Yeah, I'd pretty much concur with Matt. I've been working with Contribute extensively recently (as part of a larger seminar that I'm delivering this week in DC and Atlanta -- for more info, see http://training.figleaf.com/figleaftraining/Courses/freecms.cfm) It's really quite good -- for the limited functionality that it offers.
Contribute works best if fed templates created through Dreamweaver. Basically, DW templates allow you to restrict which areas on a page are editable. Also, you can add a limited amount of conditional logic to render or not render areas of a page. Contribute's core strength (in my opinion) is that it offers non-technical contributors the first available HTML Wysiwyg editor that is good for content AUTHORING. Every DHTML editor that I have seen really isn't quite up to the task of full-blown content authoring. Most end-users usually wind up cutting, pasting, and cleaning data from MS-Word via the web-based editor. With Contribute, I find myself authoring large documents almost as easy as if I was working with MS Word. I think Contribute's biggest asset is its sheer simplicity. Gone is the overly complicated Dreamweaver UI....in fact, the functionality is even pared down from what you might find in Ektron's eWebEditPro or Microsoft Frontpage....and that's a good thing for the target audience that is being addressed here. This is an application that I would have no reservations about foisting on my VERY NONTECHNICAL parents to manage their grandchild's photos. Of course, there are some very significant drawbacks to Contribute. First, it doesn't support a true workflow & approval process -- Contribute users may post directly to a web WITHOUT the approval of a supervisor. Also, contribute is a traditional fat-client application -- you'll need to install it on every contributor's workstation (although MM has done a good job in making this a relatively painless process). In this release, access to the web is only available via FTP and windows networking (a bit disappointing to us running RDS). The biggest limitation, however, is that the content is completely stored on the file system. There's no server-side interactivity with contribute -- and making big changes to your templates through Dreamweaver may have unwanted side effects on your content...also you don't get any full-text searching, database integration, separation of content from formatting, automatic notification, content subscription, etc..etc... If you're creating a personal web or maybe you're a non-profit organization on a tight budget with a very small (under 50 page) website to maintain, then I think Contribute could be a very good deal. Otherwise, you might want to step-up to Ektron's CMS 100/200/300 product line, CommonSpot 3.1, or another system that offers "true CMS" functionality. Oh yeah, keep in mind that while a copy of Dreamweaver isn't required per se to create a Contribute site, it sure will help...a lot. Regards, Steve Drucker CEO Fig Leaf Software www.figleaf.com 1-877-FIG-LEAF -----Original Message----- From: Matt Brown [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 5:16 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: Got an opinion on MM Contribute? At 12:10 PM 1/6/2003 -0500, you wrote: >a little pricey per seat. How does it work? > >Wouldn't something like CommonSpot be better/cheaper? Actually, $99 per seat is pretty good for a lot of organizations. Remember that CT is not a content management system in the vein that one here would construct one. It is a content editor in the static HTML of a file. If your pages are all made up dynamically, there is still plenty it is good for, but it won't be your CMS for the site. I think the way to look at it is that it is for getting the enduser out of your hair if you don't have the contract for a full CMS. _________________________________________________________ Matt Brown Dreamweaver and Contribute Community Manager Macromedia (415) 706-6543 [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Dreamweaver Blog: http://shorterlink.com/?KB8LAL Developer Resource Kit Volume 2: http://www.macromedia.com/software/drk/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
