Unit Verse

We’re Saying It Again

• by R.A. Ray 2 years ago
• 4 Comments

“Unify is not a CMS.” These words have sparked a debate about the exact nature of our nifty little product. Some users/on-lookers understand our distinction while others respond dismissively or with outright incredulity. So, to help further the discussion already taking place, here’s why we don’t call Unify a CMS.

It doesn’t “manage” and it’s not a “system”

We consciously created a product that avoids both the “management” and “system” aspects found in most CMS products. Unify does not set itself to the task of organizing and delivering your content. The organization of your content is the organization of your site. Unify simply sits on top of that. Your site is still delivered by whatever mechanism you’ve devised: Unify does not touch the structure of your site.

Unify has certain advantages over database driven content management systems. For instance, any Unify installation can be completely deleted without affecting its parent site whatsoever. Have you ever tried that with WordPress or ExpressionEngine? It can’t be done because those systems inherently manage the content. Even many of the so-called “light CMS” alternatives require that your site run through their database structures. Of course, there are also limitations but the point is that Unify is different and should be called by a different name.

Unify focuses on allowing users to edit the content of their sites right on the page where that content already lives. This singular focus puts Unify is in its own product category.

Clarity for Customers

It’s not that we’re anti-CMS. We often handle ExpressionEngine integrations for our design clients. This very blog and our recently launched Just Made My Day run off of WordPress. There are some very good reasons for using a CMS, but sites that constantly need new pages, user generated content, or have very complex content structures aren’t good candidates for Unify.

Similarly, sites that are built simply and need only to be edited in a straight-forward and intuitive way don’t need a full-blown CMS integration. Unify is the perfect fit for such a site and we must make sure that we communicate this clearly to potential customers.