TEXTOS - INGLES IV
2018

TEXT 1: Ten tips on writing a successful CV

Katy Cowan gives her top tips on creating a memorable and readable CV

Photograph: Max Oppenheim/Getty Images

When it comes to applying for a new job, your CV could be just the ticket to get you that initial foot in
the door and secure an interview – but how do you ensure your CV is added to the interview pile
rather than thrown straight in the bin?

Putting together a successful CV is easy once you know how. It's a case of taking all your skills and
experience and tailoring them to the job you're applying for. But what if you don't meet the right
criteria? Well, I've put together the following tips to help you get started in creating a successful CV
and securing your first (or next) arts job.

Get the basics right

There is no right or wrong way to write a CV but there are some common sections you should cover.
These include: personal and contact information; education and qualifications; work history and/or
experience; relevant skills to the job in question; own interests, achievements or hobbies; and some
references.

Presentation is key
A successful CV is always carefully and clearly presented, and printed on clean, crisp white paper.
The layout should always be clean and well structured and CVs should never be crumpled or folded,
so use an A4 envelope to post your applications.

Always remember the CV hotspot – the upper middle area of the first page is where the recruiter's eye
will naturally fall, so make sure you include your most important information there.

Stick to no more than two pages of A4

A good CV is clear, concise and makes every point necessary without waffling. You don't need pages
 

and pages of paper – you just keep things short and sweet. A CV is a reassurance to a potential
employer, it's a chance to tick the right boxes. And if everything is satisfied, there's a better chance of
a job interview. Also, employers receive dozens of CVs all the time so it's unlikely they'll read each
one cover to cover. Most will make a judgment about a CV within sections, so stick to a maximum of
two pages of A4 paper.

Understand the job description

The clues are in the job application, so read the details from start to finish. Take notes and create bullet
points, highlighting everything you can satisfy and all the bits you can't. With the areas where you're
lacking, fill in the blanks by adapting the skills you do have. For example, if the job in question
requires someone with sales experience, there's nothing stopping you from using any retail work
you've undertaken – even if it was something to help pay the bills through university. It will
demonstrate the skills you do have and show how they're transferable.

Tailor the CV to the role

When you've established what the job entails and how you can match each requirement, create a CV
specifically for that role. Remember, there is no such thing as a generic CV. Every CV you send to a
potential employee should be tailored to that role so don't be lazy and hope that a general CV will
work because it won't.

Create a unique CV for every job you apply for. You don't have to re-write the whole thing, just adapt
the details so they're relevant.

Making the most of skills

Under the skills section of your CV don't forget to mention key skills that can help you to stand out
from the crowd. These could include: communication skills; computer skills; team working; problem
solving or even speaking a foreign language. Skills can come out of the most unlikely places, so really
think about what you've done to grow your own skills, even if you take examples from being in a local
sports team or joining a voluntary group – it's all relevant.

Making the most of interests

Under interests, highlight the things that show off skills you've gained and employers look for.
Describe any examples of positions of responsibility, working in a team or anything that shows you
can use your own initiative. For example, if you ran your university's newspaper or if you started a
weekend league football team that became a success.

Include anything that shows how diverse, interested and skilled you are. Don't include passive interests
like watching TV, solitary hobbies that can be perceived as you lacking in people skills. Make yourself
sound really interesting.

Making the most of experience

Use assertive and positive language under the work history and experience sections, such as
"developed", "organised" or "achieved". Try to relate the skills you have learned to the job role you're
applying for. For example: "The work experience involved working in a team," or "This position
involved planning, organisation and leadership as I was responsible for a team of people".
 

Really get to grips with the valuable skills and experience you have gained from past work positions,
even if it was just working in a restaurant – every little helps.

Including references
References should be from someone who has employed you in the past and can vouch for your skills
and experience. If you've never worked before you're OK to use a teacher or tutor as a referee. Try to
include two if you can.

Keep your CV updated

It's crucial to review your CV on a regular basis and add any new skills or experience that's missing.
For example, if you've just done some volunteering or worked on a new project, make sure they're on
there – potential employers are always impressed with candidates who go the extra mile to boost their
own skills and experience.

This content was originally published by Creative Boom

Katy Cowan (2012). 10 tips on writing a successful CV. Retrieved March, 15th, 2012, from:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-
blog/2012/mar/15/cv-tips-first-arts-job.

TEXT 2: Six steps to a better job interview

By Peter Bowes. BBC News, Los Angeles

Dress appropriately, be on time and don't lie: three of the key steps for a successful job interview

In today's world of social networks a face-to-face interview can seem outdated, but online resources
can help you ace the interview and land the job, especially if mixed with some old-fashioned common-
sense advice.

1. "On time is 15 minutes early"

Interview day is not the day to sleep in and miss the train.

"You never should be late for an interview," says Lauren Ferarra, a recruiter with Creative Circle, a
US staffing agency in New York.

"On time is 15 minutes early. If you're more than 15 minutes early, you're going to be waiting around a
 

while and it comes off a little sketchy. So 15 minutes early, non-negotiable, you should be in the
building ready to go."

