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Dreamweaver Vs. Contribute
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| Good4Sule 2004-04-30, 5:30 pm |
| I have a client who is looking for a solution that would allow them to not only
update and maintain their site, but also to create it. They currently are using
Dreamweaver, but would like a solution that is easier to use like a content
management system. the first thing I thought of was Macromedia Contribute,
however I know it works well for editing existing pages, but I'm not sure how
well it would work (if at all) to create a new site from scratch. Has anyone
done that and if so, how easy was it? Is it something you would recommend to a
client to use in that type of situation?
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| It's not impossible to create a site from scratch with Contribute, but the
more logical approach is to build a template or set of templates in
Dreamweaver, define the editable areas, then add content with Contribute.
Contribute can't create templates- can't "apply" a template to a page, can't
edit templates. Laying out a page with it is a laborious process, because it
either lacks the tools, or the items like the table builder are buried in
the menu system and have idiot-proof wizards instead of the quick way
inserting a table can be done in dreamweaver
contribute is much easier for many people to use, to add the actual page
content with. would never want to have to build a site with it though..
one caveat- what version of dreamweaver do you and the client have?
If mx or mx 2004, fine.
If older, like dw4, there's a problem using that with contribute 2. The
design notes will cause crashes of dw4 unless steps are taken to prevent it.
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| Jorey Bump 2004-04-30, 5:30 pm |
| Good4Sule wrote:
> I have a client who is looking for a solution that would allow them to not
> only update and maintain their site, but also to create it. They currently
> are using Dreamweaver, but would like a solution that is easier to use
> like a content management system. the first thing I thought of was
> Macromedia Contribute, however I know it works well for editing existing
> pages, but I'm not sure how well it would work (if at all) to create a new
> site from scratch. Has anyone done that and if so, how easy was it? Is it
> something you would recommend to a client to use in that type of
> situation?
No, the value of Contribute is to preserve existing templates and impose
restrictions on the user. Deploying it still requires some administrative
capacity, and it doesn't look like a good authoring tool, especially when
alternatives exist, including Dreamweaver.
Friendly Content Management Systems are still a holy grail. I'd encourage
your client to either learn HTML or hire a professional. I have yet to find
a CMS that I'd want to support or install. The only thing that comes close
to what end users really want is PDF, and I think we'd all agree that
PDF-driven sites aren't very pleasant.
At the time I evaluated Contribute, the access controls weren't flexible
enough. The real show stopper was that my environment would have forced me
to share my own system-wide password with other users, posing a security
risk. This isn't so much a Contribute problem, but it does highlight the
weakness of client-side security techniques.
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| JimR99 2004-04-30, 5:31 pm |
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> one caveat- what version of dreamweaver do you and the client have?
> If mx or mx 2004, fine.
> If older, like dw4, there's a problem using that with contribute 2. The
> design notes will cause crashes of dw4 unless steps are taken to prevent
it.
What steps are these?
JimR99
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| lazyboi 2004-04-30, 5:31 pm |
| I wanted to know if contribute is NEEDED or can I still do without it
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| central emergency service 2004-04-30, 5:31 pm |
| You have to figure out what your client wants out of their website. Frontpage
is easy to learn to use, but does not have the abilities that dreamweaver does.
Contribute is not meant as a stand alone program to design webpages. They
needed a program for people were not very familiar with webpage building.
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| Good4Sule 2004-04-30, 5:32 pm |
| Thanks for the responses. You pretty much confirmed what I suspected.
Ideally what I want to do is create some basic templates that they can use to
fill content in and create new pages with. Doing that will work fine with
Contribute. But it just comes down to what will cost more, having me do
templates for them and purchase Contribute, or purchase a content management
system that will allow them to do all the work themselves. If there is such a
thing?
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