Artevelde University College 

International Business Management 

 
 
 
 

CMS Report  
 
 

Assignment for the course of 

E-Skills 
at Artevelde University College 
 
 
 

Author: 
Felix Magnus 
 
 
 
 

Academic supervisor: Erik Pollet 
Submission date: 24th December 2021 
Contents
What is CMS................................................................................................................................................3
How to evaluate Content Management Systems....................................................................................3
Evaluating WordPress..................................................................................................................................3
Functionality WordPress..........................................................................................................................3
The support for different business models..............................................................................................4
The available process modelling tools.....................................................................................................4
The available visual site management tools and reporting.....................................................................4
Performance and stability of WordPress.................................................................................................5
The connectivity to existing business systems.........................................................................................5
The compliance with standards...............................................................................................................5
The global and multicultural capability....................................................................................................6
Appropriate training material for WordPress..........................................................................................6
Evaluation Report....................................................................................................................................7
Experiment and work with one of these tools (report the problems you encountered, the ease of use,
the learning curve ...)...............................................................................................................................7
Find out what the price is, and what you get for it..................................................................................7
Evaluation Google Sites...............................................................................................................................9
Functionality Google Sites.......................................................................................................................9
The support for different business models..............................................................................................9
The available process modelling tools.....................................................................................................9
The available visual site management tools and reporting.....................................................................9
Performance and stability of Google Sites...............................................................................................9
The connectivity to existing business systems.......................................................................................10
The compliance with standards.............................................................................................................10
The global and multicultural capability..................................................................................................10
Appropriate training material for Google Sites......................................................................................10
Evaluation report...................................................................................................................................10
Find out what the price is, and what you get for it................................................................................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................11
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................................12

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What is CMS
According to Tech Target a content management system (CMS) is a software application that enables
users to create, edit, collaborate on, publish and store digital content. CMSs are typically used for
enterprise content management (ECM) and web content management (WCM).[ CITATION Sar21 \l
2067 ]

For this assignment I chose WordPress and Google Sites as Content Management Systems.

How to evaluate Content Management Systems.

Its functionality

The support for different business models

The available business process modelling tools

The available visual site management tools and reporting

Its performance and stability

The connectivity to existing business systems

The compliance with standards

Its global and multicultural capability

Evaluating WordPress
WordPress is a very popular CMS product, the website of WordPress states that more than 43% of all
website use WordPress. It is an open-source software with a lot of features. It is fair to say that
WordPress is the most used CMS in the world.

Functionality WordPress
To discuss WordPress’s functionality, it would be good to list the pros and the cons of the website. While
the website is very flexible around the design and functionality of the website you are building, not
everyone can work with it right away. A certain coding proficiency would be required to be able to
create a good site. [ CITATION Tom21 \l 2067 ]

Pros

The website allows you to be extremely creative with your design, features and functionalities. Because
WordPress has over 80 million site there is a lot of information on the internet to help you if you
encounter any problems. Countless websites and YouTube videos exist with tutorials on how to build up
your website. By installing third party tools you can ensure that your website is as professional as
possible.[ CITATION Tom21 \l 2067 ]

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Cons

While WordPress is very flexible and gives you all the freedom you need to build a good website it is not
so easy to use. You need a certain technical knowledge to start using WordPress. Unlike other Content
Management Systems on WordPress, you need to create everything yourself. If you don’t know coding
than WordPress is not for you. Because no one owns WordPress, as its open source, you need to rely on
other users if you find yourself in trouble because there is no customer service.[ CITATION Tom21 \l
2067 ]

The support for different business models.

