Client Updatable List

[Munix88]

Hey hey. So I've begun working on a website for a client and one of his requests was that the references page (they are a contracting company) be easily updatable by them such as to add future projects, etc. I came here because I'm not really sure where to start looking. Things like Wordpress or CMS sound kind of like what I'm looking for but are way more than what's necessary.

He had asked me about adding text to a Word document and it just updating from that. I'm sure with some crazy web technology that would be possible but quite beyond the scope of my capabilities. So basically is there a way to import some kind of file that can be easily edited, extracted onto the page, then styled with CSS?

The worst case scenario is having to make a little tutorial on how to edit the XHTML file which obviously is the LAST thing I want to do. Any help would be great appreciated.

 

[HomeBru Studios]

CMS (like Joomla) might be overkill. Wordpress might be closer to what the client seems to be after EXCEPT...

Unless the client saves their Word documents as plain text, their copy and paste into ANY CMS system is going to end up being an ugly mess due to all of the hidden formatting that goes on inside of a Word document.

I certainly would NOT recommend doing a straight copy and past job between Word and any web page, be it a CMS/Blog front end or in hand-coded web pages (HTML, PHP, Ruby, ASPX, ASP, etc.). All the extra rubbish in Word's hidden formatting is most times redundant and excessive and it will eat up the bandwidth.

IMHO

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

Let's see.... updating via web, reference based data, project based...

I'm going to suggest a private Wiki, much like Wikipedia, but one person who functions as admin creates the wiki and invites people who all login to the group, and everyone can upload stuff, create documents, copy/paste from third party sources via a WYSIWYG editor, leave comments, include pics, track all updates, email notification of members after updates, and organize project pages into individual pages in whatever way they want:

https://plans.pbwiki.com/ (see the Basic plan which is free on that page)

-jim

 

[torndownunit]

I don't have any experience with Wiki, but can say any advice SrWeb gives is always good.

I have used Wordpress for similar things though, and HomeBru says it's super easy. You can even get plug-ins to limit the amount of functions some accounts are able to access so that there is no way they can make a mess of things.

If you start them out right from the start using something like that too, the Word docs might not be needed. When you do a post or setup a page on Wordpress, there is a visual editor (can switch between it and html) which is almost like using Word anyway. So the client could just work on the list in Wordpress. It would take the cutting and pasting out of the equation.

Even if they are cutting and pasting Word docs into the visual editor though, it would likely be easier to show them how to do that properly than to give them a tutorial on XHTML.

 

[Munix88]

I think I may have confused you guys by talking about the Word document. I'm well aware of the difficulties that involve such a thing which is why I thought something like Wordpress might do the job. Also when I say "Reference" page I mean business references, not like an informational reference (although the Wiki-thing not a bad idea for more "modern" clients).

Anyway, thanks for the replies, I suppose I'll look more in to Wordpress and see what that entails as far as client usability, etc.

Of course, any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[memco]

A simple form page can be generated to parse a text file. The client could use excel or some-such, and then export as a csv if it's database-like information you're wanting.