1. A method for creating and managing under a User direction a rich-content repository of a plurality of items each having at least one field, comprising the steps of: a. defining a life-cycle as an ordered sequence of at least one stage for the rich-content repository, wherein the repository is stored in a memory of a host system; b. managing the at least one stage of the defined rich-content life-cycle; and c. providing a graphical user interface for the User to perform steps a and b, wherein step a. comprises the steps of: a.1 providing a common language for defining a pre-determined standard schema; a.2 defining the standard schema with the provided common language; a.3 structuring a standard database according to the defined standard schema; a.4 importing a content file having at least one of an incoming raw content file including an item file structure having at least one incoming item, and an incoming schema file defining the incoming raw content file; a.5 determining at least one difference between the incoming content file and the defined standard database as a delta analysis; a.6 value-added mapping of the imported raw content file according to the defined standard schema and the determined delta analysis; and a.7 performing at least one of the steps of publishing and syndicating the mapped content as a rich-content repository.