2. "This is not the time to wing it"

Try to anticipate the questions by re-reading the job description and seeing what questions they might
prompt.

"To do a good job you really need to know who you're talking to," says Kristy Stromberg, of the
online jobs listing site SimplyHired.com.

"Do your research on the company and the person who is interviewing you. This is not the time to
wing it. You're not gambling, you're selling."

Candidates should rehearse succinct answers to questions such as "Tell me about yourself" and "What
are your goals?" - the responses should be relevant to the position on offer.

"You will be asked questions about your experience. Anticipate what the company is looking for. Who
do they want to hire and what types of problems are they trying to solve?"

3. "People really underestimate smiling"

First impressions are vital to making a lasting impact on an interviewer. Being personable and friendly
speaks volumes.

"I think the handshake and the eye contact are incredibly important and a smile," says Ms Ferarra.

"People really underestimate smiling and having that personality. You tend to be so nervous and tight
in an interview, and you really want to come off and show that you are someone they want to work
with."

4. Nerve control

Even the best-prepared candidate can feel the jitters on interview day. Michael Weiss, a public
speaking coach, says it is important that people focus on their voice to avoid sounding nervous.

"You can have a lot of adrenalin running through your body and that's when you get the wavering
voice. Practise questions out loud. Do some breathing exercises, calm down and just focus," he says.

Dealing with a prickly interviewer can also be unnerving.

"You need to read the personality of the person that you are interviewing with. If they're very staid and
 

very buttoned-up, you probably want to be a little succinct and short with your answers and mirror
their personality."

As the process gets under way, the jobseeker should allow the interviewer to lead the conversation.
But it should be a two-way process, says Ms Ferarra.

"Don't be afraid to jump in and ask questions as the conversation is flowing. Don't feel you need to
save them all to the end."

5. Don't lie

"In today's world of LinkedIn and other social networks, it's very easy for someone to do a back-
channel reference," says Ms Stromberg.

"That is, speak to people they know through a common network to check out your story. They can
consult people that you have not offered up as a reference to see if you really do what you said you
did. You want to make sure that story and your message is consistent."

6. Say "thank you"

Once it is all over, the only thing left to do is send an email or written note to the interviewer.
According to Ms Ferarra, it is hugely important to leave a good impression.

"Make sure you get that person's card. Follow up with an email, a thank-you, and they'll remember
that in the long run."

Peter Bowes (2013). Six steps to a better job interview. Retrieved December, 10th, 2013, from:
www.bbc.com/news/business-25191591.

TEXT 3: Repurposed sensor enables smartwatch to detect finger taps and other bio-acoustic
signals
 

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed technology to enable smartwatches to detect
taps, scratches and flicks against the wearer's body, making possible new types of interactions with
wearable devices.

Credit: CMU Future Interfaces Group

A smartwatch is capable of detecting and distinguishing a variety of taps, flicks and scratches by the
hands and fingers, and all that's required is a software upgrade that repurposes the device's existing
accelerometer, Carnegie Mellon University researchers discovered.

This new functionality makes possible new applications that use common gestures to control the
smartwatch and, ultimately, other objects connected through the internet of things. By monitoring
vibrations that occur when people hold objects or use tools, the smartwatch also would be capable of
recognizing objects and activities.

It could even be used to help tune a guitar, with the smartwatch displaying the note transmitted as the
guitarist plucks and adjusts each string.

"It's as if you're using your hand as a detection device," said Gierad Laput, a Ph.D. student in the
Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), suggesting totally new uses for smartwatches. "The
hand is what people use to interact with the world."

This new technology, dubbed ViBand, was developed by Laput and Robert Xiao, both Ph.D. students
in the HCII's Future Interfaces Group, along with their adviser Chris Harrison, assistant professor of
human-computer interaction. They will present a paper describing the work at the Association for
Computing Machinery's User Interface Software and Technology (ACM UIST) Symposium this week
in Tokyo.

Normally, a smartwatch accelerometer is used to detect when a person lifts an arm so the screen can
activate, or sometimes to count footsteps. To do so, the accelerometer only needs to take
measurements about 100 times a second. But when researchers increased the sampling frequency to
4,000 a second, 4 kHz, they found it acted like a vibrational microphone. Rather than detecting sounds
transmitted through the air, however, it couples with the body to detect bio-acoustic signals.

"ViBand isn't just a way to control your smartwatch," Harrison said. "It enables you to augment your
arm. It's a powerful interface that's always available to you."

A ViBand-enabled watch can tell if someone is tapping on the forearm, the palm of the hand or the
back of the hand. It can detect finger flicks, scratches and other motions. It also can sense if a person is
holding various mechanical and electrical tools, such as an electric toothbrush, power drill or handsaw.
Each body tap, device or activity has distinctive bio-acoustic signals.
 

To increase the frequency of the accelerometer's sampling rate, the research team developed a custom
kernel -- the core of the smartwatch's operating system. That's the only modification required and can
be performed as a software update, Laput said.

The team developed several demonstration apps for ViBand, including the use of hand gestures in the
area around the watch to control apps on the watch. Similar gestures could be used to control remote
devices, such as lights or a TV or other appliances connected via the internet of things.

