"Press Room" suggestions?

[RayC]

More and more I'm sensing a need/desire for a site client to be able to have a spot where they can add information, documents for download, embed videos, etc. Along the lines of a place for "Press Releases" with perhaps a PDF for download.

A "News" component seems inadequate (unless there is a good one I haven't found yet).

I don't really "get" using BLOG software like Wordpress et. al. as a CMS for creating and editing pages, and seems like overkill for what's needed, and complicated for the site owner.

Having a specific page with editable content via Cushy CMS or similar might be a solution, but would require a bit of training to get them to insert the new content and upload files.

This was going to come up for me down the road, and I'd started doing some research. But it has suddenly become an urgent need, and I'm hoping for some suggestions to accomplish this with as little muss at my end, and relative ease of use for a non-techie at the other.

Suggestions on how to approach this?
Scripts that might help?

Thanks,

-RayC

[chuckj]

Wouldn't be hard to program with PHP and a database. Or another scripting language like ColdFusion.

Not a project that could be done in an hour or so, but very doable.

I've done similar projects for people. No two are exactly alike.

[Adendum]

...Having a specific page with editable content via Cushy CMS or similar might be a solution, but would require a bit of training to get them to insert the new content and upload files.

Ray,

I've changed over to SurrealCMS as they offer better document handling (and Google Analytics access) via the Pro version. You can specify exactly where all images, documents and any media files are located on the server and the 'document manager' is dead easy to use. And I'd doubt the client would need training, except maybe some guidelines to upload and link to the files (I did a short email with some snipped images for exactly this and so far all my clients love Surreal...not that they know they are using Surreal!!). Take a look at the free version as that may solve your needs.

[RayC]

Hi, Chuck.
Unfortunately, my "PHP for Knuckleheads" sleep learning course is on backorder. I'm not really up to doing something like this at this stage.

Paul,
I'll take a look at Surreal, although I'm more of a fan of the "install-on-the-server" type scripts that will keep working even if the company goes under.

I've used SnippetMaster (free) on one site, which was dead simple to set up. Although I haven't explored if it can do what I will need. While frantically Googling last night, I also came across SpoonFed CMS which also bears some investigation, as it looks very promising.

Honestly, I'm still trying to develop a complete concept for how this should work. I keep thinking that a "News" script on steroids might do the trick; one that can include documents for download, and perhaps embed YouTube video. Something like that would provide a framework for the site owner to update without having to teach them the ins & outs of using a CMS.

Some things to look into, anyway. Thanks for that.

Any other ideas greatly appreciated.

-Ray.

[Trimdoner]

One system that I used on a site a while ago was Flexwindow - it was an absolute breeze for the end user, as all they had to was send an email!
I don't think it handles downloads or video etc, but for simple content changes it was too simple to believe. All I did at the website end was iframe the content page address supplied by Flexwindow.
http://www.flexwindow.com/

[Keith]

Ray,

I've used CORANTO for years as a way for my clients to post information.
http://www.coranto.org/

Here are a few examples:

http://www.mayiah.com
http://www.eyesight.org
http://www.britishcarspecialists.com/

Keith Colgan
www.lodi-biz.com


RayC wrote:
> More and more I'm sensing a need/desire for a site client to be able to
> have a spot where they can add information, documents for download,
> embed videos, etc. Along the lines of a place for "Press Releases" with
> perhaps a PDF for download.
>
> A "News" component seems inadequate (unless there is a good one I
> haven't found yet).
>
> I don't really "get" using BLOG software like Wordpress et. al. as a
> CMS for creating and editing pages, and seems like overkill for what's
> needed, and complicated for the site owner.
>
> Having a specific page with editable content via Cushy CMS or similar
> might be a solution, but would require a bit of training to get them to
> insert the new content and upload files.
>
> This was going to come up for me down the road, and I'd started doing
> some research. But it has suddenly become an urgent need, and I'm hoping
> for some suggestions to accomplish this with as little muss at my end,
> and relative ease of use for a non-techie at the other.
>
> Suggestions on how to approach this?
> Scripts that might help?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -RayC
>
>

[Twayne]

In news:RayC.4b4sbo@no-mx.forums.netobjects.com,
RayC <RayC.4b4sbo@no-mx.forums.netobjects.com> typed:
> More and more I'm sensing a need/desire for a site client
> to be able to have a spot where they can add information,
> documents for download, embed videos, etc. Along the lines
> of a place for "Press Releases" with perhaps a PDF for
> download.
>
> A "News" component seems inadequate (unless there is a good
> one I haven't found yet).
>
> I don't really "get" using BLOG software like Wordpress et.
> al. as a CMS for creating and editing pages, and seems like
> overkill for what's needed, and complicated for the site
> owner.
>
> Having a specific page with editable content via Cushy CMS
> or similar might be a solution, but would require a bit of
> training to get them to insert the new content and upload
> files.
>
> This was going to come up for me down the road, and I'd
> started doing some research. But it has suddenly become an
> urgent need, and I'm hoping for some suggestions to
> accomplish this with as little muss at my end, and relative
> ease of use for a non-techie at the other.
>
> Suggestions on how to approach this?
> Scripts that might help?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -RayC

Would something like SnippetMaster work here?
I haven't used it yet but it seems to pretty much give a client control
over only a specific part of the site you decide on with simple calls in
your code.
Personally I think it would be very important to have controls over exactly
what a client could upload, especially file sizes for instance.

HTH,

Twayne`

[RayC]

Hi, Twayne.

Yes, a CMS (or CES - "Content Editing System" to differentiate from things like Wordpress) is one of my considerations. I've implemented the free version of SnippetMaster on one client site, and it's easy to implement and use. My concerns with that approach are: 1.) the page eventually getting too long, and not being able to add new pages to split things up, and 2.) teaching the client to use it for that purpose.

I was hoping to come across something that had more of a user-friendly admin-type interface. I thought perhaps a "News" script with the ability to attach files might do the trick. I've been casting about, and while some allow insertion of images, and some allow pure HTML insertion (which I dread putting into a client's hands !!), none seem able to facilitate uploading a PDF file, and creating a link to it in the article.

Sometimes I end up looking in the wrong category, and can't find what I'm looking for. I'm looking at "News", "CMS", "Knowledge Base / FAQ", but none seem to do it justice. It might have to end up being a combination of things (News plus CMS). Of course, simply creating a static page is dead simple in NOF, so maybe the other option is to look at a "maintenance" agreement for me to do updates on their behalf. Or maybe I need to find an open-source News that's close, and hack in some mods.

And, Keith, thanks for the CORANTO link. I'm a bit stunned that I've never stumbled across this before. I'm definitely going have a good look at their site.

In the meantime, I'll keep looking.

-RayC

[Trimdoner]

One more possibility?
http://embedit.in/

I've not used this but it looks to have interesting features...

[chuckj]

I designed a news program that allows file uploading. Images, but it could be configured to allow pdf files.

It's in use here.

http://www.scifispace.com/html/scifinews.php

A code cnippet is used to insert the query that pulls the articles from the database.

Yes, the article is typed in HTML form, but an editor could probably be added without too much trouble.

The news administrator uses a secure web interface to add/edit/delete articles.

Articles can have a start and end date or never expire.

Other features as well.