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The usage of data-intensive web applications raises problems concerning consistency, navigation, and data duplication. Content management systems (CMSs) can overcome these problems. In this research, we focus on special types of web content management systems—web-based CMS applications. Currently, no general available methods exist for implementing and configuring these applications. In this research, an assembly based situational method engineering approach is proposed for constructing an implementation method for web-based CMS applications. The approach consists of four steps: (a) identification of implementation situations, (b) selection of candidate methods, (c) analysis and storage of relevant fragments in the method base, and (d) assembly of the new method using route maps to obtain situationality. This method engineering approach is supported by a meta-modeling technique, resulting in a process-data diagram, which integrates UML (Unified Modeling Language) activity diagrams and class diagrams. To validate the method, two case studies were performed at a large health insurance organization and a telecommunication organization in the Netherlands. The new implementation method performed well in both case studies, and the project workers were satisfied with the associated templates and instructions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.