They also showed it could be used for object-aware apps, such as monitoring meal preparations or
providing visual feedback while tuning an acoustic guitar.

Finally, they propose an application using what they call a vibro-tag, which is a small object that emits
inaudible, structured vibrations that contain data. A vibro-tag on a person's office door, for instance,
might transmit information about office hours or alternative contact information.

Carnegie Mellon University. (2016, October 17). Repurposed sensor enables smartwatch to detect
finger taps and other bio-acoustic signals. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 18, 2017 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161017111241.htm

TEXT 4: OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING

One of the principal motivations for using OOP is to handle multimedia applications in which

such diverse data types as sound and video can be packaged together into executable modules.

Another is writing program code that's more intuitive and reusable; in other words, code that

shortens program-development time.

Perhaps the key feature of OOP is encapsulation - bundling data and program instructions into

modules called 'objects'. Here's an example of how objects work. An icon on a display screen

might be called ' Triangles'. When the user selects the Triangles icon - which is an object composed

of the properties of triangles (see fig. below) and other data and instructions - a menu might

appear on the screen offering several choices.

The choices may be (1) create a new triangle and (2) fetch a triangle already in storage. The menu,

too, is an object, as are the choices on it. Each time a user selects an object, instructions inside

the object are executed with whatever properties or data the object holds, to get to the next step.

For instance, when the user wants to create a triangle, the application might execute a set of
 

instructions that displays several types of triangles - right, equilateral, isosceles, and so on.

Many industry observers feel that the encapsulation feature of OOP is the natural tool

for complex applications in which speech and moving images are integrated with text and

graphics. With moving images and voice built into the objects themselves, program developers

avoid the sticky problem of deciding how each separate type of data is to be integrated and

synchronized into a working whole.

A second key feature of OOP is inheritance. This allows OOP developers to define one class of

objects, say 'Rectangles', and a specific instance of this class, say 'Squares' (a rectangle with equal

sides). Thus, all properties of rectangles - 'Has 4 sides' and 'Contains 4 right angles' are the two

shown here - are automatically inherited by Squares. Inheritance is a useful property in

rapidly processing business data. For instance, consider a business that has a class called

'Employees at the Dearborn Plant' and a specific instance of this class, 'Welders'. If employees at

the Dearborn plant are eligible for a specific benefits package, welders automatically qualify

for the package. If a welder named John Smith is later relocated from Dearborn to Birmingham,

Alabama, where a different benefits package is available, revision is simple. An icon

representing John Smith - such as John Smith's face - can be selected on the screen and dragged

with a mouse to an icon representing the Birmingham plant. He then automatically 'inherits' the

Birmingham benefit package.

A third principle behind OOP is polymorphism. This means that different objects can receive the

same instructions but deal with them in different ways. For instance, consider again the triangles

example. If the user right clicks the mouse on 'Right triangle', a voice clip might explain the

properties of right triangles. However, if the mouse is right clicked on 'Equilateral triangle'

the voice instead explains properties of equilateral triangles.

 

The combination of encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism leads to code reusability.

'Reusable code' means that new programs can easily be copied and pasted together from old

programs. All one has to do is access a library of objects and stitch them into a working whole.

This eliminates the need to write code from scratch and then debug it. Code reusability

makes both program development and program maintenance faster.

[Adapted from 'Understanding Computers Today and Tomorrow', 1998 edition, Charles S. Parker, The
Dryden Press]

Glendinning, Eric H.; McEwan, John (2006). Object-oriented Programming. Oxford English for
Information Technology , Second Edition, Oxford University Press. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

TEXT 5: How to deal with job application rejection

By Peter Bowes. BBC News, Los Angeles

Rejection can be a chance to hone your approach to job hunting

Technology has made firing off multiple job applications easier - but as well as more
opportunities for success, there is also more chance of rejection.

We wanted to know how experts suggest we turn rejection around so that it helps a job search be
successful in the long run.

"Don't take rejection personally," says Los Angeles-based business coach Joanna Garzilli.

"Often there are a number of factors at play including timing, circumstances, office politics and
budgets. Just because someone says no today doesn't mean it's a no in the future."
 

And About.com job-search expert Alison Doyle says: "The best way to deal with rejection is to
consider why you were rejected, and then move on."

Feedback

But analysing rejection is easier said than done. It may be tempting to follow up a rejection email or
letter by asking an employer how they reached their decision, but you won't always get a response.

"Many employers won't disclose any information to applicants they rejected, because they are
concerned about legal issues like discrimination," says Ms Doyle.

"That said, it can't hurt to ask, and if you do get feedback, consider how you can use it enhance your
chances in the future."

If you can't get feedback, you should spend some time asking yourself what might have gone wrong.

Ms Garzilli says: "Do a self evaluation on what went well, what didn't and why? This will help you to
be well prepared for the next job interview."

Re-focus

In the relatively anonymous world of online job searching, where the number of applications and
rejections can mount up very quickly, it it easy to lose focus on the ultimate goal.

Ms Doyle says: "Do consider how effective your job search is - or isn't.

