Custom CMS website design.
A hand-built website with an open-source CMS configured for your team. Included with Full Site Rebuilds from $3,750, with no TMN software license and no monthly CMS fee. Your people publish from launch day, and a qualified developer can maintain the site after handoff.
Client-owned CMS
- Full Site Rebuild from $3,750
- Custom Studio Build from $5,000
- Starter Refresh static, no CMS
No separate CMS line item and no monthly CMS fee. Starter Refresh is a focused homepage upgrade, so it stays static.
What your team publishes without a developer.
The editor is open-source software that lives inside your website’s own code, most often Decap CMS. Your team signs in through a browser, writes into a structured form built for each content type, and publishes. The Git-backed setup records every change, so there is always a history to go back to.
- An articles or insights collection with title, date, author, summary, cover image, and topics
- Structured content agreed in scoping: team profiles, job openings, locations, FAQs, or testimonials
- Drafts, and a review step before anything goes live
- Image uploads stored with the site
- Named editor accounts for the people who publish
- A walkthrough for your editors at launch
Design and layout stay fixed. New page templates, new content types after launch, and integrations are quoted before work begins.
Start a CMS project2 ways your team can publish.
Both give your people a browser editor for the content built into the site. They differ in who runs the editor and what you pay after launch.
Client-owned CMS
Included with Full Site Rebuild and Custom Studio Build. An open-source editor, most often Decap CMS, configured inside your website’s code. No TMN license and no monthly fee to keep publishing. The right choice for firms that want a qualified developer who works with static sites and Git to be able to maintain the site later.
The website code, the content, and the CMS configuration are yours under the project agreement. Decap is third-party open-source software under the MIT license, and a purpose-built editor transfers to you with the rest of the code.
Start a CMS projectManaged Publishing Portal
$150 per month alongside Site Care. TMN runs the editor, the sign-in, and the publishing pipeline, and keeps the site maintained. The right choice for firms that want 1 call to make for everything, including advisory firms whose standing disclosure has to be appended to every post.
The website and every page published to it are yours. The portal application, its source code, and its authentication layer remain TMN Creative’s and are provided while the monthly service is active.
See the portal termsIn practice: East West Diversified Ventures publishes its Insights articles through an open-source CMS built into its site. Hilpan Moxie Wealth Management publishes through the managed portal, with the firm’s standing disclosure appended automatically.
The questions to ask any agency, answered.
Buyers are told, rightly, to ask who owns the CMS and the hosting and whether their team keeps administrative access after launch. Here are the answers for a TMN build with the client-owned CMS.
- Ownership
Ownership transfers after full payment under the signed project agreement. Decap remains third-party open-source software under the MIT license, so there is no TMN software license or license fee. Transfer of any purpose-built editor follows the agreement.
- Admin access
Your proposal identifies the sign-in provider and account arrangement. Editors keep the agreed access after launch while the required provider accounts and services remain active.
- Accounts
You can request repository access or a copy at any time. Ownership and final transfer remain subject to the signed agreement, including full payment. Your proposal names who administers the domain, hosting, repository, and publishing access while we work together.
- If we part ways
There is no TMN CMS license to cancel. After full payment and transfer under the signed agreement, a qualified developer who works with static sites and Git can maintain the code, CMS configuration, and content. Required third-party services and credentials must stay active.
- Recurring costs
There is no recurring fee for the CMS itself. Domain, hosting, authentication, repository, and build services may carry third-party charges depending on the setup. Your proposal identifies the required services, who administers them, and how their charges are handled. Optional TMN Site Care starts at $50 per month.
- Handoff
Editor sign-ins and written notes at launch. After full payment, the source code, CMS configuration, and content files transfer under the signed agreement so another qualified developer can take over.
What we settle before the build starts
- Which content types your team will publish, and how often
- Who writes, who edits, and who approves
- Which pages need editable copy and which stay fixed
- Whether posts need SEO fields, topics, or author profiles
- Whether a disclosure or disclaimer must appear on every post
- The fields in each content type, so editors fill in a form instead of formatting a page
- Draft and review steps, and who can publish
- Image sizes and where uploads are stored
- Editor accounts and roles
- Timed publishing, which the editor does not do on its own, handled through the review step or a quoted addition
What it is not
It is not a drag-and-drop page builder. Layout, typography, and page structure stay as designed, which is what keeps the site fast and on brand. It is not a CRM, and it does not review content for legal or regulatory compliance. A firm that wants to redesign its own pages is better served by a template platform, and we say so on the first call.
