When you build a website for the first time, it’s common to integrate a “CMS” or content management system into the mix, to ensure you can update and edit your content after the site is launched. There are plenty of Content Management Systems out there to choose from, from the better-known options like WordPress to the more recent solutions like Craft.
Craft is one of the smaller CMS solutions on the market. It was developed not too long ago by add-on developers for the ExpressionEngine, Pixel & Tonic. After working on ExpressionEngine for a while, it’s easy to see how these experts have come to understand the pain points involved with using a CMS system. The whole of the Craft experience has been designed to solve the most common issues of CMS solutions.
Let’s look at why Craft CMS is great for content creators, designers, and developers alike.
For Content Creators
Content is king on the web today, but it’s hard to make the most of your content plan without an intuitive and easy-to-use CMS. Content managers love the flexible, simple, and effective content management features of Craft CMS.
For instance, one of the best features of Craft for content managers is the range of entry types available to choose from. Craft allows content experts to store different forms of content in the same section. On the other hand, in WordPress, you’d have to create customised posts for each type of content you want to load. This means that every element must be created separately – even if you want to display those features simultaneously.
For Designers
Craft allows designers to tap into the benefits of a content management system that was designed for the internet of tomorrow. The flexibility that this CMS provides ensures that designers have all the freedom they need to create the layouts and designs that appeal most to them. When designers don’t have to struggle to fit their ideas within a certain template, they can create their images around the content, rather than forcing everything to fit.
Craft’s flexible nature allows designers to bring related information from other sections of the site into one area easily, which opens up plenty of opportunities. Additionally, the simplicity of Craft’s backend makes everything so much easier to customise. Sections, pages, and entry types are all clearly designated and separated within the portal.
Content can be edited whenever, and wherever so long as you have a device with a web browser. This is perfect for designers, and content managers who decide that they want to make a change when they’re away from the office.
For Developers
Craft offers modern developers the ideal blend of flexibility and structure when it comes to creating a fantastic experience for end users. Unlike other CMS platforms that try to cram too much into one space, Craft CMS sets itself apart by offering only what it knows its customers need. However, you can create and add whatever you want according to the needs of your project. Essentially, Craft gives you the resources you need to do something incredible, then simply gets out of your way.
The Craft CMS is built on some of the best open source software in the industry, and it offers cloud-based asset storage solutions with the support of Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Rackspace. Each of these elements is organically built-in as standard and fully integrated too. With Craft, it couldn’t be easier to store assets that you need for later development solutions.
You can upload everything from PDFS, to videos and images uploaded through the system onto a different URL, without needing to increase your loading times. This also makes it much easier for people to set up CDN solutions like the Amazon CloudFront system for the distribution of different asset uploads.
Create the Content System You Need
The nature of the Craft CMS means that you can get more done with less fuss. For instance, the built-in fields ensure that you can continue to build out your content interface in the same way you would with costly plugins on other CMS solutions, without having to bolt on extra packages that should have been included in the mix from day one. Instead of spending too much time looking for the additional things you need, you can write a few lines of code around the content structure your site needs.
If that wasn’t enough, the people behind Craft are constantly working to improve it. It’s been updating over the last few years, with plenty of new features, improvements, and bug fixes too, to ensure that you’re always getting the best experience from your CMS.