I got the Google CMS letter today!

[oakbridge]

Usually Google doesn't warn You of upcoming debacles. They are threatening anyone that doesn't want to use CMS software to get on the boat before April 21, 2015.
Does Fusion have any Content Management System for shrinking pages down to phone size? If not then time to change over to a blog. I had bought a copy of that Mosaic but had not had time to install it. Now I see they want it fully adjustable for 10 inch and 8 inch tablets and larger phone and smaller tablets lastly regular size smart phones. I don't think Mosaic does that. I think they are all small phones. If google shows you what they want, I would never think of doing something else.









My websites http://www.leakhq.com and https://www.theautismzone.com

[franko]

You are confusing content management systems with responsive web design. They are completely different things, like talking about an automobile when you really need a fishing rod.

A CMS, or content management system is a database back end that creates web pages on the fly and allows authors to publish content either through a dedicated tool or through a browser interface. Popular CMSs include Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, Modx, Moodle and many more, and also a huge number of proprietory systems written for various backend databases. I seriously doubt Google is saying that if you don't have such a tool then you won't get listed. It would rule out the millions of brochureware sites that have no requirement for a database backend.

Responsive Web Design is another kettle of fish, however. It is writing code that includes media queries that tell the server what kind of viewport (or screen size) it is serving too and allows the page to contract and rearrange its content so that it displays in a more linear fashion on screens of varying size, from mega sized internet enabled 60" television screens to a 360px wide smartphone. Problems is, this isn't easy to achieve without having a development team as it involves information architecture (designing information in a way that it makes sense when its displayed; this can be very different on a smartphone than on a 1980px wide display) that allows blocks of content to slide under one another (or rearrange themselves in various other ways). It also involves creating images that are optimised for various size displays (the sharpening required for a full-screen television image is very different from that required for a smartphone screen).

Upshot is, most RWD sites are developed by development teams with a variety of disciplines including database design and administration, programming (not just html/css), information architecture, graphic design.

This is all very difficult to produce in a wysiwyg drag and drop program designed for people who aren't any of the above or who don't have access to the rest of the team required due to budget limitations, etc. That is, people designing brochureware sites for small businesses. Sure there are a couple of wysiwyg programs that are making kludgy attempts at solving the problem but they are all, at the moment (with the possible exception of Macaw) not very intuitive to use and still don't get around the issues of semantics and information flow. RWD sites will always be much more expensive to produce for these reasons, not related directly to design, that make designing a RWD site much more time consuming that the average small business or personal brochureware site that is the norm for most people using NoF.

[oakbridge]

You are confusing content management systems with responsive web design. They are completely different things, like talking about an automobile when you really need a fishing rod.

A CMS, or content management system is a database back end that creates web pages on the fly and allows authors to publish content either through a dedicated tool or through a browser interface. Popular CMSs include Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, Modx, Moodle and many more, and also a huge number of proprietory systems written for various backend databases. I seriously doubt Google is saying that if you don't have such a tool then you won't get listed. It would rule out the millions of brochureware sites that have no requirement for a database backend.

Responsive Web Design is another kettle of fish, however. It is writing code that includes media queries that tell the server what kind of viewport (or screen size) it is serving too and allows the page to contract and rearrange its content so that it displays in a more linear fashion on screens of varying size, from mega sized internet enabled 60" television screens to a 360px wide smartphone. Problems is, this isn't easy to achieve without having a development team as it involves information architecture (designing information in a way that it makes sense when its displayed; this can be very different on a smartphone than on a 1980px wide display) that allows blocks of content to slide under one another (or rearrange themselves in various other ways). It also involves creating images that are optimised for various size displays (the sharpening required for a full-screen television image is very different from that required for a smartphone screen).

Upshot is, most RWD sites are developed by development teams with a variety of disciplines including database design and administration, programming (not just html/css), information architecture, graphic design.

This is all very difficult to produce in a wysiwyg drag and drop program designed for people who aren't any of the above or who don't have access to the rest of the team required due to budget limitations, etc. That is, people designing brochureware sites for small businesses. Sure there are a couple of wysiwyg programs that are making kludgy attempts at solving the problem but they are all, at the moment (with the possible exception of Macaw) not very intuitive to use and still don't get around the issues of semantics and information flow. RWD sites will always be much more expensive to produce for these reasons, not related directly to design, that make designing a RWD site much more time consuming that the average small business or personal brochureware site that is the norm for most people using NoF.

Franko. Thanks for the long but interesting reply. Well I should send you a copy of their letter. I know what a responsive Blog looks like (not how to make one) and that is exactly what they showed. Nothing else. You know how Google thinks. You have to read between the lines to figure them out. Something I don't have much luck with.
Bob McGuire