I've got a client who doesn't know html or anything. I've made a website for him and he wants to be able to update it himself. Is making a template in Dreamweaver the best way of going about this? (Keep in mind, I have no .asp or back-end scripting skills!) Are there any programs out there to make it easy for a client to update the website without getting involved too much in the html?

Any responses most appreciated,
Cheers.
L.

The best thing might be a content management system. You can make a site in WordPress or Joomla or Drupal or (insert CMS here) that allows your client to make changes without the need for knowing html.

If they don't want a CMS then they probably will need to know at least some html. It's still pretty easy to screw up a site with a WYSIWG editor.

Thanks Vangogh,

Does Wordpress, Joomla etc. allow to design your own website or do you just use their themes and layouts etc? Because I already have the website designed!

Cheers.

Take a look on Adobe's web site for a product called Contribute. If you are using Dreamweaver and have no back-end abilities then that may be best.

Originally Posted by lnv06

Does Wordpress, Joomla etc. allow to design your own website or do you just use their themes and layouts etc?

You can customize their themes / make your own. But it needs more effort from your side rather than just using existing theme.

Thanks for that Blake. I'll check it out. May be easier than Wordpress, Joomla etc for a full-blown website.
L.

must say wordpress is as easy as it gets, both in setting up and operating it.
Will recommend it highly for your client. If you have some design skills, then customizing it is also a breeze.

You can definitely make WordPress or Joomla look like your own design. You do need to spend a little time getting to know how they have things set up.

It helps to know a little php, but it's not entirely necessary.

Basically you end up creating your own theme. I can't speak for Joomla, but it was easy enough with WordPress and they have some good documentation on what you need to do. WP uses css to layout the pages so you should know how to work with css pretty well.

If you take a look at my blog (the last link in my signature), it looks like the rest of my site, but it is a WordPress blog. I created a theme to match the look of my site and set up WP to use that theme. It took a couple of days to understand WP enough, but after that it was relatively easy to use my existing css files to create the them.

Maybe refer them to EasySite script - its easy to use!

Joomla is very complicated but sophisticated - so they may require alot of support. WordPress is blog software and may not suit some users needs.

You may need to change some files for a re-design mod! But they can use a WYSIWYG to add pages

Just another note, if you plan on a complete modification or re-design, I would not recommend Joomla or Mambo! They are complex pieces of software!

See: http://www.opensourcecms.com/ that shows alot of the popular scripts!

Originally Posted by vangogh

The best thing might be a content management system. You can make a site in WordPress or Joomla or Drupal or (insert CMS here) that allows your client to make changes without the need for knowing html.

If they don't want a CMS then they probably will need to know at least some html. It's still pretty easy to screw up a site with a WYSIWG editor.

Yeah I agree, get an easy to use CMS (Content management system) teach him how to use it, while he pays you by the hour of course. Make a back up before you client starts useing it. Then if he screws it up he will be calling you back to manage / fix it

Originally Posted by stll learning

Yeah I agree, get an easy to use CMS (Content management system) teach him how to use it, while he pays you by the hour of course. Make a back up before you client starts useing it. Then if he screws it up he will be calling you back to manage / fix it

When you give "CORRECT ACCESS ROLE" to your client, he can't screw it up. Ofcourse, you loose your money to fix it

Originally Posted by Kirtan

When you give "CORRECT ACCESS ROLE" to your client, he can't screw it up. Ofcourse, you loose your money to fix it

What is that?

"Correct access role"

I am not saying to teach the client the wrong way to use it.

not only that but; there is very few IT jobs where im at. Everyone wants to just hire you for a onetime thing to do or fix and not hire permanent IT people at their workplace. Which we need for job security.

You can give only "write, edit and publish" access to your client and deny the access to configure the site setttings. So that client can't ruin everything.

there is very few IT jobs where im at

When you are on net, the whole world is yours and no one can limit your earning and jobs security except your knowledge.

For my small clients (like a 1 person shop), I have often used Movable Type or Wordpress. Yes, it's actually blog software but it's easy for users to learn, very intuitive and easy to take an existing design and make it into a template. You can make it look different than a blog.

Wordpress tends to be the easiest. There are plenty of articles on how to make your design into a wordpress template.

Joomla is a more advanced software. If your client just wants to add articles or change text, I would suggest keeping it simple (aka - low cost). Wordpress has a 5 minute setup and it would probably take a couple of hours or so to translate the design into a template, first time out. Of course, you'll probably want some research time built in.