Charm City Websites deploys a content management system (CMS) as a framework for your website. A content management system (CMS) allows for easy adding/editing of content using an online editor, plug and play features (pages, ecommerce/stores, forms, blogs, photo galleries, etc.) without the need for custom development (expensive). As a result of content management system code being used by millions of people, the code for your website is significantly more secure than that of a custom developed website and at a significant fraction of the price.
Using a CMS allows for easy updates/facelifts later and the ability to add new plug-and-play features quickly and without custom development costs. Charm City Websites prefers to use the Drupal content management system (see here who uses Drupal: https://drupal.com/showcases), one of the top five content management systems used in the world today. It is used for both small personal websites, all the way up to powerful, full featured company and government (highly secure) sites. It is also FREE to use; open-source. As a result, out of the box, you will get access to thousands of solid, secure features if you chose to expand what your site can do.
The bottom line here is that instead of charging you for custom development of a website (usually thousands to tens of thousands or more for larger enterprises), Charm City Websites will only be charging to setup the look and feel of your site (referred to as a “theme”), add your content and media (no programming needed, the CMS does all that), and integrate plug-and-play features into the site. You will be pleasantly surprised by the low out of pocket expense for a custom, powerful, fully scalable website that meets your company’s needs.
Following the same frame of thought (not paying thousands for custom development of unstable, insecure code for your website); Charm City Websites will provide you with an appropriate selection of high quality, professional, modern, media-rich themes that control where on the page your content will appear.
Themes control things like:
- Where your navigation menu will appear (top, left, right)
- Typography used (fonts, colors, decorations, etc.)
- Background colors
- How the page is cut-up into regions where different types of content may appear on the same page (i.e., on your about us page, you have a welcome block of content, and About Us block of content and a Featured Projects block of content)
- Where your logo may appear
- Where you tagline or slogan may appear
Themes DO NOT control what content appears on your site; you do. That means we can make an entirely unique website, with ALL of your own content, using a theme you like without having to spend thousands of dollars with a graphic artists designing something that most likely, with regard to how the pages are sectioned, has already been designed thousands of times before.
Often with CMS themes, the theme provides the base look-and-feel and the site designer completes the rest with all of your own content and media. Themes are also VERY flexible. They allow the site designer to change certain characteristics (logo, slogan/tagline, menus (and their positions), typography, colors, without writing or editing any code, saving you hundreds in nickel-and-dime editing fees.
During the discovery stage we will review your company’s look-and-feel requirements, then provide you with an adequate number of samples for you to review. Once a basic theme has been selected, the customizations for your company needs will begin.
Here is a simple outline of the steps we take to build your website:
- Discovery (understand your needs/requirements)
- Install the Content Management System
- Selection and install a theme
- Customizations
- Setup your sites meta data (contact information, name, logo, slogan, etc.)
- Create content (pages, photos, etc.)
- Implementation of plug-and-play features
- Testing
- Tweaks
- Go-Live
Seriously, that's it.
If you have any questions about the design and development process we use, please contact us and we will provide you with quick answers.