httpwebwitch - 4:10 pm on Feb 2, 2012 (gmt 0)

We want:
- a simple CMS for editing a static site

- an OFFLINE CMS, one that isn't hooked to a database generating pages on the fly. (not wordpress, not drupal, not joomla... etc)

- to publish the site: output a pile of static files, or even a big fat tarball we'd untar on the server

- idiot-proof, so anyone can add content & new pages without knowing any HTML

- templates that developers would create for them w/ all the CSS, JavaScript etc

- no need to install anything arcane locally. These people are not going to have Rails or Apache running on their laptops.

- cross-platform, because there are folks here using Mac and PC. That's a kicker. I was looking for something using Adobe AIR or even Java... found nothing so far.

tall order, huh.

The main goal is to let a little team of writers and content people edit the site, but NOT on the live server. We'd let them edit it offline, keep versions in our SVN repo, and then someone responsible will pack the whole site into a tarball, and then someone else will untar it on the live server.

It's a big static site, a few hundred pages more or less. The only interactive part is a contact form, and I can make that myself. Once. No one needs to edit that.

In my mind I'm imagining something like Dreamweaver, but alas we all know what will happen if we put a bunch of writers in front of DreamWeaver and ask them to maintain a website. They'll screw it up. This has to be easy easy easy. Like, madlibs fill-in-the-blank easy.

Any suggestions?