Does anyone in here have any expereince with these programs?
I have a couple of projects up my sleeve that i think may work well with these programs (contribute especially), can anyone offer any advice or overall feeling towards the programs?
Also, what is the use of flash paper? I can see having a viewable object on your site like a product list or a schedule or something, but how else it viable? I mean, if you are going to send someone anything - a pdf seems to be the way to go, not an .swf
What kind of projects that you have might need Contribute? It’s just a scaled down version of frontpage + auto-ftp. Nothing more. Flash paper is basically a cheap version of Adobe Acrobat (the writer, not reader). Converts everything to pdf or swf (swf is good for web viewing).
I currently use both contribute 3 is very, very cool. It actually is a big selling point to a few of my clients. And flash paper is kinda sort of a kissing cousin of pdf. It is an alternative to .pdf although you can use flashpaper to make pdf’s. It loads faster for alot of things. So I use it promarily to show things on the web.
Contribute 3 could put alot CMS companies out of business. Especially with the server version. I am heavy into it. So if you have questions go ahead and shoot them.
That’s Great news DDD.
From what I have read this software looks great. I did the tutorial that came with it and it seems pretty simple. Here are my questions:
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[*]How do I start to create a page that is going to be updated by my clients? - from what I can gather, I just make the page in dreamweaver, when I lay it out make it a template with editable regions (the area’s that I want the end user to update). Is that all there is to it?
[*]What software does the client need to have installed on their workstation? Do I have to get the client a version of contribute for them to be able to edit their own pages?
[*]How do I set it up for them? Is it like dreamweaver where I get them to log into the site through contribute and they have a list of pages right there in front of them?
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Those are a couple questions for now… I’m sure I will have more 
Thanks so much!
I used v2 of Contribute, you will have your clients buy the soft in order to update their site.
They just load a page (looks like normal page in browser), hit the edit button, make changes, and save. Wanted to use it but can’t anymore as all content dynamic (PHP-generated), and also never figured out how to edit pages in a frameset and not the frameset itself, so gave up on it…
And I just made a small test: I took a 31 page pdf (webpages saved with browser plug-in, non optimized): 300kb. Drag’n’drop converted to flashpaper swf: 132kb…
Actions speak louder than words
Ive used Contribute V2 before too. Good for clients who want to manage their sites but dont have the full technical capability to do so. Contribute gives them an easy interface to do that with (you just have to build the site with DW well enough to work with it in a friendly manner). … and Ive actually used it personally to convert word docs and things too hehe.
Flash paper has been explained… but the bad thing about Flash paper is that its slow. Of course the Adobe’s reader is butt slow too so I guess it can compete well enough 
Acrobat is only slow when you 1st start it
I keep it open all the time when I’m not editing graphics or other heavy-on-the-RAM activities (like sleepin’… time for bed, good night, folks).
no its slow with page rendering too. Try scrolling a decent document and redraw is just raunchy. OSX’s preview does soooo much better at rendering pdfs.
I’ve had the same problems with Adobe PDF as well Sen… I do a lot of print work and when you have a graphic that’s 300 dpi and full page the draw in can be terrible!
Thanks for the input on the software guys - it’s good to hear some feedback. Now I am just waiting for DDD to put his 2 cents in
Oh yah, Sen, when you say create it well enough to be edited, I assume you are talking about tables and such so that they don’t stretch the design and so forth if they imput a lot of text or images right?
How do I start to create a page that is going to be updated by my clients? - from what I can gather, I just make the page in dreamweaver, when I lay it out make it a template with editable regions (the area’s that I want the end user to update). Is that all there is to it?
You will basicallyset it up similar to a Dreamweaver site in Dreamweaver. Then the person will navigate to the site like a browser. (inside contribute). Once they find the page they click edit. Bt the good thing is that you can restrict what they do by setting user levels. They it is the high level explanation. Also you can set it up so the edit requires approval…blah.
What software does the client need to have installed on their workstation? Do I have to get the client a version of contribute for them to be able to edit their own pages?
Contribute.
How do I set it up for them? Is it like dreamweaver where I get them to log into the site through contribute and they have a list of pages right there in front of them?
Yep see first answer. I find my clients like to feel they are not at my mercy, or have to learn to program to make edits. A really good crowd pleaser. And as always cover the seats in the cost of your site.
yeah, pretty much - that and setting up the templates. A lot of the tables you get coming out of design/drawing apps like fireworks and imageready aren’t good for that kind of thing. Often if you add too many words in a content area, suddenly the tables have gone to poop. You just have to be concsious enough in the design to expect an unaware client to add anything and everything and not have the design break. :elderly:
suddenly the tables have gone to poop
I have seen this all to often 
I usualy cut up the slices in image ready but make my own html in Dreamweaver if I am doing a big site - saves sooooooo much hassel in the end. Thanks for the great advice.
DDD - thanks a lot man, great info! Question for you - how and where do I set the premissons for the site? Like if I make it in Dreamweaver, make certain sections editable, upload it, install contribute on their machine, set up the log in info to get at the site, how do I make sure they only have certain premissions?
You will be able to set up groups as you set up the ftp info. Also it will recognize the DW editable areas. There is a real good how to get started section in the help files. Once you do it once you will see how easy and intuitive it is to use.
all right thanks again for your help man, much appreciated. It think this little program may be the way to go!
Also, I just tested out printing to Flash Paper and it work’s awesome! I printed an 11x17 300dpi poster I did for work through photoshop and it was only 550k!!! That is crazy.
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