what is I want?

[code_wrong]

I want a server side web page editor..

Maybe I want a content management system? which resides on the server, and
allows users who log in to add content .. a bit like bebo, myspace et al ..
but with a bit more control over the layout etc
and must be dead easy to use naturally

 

[dorayme]

Maybe I want a content management system?

May I? I was amused by the tale of a friend in the public service
who relates how there is constant attempt to seek out such
systems so that everyone in the organization can update the bits
of the information on the website that is their speciality. We
agreed that, in fact, it was simpler for such people to email the
webmaster with the changes than to learn how to operate a content
management package. And what is updated can actually impact on
design questions which are definitely not in the skill range of
the various bods on the various floors.

 

[code_wrong]

May I? I was amused by the tale of a friend in the public service
who relates how there is constant attempt to seek out such
systems so that everyone in the organization can update the bits
of the information on the website that is their speciality. We
agreed that, in fact, it was simpler for such people to email the
webmaster with the changes than to learn how to operate a content
management package. And what is updated can actually impact on
design questions which are definitely not in the skill range of
the various bods on the various floors.

but .. is not bebo and myspace merely a CMS??

 

[David Segall]

May I? I was amused by the tale of a friend in the public service
who relates how there is constant attempt to seek out such
systems so that everyone in the organization can update the bits
of the information on the website that is their speciality. We
agreed that, in fact, it was simpler for such people to email the
webmaster with the changes than to learn how to operate a content
management package.

If the above is true then a computer program can read the incoming
email and update the web site.

And what is updated can actually impact on
design questions which are definitely not in the skill range of
the various bods on the various floors.

If this paragraph is true then the first paragraph is false but it
makes a valid argument for restricting user updates.

 

[dorayme]

If the above is true then a computer program can read the incoming
email and update the web site.

What is your point in saying this? I do not disagree with this
last. But so what? What trap have I fallen into as a result?
Perhaps you will explain. But if you do, please note that it is
relevant to the point of my story that a program such as you
mention must not be so hard to make and maintain that it is more
costly and unwieldly on the whole in all its ramifications than
having the website manager receive the emails and immediately vet
the changes proposed, put them in unchanged, or adapt them with
an eye on the overall effect on the website design, if necessary
query the sender over glaring or other mistakes or other unhappy
proposed changes. The point of the story is that a lot of
managers in bureaucracies like the idea of CMS but it is often a
utopian idea, not as practical as it seems.

If this paragraph is true then the first paragraph is false but it
makes a valid argument for restricting user updates.

Sorry, I can't see this? How does it make the first para
literally false?

 

[David Segall]

What is your point in saying this? I do not disagree with this
last. But so what?

After deep self examination I have to apologise. There was a
subtext to my post and I should have made it explicit. Every time some
computer gurus get together they tend to decide that their craft is
too complicated for the ordinary user to grasp and they should
interpose themselves. How can COBOL generate the efficient code that I
can write in assembler? How can Dreamweaver generate the superb HTML
that I can write using Notepad? If each employee has their own
computer the sky will fall in; how can we make their computer look
like a dumb terminal and control everything on the server?

What trap have I fallen into as a result?
Perhaps you will explain. But if you do, please note that it is
relevant to the point of my story that a program such as you
mention must not be so hard to make and maintain that it is more
costly and unwieldly on the whole in all its ramifications than
having the website manager receive the emails and immediately vet
the changes proposed, put them in unchanged, or adapt them with
an eye on the overall effect on the website design, if necessary
query the sender over glaring or other mistakes or other unhappy
proposed changes. The point of the story is that a lot of
managers in bureaucracies like the idea of CMS but it is often a
utopian idea, not as practical as it seems.

If the web site manager needs to do all that then you are right.
However, it is likely that these duties will go the way of the
telephone switchboard operator and the typist. The volume of web based
data will require that users can update the content and will result in
more products like Adobe Contribute
<http://www.adobe.com/products/contribute/> and more web sites that
simply serve documents written with the contributors' favourite
editor.

Sorry, I can't see this? How does it make the first para
literally false?

It does not. I hope that this post explains where I was coming from
and fills in the details that should have been in my first response.

 

[dorayme]

The point of the story is that a lot of

If the web site manager needs to do all that then you are right.
However, it is likely that these duties will go the way of the
telephone switchboard operator and the typist. The volume of web based
data will require that users can update the content and will result in
more products like Adobe Contribute
<http://www.adobe.com/products/contribute/> and more web sites that
simply serve documents written with the contributors' favourite
editor.

Some interesting thoughts here David. Big subject. I would like
to get a perspective one day on some model for what we are
talking here: what order of difficulty is the problem of how to
get rid of website managers? Driverless cars? They have some
driverless trains. And there have been some serious
(passengerless!) trials of pilotless passenger planes going
across the Atlantic. (I think it was Atlantic).

I think one thing we can say is that those who are not the guinea
pigs in these experiments have the advantage. Partly, my original
story was about this point.