Passage2web allow end-users (typically authors of some sort) to provide new content in the form of articles. The articles are typically entered as plain text, perhaps with markup to indicate where other resources (such as pictures) should be placed. The system then uses rules to style the article, separating the display from the content, which has a number of advantages when trying to get many articles to conform to a consistent "look and feel".

The systems also often include some sort of concept of the workflow for the target users, which defines how the new content is to be routed around the system.

More recently the term has been associated almost entirely with programs for editing web sites. Such systems span a wide variety of needs, from small systems with almost no workflow for small user-groups, to large database-based systems for running large, very active web sites such as those for an airlines or international corporation.