Contribute and Your Clients
Note: This article originally appeared on Community MX.
There is no doubt that Macromedia Contribute opens a world of new possibilities for web designers and their potential clients. For the end user, it offers the first software package that makes it possible for someone to publish to the Web without any knowledge of web design. For the web developer and designer, it offers some fascinating business opportunities as Contribute users seek out the professional services they will need to make their vision of maintaining their own website a reality.
But is Contribute the right solution for every client and every situation? As you might expect, the easy answer to this question is a simple "No." But what conditions are right for selling your services to Contribute users? What situations are right, and which should you shy away from? Exactly what is it that you'll sell to the client, and what hidden charges and costs should you look out for? This article will examine a series of questions you should ask yourself and your clients before proceeding with the development of a business relationship built on the use of Contribute.
What kinds of sites are appropriate for users of Contribute?
Contribute is in essence a static HTML tool. That means that users of Contribute can easily add new content, but they cannot interact directly with a database. While Contribute users can add content to pages built with server-side code, they are limited to adding text, images, and Macromedia Flash movies.
For sites requiring storage and access to large amounts of data, Contribute is probably not the best solution. Those sites are better served by a regular Content Management System (CMS) that the developer designs or purchases.
On the other end of the spectrum, sites that are essentially online brochures are also not likely to benefit from using Contribute. If the client has no need to add or update information on the site, then he or she will be better off simply letting you design the site and perform routine maintenance as needed.
Somewhere in between is the ideal candidate for Contribute. For example, a small business owner who wants to offer weekly specials, updated news items, or fresh content to drive visitors back to her site can make good use of Contribute for those purposes. As you meet with your clients, listen carefully to their requirements and determine if they can handle those kinds of periodic site additions on their own.
What will I sell to a Contribute user?
In simple terms, the three services most web professionals will sell to Contribute users are:
- Site design
- Site maintenance
- Training and support
Site Design
Web designers will be most successful in selling their services to Contribute users when they can stress the skills that they have developed over time. These skills include having a firm grasp of both the requirements for designing well-structured sites and for building the pages that populate the site.
For Contribute sites, one of the skills that only an experienced web designer can bring to the plate is the ability to build Dreamweaver templates, or, at the very least, to build pages that the Contribute user can modify. While Contribute lets users build pages from scratch from a blank page or helps them get started through built-in sample pages, it is difficult to sell a service that doesn't immediately offer the client a well-structured and attractive page with consistent navigation. This is where you come in; you design the structure of the page and the folder and file structure of the site so that adding content will be simple and intuitive for the Contribute user.
In the end, it is your design ability that will win over a Contribute client. Developing an attractive design, providing simple CSS for styling text, and putting the package together in a way that will be easy for the client to understand and maintain should be your goals.
Site Maintenance
Even though you can expect the majority of the work to be done directly in Contribute, you should not overlook the likelihood that your client will need your support from time to time. If, for instance, your clients decide that they wish to change the color scheme or add a new button to a navigation bar, you will be the one performing those tasks. For a site built in Contribute, changes such as these will likely require that you use FTP to get the entire site, update the pages after the template has been modified, and put the entire site back to the server. Be sure to factor in this kind of time-consuming task when you discuss the possibilities of using Contribute with your client. Most importantly, be sure they understand what the charges will be when you perform this kind of site maintenance.
Another option that you may wish to consider if you expect to do routine maintenance on the site beyond the static content that the site owner will provide is server-side includes (SSI). While your Contribute user will not have access to the code in your pages, includes allow you to make routine maintenance an easier process than getting and putting an entire site. Since there is more setup involved at the beginning, you will want to carefully weigh this option to determine whether it is the best choice for your client (and for you).
Training and Support
While the user interface in Contribute is quite easy to understand, at least initially you can expect that your client will need some help getting things going. At the very least, you will need to sit with them (either physically or virtually) and walk through the process of connecting to the server and starting a new page from a template or existing page. You'll also need to guide them through the permissions that you have set for site and page modifications and the process of publishing the completed pages. Again, be sure to factor this time into your estimate for designing a Contribute site.