"Are you applying for the right jobs? Jobs that are a strong match for your qualifications? If not, you
are wasting time because there are so many applicants for each position, only the most qualified
candidates will be considered."

'Disappointing, disillusioning and discouraging'

Since May, Sheri Bennett, from California, has applied for more than 200 jobs online, but she is still
looking for work.

"I have not had many call-backs at all, and a lot of the companies don't even send a courtesy email that
you've not been selected," she says.

"Not even an acknowledgment, not even a thank you for applying. Nothing."

The former teacher says it can be very "disappointing" and "disillusioning."

Emotional toll
 

Ms Bennett, who says she is "discouraged" at times, responds by simply "trying harder."

Dan Sparks, vice-president of sales at Hire Live, which stages career fairs, says: "There are very

qualified candidates out there and sometimes it just takes a little time to find that right position. says .

"Don't just talk to one company and say, 'That was it, that's all I need to do, I already got that job.'
Keep an open mind, don't be disappointed if they say no or don't be disappointed if they move forward
with somebody else."

Being out of work for a prolonged period takes its toll emotionally. Relationships suffer, and
unsuccessful candidates can find themselves on a downwards spiral into depression.

Ms Doyle says: "One way many job seekers have dealt with lethargy or depression is to not focus all
their time and energy on job seeking.

"Spending time volunteering, for example, will help you feel better about yourself. It may also help
you make valuable contacts who can help your job search."

Peter Bowes (2013). How to deal with job application rejection. Retrieved December, 17th, 2013,
from: www.bbc.com/news/business-25218012.

TEXT 6: T-rays will 'speed up' computer memory by a factor of 1000

The figure shows the spin and lattice structure of thulium orthoferrite (TmFeO?) on the left and the T-
ray-induced transitions between the energy levels of thulium ions (Tm³?), which trigger coherent spin
dynamics (memory switching), on the right.

Credit: MIPT Press Office

 

Together with their colleagues from Germany and the Netherlands, scientists at the Moscow Institute
of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have found a way to significantly improve computer performance.
In their paper published in Nature Photonics, they propose the use of the so-called T-waves, or

terahertz radiation as a means of resetting computer memory cells. This process is several thousand
times faster than magnetic-field-induced switching.

"We have demonstrated an entirely new way of controlling magnetization, which relies on short
electromagnetic pulses at terahertz frequencies. This is an important step towards terahertz electronics.
As far as we know, our study is the first to make use of this mechanism to trigger the oscillations of
magnetic subsystems," says Anatoly Zvezdin of Prokhorov General Physics Institute and MIPT, a
coauthor of the paper and a USSR State Prize-winning scientist heading MIPT's Laboratory of Physics
of Magnetic Heterostructures and Spintronics for Energy-Saving Information Technologies.

The rapidly increasing amounts of digital data that have to be manipulated, along with the growing
complexity of the computation tasks at hand, compel hardware designers to achieve ever higher
computational speeds. Many experts believe that classical computation is currently approaching a
limit, beyond which no further increase in data processing speed will be practicable. This is motivating
scientists all over the world to investigate possibilities of entirely different computer technologies. One
of the weak spots in modern computers holding back their evolution is memory: it takes time to
complete every set/reset operation for a magnetic memory cell, and reducing the duration of this cycle
is a very challenging task.

A group of scientists including Sebastian Baierl of the University of Regensburg, Anatoly Zvezdin,
and Alexey Kimel of Radboud University Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and Moscow Technological
University (MIREA) proposed that electromagnetic pulses at terahertz frequencies (with wavelengths
of about 0.1 millimeters, i.e., between those of microwaves and infrared light) could be used in
memory switching instead of external magnetic fields. A more familiar device that makes use of
terahertz radiation is the airport body scanner. T-rays can expose weapons or explosives concealed
under a person's clothing, without causing any harm to live tissues.

To find out whether T-rays could be used for convenient memory states switching (storing "magnetic
bits" of information), the researchers performed an experiment with thulium orthoferrite (TmFeO?).
As a weak ferromagnet, it generates a magnetic field by virtue of the ordered alignment of the
magnetic moments, or spins of atoms in the microcrystals (magnetic domains). In order to induce a
reorientation of spins, an external magnetic field is necessary.

However, the experiment has shown that it is also possible to control magnetization directly by using
terahertz radiation, which excites electronic transitions in thulium ions and alters the magnetic
properties of both iron and thulium ions. Furthermore, the effect of T-rays proved to be almost ten
times greater than that of the external magnetic field. In other words, the researchers have devised a
fast and highly efficient remagnetization technique -- a solid foundation for developing ultrafast
memory.

The scientists expect their "T-ray switching" to work with other materials as well. Thulium
orthoferrite, which was used in the experiment, happens to be convenient for the purposes of
 

demonstration, but the proposed magnetization control scheme itself is applicable to many other
magnetic materials.

"There was a Soviet research group that used orthoferrites in their studies, so this was always kind of a
priority field for us. This research can be seen as a follow-up on their studies," says Anatoly Zvezdin.

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. (2016, October 13). T-rays will 'speed up' computer
memory by a factor of 1000. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 19, 2017 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161013150225.htm

TEXT 7: 'Lurking malice' in cloud hosting services, study finds

Bad repositories map: This map shows locations where the impacts of bad repositories (Bars) occur.

