What's the best web-based admin program or blog to update text & pics?

Want to allow owner of site to be able to update text & pics on their own

[LABachlr]

I am building a site for a production company, and also have clients who are actors, and it would be great to set up their websites so that they could update certain pages with text, like the homepage and latest projects page.

Also, I would like them to be able to update their photo gallery themselves, and maybe even be able to add more photo pages themselves. Is it possible to set it up so they could add more photo pages, or can they just update current pages with this type of setup?

For the text updates, at least for the latest projects page, it would be cool if it could act like a blog where, when they update the text, it would be the first one listed, and the previous posts would be under it, with the dates that they were posted, etc. And after a certain amount of posts, they would automatically be archived and the archive links would be listed on the side of the page.

However, I want this setup to be incorporated into the website so that it is part of the website, with the same exact look as all of the other pages of the site.

Which blog or web-based admin program would be best for this, and where do I get it?

Thanks.

[web_india]

not sure, if it is the best or not but have you looked at wikipedia? probably it can do many of the tasks you want.

[LABachlr]

Uh...thanks, but Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone...

Maybe you meant something else?

[Go60Guy]

It may be possible that Mambo (Opensource) could do the job.

[LABachlr]

Thanks, but I went to check it out, and there is little to no support for it. The site barely explains what it is.

[web_india]

sorry LABachlr, I meant pmWiki

[LABachlr]

sorry LABachlr, I meant pmWiki

LOL. No problem. Thanks.

[bufferzone]

You must forgive me if I have misunderstood what it is, your are looking for, but Moveable Type is often recommended her on WebmasterWorld as a SE friendly system for web publishing and blogs. I haven’t used myself yet, but I am working on it.

[LABachlr]

You must forgive me if I have misunderstood what it is, your are looking for, but Moveable Type is often recommended her on WebmasterWorld as a SE friendly system for web publishing and blogs. I haven’t used myself yet, but I am working on it.

OK. Thanks. Do you know if you can have the site look exactly the way you want just like any other HTML site, or is there a certain layout that you have to stick to? Also, can a site that uses MT have embedded Flash objects?

I just want it to act like a regular site with a blog, and have the ability to update text and pics via a backend web-admin program (no login links on any of the pages; just a login section for the client like www.clientsdomain.com/admin/login/, or something of the like). Is this possible?

[mgm_03]

I am also in the same boat. I would rather let the individual make changes using an inline editor than have them call me to update a minor piece of text or swap a image and charge a 1/2 hr or whatever. In fact, there should be a premium for including the tool that lets the client make changes w/out having to know HTML/CSS. WYSIWYG editors are the solution, I believe.

There is SPAW an inline editor from sourceforge. Go to www.solmetra.com to see it.

Also, there is Editize.com (made by the folks at sitepoint)

Try hotscripts.com (or any script repository site) and select "content management". Often you'll find complete programs (instead of scripts) for what you need.

Alternatively, there are content managment systems like phpWebsite, mambo, others that have this functionality built in (I believe). Most of those solutions seem overkill for the small biz /consultant practice where content rarely changes.

[Labyrinth]

Do you know if you can have the site look exactly the way you want just like any other HTML site, or is there a certain layout that you have to stick to?

You completely control the look and feel of the site.

Also, can a site that uses MT have embedded Flash objects?

I can't think of any reason why not, but then again I don't know squat about Flash.

just a login section for the client like www.clientsdomain.com/admin/login/, or something of the like). Is this possible?

Yes, in the MT world they're called authors and you specify what each author can/can't edit in the blog.

[Leosghost]

Moveable Type

read the small print in the tos with your host company ..lot of them wont let you use "movable type"..

[universetoday]

Check out Page Publisher from interactivetools.com. It's commercial software, but only costs $99. You take an existing website and then define areas which can be edited by the client. They log in and get a WYSIWYG editor that lets them modify specific chunks of text on various pages that you define. It's a great tool when you create a website for a client and then hand it over for them to maintain and update.

[richards1052]

Movable Type is a great blog service. It is hosted on the blog owner's pc.

I use Typepad, developed by the folks who developed MT. TP is hosted via the TP server. The diff. bet. the two services is really a philosophical question of whether you want total control of having your blog hosted on your own pc or whether you want to avoid all the extra headaches that can come from managing & maintaining the blog on yr. pc.

Fr. what I understand, you can completely format your blog to look any way you want with either MT or with TP's Pro account which costs about $12/mo.

The blog owner has total freedom to update either text or photos for their site. TP is fairly easy to use although some knowledge or understanding of html goes a long way.

Customer service for both these blog services is superb & this is a huge plus (believe me, after trying to work with blogger.com for a few months & falling afoul of their policy of essentially ignoring their users).

[stef25]

cutenews / cutephp

the only php publishing system ive managed to put up in under 15min, so pretty simple and very customisable

check it out