As the age of the internet continues, so does the desire of individuals to post and read personal content. The popularity of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter exemplify this trend, as does the ever-growing community of blogging programs and websites.

One important element to the creation of personal blogs and websites is the growth of content management systems, otherwise known as CMS. One popular example of a CMS is WordPress.org, an open source website with an eager, volunteer population of programmers who constantly develop, modify, create and distribute the code necessary to sustain the software and website for users to create their personal websites and blogs.

In every CMS, there is an important distinction between the user and what they see and create and the content, often carefully crafted by the computer programming team behind the scenes.

Since the essential function of a CMS is to create and present end-user websites, the degree of complexity behind the CMS for computer programmers varies greatly. For example, a commercial CMS is also known as an ECMS, or enterprise content management system. This program manages the content, data and files for a commercial business and controls varying levels of access to the program.

A web content management system, on the other hand, may be simple enough for non-experienced users to create basic HTML, add graphics, videos, images and text, or it might be a much more sophisticated tool designed specifically for experienced programmers to use on the behalf of their clients.

Examples of CMS programs include the following:

– Java
– Python
– Ruby on Rails
– Microsoft ASP.NET
– CFML
– Perl
– PHP

Some of the more popular user-driven CMS websites include the following:
-SiteNinja

SiteNinja is designed for small to medium businesses and non-profits and requires a licensing fee. The site is easy to use and can be utilized by non-computer programmers to create a website or blog.

– WordPress

WordPress.org is a very popular free website that is based on Open Source principles of free sharing and innovation. While the website itself is fairly easy and users can download and create sites or blogs easily, configuration is meant for computer pros.

– Joomla

Joomla targets medium to large businesses although it also welcomes individuals with a basic understanding of website terms and concepts. It is also an Open Source site, although the process can be difficult for novices to understand and configuration is fairly complex.

– Drupal

Also designed for larger businesses with a professional computer programmer at the helm, Drupal is Open Source but not designed for novices. The navigation is fairly complex, as is the programming system, which will delight programmers but dismay those with no understanding of computer coding.

CMS is a term that more people will learn as the popularity of personal and professional websites and blogs continues to grow but it is important to note that some of these sites are better for professional programmers than others are.