questions and, as stated above, if you want your own admin access that is ok too. |
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