| Report on CMS Sites | June 232014 | |
Contents
Introduction. 2
Part-A.. 3
Website Description. 3
Purpose. 3
Part-B. 4
Technologies. 4
HTML. 4
CSS. 4
JavaScript and JQuery. 5
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor). 5
MySQL (Database). 5
Comparison of CMS Website with Less Effective Site. 5
Comparison of CMS Website with More Effective Site. 8
Recommendations for CMS Site. 10
Recommendations. 11
Security of CMS site. 11
Accessibility Tools for Websites. 13
Strategic Planning for CMS website. 15
Conclusion. 16
References. 17
Introduction
In this world of internet various web applications, websites and software are commonly used among people. Today any kind of information can be easily accessed through websites. Various websites such as static websites and ecommerce websites are so much popular among various users. Development of these websites is not any task, while developing of any website there is need to consider various security and programming parameters. To develop an ecommerce website developer can use concept of custom coding or they can work in CMS. CMS stands for content management system. Through CMS it is easy to develop website because through CMS developer need to install theme and then can do require changes in it. Most commonly use content management systems are Word Press, Joomla and Magento. Here we have a Joomla based ecommerce website. In this report we will discuss about all features, functionalities, positive and negative effects of this website. Following is the screenshot of that website:
Part-A
Website Description
This website is provide the information about that how content management system can provide various benefits to business organizations and what are the various new features available in CMS. We have chosen this website to collect information about the features of CMS.
Purpose
The purpose of this website is to provide information about that while developing any website through CMS what kind of functionalities and options need to be used in the website. In this website each feature and its functionality is described properly with their screenshots. This website consists of various options such as gallery, online store, shopping cart and also provide options for login into accounts. Besides this, website also provides information about the checkout and for online payment option. This website is developed is developed in Joomla CMS. The reason behind to choose this website is that because this website contains all features that are provided by Content Management System. Any content management system uses various technologies, in this report we will discuss about that technologies. In development of any ecommerce website it is necessary to know about these technologies.
Part-B
Technologies
Various CMS uses various kinds of technologies. In this website following technologies are used that are listed as below:
- HTML
- CSS(Cascading Style Sheet)
- JavaScript and JQuery
- PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)
- MySQL(Database)
These are some basic web technologies that are used commonly by the developers to develop an ecommerce website.
HTML
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This is used to design the layout of the website. This is the most common and easy to use web technology to make design layout of website. The new version of HTML is used today to make responsive designs that are compatible for any device screen. HTML5 provides various tags to make better design layout. In above CMS website tags of HTML and HTML5 are used to make the better layout of website such as <html>, <body>,<title>,<div>, <header>,<footer> etc.
CSS
CSS stands for cascading style sheet. CSS is used with HTML to format the website that is providing better color schemes, structure and layout. Now through new version of CSS that is CSS3 various animation effects can also be inserted in the website design.
JavaScript and JQuery
These are scripting languages that are also implemented in website. JavaScript is used to insert alerts, calculations and validations in the websites. In above CMS site, there is login, signup and contact forms are used. These forms contain validation at each field so that user cannot add wrong data in it. Besides this jQuery is also used for same purpose, but it also provide some advance features, with the help of jQuery the design layout of the website can become more attractive and impressive. JQuery provides various options such as toggle options, dropdown options and slider effects.
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)
PHP is powerful programming language that is used to develop Content Management System. Through PHP a powerful dynamic language can be developed. PHP is a secure language through this language a secure website can be developed. PHP is flexible and easy to use language. Various powerful features and functions are provided by PHP language. Content management system is also developed in the PHP language.
MySQL (Database)
Database is an essential factor of any CMS website. Database work at backend and provide support to manage the large information of the website. Database functionality must also be properly managed by the developers. Most suitable databases that are used for storing information online and offline as well are Oracle and MySQL databases and information can be easily retrieved and modified through queries from these databases.
These are the essential and easy to use web technologies that are implemented in this website. Besides this other web technologies such as Ajax, DHTML and XML can be used. These technologies also put various new features and functionalities to the website.
Comparison of CMS Website with Less Effective Site
This website has various new options and features that are provided by this ecommerce website. This website has various good things that make this website impressive and easy to use. The design layout of this website is very much impressive. The structure of website is also very flexible and easy to navigate. Some good features of this website are listed as below:
- Color Scheme of Website
- Navigation Bar
- Account Login for Individual User
- Information in proper readable format
- Use of new plug-ins and themes
Color Scheme of Website
This website has beautiful color scheme that provide this website a good look and feel. This color combination of this website attracts the users towards itself.( Lightcms.com,2014) Color scheme always put effects on the layout of this website. In this website grey and blue color combination and that provides a better look to the website.
