We released our first web-based content management service called Surreal CMS this afternoon. The service aims to make static content editing easier and more intuitive by simplifying the user interface and streamlining the process of setting up websites in a CMS. In short, you design websites however you like, and Surreal CMS will handle the content management side of things.

How does it work? You start by defining editable regions on each webpage using class attributes. Once you add your website to the CMS, Surreal will FTP into your web server, download the webpage, detect the regions you’ve made editable, and provide an intuitive editing interface for your users (“editors”). When they’re done editing, they can preview their changes live or publish the page back to the server. A complete history, including all revisions of every page edited, is available for up to 30 days. Surreal even offers a full-featured, web-based FTP file manager that lets you organize files and folders on your website with ease.

Why host it remotely? With nothing to download, install, or update, Surreal CMS is one of the easiest CMS solutions to setup and maintain. Worried about speed? Surreal relies heavily on AJAX and handles the brunt of the work with client-side scripting. These scripts get cached in your browser, meaning there are less files to download and less data to transfer each time a page refreshes. This leads to much faster load times. In fact, compared to most installable CMS products on the market, Surreal CMS is just as fast…and often faster.

The service was designed for Web designers to purchase and resell as their own solution. With a Designer Account, editors (i.e. your clients) will login to “The CMS” at edit-content.com and see your company’s logo and theme. No mention of “Surreal CMS” is made to them, making this the perfect solution for those clients with small websites.

Surreal CMS currently offers a Free Account, which lets you to manage up to three websites at no charge. If you sign up for a Designer Account, you’ll pay $25 USD per month (or $275 per year) and receive unlimited websites plus the ability to brand Surreal CMS as your own content management solution.

For more information, or to sign up for your free account, visit the Surreal CMS website.