When the hypertext markup language HTML was first introduced to the world by Tim Berners- Lee in 1990 it opened the door for server environments to house the files and browser creation to view the rendered page. In the early stages of the internet the process to manage content came out of a series of steps through which anyone without an understanding of website development were limited. A local file would be created, saved and then uploaded to the website hosting account using FTP software. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, which is the process of uploading client documents to a website server or the opposite, downloading the file to a client’s computer. After the file was on the server, it could be viewed through the website browser. If any modifications were needed the local file would then be edited, saved and uploaded again before viewing the updates.

As the internet grew the demand for resources did as well. For nearly ten years engineers, developers and companies controlled the direction of content management. As more people produced websites, the need for control over the look and layout of a webpage became more than just a resemblance of a print brochure. In 1994 Håkon Wium Lie developed Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) while working with Berners-Lee at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN. It was that same year that the World Wide Web Consortium was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory. These two events collectively defined a new direction for content creation. Known as Web 2.0, content creation was more than just text and images. CSS and the DOM provided a better opportunity to introduce design and usability into website pages. At the same time, the ability to create this content was starting to evolve with the first Content Management System (CMS).

What is a Content Management System?

In order to have a website you have to have the ability to maintain its content. A Content Management System or CMS is a tool specifically designed to help a website creator manage the website’s content. Content management includes functionality, design, text, media and other elements that come together to represent a website. There are several website content management systems on the market today. These tools, designed specifically to not only manage the website’s content but to also control the infrastructure of a website itself have made website publishing more accessible than ever before.

The history of Content Management Systems dates back prior to the World Wide Web. In 1985 Filenet released their software to help companies manage internal documents with the use of laser disc technology. In 1996 Vignette Corporation, founded by Ross Garber and Neil Webber release StoryBuilder to make web publishing easier and authentic; the company is credited for the term Content Management System (CMS). Over several more years licensed and free systems were released of which several are still in use today. Among those is WordPress which was first

released in 2003 as an open-source CMS by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. The origin of WordPress was a result of previous efforts with a form CMS called b2/cafelog.

There are several popular website publishing tools on the market today. Each CMS is unique and can be free to use or require a subscription or license. Specifically we will focus on WordPress, a Content Management (CMS) designed to make building and maintaining a website accessible to any user.

Timeline

The research, events and history that collectively contributed to what we know today as the Internet and Content Management dates back as far as the 1960s. The dates below are milestones that led to content creation and management.

1985 – FileNet is created to manage content based applications

1987 – Robert Cailliau proposed the first hypertext system while working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research

1989 – Sir Tim Berners-Lee proposed an information management system known as the invention of the World Wide Web while working at CERN

1990 – Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau collaborated on the World Wide Web project known as ENQUIRE

1993 – Mosaic, the first World Wide Web browser, was created at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1994 – Håkon Wium Lie developed Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) at CERN while working with Berners-Lee and Cailliau; The World Wide Web Consortium was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory by Berners-Lee after leaving CERN

1996 – Vignette Corporation, founded by Ross Garber and Neil Webber release StoryBuilder to make web publishing easier and authentic; the company is credited for the term Content Management System (CMS)

1996 – Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 becomes first website browser to support CSS

1997 – Microsoft introduced iframes which allowed browser windows to be split into multiple areas displaying its own document; The Document Object Model is introduced allowing a tree- like structure to build documents and apply control and styling to each element

1999 – Darcy DiNucci, a web designer, coined the term Web 2.0 to describe the style and design of websites

2003 – WordPress, an open-source CMS, is released by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little

2007 – iPhone is first released

2008 – Android smartphone released

2010 – The term “Responsive Design” is termed by Ethan Marcotte to describe fluid layout design for all internet viewing devices; Smart tablet released

2014 – Mobile internet traffic surpasses desktop traffic in the United States