what do they do if they want to update content but don't know how

[nikos101]

If you are a commercial web developer and you develop a web site for a client, what do they do if they want to update content but don't know how because they don't no much about web technologies and I am not willing to help(theoretical speaking here, I am not mean)

[mlseim]

You give them a CMS (Content Management System).
Either use an existing PHP/MySQL script (Joomla, WordPress, etc),
Or you bake your own CMS, simple to complex.

It all depends on how sophisticated the content needs to be.

It can be simple text only, or a rich-text editor, which is more complex.

[nikos101]

thanks I'll look into that

[rfresh]

This seems to be a fairly common problem (issue?). Businesses that want to modify their own web site but admit they don't know how or don't know much about web technologies are asking for trouble in my opinion.

I agree a CMS could help solve this problem but if one is not available what do you do in the mean time or if the client won't pay to have a CMS developed? First off, you should not be expected to do "maintenance" work on a web site for free. You should be paid. If the company won't or can't pay you then that is not your problem. They own the web site and all of the source code and you should have turned over a complete copy of it when you finished your job - you were paid to design and create it and when that job was done and the web site went live, your part basically ended.

Businesses who want to continue to "tweak" the site or add features and functionality need to view it as a follow-on project or a Phase II. Regardless of how they pay you, you should be paid if they can't make the changes or updates themselves.

[mlseim]

For the meantime?

You change the extension of your page(s) to .php,
or use your webhost configuration to process your .html pages as .php

Then you use text files for your content.

Your managers can probably use a simple word processor to
make text files. You then upload them with names like p1.txt, p2.txt
You could find a simple PHP upload script to let them upload the text
files from your website ... simple, with no fancy security. Just give them
an upload page that nobody else knows about.

In your pages, wherever you want to display that content, you
type: <?php include("p1.txt");?>

That sticks the contents of "p1.txt" into that spot.
A direct replacement ... It's called a "PHP Include"

That's about as simple of a CMS as you can get.

If multi-users and security is an issue, see rfresh's post.


.

[nikos101]

This seems to be a fairly common problem (issue?). Businesses that want to modify their own web site but admit they don't know how or don't know much about web technologies are asking for trouble in my opinion.

I agree a CMS could help solve this problem but if one is not available what do you do in the mean time or if the client won't pay to have a CMS developed? First off, you should not be expected to do "maintenance" work on a web site for free. You should be paid. If the company won't or can't pay you then that is not your problem. They own the web site and all of the source code and you should have turned over a complete copy of it when you finished your job - you were paid to design and create it and when that job was done and the web site went live, your part basically ended.

Businesses who want to continue to "tweak" the site or add features and functionality need to view it as a follow-on project or a Phase II. Regardless of how they pay you, you should be paid if they can't make the changes or updates themselves.
well thats all good to know! :) thanks rfresh

[nikos101]

and thanks again mlseim for the techy info! Its seems that CMS is more hastle than its worth, it would be better if the could learn web dev themselves!

[mlseim]

Not really ...

Tell us how much content they wish to change (or control) and
how many people will be adding or changing content.

[nikos101]

2 people, they just want to change the news section and travel iterney for now.

[mlseim]

Do you have a link to the website where the content is showing?

[nikos101]

of course. mission of compassion (http://www.missionofcompassion.org/)

enjoy :)

[sergiozambrano]

In your pages, wherever you want to display that content, you
type: <?php include("p1.txt");?>


Does it work with variables inside the file?
I like the idea if I could extract just a variable from the whole file, and to use the file for all the website content, in URL encoded value pairs i.e. variable1=value1&variable2=value2… like flash loads the variables from txt files.

If you know the answer, you could solve my post "populating an HTML form"

Thanks.

[mlseim]

Give a better example, I'm not sure what you really mean to do.