Navigation Bars
Navigation bar contains menus which are linked with various pages of website. Through menus it is become easy to navigate the website. In above website various menus are used such as Overview, Design, Content, Gallery, Contact etc. These menus further have sub menus that are listed in dropdown. These menus are linked with their web pages. All important links of a website are displayed in the menu bar.( Builtwith.com,2014.) Each website must have this menu bar, so that any user can visit the website through these menus. Most common links of any website are Home, About Us, FAQs , How it Works and Contact Us.
Account Login for individual user
In this CMS website has login and signup options. From this any user can get registration on this website and can create its account on website. From login page user can easily do login. If a user has account on website then it becomes easy to maintain the record about that user. Above website provide this feature.
Information in proper readable format
Another good thing about this website is that all information is displayed on this website in proper and accurate format. Information is displayed on this website with images and it makes this website more understandable.
Use of new plug-ins and themes
This website is developed in Joomla content management system. That is why this website provides options to install new plug-ins and themes in this website to enhance the performance and overall functionality of the website. On internet various plug-ins are available for Joomla websites such as plug-ins for order management, live chat and various other plug-ins. Developers can installed these plug-ins into website according to their choice. Besides this, CMS website also has feature to install new themes to provide the better look and feel to the website. Various themes are available on the internet and any theme can be installed from the admin panel of CMS. After installing themes developer can do modifications in it. New theme can also be installed in above website according to the requirements.
These are some good things about this website. There is another website that is developed in Joomla Content Management System. That website is less effective than the above discussed website. The screenshot of that website is given as below:
This is another website which is based on Joomla and this website is not so much effective in the comparison of above discussed website.
This website has very much simple front view. The color combination of this website is very much light and dull. Besides this website has not so much impressive look. The navigation bar of this website is also very simple. Besides this, website does not have impressive features such as navigation bar and all other features. Whether this website is also an ecommerce website but the layout of this website is not so much impressive. Another factor is that this website does not provide options for login and register. That is why through this website user cannot do login into their accounts. These are some deficiencies in this website; otherwise both of these websites are able to provide features and functionalities.
Comparison of CMS Website with More Effective Site
As we have discussed above various features of CMS website that is LightCMS.com. This website is effective and able to provide better functionality that is expected from the any CMS website. But today various new features are available in other CMS websites that must also be implemented in this website. There is a website that is more effective than this website the screenshot of this website is given as below:
This is also a Joomla based CMS site. This website also has better look and design which is given in above discussed website. But this website provides facilities in case of functionality.
According to above website layout, this website displays all product at home page. This is not a simple listing of products; the products are displayed in the form of slider. This provides an impressive way to display various products online. This website also provides add to cart option with the products, through this option customer can add that particular product in the shopping cart. This website also has login and signup options. This website is basically an ecommerce website which is developed in Joomla CMS. This website consists of dropdown menus, left navigation bar that displays various categories of various products. Basically the structural view of this website is easy to understand and in sequential format. This website also provides option for advance search and this provides a better way to search the various products on the website.
This website is fully featured ecommerce website which is developed in Joomla. The other website which we have already discussed above that is :
This website does not contain such features. The structure of this website is not so easy as compare to above given ecommerce website. In this CMS site, it is little bit difficult to find the listing and detail pages. Whenever any new user will come on to this site then it will be difficult for that user to find information.
Recommendations for CMS Site
This is the website https://www.lightcms.com/ which we have discussed throughout this report. In this report we have discussed about the features and functionalities of this website. This
Report contains the comparison of this website with other less effective and more effective websites than this website. The website which is more effective than this website has better functionality and layout options. That is why this https://www.lightcms.com/ website needs some improvements in functionality. Following are some recommendations that are necessary for this website.
Recommendations
- First of all in above website it is necessary that each service that is provided by this website must be listed in proper format, so that any new user on this website can easily choose products and services.
- The most important option of this website is Store. That webpage provides information regarding that how products and services need to display on website and what features that websites must contained. This option must be available in top menu navigation rather than in dropdown menu, because this is an important link.
- This website is an informative website that provides information on a particular topic. This website can be more impressive if this website contains some video options in it. Besides this, option for live chat can be also being provided in this website, so that if user has any query then user can contact with customer care to get more information.
- The layout of this website can be better than now, by using better color schemes and options.
