  What is A CMS?CiviCRM has been developed so that it is tightly integrated with two popular Content Management Systems (CMS): Drupal and Joomla. It is also available in a standalone version. This means it can be operated alongside any other type of CMS although more complex implementation required to set it up correctly. First though, let us take a step back and get an understanding of what a CMS is and how it having CiviCRM cooperating with them helps us. What is a Content Management System?In simple words, a Content Management System is a tool for building and managing a website. There are other broader definitions expanding the meaning of content to all kinds of digital information but in the context of CiviCRM's connection with CMSs we'll stay with the simple definition.
Drupal Content Management System - Content Types Screen
Generally a good website should be laid out in a clear and ordered way, visitors should be able to navigate in between different pages easily, information published should be kept up-to-date. Making sure that all these requirements are met usually takes quite a lot of work. The role of CMS is to make such work easier, quicker and more effortless. A website administrator using a good CMS tool should be able to spend as little time as possible on technical tasks and as much time as possible on creating and publishing actual information. A good Content Management System:
Joomla! Content Management System - Control Panel screen Websites were originally meant to be places to publish information for visitors to read. This paradigm changed a long time ago and organizational web pages are now two-way communication channels. You can use them both to communicate your message, to gather information about the people who support you, to enlist people to help you and hopefully to donate money to you. A good CMS makes this process even easier.
How does CiviCRM work with CMS?Traditionally, you don't get to know a lot about the people that visit your website. The most commonly gathered information about a website is the number of visitors and the number of page displays. This data gives you an idea about how popular your website is but doesn't give you any idea about specific individuals visiting the website. This is where CiviCRM really comes into its own. It not only gives you tools to quickly extend your organization's page with interactive elements, it also stores information about the specific actions taken by your website visitors. Moreover, for each person who engages with your activities through your website you will be able to see a history of your interactions with them. If somebody signed your petition first, then signed up for an online newsletter, then donated a couple of times to support different campaigns and finally became a member, you can see what they did and when. Interesting? Not only interesting - seeing the detailed history of the most engaged supporters of your organization might give you some very solid ideas on how to run your online activities in order to get the best effects.
Further readingContent Management System at Wikipedia
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