Macromedia Contribute: When should I recommend it to my client?
by Jen Kramer Focused Consulting
Many designers by now have heard of Macromedia Contribute. This software is designed for quick editing of web pages without knowledge of HTML and without assistance from an outside source. It offers some really terrific features, like tight integration with Dreamweaver templates, yet it can be used with other editors like Microsoft FrontPage, Adobe GoLive, or hand-coding. For designers, it leaves much control over what can or cannot be edited by non-designers, and for our clients, there’s a rollback feature if they make a big mistake on a page.
When it was released in November 2002, it was greeted with groans and cheers. One group viewed Contribute as a way of taking maintenance work from designers, leaving many freelancers without a source of steady income. Others declared it the answer to a designer’s prayers, allowing clients to make their own changes and leaving us to concentrate on much more interesting – and lucrative – work.
The answer lies in between these two extremes. It’s not the best thing since sliced bread, but when used correctly, it will make your life much easier. Let’s take a look at the benefits and limitations of Contribute, as well as the appropriate times to consider it for a client.
Benefits of Contribute
Contribute offers a lot of great features that designers and clients alike will love.
The big benefit is price. With a street price of $99, Contribute is affordable for nearly all clients. (In fact, it could be argued that if they can’t afford Contribute, they might reconsider a website – how will they be able to keep their website up-to-date with no budget at all?)
Contribute’s learning curve is quite short for both clients and designers. The tutorial that comes with Contribute is comprehensive and will give you a good understanding for how the program works. Since Contribute is partly a web browser, making site edits is a very simple three-step process for clients. Go to the page they need to edit and click the Edit button in the toolbar. Make the change to the page using standard and familiar controls that look and feel like Word and other common applications. Click the Publish button. That’s it!
For designers, there are many mechanisms in place to protect the integrity of the code. You decide whether clients can format text using font tags or whether they must stick with established styles in your style sheet. You determine whether the client can upload a new photo – and if they do, you set the maximum file size for that photo and whether an alt tag is required. You determine if the client can create a new page for the site. If you decide to allow that, you decide whether that can be a completely blank page, a page based on your Dreamweaver template, a page based on an already existing page, or a different document type such as a PDF file or Microsoft Office document. You can also turn off access to editing your forms and dynamic code. And finally, Contribute 2 supports secure FTP.
Configuration is simple. All of the above preferences, optionally including the FTP information for the site, can be sent to the client by email using a Connection Key. This little file transmits all of your settings as the administrator for the site to the site’s users. This is especially terrific for long-distance clients, where you may not be able to look over their shoulder as they configure their settings.
And finally, Macromedia now offers an affiliate program for their software. By referring your client to the Macromedia site for purchasing Contribute, you can make 10% of the purchase cost at no additional cost to your client.
Sounds great so far, doesn’t it? But there’s a few drawbacks you should know about before recommending Contribute for everyone.
Limitations of Contribute
Many have called Contribute a content management system (CMS). It’s not entirely that. For example, you can post a draft of the page on your site and email a temporary URL to parties for review. However, the draft can’t be published automatically when approved, as is the case with some content management systems. It must go back to the original user for publishing. Contribute is not designed for long chains of approval or many editors managing files at once. It works best with one or two editors who are in contact by phone and/or email and limited approval required for publication.
When new pages are added to a site (assuming you’ve enabled this feature), Contribute treats this page as a supplement to an existing page, NOT a new global or secondary navigation button. There is no way that a user can create a new navigation button that will automatically show up on all pages of the site – in other words, there’s no editing a template with Contribute. If your client will need to do this, you’re better off with a content management system.
It should be noted that Contribute supports only OS X on the Mac platform on a relatively recent machine, but it supports Windows 98 SE, 2000, ME, and XP with Internet Explorer 5+ on older machines. See Macromedia’s site for more information on specs.
Finally, a personal peeve. The software can be very, very slow. I am in rural southern Vermont, with only a modem connection. It takes a long time to open the program since it connects to the site on opening, resulting in a delay. Also, when editing a page, it first downloads all images and HTML associated with the page before editing. On publication, it re-uploads these, sometimes resulting in long wait times before you can move to the next page you want to edit.
When should I recommend Contribute?
Contribute has been a boost for my business since it’s given me a competitive advantage in my area. I can offer clients the ability to edit their own sites for not a lot of extra money, without requiring an expensive hosting configuration. My competitors, offering content management systems requiring database capabilities and expensive setup and hosting, almost always cost more than a Contribute solution.
However, Contribute isn’t great for everything, nor is it for every client. Here are some guidelines when considering a Contribute recommendation:
1. Does my client require frequent minor text changes? If your client bothers you every other day with little text changes on the site, and particularly if these changes are keeping you from chasing or doing more lucrative work, you might consider recommending Contribute. The client can change text to their heart’s content. The client will love the ease of use and rapid turnaround, and you’ll appreciate having fewer phone calls and emails to deal with.
2. Can my client afford a CMS, or is a CMS overkill for what the client requires? Most small businesses have limited budgets and can’t afford a true CMS, even if it’s an off-the-shelf solution. Other clients may want to change one section of the site on a regular basis (for example, posting weekly specials). A CMS in this case may just be swatting a fly with a proverbial bazooka – way more technology than required for this small problem.
3. What kind of computer skills does my client have? This is potentially the most important question of all. If your client has a hard time checking email or browsing the web, you don’t want to recommend another software package for them to learn. After all, Contribute is supposed to make your life easier – not take a maintenance problem and turn it into a PC Help Desk problem! So I make sure that my client will be OK using Contribute after an initial training period, and I won’t have created another headache for myself and a frustrating situation for my client.
4. Did the client ask to maintain the site themselves? Some of my clients hire me to take care of their sites because they don’t have the time or desire to do it. By selling them on maintaining the site on their own before understanding if this is a need or desire of theirs, you may be alienating a potential client. Like many designers, I sell a one-stop-shopping solution, then adjust to the client’s needs and desires. If they ask to maintain the site themselves, and if they fit the above criteria, I may recommend Contribute. On occasion, when maintenance is getting hairy, I’ll ask the client if they’re interested in doing their own text changes. This works well also.
5. How large is the website? Contribute works best with smaller sites. While I’ve used Contribute with sites as large as 450 static pages, I’d recommend keeping the site size to 50 pages or less with 1-2 editors working together closely. Contribute’s management mechanisms weren’t designed for complicated sites or many designers.
Summary
When recommended to the right client, Contribute is an excellent, low-cost, and user-friendly option for maintaining a website. It allows you to control your code and your design, while allowing the client to change content freely. Rather than viewing this product as a threat to your business, get to know it and see how it can free you up to make more money and do more of what you love – designing websites.
About the author:
Jennifer Kramer, founder of Focused
Consulting, LLC, specializes in web site design focused on the clients'
needs and spoken in language they understand. For nearly seven years,
she has worked to develop sites that are functional, usable, accessible,
and supportive of business and marketing goals.
Ms. Kramer is also an instructor at the Persons School of Marlboro College, Champlain College, and the Community College of Vermont, teaching courses in web site design and management, HTML, and integrating the Internet into business education.
Ms. Kramer earned a BS in biology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MS in Internet Strategy Management at the Marlboro College Graduate Center. She is also a Macromedia Dreamweaver MX Certified Developer.
Please direct questions and comments about this article to:
wdg@focusedconsulting.com