Security of CMS site
Security is the best option that must be considered by any website. While using content management system it is also necessary to take care about the security of website.( Knapp,2012) Today there are various issues that are related to the cyber ethics issues such hacking and phishing are considered. In this situation it is necessary to take care about these security issues. The various security issues that are encountered by CMS sites are listed below:
- The biggest issue for any CMS site is related to the security of users. All users who register on the website must have secure password and username; due to less strong password it becomes easy for the hackers to access the information from their accounts.
- The other major issue of CMS site is that all these sites are dynamic and use various web applications and APIs in website that is why it is easy to hack these websites.
- CMS sites use open source system; these systems can be easily installed and hosted on the shared environment. There is a weakness of shared environment systems that it can be easily hacked through hackers and besides this if user uses less strong password of FTP and databases then it become easier for the hackers to access the information.
- On CMS sites various Add on modules are used and that modules are less secure than in-built modules. These modules also put vulnerable effect over the security of website.
- Various web technologies that are used by the Content Management System can also put bad effects over the website.
These are some common issues that are considered for any website whether it is developed in the word press or in Joomla content management system. In website about which we have already discussed in this report also encounters these security issues. All above discuss security issues must be considered by the developers while developing any site. If there is less security in website then it can be easily affected by the various vulnerable effects. To get prevention from these security issues following solutions need to be implemented.( Walton,2014) The various solutions to get prevention from security issues are discussed as below:
- Backup
- Updates
- Avoid free themes and plug-ins
- Secure login and password
Backup
According to above discussed security issues it has become easy for the hackers to hack the information from any website. Through this hacking, whole data can be corrupted or hacked by the hackers. In this case it is necessary to take periodic backup of any website’s information. This is the feature of content management system that it provides options for data backup and recovery. Through those options users can easily take backups of data and information. CMS site also have options to install plug-ins in their websites that can automatically take backups from website after a particular time period. This is a useful option for automatic backup of website, if data get corrupt accidently.
Updates
CMS websites must be periodically updated. To keep update any website it is necessary to install some plug-ins that can regularly update the version of CMS. Developers of CMS websites are now developing new patches for updating website.
Avoid Free Themes and Plug-ins
CMS provides option to install various third party plug-ins which are installed to enhance the performance and ability of the website. But these free available themes and plug-ins can have vulnerable attachments that can put bad effect over the website. That is why it is necessary to avoid these free plug-ins and themes for installing in the website. These vulnerable attachments can put various effects on the functionalities of the whole website.
Secure Login and Password
Secure login and password are also better options for provide security to the website. Developers must used solid passwords for FTP and Databases and that password must be difficult to hack. This is better and secure way to get prevention from hacking. Besides this user must also have solid password and username for personal accounts on website. If user have solid username and passwords then it will be difficult for hackers to access this login information.
These are some solutions to prevent the website from vulnerable attacks. The website about which we have discussed in this report can use same security options to get prevention from hacking and phishing attacks.
Accessibility Tools for Websites
Today it is become necessary to test the accessibility of any website. Accessibility tools check all features of website properly such as structure, color and others. This whole process is done under the process of testing. While doing testing various accessibility tools are used that checks that website is accessible or not. Various accessibility tools are listed as below:
- Color Contrast Check
- W3C HTML Validator
- W3C Link Checker
- W3C CSS Validator
- Cynthia Says Portal
- Wave
- Achecker
Color Contrast Checker
This accessibility tool is used to test the foreground and background color choices of websites.
W3C HTML Validator
This accessibility tool is very much useful to validate the HTML web pages. HTML webpage contains various errors related to closing and opening of tags, missing tag attributes and div is closed after wrong tag. These kinds of errors can cause issues in SEO and this is the unstructured way of HTML. Through this accessibility it becomes easy to find out these errors and after knowing about these errors it is become easy to resolve these errors.
W3C Link Checker
Sometimes in website it is happened that some links or buttons are linked with any web page of that particular website. It means that buttons and links do not have any URL to link with web page. In this case, it is considered as broken link. This is an unprofessional way of linking. All pages and buttons must be properly linked. With the help of W3C Link Checker it is become easy to identify the various broken links on a website and then that pages can be linked. This tool is considered as so much useful.
W3C CSS Validator
This accessibility tool is used identify various bugs in cascading style sheet by validating W3C CSS Validator. This accessibility tool validates the CSS of webpage and if there is any bug in the CSS then that can be erected by the developer. Basically it is difficult to identify the bugs in CSS or HTML, but with the help of these validating tools it has become easy.
Cynthia Says Portal
This tool is used to evaluate the online accessibility of the website. It is necessary to evaluate the accessibility of the website. That is why it is considered that this tool is essential.
