Headless CMS
A headless CMS manages only the content and does not decide how the site looks. What that buys you and who it is overkill for.
Read more →What is a CMS?
A CMS is the system you use to change text and images on your own site. What it costs, when you need one and when you do not.
What it is
CMS stands for Content Management System: the administration area behind your website where you can change text, images and pages yourself without anybody writing code. WordPress is the best-known example, but there are dozens.
You log in at an address like yoursite.com/admin, see your pages in a list, click one and type. What you save goes live immediately.
Why it might matter to you
- A CMS is not a free feature: it is software that must be maintained, with updates and security patches, and that costs money every year.
- It is also the most attacked part of a website, because it hangs a login page on the outside.
- Whether you need one depends entirely on how often something changes — not on whether you like the idea of editing it yourself.
- A site without a CMS is faster and practically unhackable, but every change goes through your builder.
How we handle it
This site has none. Its content lives in a file that is turned into finished pages at build time, which means there is no database and no login page online to attack. That is a deliberate choice for a site that changes a few times a year, and it would be a poor choice for one publishing news weekly.
Related terms
Static website
A static site is built in advance instead of assembled per visitor. That makes it faster, safer and cheaper to host.
Read more →Hosting
Hosting is where your site lives. What separates the types, and why it has to be in your name.
Read more →Not sure which way to go?
Send a short brief with what you have now and what needs to be better. You get an honest answer, including if that answer is that you do not need us for it.