On Wednesday we published an article covering the usage of WordPress as a CMS and some of the basics behind the concept.
Today we follow up the theory article with some actual real world experience. After the break you will find several examples of some innovative ways that WordPress is being used as a content management system.
Examples after the break.
If you’ve been around Nicasio Design & Development long enough, you’ve probably noticed that we’re always talking about using WordPress as a CMS. But what exactly is this CMS thing anyway, and why should you use it? Let’s break it down.
CMS stands for content management system. WordPress’ administrative area turns it into a CMS because it provides a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor similar to a mini-version of Microsoft Word. Basically, anyone that knows how to work Microsoft Word will be able to add and edit web content themselves without having to know any technical junk, like HTML. Below is a screenshot that shows what a WYSIWYG editor in WordPress looks like. Once you type in the box and hit save, whatever you’ve written is automatically published. It’s that simple.
According to the 2009 Open Source Content Management System Market Share Report, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are dominating the market share on open source content management systems. That comes as no surprise as these platforms have the largest online communities and are the most documented.
One of the most positive findings of this report is how satisfied users are with WordPress, as the illustration below illustrates.

For a good number of months now we have noticed an increase in the number of businesses approaching us with a new awareness of the benefits of using WordPress as a CMS. We understand that the decision makers need to be convinced of the benefits of a new solution before they begin to embrace it, but why now? Why the increased demand for WordPress as a comprehensive website solution? The answers may be found in the numbers.
WordPress by the numbers:
As of this post WordPress version 2.8 has been downloaded more then 5 million times.
Nicasio Design, in collaboration with brightwhitespace, is proud to announce the launch of our latest WordPress project: Telfair.org. For those in the Savannah, GA area, The Telfair museums need no introduction. The Telfair Academy, Jepson Center for the Arts, and Owens-Thomas House are at the forefront of the art community in Savannah. These internationally renowned museums needed a new website with an innovative design that allowed them to categorize, manage and add new content pertaining to all three of their museums. The solution was of course a custom WordPress site.
More info and screenshots after the break.
About the author: Dan Cannon is the Lead Web Applications Developer for Nicasio Design and Development. Nicasio provides web based solutions for both individuals and businesses. Nicasio is highly proficient in WordPress design and development. Nicasio also owns and operates the E-Commerce solution NicE-Comm.
This is Part 3 of a 3 part series of case studies of sites we have built using the popular blogging platform WordPress as a powerful content management system.
Today we will look at one of our more recent site launches. The client is the Savannah Small Business Assistance Corporation.
Nothing make us happier at Nicasio than launching a new website. This is a custom WordPress site that we are particularly proud of. The Small Business Assistance Corporation came to use with a website that had a ton of great content, and a convenient online loan application process. They needed a website redesign and wanted to reorganize their immense amount of content in a more user friendly way. They also needed a robust content management system to easily manage their large amount of data. The solution? WordPress of course.
About the author: Dan Cannon is the Lead Web Applications Developer for Nicasio Design and Development. Nicasio provides web based solutions for both individuals and businesses. Nicasio is highly proficient in WordPress design and development. Nicasio also owns and operates the E-Commerce solution NicE-Comm.

This is the second article in a 3 part series addressing the use of WordPress as a content management system (or CMS for short).
Article 1 can be found here.
While many people are aware of the power and versatility of WordPress as a blogging platform, few are aware that WordPress also possesses extremely robust content management features.
About the author: Dan Cannon is the Lead Web Applications Developer for Nicasio Design and Development. Nicasio provides web based solutions for both individuals and businesses. Nicasio is highly proficient in WordPress design and development. Nicasio also owns and operates the E-Commerce solution NicE-Comm.

When most people think of WordPress they think of blogging, and rightfully so. WordPress is by far the most robust and supported blogging solution available. However, if you believe WordPress is strictly a blogging platform you are strongly mistaken.
With the right design, plugins, and knowledge you can turn WordPress into a very powerful content management system, capable of handling even the largest sites. We will look at 3 sites that use WordPress as a content management system and address why this works over the next 3 days. So make sure to bookmark us, subscribe to our RSS feed, or add us on Facebook to follow this series.
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