List,
A growing number of my company's clients are pushing for the ability to
maintain the content (i.e. text, basic HTML, images, etc) on their sites.
This really isn't that big a deal in and of itself, but these sites are
growing more and more complex, and there is no longer a simple separation of
"content" (i.e. the text or simple HTML itself) from its "presentation" (in
this case, the CF logic that runs to personalize navigation systems, page
headers, etc).
Up to this point we have been simply granting clients FTP access to their
directory on the server and telling them not to change anything that begins
with "<CF". This is a TERRIBLE thing, and I've been fighting to move away
from this ever since I started.
Anyways, I was wondering how some of the other players out there deal with
this sort of request from a client. One the one hand I don't want ANYONE
but someone from my company touching the CF code, but I can understand a
client's desire to have control over their site. I wouldn't want to pay
$50-$75 per hour for simple HTML changes either.
In particular, I'm looking to evaluate possible solutions against the
following metrics:
1) Security: giving a client FTP access to a shared CF server is obviously a
bad idea because one client could, either on purpose or by accident,
adversely affect other hosted sites by crashing the CF service, uploading
templates that use CFFILE, etc. As a general rule we don't let clients
upload CF files to the server, but this is not enforced by anything other
than a verbal contract with the client. Whatever solution I find has to, in
some way or another, adequately shield one client from the actions of
another, which means unrestricted direct file access is a no-no <g>.
2) Protection of intellectual property: we have a series of pre-written
"modules" (calendar, classified ads, etc) that we sell to our clients.
Since these are sold as pre-written applications, the client does not gain
any ownership of the code. FTP access to the site again poses a problem
because it makes these templates directly available to the client. A savvy
HTML/CF author working for the client might steal this code and re-sell it.
3) Cost: I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive solution right now (i.e.
please don't recommend Spectra <g>). Neither us nor our clients are
particuarly interested in paying huge sums of money for a feature-packed
solution at this time.
I don't necessarily need ALL aspects of each page available to the client to
change. Certain parts of the site, such as CF-enabled navigation systems,
can remain under my company's control. With all of these things in mind,
does anyone out there have any pointers for me? Either links to prewritten
applications or ideas on "rolling my own" system are welcome.
Thanks in advance,
Seth Petry-Johnson
Argo Enterprise and Associates
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