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CSW GroupThis section covers the basic benefits of storing content in an XML-based Content Management System (CMS).
Components Not Documents
Traditional Content Management Systems (CMS) can only store documents as a single resource. This limitation means if somebody wants to edit content, the whole document needs to be locked during the activity.
This approach is perfectly suitable in most business environments with relatively simple documents - for example when storing company policies, client profiles etc. However in many publishing environments, collaboration on the same publication is required across diverse teams both internal and remote. With an XML Content Management System documents are burst at predefined levels within the documents structure to create content components. By breaking documents down into components in this way allows editors to work on the same document collaboratively and enables the use of new functionality that can be applied to the content. These highlights include:
Reuse, repurposing content and linking
Each component in an XML Content Management System is given a unique identification number. This provides a ‘hook’, allowing other content components to reference it and link with or reuse the content. CSW’s Knowledge Management Suite (KMS) provides full link management to handle cross-references, dead links and reused components.
Component reuse enables publishing companies to write common content once (like product specifications, glossaries etc.) and reuse throughout all publications. Organisations are then able to benefit from massive improvements in efficiency and flexibility when changes are required. Component reuse also allows companies to repurpose content, creating new publications from existing content.
Processing pipelines
Another major benefit to storing publications as XML components is the ability to design and apply processing pipelines to content. Processing pipelines can be used to perform tasks that in the past have been manual chores for editorial teams. For example, processing pipelines can be used at any time to generate Tables of Content, Indexes, instant proofs to PDF, mobiles or websites and instantly publish content online. Processing pipelines within KMS are completely customisable and can be invoked manually or as part of predefined workflow templates.
Metadata Including Semantics
Metadata, the term used to describe information about content, can be applied on any component within an XML Content Management System. Metadata can be entered free text, from controlled lists or applied using semantic ontologies. Ontologies provide a mechanism to define relationships between terms eventually building a domain specific terminology map or data dictionary. Using ontologies allows publishers to highly classify their content quickly and easily, without the need for experienced domain experts. Ontologies also can provide very useful benefits for customers searching and navigating the content once it is published to an interactive medium like the web.
Classic Content Management Features
Of course, XML Content Management Systems also provide all the traditional features found in a CMS including:
- Web browser-based
- Secure access control and authentication
- Authorisation engine with configurable roles and teams
- Workflow management
- Content storage and locking
- Version control
- Publishing and rollback
- Reporting