Credit: Xiaojing Liao, Georgia Tech

A study of 20 major cloud hosting services has found that as many as 10 percent of the repositories
hosted by them had been compromised -- with several hundred of the "buckets" actively providing
malware. Such bad content could be challenging to find, however, because it can be rapidly assembled
from stored components that individually may not appear to be malicious.

To identify the bad content, researchers created a scanning tool that looks for features unique to the
bad repositories, known as "Bars." The features included certain types of redirection schemes and
"gatekeeper" elements designed to protect the malware from scanners. Researchers from the Georgia
Institute of Technology, Indiana University Bloomington and the University of California Santa
Barbara conducted the study.

Believed to be the first systematic study of cloud-based malicious activity, the research will be
presented October 24 at the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Vienna,
Austria. The work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation.
 

"Bad actors have migrated to the cloud along with everybody else," said Raheem Beyah, a professor in
Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "The bad guys are using the cloud to
deliver malware and other nefarious things while remaining undetected. The resources they use are
compromised in a variety of ways, from traditional exploits to simply taking advantage of poor
configurations."

Beyah and graduate student Xiaojing Liao found that the bad actors could hide their activities by
keeping components of their malware in separate repositories that by themselves didn't trigger
traditional scanners. Only when they were needed to launch an attack were the different parts of this
malware assembled.

"Some exploits appear to be benign until they are assembled in a certain way," explained Beyah, who
is the Motorola Foundation Professor and associate chair for strategic initiatives and innovation in the
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "When you scan the components in a piecemeal kind
of way, you only see part of the malware, and the part you see may not be malicious."

In the cloud, malicious actors take advantage of how difficult it can be to scan so much storage.
Operators of cloud hosting services may not have the resources to do the deep scans that may be
necessary to find the Bars -- and their monitoring of repositories may be limited by service-level
agreements.

While splitting the malicious software up helped hide it, the strategy also created a technique for
finding the "bad buckets" hosting it, Beyah said. Many of the bad actors had redundant repositories
connected by specific kinds of redirection schemes that allowed attacks to continue if one bucket were
lost. The bad buckets also usually had "gatekeepers" designed to keep scanners out of the repositories,
and where webpages were served, they had simple structures that were easy to propagate.

"We observed that there is an inherent structure associated with how these attackers have set things
up," he explained. "For instance, the bad guys all had bodyguards at the door. That's not normal for
cloud storage, and we used that structure to detect them."

The researchers began by studying a small number of known bad repositories to understand how they
were being used. Based on what they learned, they created "BarFinder," a scanner tool that
automatically searches for and detects features common to the bad repositories.

Overall, the researchers scanned more than 140,000 sites on 20 cloud hosting sites and found about
700 active repositories for malicious content. In total, about 10 percent of cloud repositories the team
studied had been compromised in some way. The researchers notified the cloud hosting companies of
their findings before publication of the study.

"It's pervasive in the cloud," said Beyah. "We found problems in every last one of the hosting services
we studied. We believe this is a significant problem for the cloud hosting industry."

In some cases, the bad actors simply opened an inexpensive account and began hosting their software.
In other cases, the malicious content was hidden in the cloud-based domains of well-known brands.
Intermingling the bad content with good content in the brand domains protected the malware from
blacklisting of the domain.

Beyah and Liao saw a wide range of attacks in the cloud hosted repositories, ranging from phishing
and common drive-by downloads to fake antivirus and computer update sites. "They can attack you
directly from these buckets, or they can redirect you to other malicious buckets or a series of malicious
buckets," he said. "It can be difficult to see where the code is redirecting you."
 

To protect cloud-based repositories from these attacks, Beyah recommends the usual defenses,
including patching of systems and proper configuration settings.

Looking ahead, the researchers hope to make BarFinder available to a broader audience. That could
include licensing the technology to a security company, or making it available as an open-source tool.

"Attackers are very clever, and as we secure things and make the cloud infrastructure more
challenging for them to attack, they will move onto something else," he said. "In the meantime, every
system that we can secure makes the internet just a little bit safer."

Georgia Institute of Technology. (2016, October 18). 'Lurking malice' in cloud hosting services, study
finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 18, 2017 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161018193559.htm

TEXT 8: What's the Difference Between a Content Management System (CMS), a Blog, a Web
Editor and an Online Site Builder?

by Christopher Heng, thesitewizard.com

One of my visitors recently asked me about the difference between a Content Management System
("CMS") and a site builder. Unfortunately, it's not as easy to answer this question as you think, since
when people on the Internet use the term "site builder", they sometimes mean different things. Still
others have asked me about the difference between using a blog and a web editor for a website. I will
try to deal with all variations of this question in this article.

Incidentally, please note that this page only deals with this particular set of queries. I realise that if
you're reading this article, you're probably thinking of starting a website. If so, after reading this
answer, you should probably go on to How to Create Your Own Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guide
which contains more practical information on how you can actually go about setting up that site.

