This is a huge topic that could easily consume (and already has)
many volumes of expensive technical manuals. But I will only be
addressing some of the more important needs of website developers
and will attempt to keep my topics focused and useful.
This is a term that will mean many different things to different
people. I am using the term to apply to managing data that is
used to develop a website on your local computer, managing the
data that comprises the website itself, and managing the data
that is (or should be) generated by your website. This generally
includes imagery, media files (sound, video, etc.), HTML files,
plain text files, and various business application documents.
It is not uncommon for the volume of this "stuff" to
exceed ones ability to stay organized for even a modest but active
development project.
A successful web presence for any business or organization requires
regular improvements, revisions and most especially; it wants
a great deal of activity from site visitors. Many sites fall short
on providing enough interaction with their visitors to maximize
their potential for leads, contacts or sales. This is often due
to a lack of ability to deal effectively with the files required
to keep things evolving on the site and the effort required (or
expertise) to deal with the site visitors in ways that go beyond
presenting a static display of information.
