easy updating

[Darren Ludlam]

Hello,

A few customers have asked if they can make changes to their websites, they
would like to change images and legends without having to get in touch with
me everytime. Is the easiest way just to set them up with a WYSIWYG html
editor and give them a bit of a tutorial or is there a better way.

This leads me onto another similar dilema I have a customer who organises
events eg diner events, charity events etc. He needs a page on his website
that he can put all his "forthcoming events", the date, a brief description
and maybe a picture. This is something he needs to do himself as it may
change daily and he can't afford to wait for me to be available. As I see
it we have the following options :-

1. Write an app that generates and uploads his "forthcoming events (FE)"
page,

2. We could do something with php that allows him to change his FE page from
a "php webadmin" page,

3. Do something using SSI or just set him up with a WYSIWYG html editor and
teach him how to write a diary page.

Would love to hear how you have tackled this problem in the past.

Many thanks in advance

Darren

 

[saz]

Hello,

A few customers have asked if they can make changes to their websites, they
would like to change images and legends without having to get in touch with
me everytime. Is the easiest way just to set them up with a WYSIWYG html
editor and give them a bit of a tutorial or is there a better way.

This leads me onto another similar dilema I have a customer who organises
events eg diner events, charity events etc. He needs a page on his website
that he can put all his "forthcoming events", the date, a brief description
and maybe a picture. This is something he needs to do himself as it may
change daily and he can't afford to wait for me to be available. As I see
it we have the following options :-

1. Write an app that generates and uploads his "forthcoming events (FE)"
page,

2. We could do something with php that allows him to change his FE page from
a "php webadmin" page,

3. Do something using SSI or just set him up with a WYSIWYG html editor and
teach him how to write a diary page.

Would love to hear how you have tackled this problem in the past.

Many thanks in advance

Darren

4 years ago when I was just starting out and needed the business, I had
to stoop to learning FrontPage and gave a tutorial to my client, as this
is what he wanted to use for his updates. After a few weeks of daily
updates that he did himself, the site became unviewable in Netscape. He
wanted me to fix the site N/C because I created a "defective" (his
words) website. I refused, and have lost the customer.

Do your customers a favor and set them up with a decent CMS, as I have
done 4 times since then. Charge a fair price for your time, but explain
that it will all be worth it in the long run.

 

[Nico Schuyt]

A few customers have asked if they can make changes to their
websites, they would like to change images and legends without having
to get in touch with me everytime. Is the easiest way just to set
them up with a WYSIWYG html editor and give them a bit of a tutorial
or is there a better way.

Try a combination of PHP and MySQL
Basics:
- A form with Title, Content and Picture
- After submitting the form
- the picture is uploaded (Use GD to change the picture properties)
- title, content and name of the picture are stored in the MySQL table
- The page is (re)created with PHP based on the contents of the table

 

[Phil Thompson]

Hello,

A few customers have asked if they can make changes to their websites,
they would like to change images and legends without having to get in
touch with me everytime. Is the easiest way just to set them up with a
WYSIWYG html editor and give them a bit of a tutorial or is there a better
way.

This leads me onto another similar dilema I have a customer who organises
events eg diner events, charity events etc. He needs a page on his
website that he can put all his "forthcoming events", the date, a brief
description and maybe a picture. This is something he needs to do himself
as it may change daily and he can't afford to wait for me to be available.
As I see it we have the following options :-

<snip />

Have you thought about installing a blog CMS like wordpress/movable
type/textpattern on the site, it might be just what is needed.

Phil

 

[Lois]

:
: Have you thought about installing a blog CMS like wordpress/movable
: type/textpattern on the site, it might be just what is needed.

The latest version of WordPress (1.5) has a feature that lets you
make the whole page into blog-like content. See "Manage More Than
Your Blog" at http://wordpress.org/development/2005/02/strayhorn/ .

Lois

 

[Andy Dingley]

It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Darren Ludlam"

A few customers have asked if they can make changes to their websites,

Would love to hear how you have tackled this problem in the past.

Anything small enough to not actually justify a dev budget can be
emulated cheaply and easily by either phpBB, MovableType, or some
similar pre-existing variety of either blog or BBS.

Before you write a line of code, ask yourself if you're really the
first person in the world to need this. When you realise you're not,
ask if you're even the first in the still-huge number of people who
write usable and open-sourced code which then gets published and known
to Google.