[Moderator]

Someone should me a "tool" (ther person who set it up calls it "the tool") they use for editing thier website.

This person has no html knowledge but is able to call up the text of each page in her site via her browser (using a dropdown menu), edit it directly in the browser, and publish it. The editing part is password protected.

I suspect that she is getting into her ftp server thru the browser and editing shtml pages. but have no idea how.

What I'm wondering is how the guy set this up for her..is this a shareware utility or did the guy write this functionality into the site himself. If so is that tough to do?

Thanks

[ameat]

aside from writing it yourself (using a server side tool of your choice), check out macromedia's contribute(soon to be released for the mac)

[phidauex]

There is a large variety of what is commonly called 'Content Management Systems' out there. They range from simply web-based FTP clients with file editing ability (ran as a perl script or PHP app on the server), all the way to complex systems that use templates for formatting, and do all the basic tags, p, br, b, i, etc for you.

Search around for WYSIWYG web based scripts, web based ftp programs, web based text editors, and you'll find literally hundreds of various options, most of which are free. Usually they require someone of at least moderate technical skill to install (some are easier than others, of course), but then can usually be operated by anyone who has at least a rudimentary understanding of how to use the web.

Peace,
sam

[bluedog]

Sounds like 'wiki' to me.

A few searches will show you how these are set up.

<a href="http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=wiki&section=projects">http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=wiki&amp;...ction=projects</a>

have fun!

[phidauex]

I've got a wiki here:

http://www.cowboysofjustice.com/wiki/

if you want to go see what it looks like. Its not quite like a regular webpage, so it may not be what you are looking for. Particularly, the difference is that it is publicly editable by anyone, where you want just a single user to be able to make changes. Wiki was originally designed for software documentation projects, where multiple designers would collaborate on the documentation through the wiki, but its branched out to more informal uses as well. Its sort of like a message board like this, but totally freeform.

peace,
phidauex