[thelist] easy updates

Philippe Jadin philippe.jadin at 123piano.com
Fri Apr 27 17:24:13 CDT 2001


> I'm tired of updating the web site for our small daily newspaper. I could
> get the newsroom secretary to do it but I don't want to scare her with
HTML
> code.
>
> Does anyone know of a good system for allowing people with no web
authoring
> experience to update a web site? It should be something that works in an
> all-Mac newsroom and doesn't cost a lot.

Don't waste your time or money with a custom built / commercial solution.
There are plenty of *great* tools in the opensource area.

I used to build site mangement interface with php and mysql (which are imho
the best tools available for quick dynamic website prototyping). I still use
it for some sites.

For my little homesite (<plug>www.123piano.com</plug>), I have zope
 www.zope.org ) running, and I can update my site from anywhere using any
tools available there. I mean : browser based interface (html 3.2 forms /
menu / navigator), ftp, webdav,...

You can give users as little or as much "rights" as needed. They will give
their "rights" to others down in the hierarchy if they have the manager
role. User setup is really easy.

What makes this even easier is the fact that it use something called
structured text. In short, it's a way of indenting your text (even notepad
can do that) that gives your text titles, bullet list, etc,... without html.

I can add a page to my site in approximatively 3 seconds, and the navigation
bar and site map will be updated accordingly. But sure I'm not that fast,
this really isn't rocket science ;-)

Let me know if you want more details...

Philippe





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