A Geospatial Content Management System (GeoCMS) is a Content Management System

Content management system

A content management system is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based...

 where objects (users, images, articles, blogs..) can have a Latitude

Latitude

In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

, Longitude

Longitude

Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....

 position to be displayed on an online interactive map

Map

A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....

. In addition the online maps link to informational pages (wiki pages essentially) on the data represented.

A GeoCMS can have a map of registered users allowing to build communities geographically, by looking at users location. The help of wiki for describing geographical layers present a simple way to solve the problem of geographical metadata

Metadata

The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...

.

Since the advent of Google Maps

Google Maps

Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...

 and the publication of its API, numerous users have used online maps to illustrate their web pages. Google Maps is in itself not a GeoCMS but is a powerful building block.

Similarly Mapserver

MapServer

MapServer is an open source development environment for building spatially-enabled internet applications. It can run as a CGI program or via MapScript which supports several programming languages . MapServer was developed by the University of Minnesota — so, it is often and more specifically...

 is also a powerful building block for creating GeoCMS.

Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware was the first CMS to become a GeoCMS in early 2003, it is now becoming popular on various other CMS especially since the publication of the Mapserver API in 2002 to many scripting languages: PHP

PHP

PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...

, Python

Python (programming language)

Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...

, Perl

Perl

Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...

, Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

,...

GeoCMS List

• Django
• Drupal
  Drupal
  Drupal is a free and open-source content management system and content management framework written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for at least 1.5% of all websites worldwide ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and...
  
  
• Midgard CMS
  Midgard (software)
  Midgard is an open source persistent storage framework. It provides an object-oriented and replicated environment for building data-intensive applications.Midgard also ships with MidCOM content management system built on the Midgard framework...
  
  
• Plone
  Plone
  Plone can mean:* Plone , a British band* Plone , a content management system...
  
  
• Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware
• WordPress
  WordPress
  WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
  
  
• Zikula
  Zikula
  Zikula is a free open source web application framework released under the GNU General Public License. It can be used to develop robust, secure, interactive and editable websites and web based applications. Zikula is written in object oriented PHP and is fully modular...
  
  

GeoCMS comparison

	Drupal Drupal Drupal is a free and open-source content management system and content management framework written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for at least 1.5% of all websites worldwide ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and...	Midgard Midgard (software) Midgard is an open source persistent storage framework. It provides an object-oriented and replicated environment for building data-intensive applications.Midgard also ships with MidCOM content management system built on the Midgard framework...	Plone Plone Plone can mean:* Plone , a British band* Plone , a content management system...	Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware	WordPress WordPress WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...	Zikula Zikula Zikula is a free open source web application framework released under the GNU General Public License. It can be used to develop robust, secure, interactive and editable websites and web based applications. Zikula is written in object oriented PHP and is fully modular...
Ability to store locations	√	√	√	√	√	√
Number of locations per content item	Multiple	In/about/at	See specific plugin	1	1	Multiple
Maps on content items	Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, MapBuilder	Mapstraction	See specific plugin	Mapserver or Google Maps	Mapstraction	Mapstraction or Google Maps
Syndication formats	GeoRSS, KML	GeoRSS GeoRSS GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. (Web feeds are used to describe feeds ("channels") of content, such as...	See specific plugin	RSS for maps update	GeoRSS GeoRSS GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. (Web feeds are used to describe feeds ("channels") of content, such as... , KML Keyhole Markup Language Keyhole Markup Language is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within Internet-based, two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Keyhole Earth Viewer. It was created by...	GeoRSS GeoRSS GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. (Web feeds are used to describe feeds ("channels") of content, such as... , KML Keyhole Markup Language Keyhole Markup Language is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within Internet-based, two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Keyhole Earth Viewer. It was created by...
Geocoding		√ (Mapstraction, Yahoo, GeoNames GeoNames GeoNames is a geographical database available and accessible through various Web services, under a Creative Commons attribution license.- Database and web services :... )	See specific plugin	not yet	√ (Mapstraction)	√ (Mapstraction, Google Maps)
User location sources		Manual, SMS, Plazes Plazes Plazes AG is a Berlin, Germany based geosocial networking site. Plazes allows users to post their location and current activities and share this information with other Plazes users via computers or mobile telephones. On 23 June 2008, Nokia Corporation announced plans to acquire Plazes.-History... , GeoRSS GeoRSS GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. GeoRSS is an emerging standard for encoding location as part of a Web feed. (Web feeds are used to describe feeds ("channels") of content, such as... , ICBM, Instamapper, Fire Eagle Fire Eagle Fire Eagle is a Yahoo! owned service that acts as a store for a user's location. It was created at Yahoo Brickhouse by a team which included among others Tom Coates, Simon Willison, and Seth Fitzsimmons....	See specific plugin	customized maps		Google Maps Module