A content management system is a piece of software that’s used for organizing and facilitating what’s referred to as the collaborative creation of documents and other content. In other words, content management systems help you to create and manage the content on your Web site. For example, if you have a set of articles that you want to first feature on your Web site and then
have moved to an archival section when a new article is featured, a content management system helps you do that without having to build a new Web page every time you change the feature articles.
The problem with content management systems is that if you get a proprietary system — a system built specifically to meet your content management needs — you’ll pay upward of $100,000. If you fork over that amount of dough, you can rotate articles from features to archives to your heart’s content and even set it up so that several people can seamlessly contribute to blogs on your site. This might all sound dandy, but just keep in mine that if
you’re having the system designed specifically for you, you’ll shell out some serious coin to have it done. You don’t have to use a proprietary system, though. Several open source software
applications for content management exist.
Open source software is software that’s created by an individual or company and then shared freely with others. Others can use the software and even change it to specifically meet their needs, without having any expenses to worry about.
The only real drawback to open source content management systems is that you either have to be very knowledgeable in certain types of programming or you have to hire someone who is knowledgeable to take care of it for you. True, you could pick up some good books on the topic, but if you’re not a code jockey, you’ll find that the books probably leave you a little lost.
Still, if you think you can handle the challenge, Drupal is a good open source content management system, and believe it or not, so is the blogger’s friend, WordPress. Okay, I know WordPress is usually thought of as being a blogging system, but it can also be used as a content management system. If you’re intrigued, check out the next sections.
WordPress as a content management system
Although WordPress is primarily known as a blogging tool, it really is much more. With a few modifications — a couple plugins and custom templates — it’s possible to use WordPress as a content management system. In one sense, WordPress is already a content management system because it’s a blog application. All blog applications are essentially content management systems
because they allow you to create, share, and store content from a single location. By modifying WordPress just a little, you can also use it for other content management functions, such as managing
* Portfolio sites
* News and magazine sites
* Article libraries
* Gallery sites
* Photologs
* E-commerce sites
WordPress site designs are based on the idea of themes. Themes are basically design templates that can be uploaded to your server and then assigned from within the WordPress Control Panel. The beautiful thing about templates or themes is the ability to alter them. WordPress and other blog platforms tend to use a lot of proprietary code that can be difficult to get just right when
you’re putting together a design template. By relying on a pre-designed template, you can focus on editing the graphics and moving snippets of code around to get the design that you want.
WordPress also has a handy little feature — Page Management — that allows you to create static Web pages — pages that always remain the same. You can create top-level pages that show in the navigation bar of your Web site or you can create lower-level pages that live underneath your main navigation topics. These secondary pages appear as drop-down navigation under the
main links in your navigation bar.
Other features of WordPress include a built-in blog roll, which makes creating a list of related links as simple as filling out a small form to add a new listing. The best part? No HTML is required to do this. The WordPress panel also allows site owners to quickly change the appearance of their sites by switching from one theme to another as simply as selecting a new theme.
WordPress does the rest.
WordPress also has plugin capabilities, meaning you can ‘plug in’ small additional bits of code that someone else creates to add functionality to your WordPress site. Examples of plugins are the capability to use WordPress as a content management system, or even features you can add to your WordPress blog, like a picture viewer or video player.
Plugin management is mostly seamless in WordPress, and that’s where you find the real benefit of using WordPress as a content management system. Plenty of plugins are available, and there are usually detailed instructions for installing and using those plugins.
Going forward with WordPress
You don’t have to be a certified geek to use WordPress as a content management system, but there is a learning curve, and it can take a while to traverse. If you want to find out more about installing and customizing WordPress to be your content management system — no matter what type of Web site you’ve created — check out WordPress For Dummies, by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
and Matt Mullenweg. If you prefer getting your info right from the source, grab the WordPress Codex at http://codex.wordpress.org. The Codex is nothing more than a fancy name for the user manual. (If you don’t know If you’re trying to populate hundreds of pages and keep the content on those pages fresh, a content management system helps you automate the process.
