Updating a Web Page online
Hello,
I am new to this forum and was hoping that someone could help me out. I want to create a website that I can update regularly. There are just a couple of lines that would change every once in a while but I want to be able to do this online rather than using FTP or something else. Is there a script that I can use or what would be the easiest way to do this. I don't want to buy a content management software since I don't want all the functionality.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sal
Roo posted this at 21:53 — 29th June 2005.
She has: 840 posts
Joined: Apr 1999
You would need some time of content management system. pMachine Pro is actually a blog php program, but it can easily be a total CMS solution. It's easy to install and customize. You need a php enabled server and the ability to create a MySQL database.
I'm sure others will have more links to post.
Roo
CptAwesome posted this at 00:57 — 30th June 2005.
He has: 370 posts
Joined: Dec 2004
if you only want to change a couple things, or just have very limited flexibility, you don't need a full CMS, but really it just depends on how much you need, how much experience you have, etc...
Auriga posted this at 13:46 — 30th June 2005.
He has: 12 posts
Joined: Apr 2005
I use a text editor called PHP Expert Editor (don't let the name put you off, it's a nice easy text editor).
In this program you can add an FTP account and edit you pages online, and when you save your changes it updates your site automatically!
Highly Recommended!
.::Auriga::.
.::Are you Folding?::.
fifeclub posted this at 14:23 — 30th June 2005.
He has: 688 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
The answer my friend is Blogging! Don't think of blogging the way it's *supposed* to be used but rather think of how it operates on a technical level. You add text (or more) to your website from anywhere via a web interface - exactly what you need.
Set up an free account with blogger.com. I did mine so many years before it was popular that I can't remember how I set mine up, but I use blogger to upload a file to my server instead of their generic templates hosted on their servers. Fiddle with the blogging code to however you like (like remove the "By Whomever - Todays Date" if you want) and simply call this file (which will eventually be located on your server) as an include from whatever page you want your 'update' to appear on. Now the important thing is to set your blog to display only the last ONE post made.
Sorry if that didn't make sense but I've been using this unconventional techinique for years and it works great. I set my pseudo-blog to show all posts with no archives but if I had simply set mine to show only the last one post then it would work exactly like you want - I could update my website from any internet connection by simply logging in to blogger.com, type something new, and clicking the publish button. You wouldn't need to remove the previous text since (although it is stored on blogger.com's files, the previous post would automatically be pushed right off the page.
mjgca posted this at 21:13 — 30th June 2005.
They have: 11 posts
Joined: Jun 2005
Fifeclub, I like your approach but I am still confused on how to use my template as an Include. I have an account at blogger.com and use my server to host but when I view through my site, its using one of the generic templates. If I change that file, it is overwritten everytime. Can you provide some information or a sample code that would help me? Thanks a lot.
Auriga, where can I find this text editor? And would it maintain the html tags after the update? Thanks.
fifeclub posted this at 21:37 — 30th June 2005.
He has: 688 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Under "Settings" is a tab called "Template". Here's mine:
<?
include "/home/myusername/public_html/header.php";
?>
<Blogger>
<BlogDateHeader>
<p style="font-size: 10px"><$BlogDateHeaderDate$></p>
</BlogDateHeader>
<div>
<$BlogItemBody$><br />
</div>
<br />
</Blogger>
<!--
In accordance to the Blogger terms of service, please leave this button
somewhere on your blogger-powered page. Thanks!
-->
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><img src="http://buttons.blogger.com/bloggerbutton1.gif"
width="88" height="31" border="0" alt="This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?"></a>
<?
include "/home/myusername/public_html/footer.php";
?>
I added the include code to my header and footer but you wouldn't. You would just use the blogger part of the code only (don't use mine because I stripped out a lot of it). Then on the page where you want your post to appear, just use some include code to call this file from your server, like this:
<?
include "/whatever/path/to/your/file.php";
?>
Hope that helps.
mjgca posted this at 03:30 — 1st July 2005.
They have: 11 posts
Joined: Jun 2005
Fifeclub, ok I got the template changed but how do I call the include from the page that I want to display this blog (test.html).
Thank you so much for your help.
fifeclub posted this at 13:28 — 1st July 2005.
He has: 688 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
There are much better coders on this site then me and hopefully they'll chime in... but I'll try.
1) Have you checked to see if blogger is connecting to your server and properly uploading the blogger file? Have you tried to load that page in your browser to see if it works?
2) What is the extension of the page you are trying to put the code on (not the page that blogger uploaded)? If your extension is .html or .htm then you won't be able to use an include call because those extensions don't parse code.
a) If your server has php installed (most do) then just change your extension from whatever.html to whatever.php. The page will still work with no code alterations.
b) Now that your page is a .php extension it will automatically parse any code, so just use that include code I wrote above and viola. Note - it needs to be a server path and not an url.
mjgca posted this at 15:36 — 1st July 2005.
They have: 11 posts
Joined: Jun 2005
Thanks a lot Fifeclub. It worked, the extension was the problem, I had it as an HTML page instead of .php.
I really like this solution, its so much easier to setup and the updates are great, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again.
fifeclub posted this at 16:02 — 1st July 2005.
He has: 688 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Glad I can help. (Seriously, I'm glad... because I'm ususally the one asking the quesitions and it's so rarely that I'm actually able to help somebody else )
Want to join the discussion? Create an account or log in if you already have one. Joining is fast, free and painless! We’ll even whisk you back here when you’ve finished.