You’re probably wondering how you could possibly integrate your entire website with a CMS in just 15 minutes. The truth is, due to the recent trend of “light” content management systems, it’s becoming easier than ever to get small to mid-sized static websites up and running in them.

What is a light CMS? For the sake of this tutorial, I’m defining it as an easy-to-use, unobtrusive content management system that you don’t have to install. The nice thing about these systems is that you don’t even have to host them yourself, which is why integration takes very little time.

There are actually a handful of these CMS products available, including CushyCMS, Pagelime, andSimpleCMS. Most of these systems work off the same basic principle — you add class=”something” to almost any HTML element, link your website up to their system, and you’re done. Best of all, every one of these systems offer a free version.

Although every light CMS product has its pros and cons, I chose to work with Surreal CMS because of their vast feature set and simple interface. You’ll see exactly what I mean in just a moment, but in the meantime, here is the general process of integrating with any light CMS:

  • Create your website
  • Link it up to the CMS
  • Enable webpages
  • Add one or more editors
  • Begin editing

all in here: http://surrealcms.com/