Custom CMS Platforms

Creating Your Ideal Content Management System (CMS)

You might have heard the term content management system (CMS) or content management application (CMA). While these have different acronyms, each of these is committed to creating a usable platform for businesses to store information, streamline practices and keep users organized. There are dozens of pre-built CMS platforms to choose from but these won’t always suit the needs of your business. The goal of any CMS platform is to make your daily operations simple and more efficient but this is tough to do when you are bogged down with bulky code, unnecessary features and oversized media. If you are struggling to find an open source CMS that suits the needs of your business, a custom built platform is the answer.

Security: Running a business often means dealing with sensitive details and financial information. This makes security is a top priority, not only for you but for your clients as well. Using a popular pre-built CMS platform means using software applications with built-in vulnerabilities that potential security threats are already familiar with. With a recognizable framework, it is easy for hackers to target your platforms. A custom CMS is a major deterrent because they are unfamiliar with your systems and it is a risk to try to break in. Pre-built systems rely on service providers for security measures which can leave a lot to be desired. When building a custom content management system, you can work alongside developers, relaying security needs and making sure that you having sufficient measures in place.

Meet Specific Needs: Custom CMS solutions provide an easy to use program not only for your own use but for other staff members. Depending on the structure of your business, a pre-made CMS may not meet all of your requirements leaving you to manage multiple apps all at once. This means using one program to manage your schedule, anther to manage invoicing and another to store customer information. Shuffling from program to program increases security risks and increases the chance that details will slip through the cracks, being forgotten. A custom built CMS can be designed to fit a multitude of programs including popular practical applications like Quickbooks, Google Calendar and more.

Flexibility: When working with an experienced developer, the sky is the limit when it comes to your custom CMS design. As a business owner, you have a sense of what type of user experience you would like to have and as long as it’s possible, a good developer can make it happen. By offering options for a generic customer framework that we have constructed ourselves, as well as the option for a top to bottom unique built, you can create your ideal CMS according to the needs of your unique business needs and budget.

Unique Style: As a business you have spent considerable time, energy and money creating a unique and recognizable brand and your company resources should reflect that. A customized CMS means having control over the colour, fonts, style, features and graphics.

Accessible Support: When working with a pre-made platform reaching any kind of tech support means going through multiple channels just trying to reach someone. This wastes time and creates a bottleneck to your overall productivity. Having a custom-built program with a reliable developer means being able to pick up the phone and reach an actual person who has expert knowledge on your needs and specifications, as well as already understanding how your CMS is built and structured for efficient updates.

Digital Content Storage: If your business relies heavily on graphics and/or social media, a custom CMS can act as a place to store and share content, helping to keep you organized. Communal folders can store many different types of content from graphics and videos, blog posts as well as marketing materials including vector files, logos and pre-built collateral like flyers, business cards and print ads. When built by an experienced developer like the ones at Quake Media, adding valuable resources is as simple as a drag and drop into a folder for later use. This type of content delivery application CDA is not only a communal space to share usable graphics, it is a safeguard to prevent losing collateral and designs. You would hate to drop your phone or laptop and lose hours of hard work, so store it in your custom CMS for safe keeping.

Create Your Own User Roles: A custom CMS allows administrators to create a tiered access system through different types of user roles and access. Not every member of your team needs access to every aspect of your CMS. For example, your marketing team won’t need access to customer files and your technicians or salespersons won’t need access to company financial records. By creating different user roles, you can control who has access to what aspect of your CMS, avoiding potential issues and mistakes.

Increased Speed: A custom CMS will load faster than other pre-fabricated backend programs. Because a custom-built platform only runs the necessary programs and is not weighed down by unnecessary code and features, you can expect faster speeds.

Avoid Disruptive Updates: Whenever using an open source CMS you are at the mercy of updates. The goal of a system update is to improve functionality but if you have added any custom features to a pre-made CMS, a program update will erase all of these. This means losing out on functionality, as well as wasting the time and energy that you put into your own additions.