Slashdot Mirror
How to Set Up a Gift Website?
falzbro writes "I'm considering giving my parents their very own website for the holidays. However, it's harder than anticipated to find any type of Content Management System whose intended audience is a computer illiterate family. I personally use Drupal for content and Gallery for photo albums, and frankly can't stand PHPNuke. The only features required would be a blog of sorts and a photo album. I can't be the first one in this predicament, can I?"
The colon in http:// is missing.
;).
We can handle a slashdotting
If you don't know what binary is...do you even deserve to live?
-Libertarian secular transhumanist
you won't have the vanity of familysmith.com, but if your parents have a macintosh, iPhoto does makes web photo journals nice and easy.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
::cough::slashcode::cough::cough::
(sorry, had to be said)
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
It really sounds like you are looking for AOL.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Man, you must really hate your parents to give them such a crappy gift. Why?
What a failure of a son you are, to be giving your parents a WEBSITE for christmas. "Oh, son, it's... ... ...... wonderful! Thank you so much. ............" What's the matter, would it be too man-like of you to knit them scarves or something?
Get them an iMac with a .Mac account. It handles all your needs :)
I know it's not free, but they make it pretty brainless for anyone to set up a site.
If you are one in a million, then there are six thousand people who are just like you.
Blogger is relatively simple enough. Choose a template and start typing stuff. Then hit the big Post and Publish button. I don't know about photos though.
Pelé!
If you want to give them blog functionality, I'm a big fan of moveable type : http://www.moveabletype.org
I know lots of tech challanged people who use it for their sites.
Why not make your own? that way it's exactly how you want it, and it means more as a gift.
If you really want it to be a gift, customize it yourself. Just find a good php script that does each of the things you require, then customize and combine them. Then you can create your own administration interface, or combine the admin interfaces of the individual scripts if possible. I've never found a CMS I liked, as they all seem to try to do too much, and it becomes a pain to customize them due to their massive codebase. And you're wise to stay away from PHPNuke.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
you could try them with a MoveableType .. or if not .. try a Livejournal ..
They're just the two ideas that would be pretty simple ..
oh and hacking up a php or perl site with really really simple input wouldn't be too hard either.
They were designed specifically for this problem. Of course, you need a mac...
I know the author has had serious problems with PHPNuke but the PostNuke project branched away from PHPNuke a while back. There are plugins for it to incorporate the Coppermine Gallery amongst others and is very easy to maintain and customise.
http://www.postnuke.com
The MyTh - I am a figment of the Imagination - [Im Probably even not here]
mac.com?
*ducks*
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
InkNoise is an excellent new blog/website system. Check it out.
Try Plone. It's easy to install, works right out of the box, and has available blog and photoalbum modules that are easy to install and configure.
-- Stu
/. ID under 2,000. I feel old now.
If all you need is a few simple functions, then why don't you write it yourself?
Not only won't you have to deal with 39'514 features that will only be there to confuse them, but you'll be able to add that 39'515:th that your parents want but won't be available until "the next version".
Nothing beats having full control over the tools you're working with...
Buying someone a service (or a pet) as a gift is, well, stupid is the most positive thing I can think of. Don't buy people things that need money fed into them forever.
Zope is a very powerful, yet friendly content management system. If you ever get beyond the basics of a bunch of text and images, it allows Python scripts. Zope is written using Python. Everything I've seen about it seems pretty nice, and I haven't heard a bad word against it.
Refuse to make a statement in your sig!
Apple's dotmac (www.mac.com) is AFAIK hands down the best way to go. It is tightly integrated with the "iApps" and the OS itself, with the user's site appearing as a hard disk on the desktop so that it can, in addition to be a personal web site, be used for backups and public folders etc. Publishing selected photos from iPhoto, for example, is just a couple of clicks.
Macromedia Contribute is right up your alley. $99 last time I checked. And very idiot proof.
Check it out
Fantasy remains a human right; we make in our measure and in our derivative mode... -- JRR Tolkien
Will they actually use/update it?
Too many websites go into the bit-bucket simply because it's no longer "fun" or becomes too much work to manage. If your parents are really interested in having their own site, go for it! I'd recommend getting them a free website to start then move them to a larger setup when the time comes.
Don't forget to wrap it in continuous feed printer paper and use a ribbon cable for the bow!
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
Why not just do it yourself? That would also bring some meaning to the word 'gift' rather than just taking some code, putting it on some server and calling that a gift.