In reality, WordPress can be used for almost any type of business. I will start of by giving a few examples
of big companies who use WordPress as CMS platform: BBC America, Sony Music, Microsoft News, The
Walt Disney Company, etc. [ CITATION Edi19 \l 2067 ]

With all the options and functionalities offered by WordPress you can set up practically any website you
want. WordPress started of as platform for bloggers, but it switched to a website builder rather fast.
Now WordPress is perfect for membership, forum, ecommerce, business websites and more. [ CITATION
Tom21 \l 2067 ]

Finally, if you want to start a business it is important that a lot of people find your website easily.
WordPress helps you boost your website thanks to its numerous Search Engine Optimization functions.
WordPress aids you to make your site visible on search engines like Google to that a small up and
coming business still has a fair change of growing. [ CITATION Tom21 \l 2067 ]

The available process modelling tools.

A business process modelling tool is used to evaluate the organizations current processes, allowing them
to visualize a more efficient process. Just like in every other aspect of WordPress you have a lot of
options to choose from.

Here are a few:

 Bitrix24 (communication and collaboration)

 Wrike (project management)
 Trello (collaboration on shared projects)
 Zapier (makes you happier)
 Honey Book (client management)
 Trainual (onboarding and training software)

[ CITATION Get \l 2067 ]

The available visual site management tools and reporting

A Single site is not that hard to maintain. WordPress has multiple valid options for you to manage your
website. A problem arises when you need to maintain multiple websites. This can be difficult and
extremely time consuming. WordPress has a feature called WordPress Multisite with helps you build a
whole Network and lets you manage them form one dashboard. [ CITATION LCe21 \l 2067 ]

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Except for the WP Multisite there are still limitations linked to use of multiples sites in WordPress.
WordPress has two different management tool options: Hosted or Self-Hosted. Hosted means that
everything is handled by a service provider such as: [ CITATION LCe21 \l 2067 ]

 JetPack

 ManageWP

 WP Umbrella

 WP Remote

 iThemes Sync

 Glow

 iControlWP

 WPCentral

Self-hosted indicates managing and maintaining the website yourself. Everything from security to data
is on your server. These are some of the tools:

 MainWP

 InfiniteWP

[ CITATION LCe21 \l 2067 ]

Performance and stability of WordPress

As already stated, multiple times WordPress offers a lot of features, options, functions and plug-ins. It
might be tempting to install and use as many as possible to optimize your site. This will cause the
contrary. The website of WordPress advice to turn off and delete any plug-ins that are not crucial to the
website. You can also try downloading optimizing plugins. [ CITATION Wor \l 2067 ]

Caching is also very important to optimize your website. By downloading a WordPress caching plugin,
you can store some files to disk or ram. That way it can remember and duplicate content to the server. It
reduces the time required to load a page. It is beneficial because the server uses less sources, but it puts
a big strain on the server. You can use free and premium caching plug ins. [ CITATION Bri21 \l 2067 ]

The stability of your website is good for its speed and security. Stability, speed and security are very
compatible, so it is important that they are streamlined and work together well. Deleting unnecessary
plugins was already mentioned but I want to come back to this. When you have a lot of active plugins
there is a possibility, they start interacting with each other which can lead to instability. Keeping your
software up to date is also very important. Keep themes and plug ins up to date, if necessary, look at all
your plug ins individually. Always look at the reputation of the plugin before installing it. This means
checking the ratings and feedback by people who have used it. Avoid downloading plugins with a bad
reputation. A good tip is to review plugins and software on a regular basis.[ CITATION Pre21 \l 2067 ]

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The connectivity to existing business systems
The compliance with standards
Your WordPress website whether you have a business website or a blog they still must meet certain
rules or laws. These laws can be imposed by the GDPR or HIPAA, these laws can differ from country to
country. Compliance is very important for WordPress. It is a great value of transparency security and
accountability. More attention is needed on standards when you start doing business around the world.[
CITATION Rob20 \l 2067 ]

These are a few examples of compliance regulations that WordPress uses and that users should be
aware of:

 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): This is a regulation of the EU that enforces the
protection and privacy of personal data of EU citizens.
 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): it is used as information security
standard for organisations handling credit card data. The PCI DSS aims to increase controls
around handling and managing credit card holder data, to reduce the credit card fraud.
 ISO 27001: is specified in outlining a framework of policies procedures that includes legal,
physical and technical controls involved in an organization risk management process.
 Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act ( HIPAA): created by the United Stated of
America this legislation addresses data privacy and security of patients’ medical records.

