Build a Lightweight CMS with SQL + a Simple Import: The Pattern Behind Our Site

1) Minimal Database Schema

We store rendered HTML directly. Admins control content; the layout provides the frame.

-- Articles table
CREATE TABLE dbo.Articles (
    ArticleId      INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
    Slug           NVARCHAR(160)  NOT NULL UNIQUE,     -- e.g., 'excel-templates-sharepoint'
    Title          NVARCHAR(200)  NOT NULL,
    HtmlBody       NVARCHAR(MAX)  NOT NULL,            -- full HTML from tactical.txt
    Summary        NVARCHAR(500)  NULL,                -- optional meta/teaser
    TagsCsv        NVARCHAR(400)  NULL,                -- fast + simple tags
    IsPublished    BIT            NOT NULL DEFAULT(0),
    CreatedUtc     DATETIME2(0)   NOT NULL DEFAULT(SYSUTCDATETIME()),
    UpdatedUtc     DATETIME2(0)   NOT NULL DEFAULT(SYSUTCDATETIME()),
    Author         NVARCHAR(120)  NULL
);
GO

-- Keep simple lookup for menu filtering
CREATE INDEX IX_Articles_Published_Updated ON dbo.Articles (IsPublished, UpdatedUtc DESC);
GO

2) Stored Procedure: Idempotent Upsert

We import by slug. If it exists, update; otherwise insert.

CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE dbo.usp_Article_Upsert
    @Slug        NVARCHAR(160),
    @Title       NVARCHAR(200),
    @HtmlBody    NVARCHAR(MAX),
    @Summary     NVARCHAR(500) = NULL,
    @TagsCsv     NVARCHAR(400) = NULL,
    @IsPublished BIT = 1,
    @Author      NVARCHAR(120) = NULL
AS
BEGIN
    SET NOCOUNT ON;

    IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM dbo.Articles WHERE Slug = @Slug)
    BEGIN
        UPDATE dbo.Articles
           SET Title      = @Title,
               HtmlBody   = @HtmlBody,
               Summary    = @Summary,
               TagsCsv    = @TagsCsv,
               IsPublished= @IsPublished,
               Author     = @Author,
               UpdatedUtc = SYSUTCDATETIME()
         WHERE Slug = @Slug;
    END
    ELSE
    BEGIN
        INSERT INTO dbo.Articles (Slug, Title, HtmlBody, Summary, TagsCsv, IsPublished, Author)
        VALUES (@Slug, @Title, @HtmlBody, @Summary, @TagsCsv, @IsPublished, @Author);
    END
END
GO

3) Importer: Read tactical.txt and Upsert

Below is a classic VBScript example using ADODB.Command with parameters. It’s tiny, reliable, and fits into scheduled tasks or manual runs.

'=== 0-Import-Create-A-ChatGPTImport.vbs (example) ===
Option Explicit

Dim connStr, slug, title, summary, tags, isPublished, author, bodyPath, htmlBody
connStr = "Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=YOUR-SQL;Initial Catalog=YourDb;Integrated Security=SSPI;"
slug = "excel-templates-sharepoint"
title = "Build a Lightweight CMS with SQL + Import"
summary = "How we import HTML files into SQL and render via ASP.NET."
tags = "cms,sql,aspnet,import"
isPublished = True
author = "Site Admin"
bodyPath = "tactical.txt"   ' your authored HTML article

' Read file
Dim fso, f, s
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set f = fso.OpenTextFile(bodyPath, 1, False, 0) ' ForReading, ASCII/UTF-8 w/o BOM works fine
s = f.ReadAll
f.Close
htmlBody = s

' Execute proc
Dim cn, cmd
Set cn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
cn.Open connStr

Set cmd = CreateObject("ADODB.Command")
Set cmd.ActiveConnection = cn
cmd.CommandType = 4 ' adCmdStoredProc
cmd.CommandText = "dbo.usp_Article_Upsert"

cmd.Parameters.Append cmd.CreateParameter("@Slug", 202, 1, 160, slug)          ' adVarWChar, adParamInput
cmd.Parameters.Append cmd.CreateParameter("@Title", 202, 1, 200, title)
cmd.Parameters.Append cmd.CreateParameter("@HtmlBody", 203, 1, -1, htmlBody)    ' adLongVarWChar
cmd.Parameters.Append cmd.CreateParameter("@Summary", 202, 1, 500, summary)
cmd.Parameters.Append cmd.CreateParameter("@TagsCsv", 202, 1, 400, tags)
cmd.Parameters.Append cmd.CreateParameter("@IsPublished", 11, 1, , isPublished)  ' adBoolean
cmd.Parameters.Append cmd.CreateParameter("@Author", 202, 1, 120, author)

cmd.Execute

cn.Close
Set cmd = Nothing
Set cn  = Nothing
WScript.Echo "Import complete for slug: " & slug
'=== end ===