And as long as you're just talking about a blog and a simple gallery, that should really be not too hard. If you already know - for example - php or perl, this should be an easy job for you. If you don't, this is YOUR chance to pick up some skills.
try plone
Don't Tread on OpenSource
My poor mother has a minimal (but still better than many's) understanding of computers. She has been using a Wintel machine for years, and has given in to much of the anti-Apple propaganda. I, personally, have never owned a Mac, but I bought an iMac for her birthday recently for the sole purpose of her setting up and updating a website. I knew that learning HTML was NOT an option, as she is just not suited to programming. (What is is with doctors and computer illiteracy? :) Anyway, it's coming along great, and hopefully she'll have it ready to go up soon so I can get her some web hosting...
I guess the point is... Macs are easy for newbies.
Interestingly enough my brother started writing an application with PHP/MySQL a little while ago that does just that. I believe he has a version of it up and running for himself and a couple of his friends. It's not very polished and as such he hasn't posted code for it anywhere yet so I guess my posting this doesn't really help anyone, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Maybe I'll encourage him to finish up a beta and put it on Source Forge. I don't want to post a link to his app here though because I don't want to have to deal with you people potentially killing my server (running off a cable connection).
Then make up a URL and tell them it's their new home page.
(and that if they want to change it that they'll have to wait till next X-mas.)
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
Most of what you want is probably already written in perl somewhere else anyway, you can just pick out the pieces you want and put them together.
And, it will totally come from the heart, since YOU made it! Parents love that.
If something I said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.
I can think of nothing my mother would like more sort of me moving back home with the grandkids so she can have them everyday, in fact she'd prolly just have me ship the kids to her and the wife and I stay away....
If the web site lets her see new pictures and print them, she'd giggle for weeks. The idea is fairly good I wonder if I could host somthing simple enough to allow the rest of the family to upload images, we've had lots of grandkids in the last 18 months. My grandmother can't use the VCR still but she can pop the memory stick from her camera into the printer we got her and her house is flooded with pictures or wee little ones doing cutsie things that only family members would appreciate or care to know about. The scary thought is getting busted for child porn for the shot of little jenny having her first bath or somthing like that...
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
horde.org
Gotta use the CVS code for photo album, etc. but it's pretty stable.
I use WebGUI from PlainBlack Software. It uses Perl/MySQL/Apache.
It is OpenSource, and very easy to use. It has WYSIWYG for those that don't know how to cut/paste. I suggest anyone looking at a CMS to take a look. It isn't perfect, but none really are.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Apple's .Mac is pretty much exactly what you say you want, but you'll need a Macintosh to set it up for them
-- "At Microsoft, quality is job 1.1" -- PC Magazine, Nov. 1994
I'm doing the exact same thing. In fact, I just registered the domain a week ago. I'm using WordPress as the blogging software, although I haven't found anything good to use as the album software. I'm hoping I don't have to roll my own, but I will if it's necessary.
For my web site, I found that the easiest content management system is Pivot. A friend has also set up a site where his parents can post directly to his web site... It's "grandma proof" (once set up) and easy to maintain..
http://www.opensourcecms.com/
If it's just pictures and text that they'll put on there, any ole LiveJournal or Xanga account would be a good enough substitute of a "web page." Otherwise, why go through all the trouble of securing a domain, server, the works?
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
I honestly don't understand what there is not to like about PHPNuke. I would agree that out of the box it may not be ideal but if you're willing to spend minimal time customizing it can be a great framework. I have a personal website that I recently moved over to PHPNuke and I couldn't be any happier with the results so far.
Sincerely,
Amazon.com Legal Department
Maybe try TypePad then, or any through the web editing environment. I think Userlands Radio is probably too complex for the average true technophobe.
Or, go the other direction and give them a book for Christmas "101 Fun Web Projects with Macro Assembler"
Moveable Type is an excellent solution. Very user friendly with excellent online documentation. It's also easy to set up! I'd totally recommend it, I too have set it up for a few folks that aren't all that computer savvy, and they've had no problem using it to blog. There's also their pay service Typepad that is even more newbie friendly and requires no setup at all! Either of these solutions will do what you need.
And keep them off it? I think the Internet Community would find it a WONDERFUL holiday gift to be spared yet another blog about mom's canned yams and dad's latest golf scores...
:D
*runs*
The longer I'm a member of the Human Race, the more I believe Apocalypse is a valid solution.
Just what the web needs, another worthless fam site. Tell ya what man, why don't you give us all a gift and fsck'n spare us!
I gave my family a vanity site in 1997. It was fun to set up, but then it got boring and then it sat, idle, while my youngest brother grew up. You have to be a little weird (like most of the slashdot crowd) and have a little time on your hands to maintain a personal web site. Most people aren't weird enough and/or don't have the time.
Have you considered just getting them socks or chocolate?
