Many options for content management are available and on the market for organizations to choose from. So, how do you know what CMS features are useful? And specifically, how do you know which package employs useful features that your organization can implement with little overhead? It is important to determine a clear mission for your content management system.

Here are some of the features that you may want to look for in an open source content management system:

1. Simple template creation, utilizing little or no programming. This will keep your content management implementation costs at a minimum.
2. Ability to use search engine friendly URLS (web addresses) that will increase the effectiveness of your content management system generated web pages.
3. Ability to easily designate and manage hierarchy of user groups, setting permissions and access levels to content, specifically when your content management is aimed at delivery of custom personalized web content.
4. Ability to set content publish and expiration dates and times within the content entry templates.
5. Ability to specify different content entry templates for different types of users designated within the CMS.
6. Ability to upload and display multimedia content to your content management system.
7. Scalability. This means that your content management system should have the option included to use pre-build or custom build add-ons to the existing software.

So, in addition to being easy to install and easy to manage your content management system needs to give you options such as those listed above in order to truly meet your content delivery needs. You will want to minimize the time required by designers and programmers in customization of your CMS templates and installation. Your requirement is to get your content onto the web as quickly as possible and insisting that your commercial content management system or open source content management system meet your needs is showing that your organization planned properly for the CMS implementation.

Once you have selected an appropriate CMS solution, and you understand the specific options available, the steps for using a CMS are fairly simple:

1. User authenticates to the CMS system, via a web browser
2. User selects appropriate collection, if applicable.
3. User selects a task to perform (a.k.a. workflow)
4. If adding content, the user indicates what type of content will be added to the CMS. The user will then select the appropriate template within which they can enter the content. Perhaps the user will have the ability to customize or add a template upon necessity.
5. If administering a website, the user will select a sub-task such as re-ordering sections, adding or removing sections, etc.
6. Once the user has completed the desired tasks, they can review the changes in the browser window – to ensure that correct changes have occurred.

Number 3, Workflow, is an important structure to be examined closely in the implementation of a content management solution. An easy way to determine your CMS workflow is to simply examine the content production methods currently utilized by your organization. Consider these ideas:

1. Content needs to be added to a written document. Who generates the content? Who edits the content? Who approves the content?

2. Content is often time-sensitive. Who determines the lifespan of the content? Who decides when the content is no longer applicable or when it needs replaced?

3. Who has the right, in your organization, to change the answers to the questions posed in the above two bullets? That person should probably be able to modify the workflow process of content adding/editing/updating as necessary.

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