[ CITATION Rob20 \l 2067 ]

The global and multicultural capability

WordPress itself does not support bilingual or multilingual blog out-of-the-box. The wordPress
community however developed plugins to do this easily. You can download plugins to switch between
laguages easily. Free plugins for standalone sites include: WPGlobus, Polylang, qtranslate-X, xili-lagnuage
and Sublanguage. For multiple sites you can Multisite Language Switcher, Zanto or Multilingual Press.
[ CITATION Wor21 \l 2067 ]

With not only the language plugins but the numerous amounts of themes available, WordPress is
capable of functioning on a global and multicultural scale.

Appropriate training material for WordPress

Because WordPress is such a useful tool it is nice to know how to work with it. For beginners WordPress
is not the easiest Content Management system to start of with as a background of coding is required.
Because WordPress wants to attract as much people as possible, they provide a 10–20-minute free
manual book called WordPress Codex so you can get familiar with the building tool. They also provide
WordPress TV which is the almost same as WordPress Codex but with videos. [ CITATION Jor21 \l 2067 ]

Here are the recommended Resources to learn WordPress:

1. WordPress.org Codex
2. WordPress TV
3. Hostinger.com WordPress Tutorials
4. Official WordPress Lessons
5. Lynda.com

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 6. Smashing Magazine
7. WP101
8. WP Sessions
9. WP Apprentice
10. WPKube
11. iThemes Training
12. The Tao of WordPress
13. Udemy
14. Joy of WP
15. LearnWoo
16. WebsiteSetup.org
17. Toolset
18. Hongkiat
19. Make A Website Hub
[ CITATION Jor21 \l 2067 ]

Evaluation Report
It was difficult to find an evaluation the training material of WordPress but eventually I found a review of
WordPress where they discuss the WordPress resources.

o WordPress Forum  – Here you can search for problems other WordPress users have that you may
be dealing with as well. If you don’t find anything, you can always post your own question and
wait for the community to help.

o WordPress Documentation  – This is also called the WordPress Codex. You can find everything
about WordPress here. It’s especially useful if you want to make code changes to your
WordPress website. However, bear in mind that it’s not the most user-friendly resource. There
are better beginner guides available that I’ll list for you in a second.

WordPress tutorials

If you’re serious about WordPress, you should take the time to go through some kind of WordPress
tutorial. I’ve mentioned already that WordPress has a higher learning curve than a drag-and-drop
website builder, so I really recommend that you read through a beginner’s guide before you get stuck in
and buy a theme or install any plugins.[ CITATION Tom21 \l 2067 ]

Experiment and work with one of these tools (report the problems you encountered, the
ease of use, the learning curve ...)
I had heard of WordPress before but never considered using it. I know that two of the team members in
E-skills use WordPress. They said that if you don’t know anything about coding it would be very difficult
but when you get the hang of it is extremely useful. I completely agree with them and the internet. As I
don’t know anything about coding and had no experience with website building before this course, I did
not know how to start work with the website. My experience with WordPress came to an end not that
long after I started using it because I did not understand anything. For now, I will stay with Weebly.

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Find out what the price is, and what you get for it
WordPress has 4 types of subscription which you can you pay monthly or annually. You have the
Personal, Premium, Business and eCommerce package. These are the tariffs and packages according to
the WordPress site.

