A content management system (CMS) is software that lets you edit the pages, texts and images of your website by logging in, without writing any code. For most business owners and marketers, the CMS is the part of the website they touch every week, so it shapes how easy or painful the site is to run.
What is a CMS?
You log in, change a text or upload an image, and the site updates.
A CMS has two jobs. It stores content, such as text, images, menus and settings, and it turns that content into pages visitors can open. Some systems do both on the live server, so every visit triggers code and database work. Others only store content and hand it to a separate tool that builds the pages ahead of time.
WordPressWordPress is free software for building and editing a website in your browser. It is written in PHP, so it builds each page when someone visits. is the best-known example of the first kind. It is written in PHPPHP is a programming language that builds your web pages on the computer that hosts your site, just before they reach the visitor. WordPress runs on it. and keeps your content in a database that is queried on every uncached visit. A headless CMSA headless CMS is a system for editing content that has no website attached; a separate front end takes the content and builds the pages visitors see. is the second kind: it manages content but does not produce the public website itself.
What a CMS means for your PHP site
If your CMS runs on PHP, your site depends on the PHP versionA PHP version is a numbered edition of PHP, like 8.3. Each edition is looked after for a limited time, then gets security fixes only, then nothing. of your hostingWeb hosting is the service that keeps your website's files on a computer that is always online, so visitors can open your site at any time., and on the CMS core, plugins and themeA WordPress theme is a ready-made package that decides how your WordPress site looks and how its pages are laid out. Change the theme and the design changes. being compatible with that version. That is a lot of moving parts to keep current, and each one can fall behind. A site where nobody has touched the update screen for a long time is a common starting point for our work.
The CMS is also part of the attack surfaceThe attack surface is the total of all places where an attacker could try to get in, such as logins, forms, plugins and the code on your server.. A login page, an admin area and add-ons that handle input all give an attacker something to try. That does not make a CMS a bad choice. It means you want to know what is installed, keep it updated and remove what you do not use.
How to check what you have
Look at the footer of your admin screen or the settings page to see which CMS and which version you run. Note the PHP version your hosting uses, and list the extensions you rely on. Then ask your editors what they actually do in the CMS. If the answer is mostly edit text and swap images a few times a month, a lighter setup may fit better.
If you do not know which PHP version your site shows to the outside, you can check your PHP version with the free tool, which reads what the site announces and reports it back.
Choosing to keep, replace or decouple
You have three realistic options. You can keep the CMS and keep it updated, which is right when editors need it daily. You can decouple it, which means the editing screen stays but the public site is generated as files by a static site generatorA static site generator, such as Astro or Hugo, is a tool that builds all the pages of a website in advance, so visitors get ready-made files.. Or you can drop the CMS entirely for a small site and have changes made by a developer.
With the second and third option, no PHP or database runs on the server when a visitor opens a page. That gives you a smaller attack surface, though not an invulnerable one, because the build process, your hosting account and any forms still need care.
When to act
Act when the CMS or its PHP version is near the end of support, when updates keep breaking the site, or when you notice that you pay for maintenance on features nobody uses. Our WordPress to static site service rebuilds a CMS-driven site as a static one and can keep a familiar editing workflow in place.
Frequently asked questions
What does CMS stand for?
CMS stands for content management system. It is the software that lets you create, edit and publish pages, posts and media on a website without writing code, usually through a login screen in your browser.
Is every CMS built on PHP?
No. WordPress is written in PHP, but other systems use different languages, and some only store content and leave the pages to a separate front end. What matters for you is whether the CMS runs live on your server when visitors arrive.
Do I need a CMS for a small business site?
Not always. If your content changes a few times a year, a developer can update a static siteA static website is made of ready-made page files that the server hands over as they are, with no PHP code or database working behind the scenes. for you. A CMS earns its place when several people edit content regularly and want to publish without help.
Can I keep my CMS but stop running PHP?
Often yes. A headless CMS keeps the editing screen, while the public site is built as static files. Your editors keep a familiar workflow, and visitors get plain pages from a server that runs no PHP.