If you don’t have such a system in place, you might as well go ahead and shine up your coffin now because you’ll run yourself into the grave trying to keep up.
Understanding (And Respecting) Copyright
With all these content issues floating around, it’s only right to address copyright. As I mention earlier in the webpages, one of the reasons you see so many articles on the Web in dozens of different places is because those articles are placed on Web sites without the owners’ permissions. This is the epitome of copyright infringement, and it’s illegal. It’s the same as
using a program like Napster to download music that you don’t want to pay for. It’s out there, but it’s not ethical to use it, and it’s likely that you’ll eventually wind up in some serious hot water if you don’t go through the proper channels to get permission to use the article.
If you write articles for your own Web site and then find them on other people’s sites without your permission, you’ll understand completely why copyright is such a big deal. You worked hard to put that article together, and whenever someone else puts it on their site without your permission, that person is just being a lazy so-and-so. What’s more, having your article pop up
on every corner of the Internet devalues your content. So, if you’re thinking about snagging someone else’s articles for your Web site without her permission, forget it. It may look appealing now, but when you get hit with a lawsuit for damages, it won’t be such a small deal. Writers
are usually fiercely protective of the articles and stories that they right. If you’re stealing it, they’ll find out.
Determining copyright
Copyright infringement is a big deal, but copyright can be one of those tricky determinations that leave you wondering whether you’re okay to use an article or other piece of content. The following are basic guidelines for dealing with copyright issues:
* For any work published prior to 1978, and marked with the proper copyright (©) notice, copyright lasted for an initial term of 28 years, renewable in the 28th year for an additional 28 years.
With the introduction of the 1976 Copyright Act, copyright could be renewed for an additional 47 years.
* The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 added another 67 years to that renewal period.
* If a work published prior to 1964 wasn’t formally renewed, it entered the public domain when the initial 28-year term expired.
* In 1992, copyright renewal became automatic for any works published after 1963. Copyright owners after that period no longer had to apply for copyright renewal.
* When all these considerations are taken into account, if the copyright was renewed, the term of renewal was actually 75 years from the year of publication — expiring on December 31 of the 75th year following the initial publication — until the Sonny Bono act extended this to 95 years.
This all means that if a work was published in 1922 or earlier, it is probably now in the public domain.
* Works that were published between 1923 and 1963 have a 95-year term, provided the copyright was formally renewed in the 28th year.
* Works published between 1964 and 1977 have a flat 95-year term.
* Works by individual authors created (meaning they just had to be written, they don’t have to actually be published) after 1977 have a term of the author’s life + 70 years.
* Works by corporate authors, which are usually billed as works made for hire, that were created after 1977 have a term of 95 years.
Determining when a work was first published can be a little tricky. If a copy is available with a copyright notice, the notice should contain the year of first publication. New editions, which are sometimes called derivative works, meaning they have been derived from the original, often contain notices with the year of the publication of the derivative work and not the original year
of publication; but if the date is prior to 1923, you can be confident that the work in question and all its predecessors are in the public domain. Anything published after 1923 is likely still under copyright protection, so you’ll have to be granted permission before using that work or part of the work.
The guidelines I lay out earlier apply both to print and electronic works. If someone’s created an original piece of work that appears on the Internet, he owns the copyright on it, whether it was officially registered with the copyright office or not. So, when you snag articles that are floating around the Internet, you’re stealing copyrighted materials. Writers can be a fiercely protective
bunch. If you’re stealing their work and they find out about it, expect to have some legal issues to deal with.
If the work you want to use falls into that borderline territory (originally published before 1964), you may have to do a little more research. Every year, the Copyright Office publishes a Catalog of Copyright Entries. This is in hard copy form for the years up to 1982 and solely in electronic form since then.
