Macromedia Contribute

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Macromedia Contribute

• Gill Murrey, Analyst/Programmer
• Division of Student Life

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What is Contribute?

• New software from Macromedia that lets you easily
  add content to Web sites.
• Costs 46 for Vanderbilt departments
• Runs on Windows 98 (second edition), 2000, NT,
  Me, or XP
• A Mac version will be released sometime in 2003

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Who is it for?

• Web maintainers who dont want the steep learning
  curve of Dreamweaver
• Web maintainers who dont want to learn HTML
• As long as you can use a word processor like
  Microsoft Word, you can build web pages with
  Contribute.

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Where do I get it?

• Vanderbilts ITS department sells licenses for
  Contribute.
• Cost is 46 for Vanderbilt departments, payable
  by 1180
• Email Karen Montefiori for more info
  karen.montefiori_at_vanderbilt.edu
• You will get a CD only - no user manual

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How do I learn the software?

• Tutorial is included with the software
• Help screens come with the software
• Buy a book Visual Start Guide for Macromedia
  Contribute by Tom Negrino
• Download a 30-day free trial www.macromedia.com/s
  oftware/contribute

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What can Contribute do?

• Edit existing web pages
• Add new web pages, text, images, Flash animations
• Send draft copies of edited pages to coworkers
  via email for approval
• Publish changed pages directly to the web

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Anything else?

• Drag Microsoft Word, Powerpoint or Excel
  documents into Contribute. They will be published
  immediately on the web.
• Create templates in Dreamweaver MX, and clients
  can create pages using Contribute.
• Will not rewrite existing code.
• Will warn you if there are coding errors.

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Setting up Contribute

• Site administrators have full access to the web
  site
• Site contributors can add or edit content. They
  may be able to add images, if the administrator
  has allowed this.

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Workflow example

• Web maintainer requests a helios account
  http//helios.vanderbilt.edu/
• ITS will email them a user name, password, and
  directory path
• Site administrator then sets up the ftp
  connection on the maintainers computer and gives
  a quick tutorial.

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Lets try it!

• Going through the steps to set up Contribute on a
  maintainers machine
• A quick tutorial for the maintainer

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Under the Hood

• Contribute is built upon the core engine of
  Macromedia Dreamweaver MX
• Stand-alone product, no server component
• Creates special files on the server, stored in
  folders beginning with an underscore
• Customize panels in Contribute by editing XML
  files

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Learning More

• Macromedia DevNet http//www.macromedia.com/devne
  t/contribute/
• Visual QuickStart Guide for Macromedia
  Contribute, by Tom Negrino