At this point, we're on the same page: Wow, HubSpot is unlike any other CMS out there.
If you're curious as to how they became what they are today, read on! Luke gave us the inside scoop on the history and evolution of HubSpot's CMS.
The History of the HubSpot CMS
Luke Summerfield has a long, eclectic history with the HubSpot CMS...they go WAY back.
![Luke Summerfield_HubSpot CMS]()
Before he started working at HubSpot in December 2014, his web expertise was gracing the former digital agency (Savvy Panda) with its presence, and they were using what HubSpot called the CMS version 1.
It was pretty basic, but it did what it was supposed to do really well, helping marketers (non-coders) manage a website.
Though for anyone who used this content management system, there was a lot to be desired. From its features to its name. It was originally called the HubSpot COS (Content Optimization System) with the intention of focusing on the importance of not just managing content, but always improving and optimizing it.
The name confused enough people that they eventually decided to change it to what it is today: HubSpot CMS.
Around October 2014, Savvy Panda was acquired and after helping out with the transition, Luke jumped ship to HubSpot. He started off as a program manager, then founded Growth Driven Design (an internal startup focused on transforming how websites are built and optimized), to his present role of assisting the HubSpot CMS product team and growing programs and products that solve developer challenges.
"It was fascinating to be on the other side of the fence now, not only helping agencies and their clients use the platform, but also getting to witness how the product was developed and being evolved" - Luke Summerfield
Fast forward to 2012, when the CMS was relaunced as a part of HubSpot's big "HubSpot 3", it resembled a lot more of what you see today.
At this time, HubSpot had grand plans and really good product vision, as they recognized the power of being able to connect the HubSpot CMS to contact records in the HubSpot CRM (Content Relationship Management).
All of a sudden, you could create really dynamic website and landing pages. This lead to the development of personalization and Smart Content tools that allow you to alter the way your content displays depending on specific viewer properties in your CRM. Now you could show the most relevant message to each of your visitors for a true relationship-driven marketing experience.
![Hubspot CMS_Smart Content]()
The HubSpot CMS in 2016
Fast forward again to 2016... Luke explains that this is where a lot of interesting things started to happen with the HubSpot CMS.
Although it was still fairly easy to use, the experience still didn't flow exactly how they envisioned. They were trying to build one tool that would make both marketers and developers happy - the result was an 'ok' job at both. They realized they needed to pivot and create totally separate experiences and tools for each group.
"The problem with this was, I think we kind of missed the mark and didn't do either one very well, and we were missing key functionality." - Luke Summerfield
So it was time to switch things up and they started with some of the items below:
- Building dynamic page content using HubSpot's simple database system - "HubDB" and the HubDB APIs.
- Moving from the CMS being an add-on to the marketing tools, to allow customers to purchase the HubSpot CMS as a stand-alone product.
- Allowing for member login and restricted content using HubSpot's "Memberships" tool (bundled in the Enterprise Hubs)
![Hubspot CMS_HubDB]()
Next, they went to work on restructuring their product teams and the experiences they would create.
- The first team that was developed was 100% focused on the marketer experience: ease of use, giving them the flexibility they needed to get their jobs done.
- Then a second, completely separate team was created to only focus on the developer experience, and to really live and breathe in a world where all they see is code.
Moving forward, Luke said they are looking to improve functionality for larger companies who have complex websites and more advanced IT/CTO requirements.
The HubSpot CMS of Today
So now in 2019, there's a lot of people doing a lot of hard work. HubSpot has a very large team totally focused on building content tools.
Progress is being made.
It's getting easier for marketers and the developer experience is improving with some of the new design manager tools, but one of the things that Luke said they were still hearing constructive feedback on was that people wanted a stand-alone CMS offer for things like:
- A separate website for another project, division or franchise;
- An event;
- Or maybe they just wanted something simple and weren't ready for all the fancy automation features that HubSpot is known for
Backtrack to before Inbound 2018. You had to buy the marketing tools. Then you had to add on the CMS, and it was kind of buried under everything else.
Well, users spoke and HubSpot listened.
So at Inbound 2018, they released it: a fully integrated CMS that goes far beyond content management. Now you have the ability to add on features when you are ready for them in the future. In addition, you not only get the CMS, but you also get the HubSpot CRM packaged with it for FREE.
This was a game-changer.
![Hubspot CMS_image]()
The Future of the HubSpot CMS
When you look at content management systems like Wix or Squarespace, they seem to do a phenomenal job of making it super easy for marketers to jump into a website and make changes and edits.
So HubSpot naturally took notice.
Luke informed us they have been thinking about what an 'ideal' editing experience looks like in HubSpot CMS for some time now... and the natural progression is going towards 100% drag and drop.
This would allow you to do things like change the size of an image by just dragging it and pulling it wider or adding a new column with the click of a button.
The intention here is to create more of an interactive experience for the non-technical admins to be able to easily design beautiful, functional websites.
AND guess what???
This NEW web editing experience is now in BETA!
