Content-management systems
The idea underpinning the internet is that the text on web sites should be relatively easy to write by hand with a good text editor — especially it the site has made good use of style sheets.
In practice, people use a variety of programs to help in the editing of web sites. Examples include Seamonkey, CoffeeCup, Amaya and Dreamweaver. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.
Another solution is to use software which enables people to type onto web sites. Many of the social networking sites, such as facebook, show how this can work. In essence what this entails is using a database to hold the information which will appear on the site. What someone enters in a form on the web site goes into the database, and then is served up when people visit the site.
Commonly used content management software includes Drupal (used for the Anglesey Arts Forum site, currently being re-designed and upgraded by Silverfen), Joomla and Wordpress.
The big disadvantage of content management software is that there is some complex computing between the user and the web site. If it is not to look like every other site using the same software, then significant tailoring is needed, so there’s a significant amount of computing to be done in to the actual web design work. The result is that web sites backed by content management software can end up being both more expensive and less effective than those without, but they can also provide a solution which allows an organisation to alter the content of their web site quickly and easily, with a minimum of staff training.
Another solution for people who wish to edit their own web sites is to use programs like Seamonkey, CoffeeCup, Amaya and Dreamweaver. There’s often a balance to be struck between the time entailed in using these and the cost of asking Silverfen to make updates.
At present Silverfen is looking at something half-way to being a content management program, which would enable the parts of a web site that are likely to need frequent changes to become editable for authenticated users. There’s more information on this in the news page.