iWeb synchronization and cross platform

Hi,

Firstly, I'm wanting to build my company website using iWeb. Is it possible for me to build the website on my Mac, and save it to a folder (which I would then copy the folder straight onto the server). I would like an employee to be able to update the website, while I still have access to update the website myself. Is this possible by maybe synchronizing the original folder via our FTP server and both update the website in iWeb? Would we be better off using software like drupal?

Secondly, I have been approached to build and maintain a website and basically manage a small group of people that will have access to this particular website. What is the best solution to use to build and update the website on say 3 macs and 1 windows machine? What web design software is recommended? Would drupal work for this?

Many thanks for any advice,

Nigel

Hello. Welcome to the forums! I'm going to give you the same advice i give most people. WYSIWYG editors (such as iWeb, Dreamweaver, etc) add extraneous codes, files, and directories to your website. It becomes a huge mess. iWeb is one of the worst. It inserts a directory for each page, as well as 3 CSS files for each page (one for each of IE, Firefox, and Safari). Many of these programs do similar things and your sites only need to be in ONE directory and have ONE style sheet. In the longrun, it wil make your life easier if you simply learn HTML codes. WYSIWYG editors just make things harder for most of the time.

Thanks for your input Chris! What is your experience with Drupal? Is it supported on the Mac platform?

Sorry I didn't see your reply in the last few days. I have not heard of Drupal. If it's free I'll give it a quick try and get back to you.

In general though, all WYSIWYG editors tend to add extra junk in your websites.

Alright, Drupal is designed to run ON a web service, not locally. So since I hav no site I can't very well try it out.

If you like, give it a try and then send me a link by PM to the website you publish. I'll give the source codes a look and check for referenced CSS files and the like.

I can tell your site was made with iWeb. The code is BLOATED.

The way iWeb organizes things aren't necessary.

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the input. Yes, I understand that iWeb is not first prize. I am aware that any application that allows you to build a website using a graphic interface, rather than coding the website is going to add code that isn't necessary and on the long run will not match a manually HTML coded site.
The reason I went for just a "quick fix" like iWeb is because I don't have the time to learn HTML at this stage. I have just split off from a partnership, and needed a company website ASAP. I also didn't want to hire a company to do it for me because I wanted the freedom of doing it myself and editing/updating it myself.
I am currently building a website that will actually run as a web application which will synchronize with server applications. I am coding my new site in ASP .NET so that it can tie in with these server applications.
I want to spend a lot of time building this new product, but needed a site up in the mean time. That's why I used iWeb.
Thanks,

Nigel

Wasn't your handle different before? Weren't you Leopard1 or something?

Anyhow, yes I understand Nigel. However these website can become a pain to take care of because of the complex directory configurations, which is a HUGE part of the reason I frown upon WYSIWG. I understand your situation and by no means want to force it on you, but I do recommend learning HTML as soon as possible. Whether you think you'll need it or not, it's good to at least know some basics just in case you need to diagnose a problem on your site. When you have the chance, sit down, look at some good tutorials, and try HTML. It feels empowering to design your site the way YOU like it, not the way some Apple designer created templates. Am I making sense or does this appear as jibber-jabber?