What are CMS, Online Site Builders, Blogs and Web Editors?
When people create and update websites, they can do it in one of many ways.

● Using a Web Editor or a Text Editor

● One way is to do it the way I do for thesitewizard.com. I write the articles on my computer
using a type of program called an editor. I then save those articles as web pages, that is to say,
I format the articles in a special way so that they can be displayed using a web browser (the
program which you're using to read this article). When I'm done, I transfer the article to a
special computer on the Internet run by a company called a "web host". Once I do that, the
article is "live" on the Internet, and can be read by anyone visiting thesitewizard.com.
● This "editor" program that I mentioned can either be a visual web editor likeDreamweaver,
Microsoft Expression Web or BlueGriffon, or just a plain text editor like Notepad that comes
with Windows. Please read my article What are HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and Perl? Do I
Need to Learn Them to Create a Website? for more information about this. (Yes, I know. The
title of the article seems irrelevant to what I'm talking about here, but the content explains
what a visual web editor is in the course of addressing the question. Don't worry. It's in plain
English.)
● In other words, using this method, you run the editor (whether a visual web editor or a plain
text editor) on your own computer and create the complete web page on that computer. Only
when you're done is the page transferred to your website on the Internet.
 

● Using a Standalone Site Builder

● Although most people call the programs I mentioned above "web editors", there are some who
also refer to such software as "site builders". I suppose they think that since their editors can
be used to build websites, they are "website builders". This is particularly so of programs that
pattern themselves after desktop publishing software, such as NetObjects Fusion and Serif
WebPlus.
● So that I don't get you more confused, let me elaborate a bit, even though I'm going off the
track here. In order to make things easier for people to use, web editors either behave the same
way as word processors (ie, programs like Microsoft Word) or they act as though they are
desktop publishing software (programs that people use to create brochures, newsletters, and
other sorts of printed publications). For example, Dreamweaver and KompoZer work a bit like
word processors, while NetObjects Fusion and Serif WebPlus work a bit like desktop
publishing software. Don't be too worried about the distinction though. Both are just normal
web editors that work on your computer and produce web pages. No matter which software
you use, you still have to learn how to use it.
● To get back to the topic, such "site builders" are really only web editors under another name.
You run them on your computer, and when you finish designing your page, you use them to
transfer your files to your actual website. The only reason I put this under a separate point is
because of the confusing use of the term "site builder" by some people to refer to these web
editors.

● Using an Online Site Builder

● Some web hosts also provide a service which they sometimes advertise as a "site builder". To
design your website, you typically have to use your web browser to log into the web host's site
and design it directly on their site (using your browser and no other software).
● (A web host is just a company that has computers that are permanently connected to the
Internet. When you put your web pages on their computers, everybody on the Internet can
view them. For example, thesitewizard.com's web pages are located on one such web host.)
● The difference between using such an online site builder and a standalone web editor is that
you don't run any program on your own computer at all. The pages are created directly on the
web host's computer and are automatically placed on your site. Each web host has a different
site builder, and they all work differently with different pre-made designs available for your
use, which you can customise ("customize" if you use adifferent variant of English) to a
greater or smaller extent.
● If you are even considering using such an online site builder, please read the article "Is It
Better to Use an Online Site Builder or a Standalone Web Editor?" before doing anything.
Every now and then, I get an email from a visitor regretting his/her use of an online site
builder for the reasons mentioned in that article.

● Using an Offline/Standalone Site Builder Tied to a Specific Web Host

● Realising that some people like to design their website on their own computer before
transferring it to the Internet, some web hosts have an "offline" version of their site builder.
You typically have to download the software from their website and install it on your own
computer. Using that program, you can design your site and only transfer it to the web host
when you're done.
● Such a site builder does not belong to the same class as the general purpose web editor that I
mentioned earlier. It is tied to a specific web host, and suffers from the same problems I
mentioned in my article on online site builders vs standalone web editors. Not only can you
 

not use the site builder when you move to another web host, there's a chance that you also
cannot transfer your web design to a new host as well, since the builder may create designs
that use elements owned by your web host.

● Using a Content Management System (CMS)

● A content management system, usually abbreviated as "CMS", is basically just a piece of
software that you install on your web host's computer. That is, instead of installing the
program on your own computer, the way you do a web editor, you install it directly on your
website. You then use your browser to log into your website and use it to add articles, photos,
or whatever to your website.
● I have discussed the pros and cons of using a CMS as opposed to a web editorelsewhere, so I
will not repeat the points I have already mentioned there. If you're interested, please see that
article.
● In one sense, using a CMS has some superficial similarities to using your web host's online
site builder, which is probably why the visitor asking me this question was confused. For
example, when you use a CMS, you don't need to install any program on your own computer
to create and update your website. You just connect to your site with your browser and modify
it directly.
● Having said that, there are substantial differences between a CMS and a web host's site
builder. Firstly, with a CMS, you control the software, the visual design of your site, and the
end product. You're not tied to your web host at all. If you ever have to change hosts, you can
bring your entire site, lock, stock and barrel, over to the new web host, much the same way
you can when using a standalone web editor. Secondly, a CMS is typically much more than a
site builder. You can use it to create an online community (nowadays called a social
networking site) with it, with visitors being able to create their own accounts, have their own
member pages, and so on.
● On the other hand, CMSes also have their own disadvantages over a web host's site builder.
For example, they rarely have the huge range of web design templates that an online site
builder has. ("Templates", in this context, are just pre-made web designs that you can use
wholesale, or customise, for your site.) However, if you use a CMS platform that is very
popular, you can probably find some free template somewhere on the Internet, possibly even
directly on the CMS author's own website, that you can adapt. CMSes are also much harder to
set up. You have to learn how to do things like transfer files from your computer to your web
host's computer, set up a database, and configure the CMS for your site. Once you're through
with the initial stages, however, it's probably easier, since you have much greater control over
the CMS than an online site builder (since the latter is controlled by your web host). Many
popular CMS programs even have add-on modules that extend the functionality of the CMS,
so even if the basic CMS package doesn't have everything you want, you can often install one
or more of these modules to provide the missing feature.
● Anyway, if you're looking for CMS software, you can find many listed on
thefreecountry.com's Free CMS Software page.