I tried this....I could never really find a good CMS though. my family loves The Gallery. they've posted over 500 images on their dial-up connection. their friends and relatives (hmm well I guess they're my relatives too) like having a guestbook to put stuff in, so that's a decent feature. I tried for a while on the CMS thing...considered a wiki...but I eventually gave up. they never used the calendar, so it's sitting there stagnant. oh well. good luck.
Greymatter seems to be pretty easy to set up and use.
If your parents are as computer-unsavvy as you claim, they will not use this. Maybe, with your help, a couple family photos and a minimal blurb of self-awareness "Hey, this is our website and it works!"
After that, it will be as static as if it were etched in a stone tablet. Any updates will be done by you when you're visiting, you'll show them how to update the site, they'll nod and smile, and then it will be etched in stone again until you come back.
Just go ahead and buy them a new clock or a DVD player or a warm blanket. Better than saddling them with something that will be perceived as a responsibility and continual drudgery.
...
Was the error in the link to drupal.org made on purpose ?
Maybe they didn't want to slashdot this website before that some of us could discover this CMS :?
Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
It's a fun and interesting project to come up with a blog-like set of scripts. There's a lot out there that do way more than you care for it to do, and there's always the satisfaction of having created one yourself.
A few caveats, I suppose -- make sure you're up on security when it comes to scripting. The last thing you need is for a gift site to be defaced because you messed up on a SQL-injection vuln.
Then there's the "idiot-proofing" portion where you have to come up with a coherent enough UI for the computer-unsavvy folks to work with on the backend. I decided I'd write my own and since it's for myself, I could get away with a not-so-friendly interface as long as the outside world could navigate through what they need to.
I'm all for a DIY project -- you get to have a bit of fun (though some of it is tedious in debugging and fixing aesthetics) but it could present not only a gift for your family but also a bit of a mental gift for yourself having gone through it.
Jeez, what is PHPnuke doing mentioned in this post? /. concept.
Phpnuke is "a news automated system specially designed to be used in Intranets and Internet. The Administrator has total control of his web site, registered users, and he will have in the hand a powerful assembly of tools to maintain an active and 100% interactive web site using databases."
So it isn't a wiki, it isn't a CMS, and it certainly isn't a blog. It's an open source project loosely based on the
Bashing PHPnuke in this post sounds too stupid to be true, it's like bashing MySQL for not being a good word processor.
--> Insert Funny Sig Here
You are a big fat dork. Get them a real present.
If they have a windows PC check out NeoPhoto; http://www.neophoto.com. Makes webpages quick. Very easy for novice users.
Now, if they don't use a Mac... well, I'm out of suggestions at that point. ;)
Nice gift. Leave it to a slashbot to find a gift that makes some skank-ass tie look good.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
phpWebSite is fairly easy to use.
Funny, there are so many people recommending .Mac. Is there no easy to use Linux solution? Much to the dismay of many geek's hearts, this is why Linux is NOT ready for the Desktop. Apple gets it, Linux zealots do not.
Bonus points for the first person (who as part of their gift idea) involves teaching the parents to compile/config their "easy to use" linux solution.
LOL, troll me bitch!!!
Let me guess. You probably hand out little toothbrushes on Halloween.
Since your family is computer illiterate, why not a copy of Internet for Dummies this year, and let them make their own damn sites next year?
Legit goatse.cx links are so rare these days. This one's funny, and should be modded as such.
I've been fairly happy with pLog myself, it's PHP/MySQL based but it doesn't meet the requirements of what you're asking for just yet (unless you're using the CVS and a couple of items from the mailing list ;) ). We're working on getting things added in as fast as we can though.
:( Of course you could cheat a bit and give them LiveJournal accounts and then setup their blogging utils to let them post things... ;) (another feature that pLog is working on.. heh)
I can't really see any of the CMS/blog packages really handling what you're looking for unless you're going to get webspace somewhere and maintain it yourself with them just having access to occasionally add entries/pics...
Seriously, that's the target audience of Apple's .Mac. It integrates with the apps that they already use on the machine.
Since iBlog comes with it, you get a blog of sorts, too.
I'm not a fan of it, and use Moveable Type for mine, but as you say, I'm a geek and not the target audience.
I know, Apples are expensive, blah blah blah.
That should be http://www.neophoto.com.
You know, I'm sure they would want a son that won't give them such a crappy christmas present hehehehehe
I gave my wife a domain name + website as a gift some years ago (http://www.trickenzie.com/). She wasn't my wife then, we were just seeing each other.
When I told her about her new email addresses (as many as she wants!) and website she just looked at me and said "You bought me a domain name?"
"Yeah."
This was followed by that utter dead silence men know only so well - it was a pivitol moment...
Then she smiled and nodded. Now she wouldn't live without it.
