Database Designs can provide a full range of web design services from the initial strategic assessment and planning phase, through site design, visual design, implementation, producing and posting content, integration of internal databases and third party software enhancement, and post-launch consulting to optimize your site and integrate it with your overall communications plan.
Why consider a Content Management System (CMS) for your website?
In 2011, we believe that the majority of organizations undertaking a website redesign or launching a new website would benefit from the use of a content management system. Content management software allows you to post a wide variety of content including news, articles, photos, pod casts, video and other material to your web site. No programming languages or design tools are necessary.
A CMS also allows a designer to create a consistent “look and feel” for your website by creating templates and style sheets. People who are not designers can edit and create new content without having to worry about how to keep a consistent, professional appearance.
The number of quality content management systems available to choose from for clients with every kind of budget has grown enormously ofer the last few years. A CMS is the way to go if you are launching a new site or undertaking a significant overhaul of your existing site.
We have found that Drupal and WordPress can meet a wide range of our clients' needs.
Why the Drupal Open Source CMS?
In 2007, after some careful investigation, Database Designs adopted Drupal as its Open Source CMS of choice. With the passage of time, it seems clear that we made the right decision. Drupal won CNET’s 100 best web products award in 2009 and has come out at the top of the list in many independent comparisons of content management systems.
Some advantages of adopting Drupal as your CMS
Drupal is Open Source software which means–at that most basic level–it is free. There are no licensing fees for use of the software.
Drupal is web-based. It can be administered and maintained using any web browser. Once your website is built, you can login from any computer anywhere in the world and you are ready to work. There is no additional software that you need to have installed on your computer.
Drupal software is being improved and expanded at a rapid pace. Drupal is based on the Open Source philosophy of collaborative software development. At drupal.org, a worldwide community of developers contributes new features, security updates, documentation and support. This year, drupal.org released drupal 7.0 which represents significant improvement to the software.
The last International Drupal Conference was held in March 2011 in Chicago and attracted over 4,000 people from all over the world representing Drupal developers, designers and users from many fields including educational institutions, non-profits of all sizes and for-profit businesses.
As with Linux and Firefox, which are also Open Source software, Drupal is maturing with business and foundation support ensuring continuing funding for development, including major backers such as IBM, Google, Yahoo, Sony BMG and the Knight Foundation. A major sign of drupal's popularity strength: it powers the website at whitehouse.gov.
Drupal code is accessible to you and any developer of your choice. Drupal is built with the most popular Open Source language and database platform of the web, PHP and MySQL. With a proprietary CMS, the company controls the code. If you are unhappy with the company and want to mak a change, you face the prospect of having to start from scratch. With Open Source software you have full access to the code behind your website.
Drupal comes with an extensive “builder’s kit” of pre-designed components or modules. These modules can seamlessly integrate blogs, calendars, polls, collaborative work environments and forums as well as other sophisticated tools. The modules can be turned on and used “out-of-the-box” by relatively novice developers. In the hands of an experienced web developer, they can be customized to perform complex integration of data and provide multiple display options to meet your organization’s specific requirements.
Drupal allows you to give different type of access and assign different roles to different people. This is important if you need to assign different responsibilities to different people within your organization in maintaining the website. It also is crucial if want to create an extensive networked community with many different levels of participation and access.
Read our Introduction to Drupal for more information. See a list of websites built in drupal.
Why WordPress Open Source CMS?
WordPress is one of the fastest growing open-source web publishing platforms in the world. While it started off in the “blogosphere” as a free service, it has evolved into a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a robust system for structuring full-featured, high functioning websites. It is supported by thousands of developers who have created free or “please donate” plugins providing a rich array of features and functionality.
While thousands of folks are able to set up their WordPress sites without reliance on the services of a professional web designer or developer, we do work with clients on developing WordPress sites which require careful design and branding, organizing of significant amount of content and/or installation and customization of numerous plugins.
WordPress can be the perfect solution for the small business or small non-profit or sole proprietor without a huge amount of data being processed on the site and a limited budget.