The Catalog is online for entries since 1978. Some collegiate libraries have a copy of the Catalog. If yours doesn’t or you don’t have access to a collegiate library, you can visit the nearest Copyright Office to find a copy that you can
browse to find the work in which you’re interested. The thing to remember is that even if a work was first published between 1923 and 1963, it’s in the public domain unless a timely renewal application was filed with the copyright office. However, works first published between 1964
and 1977 must be assumed to be under copyright for the full 95-year period.
Requesting usage permissions
Unless you’re populating your Web site with material that’s turn-of-the-century old, it’s a pretty good bet that you need to request permission to use a piece that’s been published elsewhere. To do that, you must first determine who holds the copyright.
Most materials contain the copyright symbol (©) and then a by line. It usually looks something like this: © by The Author or Owner’s name and a date. The name that follows the copyright symbol is who you need to contact to ask permission to reuse the material or portions of the material. Under the Fair Use doctrine of U.S. copyright law (specifically the Copyright Act of 1976), you’re permitted to use a small portion of a work, without having to request permission under certain circumstances. Those circumstances, however, aren’t always clearly defined. In most cases, it’s up to a judge to determine if the circumstances in which you use copyrighted material are permissible.
The size of a small portion is determined by the work that you’re planning to use:
* Motion media (such as movies): You can use up to 3 minutes, or 10 percent of the original production, whichever is less.
* Text: With text you’re allowed to use up to 10 percent, or 1,000 words without permission, whichever is less.
* Poetry: Poetry is a little different. You can use entire poems, up to 250 words, no more than three poems per poet, or no more than five poems from a single anthology. If a poem is longer than 250 words, use is limited to 250 words from the selection, no more than three excerpts by a poet, or no more than five excerpts by different poets. Music, lyrics, and music videos: Like other forms of content, with music, lyrics, and music videos, you can use up to 10 percent of the original work — not to exceed 30 seconds in the case of video. Also note that you may not alter a work to change the basic melody or character of the work.
* Illustrations and photographs: Usage for illustrations and photographs is limited to not more than 10 percent of the total number of images on your site, or 15 images, whichever is less. No more than five images may be used from a single artist or photographer.
* Numerical data sets: You can use up to 10 percent, or 2,500 field or cell entries, whichever is less, from a copyrighted database or data table. Even though these guidelines are provided, it’s still possible to use only a small amount of a copyrighted work and to be sued for copyright infringement (which is using copyrighted material without proper permissions). That’s
because there’s also a spirit of intent taken into consideration. Any judge can rule that the intent of your use of a piece of copyrighted material is unlawful, meaning you can be liable for damages if this is the case.
For that reason, you should always seek to attain permission if you plan to use any materials on your Web site that are copyrighted by another person or entity. To obtain permission to use copyrighted materials, usually all you need to do is request that permission be granted in writing. A sample letter like the one below is usually enough to legally gain permission. When you
send the letter, ask that the copyright holder sign and return the letter to you, and then keep it on file in the event that any question arises in the future about whether you were granted permission.
Here’s the sample letter. Customize it to include your specific information:
Date
Material Permissions Department
Copyright Owner/Company Name
Street Address
City, State Zip Code
Dear Sir/Madam:
I would like permission to use the following for
Title: Enter the title of the book here.
Copyright: Copyright information, including copyright date, goes on this line.
Author: Enter the author’s first and last names here.
Material to be duplicated: List the exact material to be used and enclose a photocopy of the selection.
Number of Copies: List the number of copies you expect to make. If this is for inclusion in a book, list that intent and include the title, publisher, and publishing date of the book on the next line.
Distribution: List the title of the work in which the copyrighted material will be included. If it will be included in a book, include the book title, publisher, and publishing date. If the material will appear in a periodical, include the periodical details and publishing date.
Type of Reprint: List the type of reprint. This can be a complete reprint or a quoted section of the original work.
Use: Finish up with a brief description of how you intend to use the requested materials.
Please select the correct option below and then sign and return this letter in the enclosed self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
You Name
__You have permission to use the copyrighted material detailed above.
__You do not have permission to use the copyrighted material detailed above.
Signed__________________________________Date______________
where to find it, you could spend days searching for it.)