A geek love story, presented to you by the letters C and O and M.
Alas gallinaceas de urbe bovis volo
Moral: Not all people are destined to create web pages.
(or, Just because something can be seen by everybody doesn't mean it can be created by everybody. Like the ski resort of girls looking for husbands and husbands looking for girls, the situation is not as symmetrical as it appears.)
An out of the box experience is important. You can register with Zettai.net or iMeme.net and get root access and Plone installed. http://plone.org/ is the out-of-the-box look and feel. you can customize it, http://plone.org/about/sites -- why Plone? Because its easy, large community and fully standards compliant.
Like others have said, a Mac and a .mac account will do everything you want, and more. One-click publishing of photos, idiot-proof web blogging, plus the benefits of using a Mac over a Wintel PC. :-)
The upfront costs are higher, but think of that as the time you save not having to walk them through the steps every few weeks.
--R.J.
Electric-Escape.net
...then it's a lame gift idea. How about giving your parents something they might actually want, eh?
Almost any functionality of any form requires learning to some degree. A radio-controlled car, a new stereo, a new cell phone. To expect something like this to require no learning curve at all is unrealistic. Also, most people take some interest in learning things (although I know I'm speaking for people I've never met here). With that in mind, could you not use TikiWiki and tune it a bit to strip off the goodies they won't use.
Another thing you can do to minimize the learning curve is document the features they'll be using, on their own site. That way they don't have to know anything but the url...they can see help on the front page, and utilize it.
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
I'm sorry, I don't see any reason here not to shoot.
On a more serious note though. Typically a CMS can be posted too/edited from anywhere. Relying on a particular piece of software would restrict where you can edit the site from. Makes it a little more difficult to post to the site on holiday etc.
I wish I had total control over my coworkers. How did you manage that? ;-)
Shout box is a nice little php/sql dealy-bob that allows just about any one to post anything. It's quick and dirty, just like Santa. shoutbox.sourceforge.net
"This is you left and that's your left. This is your right and that's your right. You're gonna die!
You can see my review of CMSs as a presentation (PDF) here.
Unfortunately just about all open source CMSs leave a lot to be desired in terms of out-of-the-box architecture and usability.
Try MT, it is a blog of sorts. I've been using it for a number of weeks now, and know people who've used it for years. Nothing but satisfaction.
Past initial set up, The admin is very easy and clear to use. Adding entries and managing them is simple.
It has plenty of third party support as well. From comment spam plugins to remote management utilities. I know nothing about setting up a database/tables, and with a little coaxing from associates, was able to set it up for the most part, all by my lonesome.
It supports any variety of databases including mysql, requires perl. For more accurate information go to the site.
Movable Type
__
Thou hast besquirted me, O leotarded one.
I agree, giving someone a one size fit all content management program with the idea that it will make their online experience a wonderland is absurd. I will just lead to a lot of work and unhappiness.
Personally, I think people are better off playing with a variety of programs. For example, you might try an online gallery with Yahoo, oFoto or those types of programs. Geocities pages are easy to maintain. There's tons of multiuser genealogy sites. If a person wants a simple home page for articles, I would just stick with one of the big blog companies.
The diversity approach gives people a chance to learn what they like and don't like. Online happiness comes from playing with different things. Instead of getting something large in scope, I would look to smaller things.
For example, there is a new railroad tycoon program out, I was thinking of getting that for the paternal unit. I wrote a PHP program so the maternal unit could publish her philosophical thoughts. Even an extremely limited scope web page for parents takes a great deal of work.
Forget the website. You need a copy of Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" for Christmas. Look up the phrase "run-on sentence."
You should take a look at Fog Creek's CityDesk. Their "starter edition" is free and lets you publish sites of up to 50 pages.
CityDesk
We used to use Gallery for our photos, but while it's easily the best installable package around, and much better than lots of online photo sharing places, we eventually outgrew it. It wasn't easy enough for my computer-illiterate family members, and it wasn't powerful or stylish enough for those who were literate.
:)
Rather than look elsewhere, I built my own. It's now a thriving service all it's own, and our mantras are Easy and Style. Every decision we make is governed by those two directives, and it's paying off. We have soccer moms, Grandmas, servicement stationed in Iraq, and many many more using the service. Howard Dean runs his presidential campaign using smugmug.
The downside is that it's not free. You get a week to try it out free, but then it's $30/year (not month!). That gets you a fantastic, stylish, and easy-to use photo sharing site with unlimited storage. Best of all, it can be customized to link seamlessly with other websites, such as your blog or whatever you'd like.
