ATTN: Web Designers/Developers

When a client hires you specifically for a small scale website-- how do you handle updates and maintenance when they do not wish to pay you an hourly rate and would prefer if they do it themselves? Are there user-friendly code editors out there that are free that I can recommend they look into?

I normally recommend using SeaMonkey if they want to edit the code or as a WYSIWYG editor.
What sort of format is the site in?

I'm just talking about those that are coded in HTML, CSS and Javascript. nothing complicated.

But seamonkey helps. thanks.

Have you considered setting them up on a CMS or blog (such as wordpress)? You could make a custom template for the site. This way they could simply use online forms to update content and they would be contacting you less. I hope that helps.