Do open source CMS packages work with Dreamweaver?
Here’s the situation. I do Internet marketing and purchased Dreamweaver so I could download, manage and do SEO on my clients website. Now, some of my clients want to access their site to do some modest content updates. Since they don’t have dreamweaver (which would be too software for them anyway), I’m wondering if I can get a simple CMS integrated with their existing site. From what I can tell, products like Website Baker and CMS Made Simple allow you to "build" a new site. Drupal and Joomla are perhaps too advanced, although I know you can buy website templates that use their respective CMS..that may be an option, but I think its too much for the client to learn. Any thoughts? Thanks.
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3 Responses to “Do open source CMS packages work with Dreamweaver?”
If your clients do not want to add pages or do blogging, the simplest option is to use a content editing tool. With a content editing tool you place tags in the areas you want to let your clients edit. These tags are usually simple HTML comment tags with special content recognized by the content editor. This content becomes editable by the client through their web browser. Adobe offers a solution integrated right into Dreamweaver. It is called InContextEditing. I have tried their demo and it is incredibility user/client friendly, in fact it doesn’t get much simpler than this! The downside to this is that although this service is initially free, Adobe eventually plans on charging a monthly service fee. There are other less elegant solutions out there but they should do the job. One example is Snippet Master.
If your clients need to do blogging, add pages, or manage user registration, then you will need to use a CMS. With many CMS systems, creating templates with Dreamweaver is difficult. In Joomla and Drupal, for example, creating a custom theme from scratch is not a trival exercise. However, there are some off the shelf templates for both systems that may meet your needs and often it is just a matter of modifying the stylesheets to get the font and color styles in an acceptable form. If you are wiling to pay, there many great templates for Joomla available that are well constructed, SEO friendly, and XHTML/CSS valid. Drupal has many free templates available on their website.
Both Joomla and Drupal are mature. Joomla is not SEO friendly out of the box; there are extensions for creating SEO friendly URLs. Many of the newer Joomla templates are XHTML and CSS valid, however, many of the extension create code that is not.
A better choice for you might be MODx . I have not used MODx myself but I have read many positive and enthusiastic comments about it. MODx uses a tag based templating. It does not lock you into any particular structure. Build your template(s) visually in Dreamweaver like you would a static site, and add the tags as needed. From what I read, building a site in MODx is much faster than either Joomla or Drupal and the flexibilty in design may be a much better match for SEO optimization of your client’s website.
Another option is WordPress. There is a Dreamweaver extension that allows you to edit WordPress themes visually in Dreamweaver. http://www.themedreamer.com/. Again, I have never used this one myself and one caution- this is at verison 0.4 so I don’t know how stable it is.
I hope this helps!
EVERY client will always add "… and I want to be able to change the contents myself "…
So, you install Joomla or Drupal (because they wanted it or have been told that it was the way to go).
Then you launch the website and explain them how to use their fantastic CMS.
They look at you in bewilderment, and a few months later, never again make any change to their site.
To those who let you decide, you build your own CMS, exactly and ONLY what you need, and "easy as pie" to use. You show it to the clients, they use it for a month, then never again make any changes (unless it is a blog or a forum).
Some will tell you that you MUST develop using Dreamweaver (that’s what they have been told by the brother-in-law).
Remember ONE thing: the client hasn’t got a CLUE about websites, NONE OF THEM.
If they did, they would, at least, try to make their sites themselves… and a lot do, only to realise they can’t! Then they come to you and ask you to "just finish" what they have started… No, thanks.
Analyse what the Client NEEDS (NOT what he wants!), and the best way to deal with the needs. If that means using DW to go faster, then so be it.
But if you hope to edit Joomla through Dreamweaver, you better be a shareholder in "Aspirin"…
Good luck!
sure any open source CMS can be edited with dreamweaver or any other editor to add you seo code or edit any other part of the templates.
and also most of these CMS can be work with it own seo plugins
For example this is list of wordpress theme ready for SEO with its own SEO plugins and easy to edite to make any other customization
http://www.wsblogz.com/wordpress-theme/80-free-wordpress-theme/