Howard Dean's presidential campaign: http://photos.deanforamerica.com/
My wife's photography business: http://emphoto.smugmug.com/
We are, of course, Linux, Mac OS X, and yes, even Windows friendly.
Check it out. We're small, but profitable, and I promise we have the best customer service on the net. We always will.
my smug mug is on smugmug
OS 9/X have a rather strong shareware and freeware market- lots of little programs out there to enhance various aspects, and .Mac is no exception.
Of course, it does mean buying them a Mac if they don't have one- but one of those gumdrop flat panel units should be pretty inexpensive these days with the various larger sized screens it's come out with(21"...my GOD! It defies -physics-! First example of a Steve Reality Distortion Field in an Apple product!)
Please help metamoderate.
This has to be simple right? work out of the box right?
Plone is great, it's a spiffed up version of CMF for zope, great if you need fairly complex things and don't mind coding.
Zope is as bare bones as it gets OOTB.
I suggest you check out e107 at http://www.e107.org, Easy to post news, and very very easy to install version of coppermine available at http://www.e107coders.org.
Have a look at phpGedView for a nice open source php based website that can show off your family tree. All it takes is a standard GEDCOM and you are off running.
I was running a pretty cool Gallery (http://gallery.menalto.com) and suddenly the admin activated safe_mode. Result: my gallery isnt working anymore. I tried to install a lot of php based gallery found on sourceforge, but the results are the same. safe_mode seems to be a pain in the ass for any gallery archive available on the net. do you have any ideas or URL to help me? btw, i'm not very good at coding php.. thanks for your support
Give SharedInk a try. It is very easy to use and it allows the whole family to work on photo albums together online. Also, you can turn your web pages into a really nice looking hardcover coffee table book.
It rocks, has support of way over 1000 users. and is rock solid, and Very easy to use.
you can pick up a free copy at http://www.e107.org
it has everything you wanted in your site, blog, news, photogalery, chat, and alot more.
To err is human, to really screw things up, you need a robot.
I use it, its easy. No database even, all point and click and wysiwyg. CMSimple I'm a user, I use it on my IM Bot site.
Live Journal, why reinvent the wheel?
The problem with web-based CMSs is uploading. HTML form-based uploading is no fun when you want to post a few hundred photos from a session for somebody to review or whatever. And people (especially clients and computer-illiterate families) don't want to use FTP. What people want is a cross-platform, drag-and-drop upload system, seamlessly incorporated into the CMS, that'll allow them to manage files on the website as though they were part of the local file system, using OS-native dialogs and such. And I know it can be done with WebDAV, but I haven't yet seen a CMS yet that has this feature. Does anybody know of one?
You can set both up on a server, very nice to use, fully web based.
I use them for my site: www.pycs.net/lateral
If you don't want to handle the hosting, the pycs guys give accounts for free.
I have been using the Homebase Anywhere service from Axentra Corporation. They provide IMAP and webmail, 100 megs of web and storage space and your own portal page with webdav access. Photo albums are automatically generated by uploading photos and description files to your "Photos" directory. Other features include compatibility with Mozilla calendar, an LDAP capable address book, and an online web page generator. There is a free 60 day trial. Axentra also sells the Rumba Multifunction Server Appliance, which is a mini-ITX and Linux based internet gateway server which has all of the features of Homebase Anywhere.
GeekLog.Net
alltohugh my parents would prolly have no clue of what to do with it : Or if they did : they would have no clue what use it could serve :)
Guess they still don't wanna be convinced of the digital way of life : Hell, my dad is allready dead-excited when he sees me playing some oldies like Elevator Action ;)
But, to get on subject : One CMS i find to be very handy and configurable for blogging is the freeware tool 'pivotlog' : get it at www.pivotlog.net
Totally free and you don't need the (extra) MySQL databases to use this : afaik, it uses only PHP
Depends on what you want:
The best CMS for actually making websites that I know of is Mambo on the other hand it sounds like you don't want that.
If were going for simple I'd have to say I haven't found anything that better than Gallery for pictures. You then need to figure out if you want a Website or a Blog. I haven't used many blogs but you if you want easy webpages use a Wiki
Hope you find what your looking for though.
Agreed. FP makes the most god-awful bloated non-standard HTML.
SiteStrux, http://www.sitestrux.com offers a personal website package. They do original graphic design, built into their simple, novice oriented content management system. Their program has both a Blog and Display gallery feature, among others. Their program is not open source, and you can't set it up on your own, so its probably not what your looking for. Nice CMS all the same.
That said, my father-in-law may be technically inclined enough to be interested in pico + HTML for Dummies. Know your audience, I guess.
Carousel is a lie!
Also the .mac site also has other things like update software, sample tunes for your imovies and lots of stuff thats not just a collection of freebies but focused on assisting your mac in ways that are actually productive.