[ CITATION Wor19 \l 2067 ]

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Evaluation Google Sites
Sites is a free website builder software that is offered as a part of the Google Workplace. It is a drag-and-
drop website builder and webhosting service. It is a free content management system.[ CITATION
MWi21 \l 2067 ]

Functionality Google Sites

Google sites was released in February 2008. It is completely free and integrates with other google
services like google Calendar, maps, docs and more. It is comparable to Wix and Weebly. Website
building tools where you don’t need any coding knowledge before starting your website. It is extremely
easy to use as it uses a drag and drop software. If you want to work on your website together with a
friend or colleague, you can share the website with that person like you would do with any other google
application. You can also create a site and then share it as a template to the domain. [ CITATION
sWr21 \l 2067 ]

The support for different business models

Sites doesn’t offer a lot of features. There are a lot of limitations connected to it. Here are just a few
examples. [ CITATION sWr21 \l 2067 ]

 No site categories, description, or sitemap

 No embedding of your site on other sites

 No view of recent site activity without a Google Analytics account

 No social sharing buttons

 No access to the source HTML code

 No SEO features like a title tag or meta description

Because Sites has so many limitations using it for a large business website wouldn’t be a good idea.
Google sites is ideal for a company intranet or classroom site but is too limited to be used as a business
or commerce site.[ CITATION sWr21 \l 2067 ]

The available process modelling tools.

Unlike WordPress Google Sites does not have that many tools to work with. Of course, Google Sites is
integrated with all the other google products like: Drive, Calendar, Maps, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms,
Phots and YouTube. [ CITATION sWr21 \l 2067 ]

The available visual site management tools and reporting

In your google site there is a button available saying ‘Manage Site’. On this page you can see everything
regarding your site. Site Maestro allows you to manage multiple google sites. But even Site Maestro has
its limitations using google sites. [ CITATION Sit \l 2067 ] With google analytics you can also monitor your
site. it tracks visitors behaviour on the site so you can analyse it afterwards.

Performance and stability of Google Sites

To ensure your pages keep loading quickly avoid lots of images, large images and complex website
widgets. It also important to keep your site up to date. Google Sites also transforms to a user-friendly

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mobile interface when customers visit your site on your phone. To improve your SEO and make your
website attractive to search engines come up with a clear page title and descriptive link. Google
analytics also helps you to look for areas to improve. [ CITATION Goo \l 2067 ]

The connectivity to existing business systems

Here google sites is connected to every other google application that exists. You can add every item to
your website.

The compliance with standards

Google, just like any other company, must follow rules, regulations and standards. Just like WordPress
google sites, together with google workspace and google cloud platform undergo several independent
third-party audits on a regular basis.

Here are some examples:

GDPR

ISO/IEC 27001 (information security management)

ISO/IEC 27017 (Cloud Security)

ISO/IEC 27018 (Cloud Privacy)

ISO/IEC 27701 (privacy information management)

SSAE18/ISAE 3402 (SOC2/3)

[ CITATION GOO \l 2067 ]

The global and multicultural capability

Google is very committed to diversity and equity. They have a lot of networks and communities in the
company to make sure everybody can be themselves and feel at home. This also reflects on the website,
there are multiple multicultural themes. [ CITATION Goo1 \l 2067 ]

Appropriate training material for Google Sites

Google itself has a help centre and a community page as well where you can ask questions. Google
offers tutorials and there is a lot of information to be found online on how to use Google sites. Because
Google sites is so easy to use there aren’t a lot of resources necessary to teach people how to use the
building tool.

Evaluation report
I found a lot of reviews online but this one was the best in my opinion. She does in-depth research on
how good Google Sites is. This was the conclusion:

This builder tool is most definitely  not ideal  for a public website. I really wouldn’t even recommend it for
a company website either since it won’t be the best reflection of your company as a whole. Classic’s
designs are downright awful and you’re basically stuck having to use its templates built in the ‘00s to
serve as the layout. And Google Sites’ new designs and features are too basic to actually build a fully
functioning website with. [ CITATION BBa21 \l 2067 ]

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Find out what the price is, and what you get for it
Google sites is completely free as it comes with your google account. Every aspect of the site is free, and
you have unlimited storage and the ability to add up to five custom URLs to your site.

Conclusion
As a beginner of website building, I would recommend Google sites even though it is not a great tool to
use. WordPress would just be too difficult to begin with without any previous experience. I do have to
say that in general WordPress is by far the best Content Management System out there. You would not
be wasting time trying to figure out how it works.

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