Design-to-CMS Conversion Peculiarities to Take into Account When Choosing CMS

After selecting a content management system (CMS) and creating a website design, the next step is converting prepared PSD image into HTML CSS code and CMS implementation. Here are some general preliminary remarks about this process which can be useful to take into account when choosing a CMS.

From the PSD to HTML conversion point of view cutting a design into a CMS theme has its own peculiarities. To some extent they are a reverse side of CMS advantages such as presence of standard functional blocks, a predefined file structure, etc. Really, in case of CMS the HTML and CSS code and its structure should obey additional rules and agreements in order to be correctly integrated into the CMS environment.

This all requires from a PSD to HTML coder specific and detailed knowledge of the CMS features and programming conventions. A coder should be more careful when slicing a design into a CMS theme because of a more complex file structure, files interconnection and code allocation in the different CMS parts. In contrast to the PSD to HTML conversion for usual websites there is more programming job (typically in the PHP language), e.g. in order to create templates for the different website elements (pages, posts, categories, etc.) Also, the CMSs have some ‘bottlenecks’ which should be known to a coder to realize one or another design feature.

That is why a direct PSD to WordPress or PSD to Joomla! conversion is usually more effective and fast than a two-stage process when firstly one provider slices a PSD design into HTML and then another company provides a CMS theme implementation and specific HTML CSS code adaptation.

Try It Out

Before making a final decision, it is better to test the waters in more detail and try out the pre-selected CMS. It is preferable not to stop at a demo version as it is already set up and will surely work. Install a regular CMS version onto your server and see by your own eyes what it is all about and how convenient it is in work and maintenance. Also, review available plug-ins for this CMS, especially free ones, and what they can do.

Results of such an investigation can help to define more realistic and detailed requirement to a CMS as well as refine the preliminary design of your website.

Conclusion

To a large extent, the choice of CMS determines the future of your website, possibilities for its development, maintenance and upgrade. There are a lot of good content management systems now, e.g., WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, Magento - just to name a few. But all of them have their own strengths and weaknesses that should be taken into consideration when selecting a CMS as well as a company that will provide PSD to CMS conversion and CMS implementation for you.

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