No they dont have cgi, but you dont want that for your case anyhow.
Dont say, well .mac is out of the question cause I dont have a mac or a free .mac site. for illiterates macs a re cheap compared to the training you would have to give these people to be as productive on any other computer. THROW the WIINDOWS machine on the trash and buy a used mac for them on e-bay--it's way cost effective.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
They're computer illiterate and you think a good present would be a website eh? You dumb fuck. Anyway, your bad judgement aside, I'm sure AOL Homepages is what you're looking for. Worst. Ask Slashdot. Ever.
Try Typepad ... it's a pay-for service, but it's damned simple to use. I was a second-round beta tester, and I found it one of the easiest web-publishing software out there, as did the hundreds of other beta-testers I talked with. It's an updated version of MoveableType (which is also very good), but simplified for the average shmoe. It even includes a handy 'layout' editor, which allows the sort of page customization most people want, without *any* understanding of how the stuff actually works. Everything is simple, grokable, and does what it can to hide the technical details. It even has nifty features that auto-link amazon images to your posts and stuff. Safe for the whole family.
... and none of it was shmoe-worthy. It was all geek-worthy, but the many technical details dumbfounded the non-techs I know.
... but then again, I'm not normal people.
I've used most everything else over the last 10+ years: slashcode, phpnuke, pyblosxom, blosxom, moveabletype, citydesk, blogger
Note, I run my sites using blosxom, ssh, vi, and make
mx
CSL, Inc. in Spokane has a very affordable solution, that is designed for the computer illiterate. All you need is a web browser, and you can maintain the content, upload images and they are automatically put into thumbnails and displayed in an image gallery, etc.
www.cslcorp.com
I'm going to try a CMS, after playing a lot with Movable Type. What are your suggestions? Is Zope really the best? phpNuke really sucks? Thanx 4 your advice
...can be used without paying Apple for .mac. Some of us like a little more control over our domains.
On the topic of blogs, I've recently had a brainfart idea that's in my journal. I want to see an open source CMS as an Apache module in C!
Linkage
As for ease of use, it would certainly require a geek to set up, but after that I don't think it would be particularly difficult to use.
I just think the current OSS CMSs fall short in some areas (performance being one) and this could really help.
Just because you like homepages doesn't mean your parents do.
"The only features required would be a blog of sorts and a photo album" It's also constant dialogue with the LAN/site administrator(s). I spoke with a local representative about setting up a registered site with blog and Web/CVS update abilities. The resident tech was hesitant to divulge information to me every step of the way despite my having prior volunteer relations at this facility. Understandable given network security. Not so understandable from the perspective of 1) I'm a contributing volunteer and have contributed code before. 2) I want to identify existing comm protocols like TCP/IP and proper session handling (that's not MS TCP, sorry folks). One primary goal is to get content delivery to patrons of this facility with known data sets of origin and delivery. They're running CITRIX/Windows 2000 with a Linux back office. Content management or the settling of processes and accounts for developers and organizations is a multi-step process arrayed or tiered across many departments. My math background says this is degrees of separation between ppl who make decisions (a.k.a. poltics) and comes heavily into play. Conversation on the table and off the record cannot be ignored even by the developer more interested in technology who wants to make a competitive product with collaborative inputs wherever a group decides they're needed yet this very developer shouldn't every time need to be the cog in the middle or broker or attache-type person who does all the thinking and engagement of a proposal. From my experience it centralizes and exposes too much of a developers hand. What we need are more pre-standardized, pre-certified work templates or codesuites that are partially a result of shared code and part in-house proprietary approaches.
I built this last year for a quick demo for a job. This year I have it set up for my girlfriend's family. It is not quite where I want it, but......
You will need Apache, perl, and CGI.pm.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Joel on Software's company, FogCreek, makes a very friendly, easy to use content mgmt software package, named CityDesk.
Very intuitive and easy to use...yet it is pretty powerful. Good for novice and knowledgeable users.
So... my g/f Amy, not at all a techie, secretly learned how to set up and use Andromeda, emailed my friends for suggested listening, and surprised me on my birthday with a fully set up music site. It was totally amazing!
She even set up a fake Hotmail address so she could write me with tech support questions. Sneaky.
Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
With the Pagesetter & Photoshare modules is pretty simple, if you set it up for them and remove all the extraneous stuff.
Then they can just login and start making galleries and logs, pretty much just using a form and the nice little pagesetter online x-platorm wysiwyg.
http://www.Postnuke.com
Pagesetter & Photoshare: http://www.elfisk.dk
phpwebsite.appstate.edu
:)
Takes a little training, but not a whole lot... you could set up the layout and make it easy to add pages, get everything in place, then show them how to add photos and pages to their respective blogs.