One resource that you may wish to provide a client is a copy of Joseph Lowery's "Roadmap to Contribute" from New Riders Press. (Disclaimer: I was Technical Editor on this book, so I am understandably biased.) What is unique about this book is that it is aimed squarely at new Contribute users and provides free server space for them to try out the software's features. Build in the cost of this book and "give" your clients a copy, and they'll think you are a terrifically caring person who has their best interests in mind. Of course, the ability to practice on their own will help your client's confidence and save you from receiving unnecessary phone calls when something simple needs to be done.
Will my client be able to understand Contribute?
Not everyone will be technologically savvy enough to use even a simple software product such as Contribute. True story—a client recently called me to help him understand how to use his new Flash USB drive to move files from a PC to a Mac. I only felt a little guilty charging him my standard per-hour fee to go to his house and explain how to insert the drive into a USB slot, dismount it, and move it to the other computer. For someone like this, even the simplicity of Contribute is likely to be beyond him.
The benchmark by which to measure your client's abilities is Microsoft Word. If your client can create, modify, and save a Word document, insert images and tables and do simple formatting, then he will probably be able to use Contribute successfully. However, you should have a frank discussion with clients about their abilities and comfort level with using computers. If you determine that they will spend more time on the phone asking for your help, then Contribute may not be a feasible solution for them. Remember that those types of calls and e-mails are difficult to bill. Unless you're feeling philanthropic, you want to keep your client's reliance on you to a minimum.
What should I keep in mind when structuring a Contribute site?
Setting permissions and administrative controls on a Contribute site will be one of your primary tasks when developing the site structure for a potential client. Remember that you will be turning over the keys to a very complex automobile to someone who may not know how to drive yet. Plan ahead for the inevitable problems. Specifically, plan your site structure in advance; provide folders that your client will have access to and limit access to those that you do not want them poking around in.
For instance, place navigation images in their own folder and deny the Contribute users access to that folder. Templates and CSS files, on the other hand, must be accessible. In the case of templates, you must load them to the server so the Contribute user can access them.
You should also be aware that Contribute has some automated features that are beyond your control. When Contribute inserts images into a page, it automatically places them in a subfolder of the main folder where the page resides. If your client wants to maintain his own image library, it may be best to help him build and maintain a folder with stock images that he can use as needed. Otherwise, his site will be filled with folders full of images that he has pulled from his computer, which Contribute has obediently handled for him.
Another automated feature that Contribute provides, but which may be a headache for you, is the ability to roll back pages to previous versions. Contribute allows up to 99 rollbacks for every page, a feat that it accomplishes by creating a temporary file for each page as it is revised. Just imagine the litter in the site if you don't control that feature when you set up the permissions for the site!
The key to designing the folders for the site structure is to build a scheme that provides an easy-to-use environment for clients, while protecting them from themselves. In the end, you'll both appreciate having less hassles.
What page design considerations should I keep in mind?
Contribute templates are not the place to try out cutting-edge technologies. Focus on giving Contribute users a reliable and rock-solid environment in which to do their work. While a web professional may blanch at the idea of using numerous nested templates and spacer images, those kind of tried and true designs are often more fitting for a Contribute user. While you know that a collapsed table in the authoring environment will expand to its intended size as you add content, or that a carefully designed DIV will display properly when seen in a browser, your Contribute users will only be able to go by what they see on the screen in front of them. If that means propping open a table to its intended height by adding a second column with a spacer image in it, then that may be the way to go.
Conclusion
Contribute offers some great opportunities for non-technical site owners to take charge of their own sites. For web designers, working with Contribute users provides some terrific financial opportunities. Going in to a Contribute project with eyes wide open, being aware of the issues that you may face as you develop the site, will lead to a better experience for all concerned.
About the author
Kim Cavanaugh, a member of Team Macromedia, is the author of Fireworks MX: A Beginner's Guide (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2002) and Dreamweaver 4/Fireworks 4 Studio: A Beginner's Guide (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2001). Kim also writes tutorials on all the Studio MX applications for Community MX. He is a teacher and technology trainer for the Palm Beach County School District in Florida and an adjunct professor at Palm Beach Community College. Previously Kim worked for ten years as a custom furniture designer and manufacturer; and before then as a field artillery officer in the U.S. Army. He now lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife and daughter, and loves all things associated with life in South Florida—especially warm weather, the Miami Dolphins, inshore fishing, and Jimmy Buffett tunes.
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