[petersruby]

Does anyone know of a way to update certain parts of pages without using Front Page or Dreamweaver? I am creating a small web site for a client and this guy wants to be able to update a page on his own, but he doesn't know HTML or web design. And he'd like to do this without using Front Page or any FTP program. Basically there are four parts of a page that he'll want to update on his own. I was thinking I could create an online form or something using a script that would update these sections without editing the rest of the page.

Any ideas would be awesome. I'm at a loss.

Thanks,
CK

[brendandonhu]

No. What did he plan on having to do to update the pages if he doesnt want to write code, and he doesnt want to use another program to do it for him?

[petersruby]

Well, he has a fishing store site and wants to update river reports. There would be four sections on this page, each with a different river. It would just be text that would change weekly or something.

I guess I will just tell him he needs to purchase front page, edit the pages and click publish. He didn't want to have to "learn" anything new. This guy is an old fashioned, old school kinda guy and if I didn't have to teach him anything, that'd be great. But I can't think of anything easier.

Thanks.

[lola2001]

There is a program made just for this reason. So clients don't mess up their websites. It's called Macromedia Contribute.

Check it out:

http://www.macromedia.com/software/contribute/

[petersruby]

That is another option. I have taken a look at that program and was quite impressed. I'm just not sure if I'm ever going to see this guy again (I'm doing freelance for another person, and technically, this guy is his client). I'll just have to tell this guy he has to learn something new! God forbid!!!
Thanks again.

[BillC]

How about putting a link on his "main page" that will show current river conditions on another simple text page he can change at will and hit a button to load it to his server. This can all be done with a free program, WebDwarf found here: http://virtualmechanics.com/products/dwarf/index.html.

If he wants to change the one page, the program mentioned above would of course be better. Just a thought.

[lola2001]

Well, if he is just changing the text it probably wouldn't be too hard for you to teach him how to open a page in notepad and make his changes then upload them. I know, it's frustrating when people are afraid to learn something new. Good luck.

[brendandonhu]

If your server supports a server-side programming language you could have a form he could fill out that updates the page.
Does the server support PHP/ASP/CGI or another language?
You could have the text stored in a plain text file, and then a form that would take his text and update the text file. Then you could use an include to display the text file where it needs to go.

[deuce868]

Yep, I use a program called Editize (http://www.editize.com) and either PHP or ASP with a database backend to allow my clients to be able to edit any of the content on their site. It works great, and the clients love it.