BIOS: Technology Means Business

Macromedia's Contribute 3 lets authorised users create, edit and publish Web pages to an existing Web site or Intranet without knowing the first thing about HTML and FTP. It's therefore a great tool for those within an organisation that have to frequently update Web content via a developer because it can help your in-house Web developer to spend his/her time more productivity, or save you money by reducing the frequency of assigning external coders to make basic alterations to your site. Furthermore, unlike traditional Web content management systems, Contribute 3 does not require complicated workflow definitions. Site administrators simply define which users have publishing permission and who can only edit and send pages for review, giving more control to both administrators and Web developers. The latest version includes some neat new features too, including improved CSS rendering, WebDAV connections, as well as an e-mail notification and review system, making it an excellent return on investment for both small companies and enterprises.

Pros: Improved CSS rendering; e-mail notification and review system
Cons: Relatively slack approval workflow; limited to HTML pages

Macromedia's Contribute lets anyone within an organisation update, add and publish content to a Web site without knowing HTML. It's not designed for creating Web sites from scratch, even though it does provide lots of templates, but it does allow a good level of control for both non-experienced users and developers. The greatest benefit of Contribute is that because it's a client-side tool, authorised persons can bypass a site's developers and update content on an HTML Web site without knowing much about HTML or FTP.

Site administrators needn't fear too much at this prospect because they ultimately maintain control of the site. The clever part is that non-technical users can make changes without affecting the style, layout and code of a Web site. For instance, those in marketing or sales could be given permission to update prices or address details, without having to bother the site's main developers.

Unfortunately, similar to the original version, dynamic sites that are database-driven or Flash-based sites won't gain much from Contribute because it's really just a visual editor. Scripting is also not supported and there are compatibility issues with Unix servers, too. Plus, each version of Contribute requires an individual licence, which could prove costly if you intent to have lots of people using the software.

The latest release has seen some significant enhancements, however. For instance, it's now faster and more stable, has better Web site support, and includes a built-in image editor for making basic adjustments. There's also WebDAV support for editing database-based pages, a new engine for Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) rendering, as well as FrontPage Extension compatibility.

Additionally, a new external editing feature enables you to edit and review Web page source code in an external HTML editor before publishing - should you want to get your hands dirty. There's also now an international spelling checker and built-in tool to add a Google search field to your Web page so visitors can search the entire Web or just your Web site.

Contribute 3 is really easy to use, once you've input your server details (FTP address, username and password). Alternatively, administrators can e-mail a connection key to users, which is either a file or a URL. After you've connected to a Web site, using Contribute is very much like using a regular Web browser. You can navigate to Web sites and locate pages by clicking links within the embedded browser, refresh pages to see updates, reload pages you've visited using Back and Forward buttons, as well as enter URL addresses in the provided Address text box.

Updating pages on a Web site or intranet is then as easy as editing an Office document, so there is no steep learning curve. This makes the software a great tool for content writers and editors as they can make direct changes to a Web site, allowing Web developers to carry on with more pressing development issues. Once you've loaded a page you want to edit, you then simply click Contribute's Edit button.

Contribute then switches from browse mode to edit mode, offering a toolbar with common text and table editing features. You can also create news pages, enter new text and images, tables, movies and Flash documents, create links to external Web pages, Microsoft Office documents or other files, as well as insert content directly from Office documents into Web pages. Amended pages can be uploaded immediately, at a later date when you're next online, or when they've been approved by a manager. Once uploaded, new pages replace the existing pages on your Web server, so the pages are immediately live.

As several users may update a site simultaneously, Contribute automatically checks whether the pages a user is trying to edit are already being edited by others in order to prevent page version conflicts. The page rollback feature allows you to recover from errors by reverting to a stable version of a page. It also allows the network manager to manage a log of revised pages.

While the package works with most Web development applications, Contribute works best with Macromedia's flagship Web development software, Dreamweaver MX. Some of the benefits of working with Dreamweaver include the automatic recognition of templates for better control over page updates, as well as the two packages sharing a check-in/check-out system that protects against accidental overwrites, so Dreamweaver developers and Contribute users can work together on the same Web site.

You don't need to know HTML to use Contribute, but a little awareness will help you better understand Contribute's functionality. The software's use on dynamic pages (Cold Fusion, ASP, Flash and so on) is also limited, whereby you can only edit the static portions of the page using Contribute. Also, as a client-side tool, Contribute can only be used on the licenced machine it's installed on. This means you can't use it to update Web pages from an Internet café, say. A really neat feature, though, is FlashPaper 2, a tool that lets you convert almost any document into a Flash file.

Where Contribute would prove ideal is for businesses and individuals who have paid a Web design company to design a non-dynamic HTML site and continue to pay the design company for making relatively small changes to the site. Contribute could save you a lot of time and money in the long run because in a matter of minutes you could update prices, text and images on your Web site without knowing the first thing about Web site design or coding. Its support for Dreamweaver templates also means that the software can grow with you if you decide to take a more hands-on approach to Web design.

Upgrades to Contribute 3 include a single user access license to Contribute Publishing Services, a new server component that is included with the Macromedia Web Publishing System. Contribute Publishing Services installs on Windows, Linux and Unix servers or can be deployed to standard J2EE application environments, and provides Web and IT managers responsible for larger organisational deployments of Contribute with centralised user management and Web site access control, including support for user authentication through integration with LDAP and Active Directory.

Furthermore, server-based logging and e-mail notification applications provide a deeper view into Web site publishing activities across the organisation, and a shared assets repository refines management even further by allowing the administrator to manage Web pages, images, and Flash movies from a central location.

Contribute 3 supports systems running Windows and Mac OS X. It costs £49 (ex. VAT) for upgrades, £99 (ex. VAT) for new users and £469 (ex. VAT) for a Contribute six-pack. Volume discounts and government and education licensing are also available. Localised versions for French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish are expected to ship later this year.

Contribute is an intuitive program which hides a Web site's code, and its word-processor-like tool for altering text and tables will appeal to general Windows users who have no understanding of HTML code. The software isn't suitable however, for creating Web sites from scratch and less experienced users intending to set up a site should invest in a relatively easy-to-use application such as NetObjects Fusion 8 (£125 ex. VAT).

Links:
Contribute 3 Web site
Contribute 3 30-day trial