The Future of CMS
On March 17, 2023, I attended a session called “The Best CMS” at NERD Summit where three experienced CMS users/developers shared their opinions on popular CMSs. What I found interesting from the panel was not so much what they deemed the go-to CMS, but their thoughts on the web technology gap for the not-so-complex website and their exciting take on CMS technology in the future.
Each panelist addressed the lack of solutions for the customer that wants a simple site with editing ability. In these situations, WordPress or Drupal are a bit overpowered, complicated and require consistent maintenance. Hugo SSG satisfies the need for simplicity but lacks editing capability for the content manager. Hearing this, I couldn’t help but become even more excited about Plenti — a Build-Time Rendering (BTR) Engine that is an easy, free and opensource download with a setup like that of a simple Hugo site but the built-in functionality of a CMS.
Moderator Mike Miles asked the panel, “What will be the next big thing in the CMS space?” to which he received the following responses:
- Headless (decoupled): backend system provides content to the frontend system; their are like two different code bases.
- Static Website Generation — Just loading HTML, JavaScript and CSS
- No Users — Replacing user content with ChatGPT. Systems will be creating content
- Jamstack — Avoiding traditional database / re-write the site every time something is changed. This setup is very secure; the client can’t even break it.
- IoT (Internet of Things) — How content communicates with everything including car display, refrigerator display, etc.
ChatGPT will most likely disrupt everything we know about the web, but while humans are still creating websites, it seems to me that everything described at the session points to Plenti which is a Jamstack application that uses simple HTML and CSS to build robust, static websites.
What makes Plenti different from the other Jamstack options out there? It ships with a built-in Git-CMS that lives directly inside your static website (not an external hosting solution). What does this mean and why is this a game changer? Let me explain.
The graphic above shows the lifecycle of Plenti’s Git-backed CMS which starts with a Plenti web application that is already setup with Git. After creating a Git repo, you can utilize free services like “GitLab Pages” to deploy static websites for no cost. From here, edits can be made either with a code editor by a developer or direclty in the browser by a content editor, which will spark a complete new build of the site with every save. Each change is version controlled using Git except with Plenti you have an entirely new website for each Git save/push you make. So if you ever break something, you can go back to the last version with ease.
What does it look like to unlock Plenti’s powerful CMS mode? This first image of a website below is a current Plenti theme you can download for free. In this example, Jim has the site setup so when you “Login” to the admin part of the website, you are also logging into GitLab, where the website lives.
Once logged in, an admin menu appears at the top of the webpage:
And now the fun part… just edit on the page:
You will notice that Plenti is very “component” driven meaning, the site is built in slices — so if your website were rectangular tiles aligned vertically, each component would be like one tile that could be swapped and moved in any position on the site.
The philosophy is that content managers should rely on their developers and designers for the structure and design of their site but at the same time, have the flexibility to add content that uses the current structure to drive their message home. Too much flexibility with several users can throw the design and flow of a website into chaos. Too little flexibility can make it difficult for a content manager to convey a message without consulting a developer or without the tools to convey their message in the best light. Designed components give content managers the needed structure but also the flexibility to share their message. Plenti makes sure everyone working on the site is showcasing their best skill.
“Content managers should rely on their developers and designers for the structure and design of their site but at the same time, have the flexibility to add content that uses the current structure to drive their message home.”
About 2.5 years into development, and Plenti has a come a long way from the static site generator it once identified as to now the Build-Time Render (BTR) Engine with built in CMS. You can learn more about this at Jim Fisk’s talk also at NERD Summit “Low Cost Websites with Plenti”.
Learn more about Plenti:
