Content Management using PHP/MySQL, MAC

[ncriptide]

Okay - I'm not a programmer. I've been a graphic designer on a Mac the past 25 years . . . I'm trying to learn php, but I'm in the very beginning stages. I create sites on a Macintosh G4 using Dreamweaver 8.

I simply want to be able to offer my clients a very simple CMS system that they'll be able to login to once I upload their site, and make text changes to any page. I know about Macromedia Contribute, but I'd prefer to offer them something web-based and not have to worry about installing it on their computer.

Is there a simple php/MySQL module out there that I can get up with minimal difficulties? I do have a VPS server from Interland that I put my client's sites on. It has php, mySQL installed.

Most of my sites are simple html sites not over 10-15 pages.

If you could refer me to a product, or some training . . . anything that would allow me to do this would be greatly appreciated.

[arvana]

If you have a basic understanding of PHP, then you should be able to install a full-on CMS like Drupal or Joomla. Both have something of a steep learning curve at first, but the benefits you'll be able to offer your clients will more than outweigh your startup time.

I've worked with quite a number of content management systems, including some of the very basic ones, and my experience is that you really need a system that has a full range and depth of modules available for it to suit whatever your clients may need. If you try to go with something simple, you will most likely find yourself running up against its limitations sooner rather than later.

I find Drupal excellent for community-based sites, and Joomla for more business-oriented ones. Those are my current favorites, and both have great communities that are very supportive of new users.

Good luck!

[ncriptide]

Thanks for your reply. I'll give both of them a look.

Thanks again!

[niggles]

Hi,

Am also on a Mac and the problem I've found with installing Joomla is that Dreamweaver truncates a lot of the long file names and so it doesn't upload properly. I now do all my Joomla installations from our PC to overcome this.

It's also a pretty steep learning curve with Joomla and I've had to do a lot of code-hacking to make it work with our designs properly. For a simple site though it's a good solution to allow clients to manage their own content.

Cheers,
Nigel

[Syspira]

Drupal and Joomla are both good -- of the two, Joomla comes across as the more slick and professional, and is easier to set up, but Drupal is a lot more flexible and gives you more control over how the site is set up.

If you find either of them too challenging for your clients, though, you might want to check out CMS Made Simple as an alternative.

With any CMS in general, all you really need to know how to do is use an FTP program, a text editor, and maybe a web-based database administration tool like PHPMyAdmin. You don't actually need to know PHP, unless you want to be able to customize it beyond what the existing modules, themes, etc. offer, and even then, editing themes at least can be done with only minimimal knowledge of PHP (but good knowledge of HTML and CSS). And it doesn't matter whether you're using a Mac, Windows, Linux or whatever -- it's all on the server, not on you own computer, and the only thing you'll be doing locally is editing text files, if that.

If you do want to learn PHP, there's an excellent PHP 101 tutorial on DevShed. That's how I got started with it.

And you actually can install PHP and MySQL on a Mac (assuming you're on OS X) so that you can test out your sites locally before uploading them at all, but that's a little beyond the scope of a forum comment... :-)

[Syspira]

Am also on a Mac and the problem I've found with installing Joomla is that Dreamweaver truncates a lot of the long file names and so it doesn't upload properly. I now do all my Joomla installations from our PC to overcome this.

That's not a Mac problem, that's a Dreamweaver problem. Dreamweaver claims to be able to handle dynamic sites, but it really doesn't do very well at it -- I never use it for those, only for sites that are basically just static HTML and graphics. As a general rule, WYSIWYG editors of any type do not do well with dynamic sites.

Try using BBEdit instead -- it's a Mac text editor geared toward programmers (with built-in FTP), and will behave a lot better when working with PHP scripts. The syntax highlighting is nice too. It's what I use for any kind of programming work -- the one time I tried to use Dreamweaver for something involving PHP it made a complete mess of it, so I never did that again.

[niggles]

That's not a Mac problem, that's a Dreamweaver problem.

Agreed. I meant that the FTP built into Mac Dreamweaver has issues with those long file names which are the core of Joomla (hence using Dreamweaver on PC for initial upload).

For all my template building/editing and code hacking though I use Dreamweaver and have never had problems with it messing up my code.

Cheers,
Nigel

[mcm]

I tried just about EVERY CMS out there over the past couple of years. Forget about Joomla.

The BEST I have found that would suit a newbie to advanced user is "Dragonfly CMS" http://dragonflycms.org

Huge range of easily installed modules/plugins.SEO friendly too.

For a working example .. see my site at http://thai.expatz.net

Hope that helps.
mcm

[AjiNIMC]

Even you can use wordpress as a cms, and then you can offer the desktop tools for adding and editing. Some of my friends like it.

[CalgaryPix]

I've used www.php-update.co.uk
for a couple of client's site and seems to work well. I edit the template with Dreamweaver and then do all the content in its editing area.