Benefit from Open Source!
Expert Data Systems offers IT support to various non-profit organizations. One way we help organizations lower their IT-related expenses is by setting up and supporting open-source software. Read more about Open Source software here.
A great example of Open Source Software is a CMS system called WordPress.
CMS stands for Content Management System. In the old days, all content was stored in static HTML pages. Adding a page meant creating a new file, copying the layout from another page, and then adding content. If you wanted to add a new item to the menu or add a banner to every page, you had to manually change this in every page (most likely you’d have to reach out to your webmaster to do that…).
CMSs are tools that allow non-technical users to update the text, images, and documents on a website without having to learn HTML.
Using a Web browser, users access, edit, and upload content changes to a website using the familiar text editing commands found in software like MS Word.
CMS solutions are increasingly popular to simplify website management. Many non-profit organizations choose Open Source CMS due to the lower costs associated with acquiring, installing, and maintaining the system.
The most common features of a good CMS:
- Page authoring and publishing
- Multilevel user permission (set certain content for members-only etc)
- Calendar of events
- LMS (Learning Management Systems)
- News publishing
- Discussion forum
- Online Chat
- Photo Gallery
- Polls
- Fundraising management
How we can support your organization:
While Open Source CMS will allow your organization to independently manage your site’s content, you may need to use IT support for:
- Evaluating the right software (there are 100’s of CMS software out there)
- Hosting, installing, and configuring the site for your initial use
- Training and support
We’d love to provide your organization with this kind of IT hand-holding. Our non-profit rates are very reasonable, and you will find that using us to evaluate, install, and run an Open Source CMS will save your organization a small fortune.
…and lastly, we’ll let you on a little secret: this ENTIRE site is running on an open-source CMS called WordPress.
Your organization could have a complete website like this one up and running in a matter of days – call us for more information.