You have that great idea that you are ready to put onto the web. How do you go about building your presence? There are many options available, most of which we dont even think about or know exist when we visit the websites we enjoy so much.

How do you go about writing and publishing a webpage? You can use Microsoft Word, but while the capability is built into this popular software, there are limits. There are many other options to consider.

If you are interested in having maximum control over the appearance and performance of your website then you might consider buying one of the many software packages that are available for writing and managing your website. The possibilities are endless, and these packages offer many powerful features.

There is another direction you can take, and that is choosing a content management system. These systems are integrated web site design and pubishing programs that give your website a foundation. Themes and add on features are always available for these systems.

A couple of the popular Content Management Systems, or CMS or short, are Joomla and Wordpress. Both of these CMSs are build with Open Source, meaning that the code is provided to help others to build supporting components. This shared environment makes open source programs an amazing creative collective that has resulted in a wide array of features. Some of these features are fee based, while many are given freely or by donation.

Joomla has been around for many years, and offers many great features. Start by visiting their website, look at some of the free templates offered, as well as the plugins. Joomla also has a forum that is well managed and supported.

Wordpress is a very popular content management system. There are many plugins or add on features available as well. Themes can be downloaded at Wordpress, or found at many websites. You can use Wordpress on your own hosted site, and this program can be installed using Fantastico or following the simple installation guides.

Speaking of Wordpress, there is also Wordpress MU, which stands for multi user. Multi user opens the door to hosting multiple sites build on the same domain, with one installation of wordpress at the core.

It takes time and energy to build a website, and giving a little thought to the underlying system can save you hours of hard work. Once you delve into your chosen content management system you will find many powerful options available for producing a great website.