Optional: PowerShell importer

$cn = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection "Server=YOUR-SQL;Database=YourDb;Integrated Security=true;"
$cn.Open()
$cmd = $cn.CreateCommand()
$cmd.CommandText = "dbo.usp_Article_Upsert"
$cmd.CommandType = [System.Data.CommandType]::StoredProcedure

$body = Get-Content -Raw -Path "tactical.txt"
$cmd.Parameters.Add("@Slug",[nvarchar],160)      | out-null; $cmd.Parameters["@Slug"].Value="excel-templates-sharepoint"
$cmd.Parameters.Add("@Title",[nvarchar],200)     | out-null; $cmd.Parameters["@Title"].Value="Build a Lightweight CMS with SQL + Import"
$cmd.Parameters.Add("@HtmlBody",[nvarchar],-1)   | out-null; $cmd.Parameters["@HtmlBody"].Value=$body
$cmd.Parameters.Add("@Summary",[nvarchar],500)   | out-null; $cmd.Parameters["@Summary"].Value="How we import HTML files into SQL and render via ASP.NET."
$cmd.Parameters.Add("@TagsCsv",[nvarchar],400)   | out-null; $cmd.Parameters["@TagsCsv"].Value="cms,sql,aspnet,import"
$cmd.Parameters.Add("@IsPublished",[bit])        | out-null; $cmd.Parameters["@IsPublished"].Value=1
$cmd.Parameters.Add("@Author",[nvarchar],120)    | out-null; $cmd.Parameters["@Author"].Value="Site Admin"
$cmd.ExecuteNonQuery() | Out-Null
$cn.Close()

4) Rendering in ASP.NET Web Forms

We fetch by slug and place the HTML into the label that your layout already hosts.

// code-behind (myReader.aspx.cs)
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

public partial class myReader : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (IsPostBack) return;

        var slug = Request.QueryString["slug"] ?? "excel-templates-sharepoint";
        using (var cn = new SqlConnection("Server=YOUR-SQL;Database=YourDb;Integrated Security=true;"))
        using (var cmd = new SqlCommand(@"SELECT Title, HtmlBody FROM dbo.Articles WHERE Slug=@slug AND IsPublished=1", cn))
        {
            cmd.Parameters.Add("@slug", SqlDbType.NVarChar, 160).Value = slug;
            cn.Open();
            using (var r = cmd.ExecuteReader())
            {
                if (r.Read())
                {
                    Page.Title = r["Title"].ToString();
                    readblog.Text = r["HtmlBody"].ToString(); // this label renders our stored HTML
                }
                else
                {
                    readblog.Text = "<div class='alert alert-warning'>Article not found.</div>";
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

5) Simple Search & Metadata

Start lightweight; you can add full-text later.

-- naive search by title/tags
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE dbo.usp_Article_Search
  @q NVARCHAR(100)
AS
BEGIN
  SET NOCOUNT ON;
  SELECT TOP 25 ArticleId, Slug, Title, Summary, UpdatedUtc
  FROM dbo.Articles
  WHERE IsPublished = 1
    AND (
      Title   LIKE '%' + @q + '%'
      OR TagsCsv LIKE '%' + @q + '%'
      OR Summary LIKE '%' + @q + '%'
    )
  ORDER BY UpdatedUtc DESC;
END
GO

6) Security & Safety

• Admins-only authoring. Because we intentionally render stored HTML, keep the import surface restricted to trusted users.
• Parameterized SQL. As shown above—never string-concatenate SQL.
• Style scoping. Keep article CSS scoped inside the container (like we do here) to avoid bleeding into the site chrome.
• Untrusted input? If you ever allow non-admin authors, sanitize/whitelist tags server-side before upsert.
• Backups. Nightly DB backup + a file copy of authored tactical.txt alongside the import job for easy rollback.

7) Ops & Versioning

CREATE TABLE dbo.ArticleHistory (
  HistoryId  BIGINT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
  ArticleId  INT         NOT NULL,
  HtmlBody   NVARCHAR(MAX) NOT NULL,
  SnapshotUtc DATETIME2(0) NOT NULL DEFAULT(SYSUTCDATETIME())
);