It's GPL'ed and free.
to manage of course, not your parents unless they are geeks or able to do CSM configuration.
Don't forget to give them some flowers too, very important...
http://tikiwiki.sourceforge.net/
Zope/Plone is great for big businesses who have a dedicated server to spare with lots of RAM. For a hobbyist it's not good to start with, and you'll have trouble finding a cheap hosting solution for experimenting with.
PHP-Nuke is good as long as you don't need to touch anything because it's a mess inside. Postnuke is much better than PHP-Nuke, but it still shares a lot of ideas with PHP-Nuke.
MovableType is good if all you need is a simple blog. It does only a small set of things, but does them really well.
Drupal is very extensible, simple design, has lots of contributed modules and a good community. It does lack some of the more finished detail stuff that other systems might have (e.g. MovableType does only a blog, but does it really well), though you can add details easily if you know PHP.
May want to look at Xaraya also.
-> PHPNUke -> Postnuke -> Xaraya
http://www.xaraya.com
----- LoboSoft specializes in Digital Language Lab
I've looked at a handful of Zope hosting sites and antisipated that I'd build him some kind of system with Zope and plone, I'd like for it to be simple enough he could run it by himself and I think that it's possible with Zope, and if not I can do the heavier lifing from a state away. Anyone have experience with that? Any limitations? My biggest beef with Zope is the relative fragility that it has when some of the components on the system change, I assume that the virtual host isn't going to change anything without my approval, I don't want a new python or postgresql screwing the mix up.
Best prices I've seen is hostway ($7 a year for a .com) for the domain and then hurrah.com does zope hosting with postgresql and what not for $25 a month. I've seen a few others and the prices seem to hover around $30 a month and up. Anyone know better rates? So that's $307 ($350 because I'll buy the domain for 5 years) a year, that's not too unreasonable for a Christmas gift; it's hard to say how good it is for his business though. If he sells 6 horses from leads that the website produced then I could see him easily finding it worth while and picking it up after the year I bought him expired, if he sells none then it's more of a nice novelty and I might be better off buying him a nice fly fishing rod or something else. I personally don't want to keep paying for it forever and I'd hate to help him get it built just to let it die after a year...
I can only recommend e107 for a powerful yet user-friendly non-enterprise CMS solution.
It also has a Coppermine gallery plugin which works very well.
Welley Corporation - SLM Scammers
True. And most people don't realize that even Arafat is an Egyptian.
I find it interesting that no one has suggested Blogger. While other tools are more powerful, for something simple, Blogger seems like the best idea. It is free, they can host it for you if you want, and it's even integrated into the Google toolbar. Nothing seems easier than just telling them to hit the toolbar and type in the window.
"Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
I can't believe this question was even asked. vim is the obvious choice for content management, bar none. Give your parents the gift of vim this season!
LRC, the best-read libertarian site on the web
Well, not "all the perdy choices". OpenSourceCMS only shows PHP related apps, but it is an excellent site. You get admin access to all the cms apps they've installed. Do almost anything you want! It's just what I needed last week, while figuring out how to build a custom PHP-based CMS for a client. It's great to be able to try the other solutions first.
Tried Plone, tried Movable Type, looked at PHPNuke -- all were overkill for my little blog.
.Mac, but that's already been said.
I settled on Blosxom. It's a Perl CGI script. Once it's set up and going, all the user needs to do is make directories (categories) and put text files (posts) in them. It's dead easy.
It doesn't come with picture upload features, but there are several modules you can add, including one that interfaces with Gallery.
And of course there's
My blog is a very basic example of a Blosxom site.
Um, why do you want mom and dad to setup their own solution when there are already a million free ones out there? You could probably get away with just signing them up for a service like giftaloud, and if they really need it they could use shutterfly or yahoo for their images.
Because PHPNuke has had/will have/still has some really really serious security flaws in it?
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
I've been investigating Mambo - it's opensource, content can be managed without programming knowledge, and all sorts of modules, such as threaded forums, blogs, etc are available (not sure about photo albums though). Same sort of backend as others that have been discussed, PHP/mySQL/apache.
I've had a tour of the administration site for my friend's mambo install, and it sure does look sweet...
