CMS, or Content Management System, is the system that allows a website administrator or owner to easily change and edit content (text, photos, etc) without any knowledge of HTML, and it’s widely used by web developers to create websites these days. Menus, text, text formatting, photos and even metatags (for SEO) are some of the things that can be modified with a CMS, which allows for faster customization, without the help of a developer or programmer.  CMS is offered in two formats – open source and closed source. Where closed source only allows the creators of the CMS to manage the content, open source allows many people to collaborate on the code to improve the website overall.

The most used Open Source CMS are through WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. However, there are other types that specialize in eShops, like Prestashop – being able to pick and choose from these options can allow one to choose the best type of CMS for their individual site.

Some of the advantages of using an open source CMS over a closed, customized or private one are:

Cost Effective: Open Source CMS is free. This is extremely beneficial for companies with lower budgets, as it cuts the cost of developing it down significantly.
Global Usage: A great advantage that Open Source CMS possesses is that it’s widely known and used by programmers worldwide, which presents a lot of flexibility for a person looking to hire a programmer. If you’re not satisfied with the performance of your developer, you can find many others who would be able to finish the job. That is not the case with closed source CMS.

Community Management: Having several people collaborate on the code allows for more interactivity and more options available for the client. Open Source CMS allows the web developer to add whatever they know will work or help.

Regular Updates: Open Source CMS code is usually updated regularly, which means lag and bugs will be removed with a very fast pace.