Our Content Management System vs. Desktop Software
If you're trying to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of our content management websites against creating sites using desktop software such as Dreamweaver or Frontpage, read on. At the end of this article, you'll be convinced that it's time to convert your website to the Universal Web Services Content Management System.
Although popular, off-the-shelf products such as Microsoft® Frontpage®, now Expression Web and Adobe® Dreamweaver® don't offer the benefits that custom tailored content management system can provide. These products expect you to manage the design, content, navigation and search engine optimization of your website even though most users have absolutely zero experience in those areas.
Our content management system is custom built around your website, leaving you responsible for only one thing, the content. This means that you add, change and remove text, images, links and other content items without dealing with the other aspects of website creation that only get in the way. Our content management system keeps the website design, navigation and search engine optimization behind the scenes to keep you focused on what is most important - provided up-to-date content for your visitors.
The following table details the pros and cons of desktop software vs. our content management system.
| Content Management System | Desktop Software (Expression Web, DreamWeaver) | |
| Modifying content |
|
|
| Searching |
When you add or change content, it is automatically indexed and searchable through the search box on your site. |
Not Available |
| Search Engine Optimization (SEO) |
Automatic. Each time you add or change content on your site, it is automatically re-optimized for search engines such as Google. |
Manual SEO is required. |
| Manage Content Creators |
Easily add users with their own login and passowrd. Give them permission to modify content on areas of the website that you choose. |
Not Available |
| Price | $250 | DreamWeaver: $399 Expression Web: $299 |
| Portable |
Manage your website from any country, state, city, computer. As long as you have an internet connection, just log into your site and start making changes. |
Must purchase a copy of desktop software for each computer. Only update your site on computers which have the software installed. |
| Photo Gallery |
Built-in image resizing creates thumbnails automatically for you. Simply add a photo to the site and it will automatically place it in the gallery of your choice and thumbnail it. |
Not available |
| Undo |
Changes are not discarded when you close the website. You can undo changes that you made days earlier. |
Undo is only available during the current editing session. All undo memory is lost when you close the progam. |
| News and RSS |
Add press releases or other news content which will be automatically syndicated via RSS. |
Not available |
| Accessibility Compliant |
Meets or exceeds U.S. Government Section 508 and W3C's WAI-AA standards for sight and motor impaired individuals. |
Not available |
| Standards Compliant |
100% valid XHTML and CSS keeps search engines happy and ensures your website will function properly in future web browser versions. |
|
| Cross-Browser Support |
Your website will look and function as expected in all major web browsers including Internet Explorer, FireFox and Safari. |
Manual cross-browser support analysis is required. |
| Speed |
At the very first page load, all CSS and JavaScript is cached so it doesn't need to be reloaded for each subsequent page load. |
Not available |
| Navigation |
Automatically generate navigation elements. When you add a page, the navigation menu is updated for you, instantly providing a link to your new page. |
Manually build navigation menu. |
| Staging |
Ability to hide a page from public view while you are working on it. You can easily make pages visible and hide them as much as you like. The navigation is automatically updated when you hide a page or make it visible again. |
Not available. |