NEW USER - BASIC QUESTION

[fentbaggie]

Hi everyone.

I have no idea how Contribute works but am looking at purchasing it as what
seems to be a client side update solution.

I have produced a website for my son's school (freebie as funds are tight!).
One of the requirements is that at some point, teachers and kids can upload
stuff to the site - without going through a mass Dreamweaver lesson. Enter -
Contribute.

Couple of REALLY basic questions for you all...

1) The site already exists. Can Contribute be brought in to do it's thing now
or does it have to be part of the site from conception?

2) How does it work as far as the client goes? The school has it's own
webspace on the local education authority's servers - a straightforward ftp
upload via DW (MX 2004) for me as far as putting the site up and updating it
goes from my office and my connection. Do I purchase a copy of Contribute and
then give access keys to whomever needs them at the school (their PC's and
their connection) - or does the school need to buy a copy as well in order to
do the access/upload end of things? i.e. does my copy of Contribute, setting up
Contribute admin in an existing site, do the job of the school uploading stuff
to it via their connection or do they need their own copy to do that??

3) I'm on a Mac - the school is totally PC. Does this cause any problems?

4) Once the school has made an upload - how do I keep track of changes? Does
it do an auto update or notification to me?

All pretty basic I know - but without ever having used it - I don't want to
spend money they haven't really got before I know it can do exactly what we
want.

Thanks for any help!

[Murray *TMM*]

> 1) The site already exists. Can Contribute be brought in to do it's thing

> now

Yes.

> or does it have to be part of the site from conception?

While that helps, it's not necessary. But it would depend on how you have
built the pages. Did you use Templates?

> Do I purchase a copy of Contribute and
> then give access keys to whomever needs them at the school (their PC's and
> their connection) - or does the school need to buy a copy as well in order
> to
> do the access/upload end of things?

Minimally, there would be 2 copies of CT involved - one for you, and one for
the school. The school may want more than one copy, however, since each
editor's workstation must have a separate license.

> 3) I'm on a Mac - the school is totally PC. Does this cause any problems?

No.

> 4) Once the school has made an upload - how do I keep track of changes?
> Does
> it do an auto update or notification to me?

A CT enabled site will use Checkin/Checkout. This means that your paradigm
for working on the site changes radically. Instead of using your local site
as the source of starting files, you must now use the remote site as the
source of starting files. Before beginning work on any file, you must check
it out from the remote site. When finished with the work, you would save it
locally and then check it back in to the remote site. It takes a bit of
practice to get used to.

If you used Templates, and you want to make a change to a template file,
then it becomes more troublesome and tedious, but you must be systematic -

* have the client up-synch all files
* down-synch your local site
* make template changes and let them propagate
* up-synch
* notify client that it's safe to work on the site again

Wish it were easier myself....

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
[url]http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com[/url] - Template Triage!
[url]http://www.projectseven.com/go[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.dwfaq.com[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/[/url] - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================

"fentbaggie" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:d86bna$g96$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Hi everyone.
>
> I have no idea how Contribute works but am looking at purchasing it as
> what
> seems to be a client side update solution.
>
> I have produced a website for my son's school (freebie as funds are
> tight!).
> One of the requirements is that at some point, teachers and kids can
> upload
> stuff to the site - without going through a mass Dreamweaver lesson.
> Enter -
> Contribute.
>
> Couple of REALLY basic questions for you all...
>
> 1) The site already exists. Can Contribute be brought in to do it's thing
> now
> or does it have to be part of the site from conception?
>
> 2) How does it work as far as the client goes? The school has it's own
> webspace on the local education authority's servers - a straightforward
> ftp
> upload via DW (MX 2004) for me as far as putting the site up and updating
> it
> goes from my office and my connection. Do I purchase a copy of Contribute
> and
> then give access keys to whomever needs them at the school (their PC's and
> their connection) - or does the school need to buy a copy as well in order
> to
> do the access/upload end of things? i.e. does my copy of Contribute,
> setting up
> Contribute admin in an existing site, do the job of the school uploading
> stuff
> to it via their connection or do they need their own copy to do that??
>
> 3) I'm on a Mac - the school is totally PC. Does this cause any problems?
>
> 4) Once the school has made an upload - how do I keep track of changes?
> Does
> it do an auto update or notification to me?
>
> All pretty basic I know - but without ever having used it - I don't want
> to
> spend money they haven't really got before I know it can do exactly what
> we
> want.
>
> Thanks for any help!
>

[fentbaggie]

Murray - thanks for the reply! Very helpful.

No I haven't used a template so should be a bit easier.

Thanks again!

[Murray *TMM*]

Actually, having used Templates might make it a bit easier in the long run.
CT will respect your template markup, so the editors will not have access to
the ENTIRE page....

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
[url]http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com[/url] - Template Triage!
[url]http://www.projectseven.com/go[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.dwfaq.com[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/[/url] - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================

"fentbaggie" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:d86nrv$43u$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Murray - thanks for the reply! Very helpful.
>
> No I haven't used a template so should be a bit easier.
>
> Thanks again!