CMS And The Evolution of Contemporary Web Design is a paper I presented at the CMS Africa Summit 2017, in Abuja, Nigeria, which describes how web design evolved over the years and how the emergence of CMSs changed entirely the way we traditionally build, manage and deploy websites. It also outlined the advantages and disadvantages of content management systems.

1. TOPIC:
CMS AND THE EVOLUTION OF CONTEMPORARY WEB DESIGN
By: Khamis M. Mustafa
CEO Nigtech Web Services
3rd & 4th March Abuja Nigeria

2. Internet
The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer
networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link
devices worldwide.
It is a network of networks that consists of private, public,
academic, business, and government networks of local to global
scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical
networking technologies.
-Wikipedia

3. The World Wide Web (or the Web) is an
information space where documents and other
web resources are identified by Uniform Resource
Locators (URLs), interlinked by hypertext links,
and can be accessed via the Internet.

4. The World Wide Web began as a CERN project
named ENQUIRE, initiated by Tim Berners-Lee
in 1989
He wrote the first web browser computer
program in 1990 while employed at CERN in
Switzerland.
The Web browser was released outside of
CERN in 1991 to research institutions first and
to the general public on the Internet in August
1991.

5.  This NeXT Computer used by British scientist Sir
Tim Berners-Lee at CERN became the first Web
server.

6. The line-mode browser was launched in
1992
It was the first readily accessible browser
for the World Wide Web

8. The Earliest incarnation World Wide
Web

9. The worldwideWeb for NeXT was the first web
browser.

10. A static website consists of a number web pages
with fixed content where each page displays the
same information to every visitor.
Static website pages contain fixed HTML code
and the content of each page does not change
unless manually updated by the designer or
webmaster.

11. Static can work well for smaller websites or sites
with a short life span and few content updates.
For the larger websites or ones where content is
updated regularly, a dynamic website with a
content management system would be the
preferred choice.

12. Browsers
The birth of browsers that could display images was
the first step into web design as we know it.
In 1993, browser software was further innovated by
Marc Andreessen with the release of Mosaic, "the
world's first popular browser“ which made the World
Wide Web system easy to use and more accessible
to the average person.

13. In early 90s, there was no such thing as "high-speed"
when it came to internet connections. It was dial-up
modem.
In the mid-90s designers began to use table-based
layouts to organize their content, allowing for
greater flexibility and creativity.

14. Graphical design elements also quickly grew in
popularity. Page hit counters, animated text, and
dancing GIFs are just a few of the graphical
elements that mark this period in web design.

15. Dreamweaver and Microsoft Expression Web are
web design and development tools that combines
a visual design surface and a code editor.
They have standard features such as syntax
highlighting, code completion, and code
collapsing as well as more sophisticated features
such as real-time syntax checking and code
introspection.

16. Major rebirth of the Web design has occurred with the
introduction of Flash in 1996.
Flash soon became popular that it opened up a world
of design possibilities that weren't possible with basic
HTML.
It was the marriage of virtual graphics and object
interactions.

17. The early 2000s brought with it an increase of support
for CSS, which allowed for the separation of content
and design.
This gave greater creative freedom to both web
designers and content developers.
Content could now be developed exclusively from
design, and vice versa. This made websites easier to
maintain more flexible

18. The Industrial Revolution of web design begins
with the birth of Web 2.0
The growth of multimedia applications, the
implementation of interactive content, and the rise
of the social web are a few definitive features of
this period.

19. A content management system (CMS) is a software application
that is used to create and manage digital content.
They are typically used for enterprise content management
(ECM) and web content management (WCM).
Both systems facilitates collaboration in the workplace by
integrating document management, digital asset management
and records retention functionalities.
They also provides end users with role-based access to the
organization's digital assets.

20. Both ECM and WCM systems have two components in
common: The content management application (CMA) and a
content delivery application (CDA).
The CMA is a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the user
to control the creation, modification and removal of content from
a website without deep HTML Knowledge.
The CDA component provides the back-end services that
support management and delivery of the content once it has
been created in the CMA.

21. Multiple content editors
Full customizable template support
Content centric
Ease of use
In-Built Security
Analytics Support
SEO-friendly URLs
Group-based permission systems
Search and Retrieval
Format Management
Support and Online Help
Easy wizard-based install and
versioning procedures
Admin panel with multiple language
support
Content hierarchy with unlimited depth
and size
Minimal server requirements
Integrated file managers
Integrated audit logs
And many more….

22. WordPress is a free and open source WCMS based on PHP and
MySQL.
WordPress can be utilized as part of an internet hosting service
(WordPress.com) or deployed on a local computer to act as its
own web server (WordPress.org).
The abundance of plugins allows you to achieve virtually
anything with WordPress site. By using free and paid
themes you can easily customize your website’s look

23. Joomla is another free and open source WCMS written in PHP
and built on MVC framework.
Joomla is a bit more complex than WordPress with reasonable
percentage of the web running on it.
Joomla is extremely rich in features and supports all the features
used to create virtually any website.
It is predominantly used for small to mid-tier e-commerce
websites.

24. Drupal is one of the most comprehensive open source CMSs
available, outranking both WordPress and Joomla in terms of
complexity.
It is considered an enterprise-class CMS (ECMS), allowing
developers to readily integrate it with SAP or other similar
applications.
It’s a great platform for creating tailor-made eCommerce
websites or any large projects where power, scalability and
stability are the most important elements.

25. Hidden implementation costs for perfecting the system to meet up with users
need
Heavy Server Resources: Some CMSs like Joomla can put a load on your
server resources
Hidden Technical Expertise Requirements: If users have an aversion to learning
the basics of using a CMS, the usage of a CMS will not be as efficient. This
means that hiring experienced staff or contracting technical help might be
necessary
Maintenance: In the wrong hands, an unmaintained and outdated CMS can do
a lot of harm to a website and lead to serious security vulnerabilities
Direct support: for community-based CMS systems, direct support may not be
easy to find, and you have to rely on user forums and existing documentation.

26. As with most things, there is a time and place for
sitewide CMS.
Have a wonderful time at CMS Africa Events
Thank you for your time!