Macromedia Contribute

Ease-of-Use

Get professional results without needing web-design experience. The familiar Contribute interface empowers nontechnical users to begin updating and publishing website content right away.

So easy anyone can use it. Quickly update text and images, add new pages, and publish content to any existing HTML website as easily as browsing to a web page or typing a letter. Step-by-step instructions guide you through the process.

Work with your favorite software. Simply cut and paste content directly from Microsoft Word or Excel into your web pages—Macromedia Contribute even maintains text formatting and HTML code standards. You can also edit any document linked to your website.

Create professional web content that automatically matches the look and feel of your site and meets cross-browser compatibility standards. Optional accessibility settings ensure your site complies with Section 508, so people with disabilities can have full access to your content.

Efficiency

Manage web content more productively. Web professionals can now delegate we content updates to content owners, so sites stay more relevant and current.

Save time and money by having content owners update and manage web content themselves, leaving web professionals free to focus on website design, usability, and application functionality. Maximize productivity by updating content offline, and then publish changes when you reconnect to the Internet.

Get users set up in minutes. As a website administrator, you can automatically connect contributors by e-mail using encrypted connection keys. Since Contribute is a desktop application that works with any HTML website, set-up is simple—no expensive server component or implementation process is required.

Collaborate across your team. With Contribute, multiple users can safely work together on the same site. The Check-In/Check-Out feature indicates whether a team member is editing a particular page, which prevents accidental overwrites. Plus, the optional e-mail review process allows authors to obtain feedback before any changes are published.

Control

Maintain website integrity with extensive controls to protect design standards, functionality, and code.

Protect existing code and content. Macromedia Contribute is built on the Macromedia Dreamweaver MX engine, so changes won't insert extraneous code or reformat existing code. Content is also protected since Contribute locks out any scripts or server code on pages being edited. Recover previous saved web pages with a single click using page history.

Preserve site design standards. Macromedia Contribute recognizes both style sheets and Dreamweaver templates to ensure that the look and feel of your site remains consistent from page to page. Web professionals can also identify existing pages for contributors to use as templates when creating new pages.

Manage site and user access by controlling who gets to edit which sections of a website and what changes they can make. Macromedia Contribute also includes the latest update to Dreamweaver MX, so you can administer Contribute sites, send connection keys, and use shared-page versioning right from within Dreamweaver MX.

Key Features

Quick Start

NEW - Mac OS X Support:

Run Contribute 2 on Mac OS X and automatically detect and connect to existing .mac accounts.

NEW - Expanded Connectivity Support:

Connect to any web server using SFTP in addition to standard FTP and LAN protocols.

NEW - Third Generation Site Connection System:

Leverage new high performance connection technology to connect to the widest range of network and server configurations.

Easy Set-Up:

Use Contribute to update existing websites without site changes or server components.

Tutorials, Task Panel, and Interactive Product Tour:

Get up to speed in just a few minutes.

Connection Wizard:

Quickly walk through the process of getting connected to a website.

Encrypted Connection Keys:

Send website connection settings by e-mail using password-protected connection keys.

Comprehensive My Connections Manager:

Manage your connections to multiple websites.

Sample Starter Pages:

Jump-start your work with templates for project pages, collaboration sites, calendars, photo albums, and more.

Site Standards

Dreamweaver MX HTML Authoring Engine:

Content changes will not insert extraneous code or reformat existing code.

Script and Server Code Protection:

Automatically lock out any JavaScript, server includes, or server code on pages being edited.

Cascading Style Sheets Support:

Ensure that new and updated pages match your site's look and feel.

Edit Text Only:

Prevent users from editing anything on a page except text.

Dreamweaver Template Support:

Create templates in Dreamweaver to control the specific sections of a page that Contribute users can edit.

Designated Template Pages:

Designate any existing page as a template for new pages.

XHTML Support:

Automatically generate XHTML-compliant code when editing XHTML pages.

Accessibility:

Require that website edits and changes meet guidelines for accessibility.

Editing

NEW - FlashPaper Publishing:

Use new FlashPaper technology to embed any printable document directly into your web pages.

NEW - PayPal E-Commerce:

Rapidly enable websites for
e-commerce using new PayPal Merchant Tools.

Intuitive Interface:

Update and add content to existing websites as easily as editing a document in Microsoft Word.

Simple Three-Step Workflow:

Quickly browse to a page from within Contribute, make edits, and then publish your changes.

New Page Creation:

Easily create new web pages, copy existing pages, or create pages based on page templates.

Integrate with MS Office:

Drag and drop content from Microsoft Word and Excel into your web pages.

Launch and Edit Linked Documents:

Edit linked documents—including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—and publish your changes immediately.

Drag-and-Drop Linking:

Quickly create links to web pages, documents, and e-mail addresses.

Simple Importing:

Easily insert images, documents, anchors, dates, and Macromedia Flash movies.

Full Table-Editing Support:

Add and delete rows and columns, split and merge cells, and format and sort data.

Open and Edit Images:

Right-click on an image to launch Macromedia Fireworks® MX or any other image-editing tool.

Bookmarks:

Create and manage new or existing bookmarks in Contribute.

Printing:

Use full printing capabilities, including Print Preview and Page Set-up.

Screen-Reader Support:

Use Contribute with both Freedom Scientific JAWS and GW Micro Window-Eyes.

Productivity

Check-In/Check-Out:

Prevent accidental overwrites when working in teams.

One-Click Rollback:

Recover previous page versions with a single click.

Optional E-Mail Review:

Solicit feedback before you publish changes to your website.

Dreamweaver Collaboration:

Take advantage of automatic Dreamweaver template recognition and a shared check-in/check-out and page-versioning system.

Offline Mode:

Update pages while offline, and then publish them when you reconnect to the Internet.

Page Properties:

Specify title, background color, and more.

Pages Panel:

Get immediate access to drafts of new pages or previously unpublished pages.

Remote File View:

Quickly find pages with a direct view into your site file structure.

Extensibility:

Extend the user interface with a full set of JavaScript APIs based on Dreamweaver MX.

Site Management

Improved Security Support:

Automatically adhere to all existing file-server, website, and network security protocols. Contribute 2 also includes new client password protection.

Central Site Administration:

Establish password-protected site-wide administration settings.

Permission Groups:

Regulate who can edit what and the type of changes they can make.

Editing Controls:

Regulate folder access, text tags, and image size, as well as page creation and deletion.

Dreamweaver MX Update:

Share encrypted connection keys and administer Contribute sites from within Dreamweaver MX.