WAVE
This tool works same as above discuss tool that is this tool is also used for online evaluation of website.
Achecker
Achecker is also another tool that can be used to identify the online evaluation of any website.
These are some common and essential accessibility tools that can be used while doing testing of any website. Today for security purpose it has become so much necessary to test the accessibility of the website. (Web.calstatela.edu,2014)
Here in this report we have discussed about three websites for comparison. We have also tested these websites through these accessibility tools. In the result it is found that these websites have bugs. Some tags are missing in these websites and some tags are not closed properly.
| Websites | W3C HTML Checker | W3C CSS Checker | W3C Link checker |
| http://www.lightcms.com/ | 7 errors, 22 warnings | 100 errors regarding CSS | 5 broken links |
| http://www.opine.in/joomla-based-projects.php | 18 errors | 9 error regarding CSS | 3 broken links |
Here we have compared two websites. After validating these websites with W3C HTML, W3C CSS and W3C link checkers, we found above errors report and missing links. From this report it is cleared that both websites contain some errors and warnings and also there are some missing links in these websites. Now it has become necessary to remove these bugs and missing links. Accessibilities tools are so much beneficial to find out these kinds of errors and bugs from the website that is why these are considered as so much useful. These tools provide options to validate the structure of the website.
Strategic Planning for CMS website
The website which we have discussed in this report http://www.lightcms.com/, this website is a Joomla based website and contain various features. This website is a responsive website that is this website is compatible for all desktop screens that are different in size. Today responsive designs of websites are so commonly preferred by the website users. Responsive websites will be properly visible on any screen. For developing any website whether it is responsive or not need proper strategy plan for implementation. In this website to make website responsive CSS3 and HTML5 has been used. These web technologies provide media orientation for making website responsive. Besides this new HTML5 tags are also useful for making responsive design. Besides this these two web technologies also provide various options for inserting animation effects in the website. With the help of HTML5 and CSS3 an impressive look can be provided to the website design. Various new technologies are also implemented in websites to enhance the design and performance.
Before developing any website it is necessary to make strategy that what will be the structure of the website and which component need to be placed at proper place. In strategic planning of website all technologies, components and various features of the websites are considered. That is why strategic planning is considered an essential task. In case of content management system it is become so much necessary to implement the strategic planning. Because in case of CMS a new theme is installed and in that theme all modifications are done, that is why planning is necessary for each step. Through planning there is no need to waste time to decide that which component will be better for website and how it will be used. All these factors are considered in the planning. While planning, it is also necessary to consider the security of the website. That is why it is necessary to identify various security tools to prevent the system from various security issues. This is the responsibility of the developers to consider these important factors.
Conclusion
After this discussion about CMS sites we can say that Content Management System is the most convenient option for developing any website. It is able to provide various new features that can be beneficial for website. But while developing website through CMS it is necessary to take care about the design layout, structure and overall functionality of website. Besides this security of website must also be considered by the developers while development. Before start implementation in CMS it is necessary to have a strategic plan and in that plan it must be properly describes which section of the theme need to be modified and how. CMS website requires little bit more awareness as compare to custom sites.
References
Lightcms.com,2014. Information about CMS site
Available at http://www.lightcms.com/ [Accessed on June, 2014]
Opine.in, 2014. More about Joomla CMS based website
Available at www.opine.in/joomla-based-projects.php [Accessed on June, 2014]
Web.calstatela.edu,2014. What are various accessibility tools??
Available at http://web.calstatela.edu/accessibility/tools.php [Accessed on June, 2014]
Knapp,2012. What are the security issues of CMS sites?
Available at http://www.upanupstudios.com/security-of-open-source-cms-versus-proprietary-cms/ [Accessed on June, 2014]
Namecheep.com,2014. Solutions for security issues of CMS sites
Available at https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/9156/2194/cms-security-issues-wordpress-security-and-optimization [Accessed on June, 2014]
Powermapper.com,2014. More about accessibility tools of websites
Available at http://www.powermapper.com/products/sortsite/ads/acc-accessibility-testing.htm [Accessed on June, 2014]
Rouse,2014. Features of Joomla websites
Available at http://www.youneeditall.com/cms/joomla-features.html [Accessed on June, 2014]
Builtwith.com,2014. Web technologies used by CMS
http://trends.builtwith.com/cms [Accessed on June, 2014]
searchsoa,2014. What is CMS
Available at http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/content-management-system [Accessed on June, 2014]
Walton,2014. Security of CMS
Available at http://www.rackspace.com/blog/content_management_system_comparison_security/ [Accessed on June, 2014]
