User editing of INCLUDED files

[thardy]

Using Contribute 3.1.

Many of our pages use include files (SSI's) for common text. E.g., one whole
section of pages requires the same legal disclaimer on every page. So that
disclaimer text is in an include file. When users in the department that uses
the disclaimer edit their pages, they are prevented from editing the included
disclaimer. That's fine.

But now and again, the disclaimer text changes. The same department that edits
the pages is also responsible for the disclaimer text. It'd be very handy if
they could edit that text ervery once in a while without having to turn to the
Administrator (me) to do it for them.

If this particular department were the only one with this need, it wouldn't be
too bad. But in fact there are many departments with the same need, so in total
it is a pain for me to do, and frustrating for the departments to have to turn
to me--it's their text in the include files, and they don't see why they can't
edit it when they want to.

It's true (I think it's true) that if these departments know precisely the
right URL for the included file, that they can in fact get to it to edit,
although I don't think they can use Contribute as the editor. But they have no
way of knowing what that path is other than keeping a record of it somewhere.
That's possible, but a great inconvenience. Moreover, they would be disconerted
to find their editing tool looked competely different from Contribute, all of
which defeats the whole point of Contribute, which is to let people browse to
the pages they want to edit, and to edit as though they were using a word
processor.

Anyone else had this problem? Better yet, a solution?

[dianesoini]

I believe you should be able to set up a special role and allow those people
assigned to it to browse the directory where you keep these kinds of files. You
could put a home page for them in that directory with links to the files they
are most-likely to want to edit so that they don't have to remember which exact
include file name goes with what.

I did a quick test of Contribute and opened an include file. The font styles
are not there, but that's not much of a problem if all I want is to edit the
text.