In addition, you may or may not know that this same 'drag and drop' editing experience has been available for creating and designing marketing emails since early 2018.
These editing features make creating a marketing email simple and intuitive, allowing marketers to change layouts; make images bigger or smaller; change header sizes, fonts, colors, etc., by simply dragging any element of your email into place, adding content, and sending.
![HubSpot CMS drag and drop email]()
You might be asking, so what makes this SO special?
Now, you don't need any web design skills to create an email!
In your portal go to Marketing > Email> Create New > Regular, and then you'll see the 'Drag and Drop' tab at the top left. There are a total of 19 options for you, including 1 completely blank template where you can start from scratch.
*Note - once you create an email, the template doesn't save, so if you want to use it again, you just have to clone your previous email.
Since its release, HubSpot has also added these new features:
- Additional templates - showcasing advanced functionality, including template defaults, section backgrounds, and full-width sections.
- New combined recipients and send screen - to simplify your creation flow, you'll now see the send and schedule tabs together.
- Quickly convert to an automated email or go back - under the “Actions” menu, you can convert a regular batch marketing email into an automated email or an automated email into a batch marketing email from any screen inside the email editor.
NEW HubSpot CMS Local Development Tools
The next inside tip Luke gave us was that HubSpot has been UBER focused on improving the marketer's AND the developer's experience. To support this, they now have over 80 full-time folks just cranking away building content tools and creating new, modern functionality that's being released on almost a monthly basis.
A NEW product that just went into BETA last week: a pure local development working experience!
So for any of you developers out there reading this: Luke said they know that y'all like to work locally, using your own frameworks, in your own editors, on your computers and that you weren't really keen on learning how HubSpot's web design tools worked.
This new local development tool will allow you to use whatever editors or frameworks you prefer, giving you the ability to pull everything down and sync it locally. Once it's local, it's easier to use workflow systems like Git or GitHub for managing processes.
This is something Luke and HubSpot are pretty excited about, and it's come a LONG way in the last two and a half years.
HubSpot APIs for Days
![HubSpot CMS_Hubspot Connect_App Ecosystem]()
If you're headed to Inbound 2019, you'll hear all about this, but if not, you've heard it here first!
HubSpot will be announcing an identity shift.
The platform is transitioning from an 'all-IN-one system' to an 'all-ON-one system' where everyone can connect in multiple ways.
In the past, HubSpot was known as being a pretty closed, proprietary system that allowed some integration with approved sources, but nothing compared to their largest open sourced friend — WordPress.
Lets just say, users spoke and HubSpot listened again and they went to work on their APIs.
They now have 45 APIs for all the different tools within HubSpot and their team does not plan on slowing down anytime soon, with plans for new API and endpoint releases in the next 6-12 months.
So what does this means for developers?
These APIs now give you the flexibility to basically create almost anything you can think of on the CMS and connect it with all your other systems and tools that you're operating your business on.
"This creates A LOT more flexibility in the world of 2019 in terms of what's possible" - Luke Summerfield
You can check out HubSpot's 'Connect Program' that supports companies with prepackaged integrations and tools, and allow marketers with no technical knowledge to click a button, install, and set up.
Luke said HubSpot has just hit over 375 apps in the program, and they are continuing to grow it daily.
In addition, there are other options now if you have a custom need or if you want to build our own app that's just for your company. All these new APIs make it very easy to get in and move the data you want and keep everything connected.
HubSpot + WordPress = A Powerful Duo
![Hubsot CMS and Wordpress]()
Last but not least, while we are on the topic of connecting tools into HubSpot, we have to discuss one of the most popular integrations: HubSpot + WordPress.
If you weren't aware, in June 2019, there was a refresh to the WordPress integration and a new WP Engine Partnership was formed. It includes the following benefits:
- HubSpot’s tools are now intuitive and quick to set up, so WP Engine customers can collect email subscribers, generate leads on their website, and have real-time conversations with website visitors.
- All the features of the plugin are built on top of the free, fully-integrated HubSpot CRM where customers can manage all your email contacts.
- Customers only need to use one plugin instead of five different plugins, so you spend less time managing tools and more time building meaningful relationships.
- Fewer plugins also reduce security vulnerabilities and the likelihood of plugins conflicting with each other.
- Combined with using WP Engine as your hosting service, customers can feel comfortable knowing that the website is secure from the numerous WordPress hacks.
Now, the HubSpot for WordPress plugin works with WP Engine's StudioPress pro themes to make the process of creating and setting up lead capture tools easier. No more figuring out how to manually create the forms, pop-ups, and live chat—yippee!
How to do this:
- First install the HubSpot plugin with a StudioPress theme activated on your site.
- The plugin will automatically create these assets for you and apply the popup and live chat modules to your site.
- This then helps you get set up on HubSpot’s tools immediately and gives you the flexibility to edit those assets as needed.
At HubSpot we want to solve for all customers and this includes customers who use WordPress. To do this, we are making investments in WordPress including our WP Plugin, Partnerships with folks like WPEngine and Gravity Forms, and we're even exploring a Web Agency Partner Track.