Built for firms that publish.
Law firms posting case notes and attorney profiles, advisory firms publishing insights with a standing disclosure, practices posting openings and location pages, and operators who write their own material. If your team publishes more than a few times a year, the CMS belongs in the build.
Starting with a Starter Refresh? It stays static. Firms that start there add the Managed Publishing Portal with Site Care, or move to a Full Site Rebuild when the site grows.
Common questions about a CMS you own.
What firms ask before choosing who builds the site their team will publish on.
What does “custom CMS” mean here?
A custom implementation of an open-source editor, most often Decap CMS, configured for the content your team publishes. TMN did not write Decap and does not license it to you. The custom part is the content structure, the templates each content type publishes into, and the way the editor fits your site.
Which CMS do you use, and why not WordPress?
Decap CMS. It stores content as files inside the website code, so there is no separate content database or WordPress plugin stack to maintain. Publishing still depends on the authentication, repository, build, and hosting services named in your proposal. WordPress and similar platforms are the right choice when a firm wants to redesign its own pages, and we say so on the first call when that is the case. Some builds get a purpose-built editor instead, and which one your site gets is settled in scoping.
Is the CMS included in the price?
Yes. Full Site Rebuild starts at $3,750 and Custom Studio Build at $5,000, and both include the client-owned CMS. There is no separate CMS line item and no monthly CMS fee. Starter Refresh is a static homepage upgrade and does not include a CMS.
Who owns the CMS, the code, and the content?
Upon full payment, ownership of the website code, CMS configuration, and content files transfers under the signed project agreement. Decap remains third-party open-source software under the MIT license, so there is no TMN software license or license fee. You can request repository access or a copy at any time. Your proposal names who administers the domain, hosting, repository, and publishing access while we work together.
Do we keep administrative access after launch?
Yes. Your proposal identifies the sign-in provider and account arrangement. Your team controls the agreed editor access after launch while the required provider accounts and services remain active, and routine publishing does not require a TMN support ticket.
What happens if we stop working with TMN?
There is no TMN CMS license or monthly CMS fee. After full payment and transfer under the signed agreement, a qualified developer who works with static sites and Git can maintain the code, CMS configuration, and content. Domain, hosting, authentication, repository, build, and other required third-party services remain subject to their providers and must stay active.
What can our team edit, and what stays fixed?
The content types built for your site: an articles or insights collection, plus the structured content agreed in scoping, such as team profiles, job openings, locations, FAQs, or testimonials. Layout, typography, and page structure stay fixed, which is what keeps the site fast and on brand. New templates and content types after launch are quoted before work begins.
Can our team hold posts for review or publish on a schedule?
A review step is available, so a draft can be held until someone in your firm approves it. The editor publishes on command rather than on a timer. Firms that need timed publishing hold the approved draft until the date, or we quote a scheduled-publish addition during scoping.
What are the recurring costs?
There is no recurring charge for the CMS itself. Domain, hosting, authentication, repository, and build services may carry third-party charges depending on the setup. Your proposal identifies the required services, who administers them, and how their charges are handled. Optional TMN Site Care starts at $50 per month.
How is this different from the Managed Publishing Portal?
The portal is TMN-run software: we maintain the editor, the sign-in, and the publishing pipeline for $150 per month alongside Site Care, and the portal application remains TMN Creative’s while the service is active. The client-owned CMS is included in the website build, has no monthly fee, and is portable to a qualified developer who works with static sites and Git. Firms that want TMN to maintain an automatic standing-disclosure step can choose the portal.
Does the CMS handle compliance review?
No. Your firm remains responsible for legal, regulatory, advertising, and compliance review of everything it publishes. The CMS is a publishing tool, not a review or approval workflow. Advisory firms that need a dated website record and a change log for a reviewer should look at Compliance Site Care.
Tell me what your team needs to publish.
Articles, page copy, job openings, team profiles, locations, or something more structured. Tell me what your people will edit and how often, and I will tell you which setup fits and what it costs.