Client Website Content Update Tool
Hey how is everyone?
Does anyone know of a reasonably priced or better yet free solution, that would allow my clients to make minor changes and updates (text, image)to their webpages without having access to the bascic structure (html, tables etc.) of the page. A browser based solution would be ideal.
Any help would be great. Thanks.
The Webmistress posted this at 17:49 — 6th December 2002.
She has: 5,586 posts
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Welcome to TWF
How is the site built/constructed? Is it just basic html or does it use asp or php?
NYColt posted this at 17:55 — 6th December 2002.
They have: 42 posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Basic html
The Webmistress posted this at 20:32 — 6th December 2002.
She has: 5,586 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
There really isn't any way I know of that you'll be able to do this without them having to change the actual html pages.
Busy posted this at 20:44 — 6th December 2002.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
I've seen one the last few days (think it was at zend.com) but was a little pricey and worked on PHP and MySQl database.
Can you use PHP? probably wouldn't be to hard to make one, security could be an issue thou, but you can easily put in limits and controls
taff posted this at 20:46 — 6th December 2002.
They have: 956 posts
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What about the new Macromedia app? I've yet to try it and the name escapes me.
NYColt posted this at 21:03 — 6th December 2002.
They have: 42 posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Hi Thanks for your time.
I am not familiar with PHP. Never worked with it.
Not sure what Macromedia app you mean?
taff posted this at 23:50 — 6th December 2002.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Here ya go:
http://www.macromedia.com/software/contribute/
Been meaning to download the demo and give it a whirl.
Megan posted this at 04:09 — 7th December 2002.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
I was going to suggest that. It's not all that cheap though - $99, plus you need to have Dreamweaver to administer the site I think. From what I understand, anyway. You would set up the site in Dreamweaver, with the Contribute plugin to set things up and control what they can do etc. Then the client can edit the site in Contribute. There's a good review at Webmonkey, and also at Sitepoint, so you could check those out if you're interested.
Megan
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The Webmistress posted this at 10:14 — 7th December 2002.
She has: 5,586 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Yeah, I was just reading the latest Macromedia newsletter about Contribute and it does sound good, but as you say you need DW and the two aren't exactly cheap!
Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....
taff posted this at 12:37 — 7th December 2002.
They have: 956 posts
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$99 for a CMS? That *is* cheap, as long as it works as promised. Does it require that the site be made in DW? Bah - hadn't considered that.
Megan posted this at 17:36 — 7th December 2002.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
I just downloaded the trial version. Seems that you don't really have to have created the site in DW. You can still lock certain parts of the page by using SSI's. It seems that you do have to have the DW plug-in to control standards - I think, anyway. I was hoping that the doctype would help control what they can and cannot do, but alas, it seems that font tags are allowable regardless. It does import the stylesheet and makes all your classes available.
Powers are very basic. They can add an image or a table, change the font styling, change text of course, insert a Word or Excel document, or flash.
It's a pretty good program. I just wish there was a better way to force it to author to the standards you've defined. For the most part I would trust clients not to screw things up too much with this.
I guess one of the problems with font tags is that it's very easy for regular people to understand them - harder to make them learn to use styles. The funny thing here is that it lets you change the text colour and the text background colour - the text colour is done with font tags, but the background is done with an inline style!
Megan
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mjames posted this at 19:07 — 14th December 2002.
They have: 2,064 posts
Joined: Dec 1999
How about this? http://www.editize.com
NYColt posted this at 13:07 — 20th December 2002.
They have: 42 posts
Joined: Dec 2002
Thanks for all your help everyone.
I have pretty much decided on the macromedia solution. It does everything I need and more from the administrative end. I also like WebEditPro, very similiar and a great price.
Thanks again. I am going to post a new thread now for a database solution any help on that would be awesome.
NYColt
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