CMS's tend to contain more features than we need. We already have a social networking site, using a 3rd party product, so we wouldn't want/ need to pay for a product that includes this concept, especially as the social networking site we have it very recent, having only been implemented within the last 6 months.
Most CMS's seem to. All I want is a tool that let's my authors create web pages - plain and simple. I am looking at CMS, in the hopes that there is a simple one out there, but I am still asking for help and advice with a windows based application, to see if anyone has either a preference between Expression Web and Visual Developer Express, or if there is another one out there, that's fully .NET compliant, yet simple enough for non-developers to use without getting overwhelmed. Thank you. On Jul 17, 7:50 am, Cerebrus <[email protected]> wrote: > It sounds like what you're looking for is a Web CMS. > > More info at > Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_content_management_system > > List of Web > CMS:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems > > On Jul 17, 12:45 am, Kevin Blount <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Back in '06 I wrote a .NET based website for my company using > > Dreamweaver and Contribute (not the faint of heart). Now that I have > > more control over a potential re-write, I'm looking to tell my company > > that I'm using Visual Studio ONLY (for my development work), but I > > need a good, simple tool that my content authors can use to add and > > update pages on the site. These authors are marketing people, mostly, > > and not web developers, so the tool needs to be as basic as possible, > > and Contribute was great for that. > > > Ideally, I would be re-writing the site with the following in mind: > > > - Master Pages - I'm done with Dreamweaver templates. We have approx > > 20 templates, and each time they are updated I have to sync 3500 .aspx > > files, check them out, update them and finally re-upload them - takes > > about 15hrs usually. So, whatever tool I use for authors has to > > understand Master Pages. > > > - Web Application - I like the idea of writing a web application, > > rather than a website. For me the ability to 'hide' my C# code, test > > fully before deploying (local debug) and not be editing files that are > > on the live/production web server. > > > So, now all I need to a tool that my content authors can use, that > > will allow me to do the item above, but will also have the following > > features: > > > - Access control & Roles - With Contribute Publishing Server (which > > Contribute connects to) I can define who in my company can access the > > website to edit it, by integrating with Active Directory. I can also > > assign these lucky few to Roles within Contribute, and specify where > > they are able to create/edit pages, control the styles they are able > > to use, and various other "Go nuts... you can't break anything" type > > features. > > > - Publishing workflow - Again, with Contribute I can specify which > > Roles can publish files to the live website, and which cannot. Those > > that cannot must submit their new or updated page(s) for approval, and > > the Role that does the approval can then publish the page(s). > > Finally, I would prefer the tool to be as dummy proof as possible. > > Contribute (I know, I keep talking about it.. if only it > > supported .NET) is a simple tool, and didn't give much chance for my > > authors to mess anything up! > > > I've been looking at both Visual Web Developer 2010 Express and > > Microsoft Expression Web 4, and both still seem a little 'technical' > > for my marketeers. One feature in Expression Web that set of huge > > alarm bells was the ability to "Detach from Master Page" - I could > > just imagine my authors doing that and saving the document having > > removed all kinds of registered controls and styles. *shudder* > > > So, any advice? What tool would you want to give to your non-developer > > colleagues so that they would add words (ok, and maybe pictures too.. > > sheesh) to a complete site?
