Anatomy of an Online Community Site
Content management Systems (CMSs) offer a short cut to setting up your online community and over the years they have developed a common structure and jargon of their own. Unlike some other jargon terms CMS terms are mostly simple and logical. Here are a few of the most important.
1. Nodes
Nodes are the 'pages' of your site containing your text and illustrations. Normally there are two or more node types:
Book Pages
Much of what you want to write will form several closely related pages - a book. If there is a logical sequence in your material - a thread such as a description of one of your services too long to go on a single page, you can organise it into a book.
Basic Pages
Free standing pages.
Forums
Like books but open to your visitors to contribute.
Nodes often have 'tasters' or 'summaries' that appear on your landing page and encourage the visitor to look further.
2. Special Pages
The Landing Page
The landing page is the page on which a new visitor lands when he types in your site address in his browser. In most CMS sites it shows a list of 'tasters' but it can be a basic page in its own right. It will usually have at least one Sidebar and in that sidebar there will be a Block controlling access to the main body of material.
Home Page
Your Landing Page is almost always also your Home Page. The Home page is the title page of your site and its full address is normally http://www.mysite.com/indexThe /index can be missed out when using your browser to review your site.
3. Blocks
Blocks are similar to nodes but often contain control items such as the 'login' procedures and menus. They are assigned to a region - such as the 'left sidebar' and can appear on any or all pages.
4. Menus
Menus are lists of pages, on or off your site, together with links to that page. You will almost certainly have a 'main' menu with a link to your home page. Wherever your visitor is on your site he or she can get back to your Home page by clicking 'Home' on your main menu.
5. Add Ons
Normally the CMS program you down-load will be very basic and its functionality and appearance can be readily upgrades by downloading Templates and Modules. These can be found through links on the site you used to download the core CMS program. Some Add Ons are open source, others commercial.
Templates sometimes called Themes
Templates control the appearance of your site, colour schemes, fonts, screen arrangements - sidebars, headers, footers etc.
Modules
Modules increase the functionality of your site. The 'WYSIWYG' module allows you to type your copy in plain English, 'Superfish' provides enhanced menu functions.
Like every other technology CMS, commercial or open source, has developed norms to help the user, though at first glance they may seem to be more of a hindrance.
Roger Webb is a retired CEO from Small and Medium Sized (SME) companies in the UK and Continental Europe. In thirty years' experience at life at the top he has been instrumental in turning around and setting up a number of specialist subsidiaries in Europe, Africa and beyond, in every case producing stable profits in some of the most testing corporate environments imaginable.
In retirement he has devoted most of his energies in developing a group of wiki sites devoted to helping others to set up eBusinesses. His current sites http://computer-virgin.net/ for new-starters and http://mywebtrade.net/ for those further along the trail are just part of those efforts.
Category Article Anatomy, Community, Online