● Using a Blogging Software

● Blogging software are (for the most part) a subset of CMS software. That is, they are mostly
like the CMS software I mentioned above, except that they have fewer features since they are
designed primarily for people who just want to blog (write short articles). Nowadays, though,
the feature set of some free blogging software have increased to such an extent that they
should probably be considered as fully-fledged CMSes.
 

● In other words, you typically have to install the software on your web host's computer the
same way you do a CMS. All the other advantages and disadvantages of a CMS that I
mentioned above apply here as well. Like I said, they're mostly the same thing.
● Note that I'm talking about the blogging software here. I'm not talking about the web hosts
that let you blog directly from their site, such as those mentioned on the Free Blogging Web
Hosts page. That's an entirely different kettle of fish. Such blogging web hosts not only have
the disadvantages of a free web host, they may also have the same issues that I mentioned in
relation to the online site builders as well. And if you don't use your own domain name for
your blog, there's also the problem I discussed in the article Is it Possible to Create a Website
Without Buying a Domain Name? The High Price of "Free". Some of the blogging hosts also
impose restrictions on what you can do with your blog. For more details, please see Should I
Install My Own Blog Software or Use a Specialised Blog Host? 

So Which Do I Choose?
Sometimes, the more you learn, the less you feel you know. I'm sure some of you, at this time,
probably feel like giving up the idea of starting a website altogether. ("There are just too many things
to decide. And so many unknowns!") Don't worry. Everybody feels that way when starting out in a
completely new field. It gets easier as you go along. Really.

Anyway, although I will not presume to tell you which method you should use to create your website,
let me suggest a few pointers that may help you narrow your choices, and hopefully make the decision
more manageable.

● Will you be adding new pages to your website regularly?

● The first question you have to ask yourself is whether you will be frequently adding new
pages to your website. Note that I'm not talking about updating the information on an existing
page, but adding completely new pages.
● For example, if you want to write daily (or weekly or monthly or whatever interval) articles
about things you encounter or experience, you are considered as someone who will be adding
new pages to your site on a regular basis.
● On the other hand, if your website is just a site for you to sell your goods, and you keep a
fairly fixed inventory of things to sell, chances are that you won't be adding many new pages
on a regular basis to your site. Even if you add a new item or two to your online shop, and
thus a new page for that item as well, adding new pages is not the norm for your site. In such a
case, I consider such a site as being fairly static in nature. That is, after the initial creation of
your website, the site remains mostly the same with the rare addition of a new page.
● People with sites that rarely have new pages may want to consider creating the entire thing in
a web editor. Since the creation of your website is a one time affair, and adding new pages is
so infrequent, in my opinion, using a CMS is a bit of an overkill. For such sites, a web editor
allows you to get started with your site far easier than using a CMS, since it's easier to
customise the appearance of your site with a web editor than with a CMS (which often
requires you to have some technical knowledge). Using a web editor also lets you avoid the
overhead of using a lot of resources on your web host which CMSes tend to do.
● That is not to say that people who regularly add new pages to their site need to use a CMS or
blogging software. For example, I still use a normal editor to create all the pages on
thesitewizard.com, in spite of the fact that I add new pages to the site fairly regularly. All I'm
saying is that if you have a site that rarely changes, you may want to consider just using a web
editor. The converse is not true. The fact that your site changes frequently doesn't mean that
 

you have to use a CMS. It's not an either-or situation.

● Are you writing a blog?

● If you're writing a blog, the easiest solution is to use a blogging program. While you can of
course create all the pages of a blog manually with a web editor, you'll lose all the
convenience and features blogging software typically provide. And they really provide a lot of
useful features that make it easy for bloggers.
● Although I have written a review comparing some software which I've used before for
blogging, namely WordPress vs Drupal vs Expression Engine, at the time I write this article, I
think WordPress is probably easiest to use for a blog. The other two are fine for CMSes, but
for blogging alone, it's hard to beat WordPress. And the latter's free too. (Yeah, I know. It's
not fair of me to compare specialised blogging software against general purpose CMS
software in an article talking about blogging. But those were the software I actually used for
my old blogs, so they were all I had to compare. And besides, a lot of people use those same
software for blogging.)

