[Web4lib] Free software with Contribute-like features?

[Ross Singer]

On 11/8/06, Raymond Wood <raywood at magma.ca> wrote:

> I see, so you're saying that Contribute is more similar to a WYSIWYG
> editor -- say, like DreamWeaver -- than a full-blown CMS.
>

Sort of, yes, but there's a little more to it than that.  The major
hurdle to DreamWeaver is the site management functionality.  When I
used to give DW training to library staff, this consumed 90% of the
training session.  Contribute strips away all of that.  You browse to
the page, you edit it, you save it.

So, in a way, yes, to the web editor it's functionality wouldn't seem
all that different than Drupal, Joomla or Plone, but it requires much
less management overhead for the web manager.

> If so, then perhaps the cross-platform and FOSS 'Nvu' is worth a look:
>   http://www.nvu.com/index.php
> Excerpt:
>   "A complete Web Authoring System for Linux desktop users as well as
>   Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users to rival programs like FrontPage
>   and Dreamweaver. Nvu (which stands for "new view") makes managing a
>   web site a snap. Now anyone can create web pages and manage a website
>   with no technical expertise or knowledge of HTML."
> [snip]

I use Nvu quite a bit for simple HTML layout, but I would, again,
place this more in the DW category than Contribute.  Nvu doesn't
separate site management from page editing/creation -- it truly /is/ a
WYSIWYG text editor in the purest sense.

I realize this all sounds like nuance at this point (and, from the
content providers' point of view it would -- until they have to try to
create a new page), but each of these are fundamentally different
approaches to managing a website.

Pedantically yours,
-Ross.