Sandvox, RapidWeaver, iWeb, and true WYSIWYG editing

[M A V I C]

Zoidberg, you can pretty much do all that with WordPress. You might need a plugin to handle the password protected stuff, that depends the specifics of the scenario. I'm a little confused why you think you need multiple sites for all this. Seems like it could be handled in one site. You wouldn't have to deal with dropbox, yousendit... either.

Zoidberg wrote: can't be a blog (due to the nature of the deadline-specific things I list).

I'm not sure what you mean by this. You mean as in the content can only be up for a certain amount of time or what?

[Seacrest]

Zoidberg wrote:
FWIW, after a day of messing with three possibilities -- Sandvox, RapidWeaver, SquareSite -- Sandvox is winning.

What's the resistance to adding Wordpress or another OS CMS to this mix?

Wordpress and Concrete5 are literally 5 minute installs on a localhost (with MAMP installed).

All that stuff you describe above, to me, does not seem trivial.
I have written full backend systems in the past that did much of what you wish, but I avoid writing that kind of code today, as much of it can be done fairly easily in one of the OS CMS packages. If not in the core, then with the numerous plug-ins/extensions out there.

[jdc]

But Wordpress *isnt* easy to use. =(

[Seacrest]

jdc wrote:
But Wordpress *isnt* easy to use. =(

How so?

[M A V I C]

Seacrest wrote:
[quote=jdc]
But Wordpress *isnt* easy to use. =(

How so?
That's what I'm wondering too. It's won many awards for how easy it is to use. Out of all of the apps I've given clients to maintain their own site, it's been the easiest for them to pickup and get stuff done with.

If someone is used to building their own static sites from scratch, I can see how it would be an issue because they're used to having so much control. But iWeb, RW... don't give you that level of control.

[Robert M]

Zoid,

Thank you for starting what has turned into a great thread. And, thank you to Mavic and others who have chimed in with helpful ideas and suggestions. I realize what I’m asking for isn’t necessarily what is for the best. I understand and acknowledge it. But, for what I’m envisioning right now, what I’ve described are my requirements. BTW, transportability is the wrong term. Editability is more appropriate. Editability in anything be it a text editor, a WYSIWYG editor, HTML editor or even a word processor is important.

For what it’s worth, when it comes time to build the site I’m envisioning, I will farm it out. These days, I lack the time, skills and experience to do the job properly. It was quite different in the days of Claris Home Page when web sites were far more basic than they are now. I could get away with it. that is no longer the case. But, until I get around to farming out what I have in my mind - I will in due time - I’d still like to be able to build and update a site like the one I’ve envisioned within the confines of the requirements I’ve listed.

Kudos to everyone who has been involved in this thread! This is one of the reasons I became active in the forum again. I missed it tremendously!

Robert

[M A V I C]

Robert, I think one of the key things about using a good CMS is that your results aren't bound to your knowledge on the topic. So needing a dynamically generated xml sitemap so search engines can properly index your site, is not something you need to know is important, why it's important, or what the importance is, or how it works... it's just something that is handled.

I say all this when my own site sucks. I built it eight years ago, haven't gotten around to doing a major overhaul. Why? Well, because I didn't build it on a good CMS and thus many of the pitfalls of not doing it, I'm experiencing myself. I started a blog on it, which can be good, but I have to do it manually which means I don't do it very often. Blah... last entry was about three years ago.

There's a point where these web apps help you do things so quickly and so easily, it changes your whole perspective on how a website can benefit your business or organization. And without making the jump, it always looks like way more work than it is.

[Robert M]

Mavic,

Very true. That's why I'm not resistant to the idea for future use. But, what I'm envisioning is more immediate and those options aren't viable. That's why a pro is going to do it for me with whatever tools he/she feels is appropriate for the job. That way, I just tell him/her, "This is what I want. Design it." and, as necessary, "Here are the updates. I need them done by X date and active on Y date." If he/she can show me how to do the updates myself, even better. The site will be very simple after all and if it is something I can't edit myself, then the pro is making it unnecessarily complex.

Robert

[Zoidberg]

M A V I C wrote:
Zoidberg, you can pretty much do all that with WordPress. You might need a plugin to handle the password protected stuff, that depends the specifics of the scenario. I'm a little confused why you think you need multiple sites for all this. Seems like it could be handled in one site. You wouldn't have to deal with dropbox, yousendit... either.

[quote=Zoidberg]can't be a blog (due to the nature of the deadline-specific things I list).

I'm not sure what you mean by this. You mean as in the content can only be up for a certain amount of time or what?
I list RFQs in the order they're due. I'll know about some of them sooner than others; for instance, I have several due in July listed. I just found out about one due next week. In a blog setting, posts are made according to when they're posted. Not needing to blog, I just want a single page, like an info page, that I can do the listing quickly. Single page.

I actually used to do the coding in TextEdit (really) and FTP it. It's not complicated, and I could go back to that if I had to.

Of course, I want more than that, and the ability to easily keep reverse order archives. (See this page for an example).

[Zoidberg]

Seacrest wrote:
What's the resistance to adding Wordpress or another OS CMS to this mix?

Wordpress and Concrete5 are literally 5 minute installs on a localhost (with MAMP installed).

All that stuff you describe above, to me, does not seem trivial.
I have written full backend systems in the past that did much of what you wish, but I avoid writing that kind of code today, as much of it can be done fairly easily in one of the OS CMS packages. If not in the core, then with the numerous plug-ins/extensions out there.

Agreed, but you see that text I bolded? At a glance, I don't get that. I can figure it all out pretty quickly and thinking about it for a few minutes, but with iWeb and MobileMe, I don't have to. And that's what sold the setup to about half a dozen clients -- who, admittedly, aren't using the setup for their company web hosting, but for personal pages (like family sites, photo blogs, club & sports team info, etc.).