● Will you be working from a single computer or many different computers?

● If you travel a lot, and are not always able to bring your own computer, using a CMS or
blogging software may make it easier for you to maintain your site while away. Since CMS
and blogging software are installed on your website itself, you really don't need any special
software on the computer you're using to add new pages or make changes to existing pages.
All you need is a web browser, and you can log into your site from any computer.
● Of course, whether it's really wise to log into your site while on someone else's computer is
another issue altogether. As I'm sure you know, this presents security problems. But I guess
not everyone has a choice.

● Do you want total control over the appearance of your website?

● Another thing to consider is that if you use a CMS or blogging software, you may not be able
to completely control the appearance of your website. You can do it easily if you know how to
code in HTML, CSS and PHP, but otherwise you will probably end up relying on pre-made
designs made by others. (If you don't know what I mean by these terms, please see "What is
HTML? What is CSS? What is PHP?".)
● Note that these programs do not prevent you from using your own design; far from it. The
problem for most newcomers is that to use your own custom-made design, you have to insert
some PHP code into selected spots of your page in raw HTML mode. (If that last sentence
made sense to you, it's quite possible that you will have no problem with this, and thus can
dismiss this point.)
● Having said that, not all CMS software present this hurdle. There are commercial CMS
software around that do not require you to insert PHP code into HTML to customise your
design, such as the one I mentioned in WordPress Vs Drupal Vs Expression Engine. Even
then, designing a custom appearance for any CMS is still much harder than just designing a
website directly with a web editor for direct publication on the Internet.

● Does your website have multiple authors?

● If your website has multiple authors separately updating and contributing different pages, it
may be easier to go with a CMS. Note that when I say multiple authors here, I mean that each
person has access to the website and can add new pages to the site (or change existing pages)
themselves from their own computers. In such a case, coordination can be a bit of a problem if
 

each one uses their own web editor. It doesn't mean you won't face coordination problems
with a CMS of course, but I think it makes things a bit easier.

● Do you want your users to have their own member pages?

● If you want to create a website where visitors can sign up, log into their own account, and
create their own web pages on your site, you probably have no choice but to use a CMS. A
web editor alone, without the addition of any other software, will not allow a novice
webmaster to create such sites. (This is not true of programmers though; if you are one, you
can of course use a web editor to create a website with support for member pages. In effect,
you'll be creating your own CMS, using the editor.)

● Having a forum doesn't mean that you need a CMS

● I don't want you to go away with the impression that if you want a discussion forum on your
website, that you need a CMS. You don't. You can still create the main site with a web editor,
and then install specialised forum software into your site, so that your visitors can create their
own account and post messages and discuss stuff.
● Of course if your entire website is nothing but a discussion forum, then you don't even need a
CMS or web editor. Just install the forum software.

● No one method is easier than the other

● I'm sure that some of you are looking for a method that makes website creation easier than the
other. The bad news is that none of them are actually easier when you look at the entire
website development process as a whole. The online site builder option seems easier at first
glance, but it makes things difficult as you progress, not to mention that it causes grave
problems in the long run (as I have discussed elsewhere already). The CMS option seems like
it might be easy, but is generally quite hard for newcomers to get started since you have to
dive into a lot of technical details at the very start. The web editor option seems difficult at
first but it spreads the difficulty across time, and actually becomes easier as you go along.
● I don't recommend that you choose any of the methods based on what you perceive as easy.
As a newcomer, since everything is new to you, nothing is "easy" in that nothing can be
accomplished without a bit of effort and learning. Having said that, after you learn how to do
it, you will probably want to say to me, "Gee, Chris, I thought you implied it was hard". So let
me preempt it by telling you that it's not actually hard: it just appears hard for the newcomer
because everything is new. Think about it this way: it's like the situation faced by children just
starting out in arithmetic, where many of them see division (things like "12 divided by 3") as
hard. But once you know it, it's actually easy.

● Other things to consider

● If you have not already read my discussion on The Pros and Cons of Using an Online Blog
Software or a Content Management System (CMS), you might want to take a look at it as
well, since it has some things may help your decision making.
Of course these things aren't really set in stone. You will want to factor in your own personal
preferences and style of working as well, possibly giving priority to those even over the points I
mentioned above. There are no fixed rules for such things. Everybody does as he/she sees fit. And you
are not stuck with the choices you make now. You can always change your mind, and use something
different (say) months down the road if you find you dislike the current way of doing things.

In the end, if you can't decide, just use a web editor. From my experience with teaching newcomers, a
web editor provides the least steep learning curve, while giving them greater control over the visual
 

appearance of their site (something most new webmasters rightly expect to have). Changing to another
method after learning a web editor, in my opinion, is also easier. You gain a broad base of knowledge
(and skills) when using a web editor that continues to be relevant even when using a CMS.

Heng, C. (n.d.). What's the Difference Between a CMS, a Blog, a Web Editor and a Site Builder?
Retrieved February 19, 2017, from https://www.thesitewizard.com/gettingstarted/difference-cms-site-
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