What is Umbraco?

YUHIRO
5 min readNov 1, 2022

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What is Umbraco?

Umbraco is a free and open-source ASP.NET and C# content management system that runs on the.NET (dot NET) framework from Microsoft. Niels Hartvig developed it in 2005. It provides exceptional scalability, security, and flexibility to developers. It provides users and content editors with a user-friendly interface and a natural editing experience, earning it the moniker “the friendly CMS.”

An expert team at Umbraco HQ, the organization that created the CMS, keeps it up-to-date. However, because it is open-source, anyone can contribute to the CMS’s development, and a committed global community creates it. More than 220,000 active users contribute to the CMS pull requests and help other users get the most out of it.

More than 700,000 installations are active right now, and it offers more than 1,200 free packages. So please continue reading to learn more about this content management system, where it is used and its features.

Purpose of Umbraco

The flexibility and scalability of this CMS make it suitable for freelancers, small agencies, and large corporations. With some training, you can do anything, from simple blog posts to responsive campaign websites. There are no restrictions on how you can use it. You can use it to create projects of all sizes and types. It includes:

  • Websites
  • Webshops
  • Intranets
  • Headless solutions

Why is it used?

There are many reasons why it is used by most developers, marketers, agencies, and many others. After knowing where it is used and its purpose, we will move on to why it is used.

  • First of all, it is genuinely a user-friendly Content Management System (CMS).
  • It can provide a flexible platform that enables you to structure your projects based on your needs and endless ways to extend the CMS.
  • You have the freedom to create websites and apps exactly how you want with CMS.
  • You are free to add any extensions required for your project, including your CRM, e-commerce platform, third-party personalization engine, and on-premise legacy business systems.
  • It is an SEO-friendly CMS that provides you with a solid technical base to increase your organic traffic.
  • It has editor-friendly features that allow you to get the content of your dreams much more easily and quickly.
  • You will have complete control over your content. You can schedule when your latest update should be published and preview how it will appear on various devices.
  • You’ll be in control of your media with a well-organized library and an Image Cropper that will automatically resize and crop images to fit any device.
  • You also get a built-in system for managing and creating multilingual content.
  • Additionally, it always provides an infinite undo button, so you can go back to a previous version if you change your mind.

Features of Umbraco

It is powered by C features a relational database, i.e., Microsoft SQL Server. It works with Microsoft Internet Information Services (Microsoft IIS). It features the ‘master pages’ of ASP.Net, uses ASP.Net as its front-end, and makes it easier to create reusable page layouts. Merchello, an Umbraco e-commerce plugin, is well-known for its high level of customization and multilingual support.

The following are the main features of Umbraco that you should learn about before installing and using it.

  • Infinite Editing
  • Tree Structure
  • Main Sections
  • Time Zones
  • Templates
  • Content

1. Infinite Editing

It can assist you in achieving a flawless workflow, referred to as Infinite Editing. This CMS system allows you to create pages by adding text via a WYSIWYG editor. Without leaving the page you are working on, you can also upload and crop images, write extensive SEO titles, and write descriptions.

Additionally, you can edit two pieces of content simultaneously with live translation thanks to the fantastic side-by-side mode. It offers you excellent multilingual support as a result.

2. Tree Structure

The technical foundation of this CMS is similar to a tree data structure. It enables you to see every component organized hierarchically. The abstract data type, a mathematical model of a data type, makes it a more intelligent CMS, according to the tree data structure. In such a tree structure, the data type is defined by the behavior of the data from the user’s point of view.

3. Main Sections

The three main components of the Umbraco backend are as follows:

  • Menu — You can quickly access the main pages, such as Content, Media, Settings, Developers, Users, Members, etc., from the main section. You can access all of the sections that the backend offers from this panel.
  • Tree Structure — You will have your entire list of pages and elements in a tree structure. The tree view loads when you click on a specific page or element. Everything is immediately evident due to the tree structure.
  • Publishing — It offers a variety of publishing options. In addition to real-time publishing, this CMS system allows you to schedule the release of any asset at a future date and time.

4. Time Zones

It doesn’t matter where your server is located in the CMS system. You can always choose a time zone based on where you are.

5. Templates

Its editable templates give you complete control over the design. It’s simple to create new templates, update existing ones, or remove them altogether. These pre-made templates are collections of HTML web pages. Every document you create in the Umbraco CMS has a unique template determined by your choices.

6. Content

In Umbraco, you must list the document types before creating new content. Each property allows you to add content and select the document type. You can “Save and Publish” to see the changes to your site after adding all the content.

  • You can update or add content and perform a “Preview” to see the changes before publishing if you don’t want to make changes directly on your website.
  • You can prevent users from accessing the content by using various access permissions.

It is one of the most widely used cloud-based content management systems. Anything can be successfully run on it, from simple applications to complex brochure websites. Developers and users all over the world favor this cloud-based CMS system. This CMS also gives you a blank page with great freedom to design and code whatever you want, thanks to its fully customizable features.

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YUHIRO

https://www.yuhiro-global.com/ is an IT outsourcing company which builds software developer teams in India for clients in Germany, Europe and the USA.