Pixie
don't mess with those geekgrrls
I have started using mambo and have found it the easiest installation yet. Upload it, go to your site and the installation routine does all the database for you in just a few screens. You need PHP and MySQL. It is geared for online news/blog/personal site but is scalable for commercial. Once you get the feel for adding articles and such, its a breeze and much more friendly than postnuke and moveable type. Plus, the template system is a cinch (just some include lines for the modules and components). Here is their link.
http://www.mamboserver.com
And my site I set up to keep my family up to date and for some personal musings.
http://www.snappermorgan.com
well, i'm personally a recent convert to Geeklog http://www.geeklog.net/, it plays nicely in safe mode, is relatively painless to install, and from what i can tell easy for users, my only problem with it is the lack of integration with something other than Gallery, as i don't have netPBM or imagemagick available on my host.
Software Freedom Day!.
Give Microsoft SharePoint a go. I've set it up for my grandparents and they love it!
I've been long been considering this... grandparents value *extremely* family contact, so I this idea of a Magical Mirror room, where someone goes to talk to another person, just like in old movies. See suggestions below...
:-(
;-)
You must have as a minimum:
- a good broadband link, ideally above 400Kbps, but 256Kbps may do;
- two computers, each one with webcam, full-duplex soundcard, a good monitor, multimedia speakers _and_ (important) a good microphone;
- software for conference call (I mean simple things like Netmeeting, Gnomemeeting or Linphone).
How to do it: I don't know, but I'll try one of these days and *maybe* I post the results somewhere, if I get it to work... which I couldn't with Speakfreely.
Caveats:
- dial-up connections won't be very good but it could be still be useful to share photos or drawings;
- the Internet is totally irregular: you must know what you're doing (e.g., use an adequate protocol - maybe like UDP) _and_ be lucky (sometimes Internet jam prevents communication).
Suggestions:
- if you can afford, use some kind of giant screen (e.g. with a projector) to get a full, real-size image of the person you're talking, too.
- remember, if your connection is good, it will be up at all times, even at night... so, better stop walking nude at home...
- adjust volume so that someone at the other side can raise her/his voice and call you, even if you're in other room (that would be very weird -- and cool);
- use a wireless microphone to allow for easy movement; don't use a table microphone or microphony (that loud annoying whistle) will ensue;
- be prepared to upgrade your hardware and your software now and then: new codecs (like Speex) and a better connection (like 12Mbps) could allow you and your father to be separated by miles and still watch the same football game (on his TV, for instance).
I know this is fairly obvious, has already been done and shown on TV, like in New Year events; nonetheless, there's a lot of hurdles (like bad connections) that still prevent it from working for the common man. Think about this like Wolfenstein 3D: who would say it would turn into Quake 3 so quick?
But it was very important as a first step.
What's a website?
I am a part-time web designer / PHP developer and recently picked up a computer illiterate client (worse than family?). They needed a website on which they could post event announcements. Seeing how I did not want to be bothered with doing these minor updates several times a month I opted to write a simple PHP based CMS. It only took me about a day and a half to write and is secure enough for the clients needs. It even has categories with icons and support for multiple posters. It uses mysql on the backend. If you have any experience with PHP I am sure you could hack something out.
I see your colon!
Cheers,
Letter
It's great for non-tech-savvy and experts alike.
www.fogcreek.com/citydesk
If I suggest something, i would try to give or a from the start integrated solution (i.e. TikiWiki) or components that mix and match almost seamlessy (i.e. all they can share the same authentication system, very similar themes or one being plugin of another, and things like that)
It is not really a blogger, but it lets your folks write articles with pictures in them, and publish them hitting one button. Unlike most CMS this one is a program in Windows, and archives all files locally. When you hit "Publish" it generates tables of contentes, indexes, etc. and uploads what changed through FTP.
http://www.fogcreek.com/CityDesk/index.html
The starter version, which lets one publish up to 50 articles, is free. Do take a look at it for a nice and easy CMS. Also, for your templates, don't forget to check Open Source Web Desgins -- http://www.oswd.org/ )
Quem a paca cara compra, paca cara pagará.
Set up the website using Dreamweaver (if you want. it makes it easier but it's not compulsory) and get them a copy of Contribute. The only tricky bit is keeping up the navigation.
Or buy them a Mac AND get .Mac + Contribute for a low low price :-)
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
Try TikiWiki - http://tikiwiki.sourceforge.net It's a CMS with a TON of other functionality including photo galleries, blogs, forums, and a very full featured wiki. The whole thing is administered with a fairly intuitive HTML interface. They won't need to know any HTML to create web (wiki) pages, upload pictures and files, and post to their weblogs. I use it for a family website and have had great success with it.
...as you do not look the gift website in the mouth.
I should have posted this anonymously.
(-1) Stupid
I know you've worked hard these many years and you've done such a fine job raising us, helping us with our homework, putting up with my D&D phase, working two jobs to put us through college, and loaning me money for that Nigerian investment that didn't quite pan out.
To honor you I've decided to get you your own website. Oh, I know how excited you must be - finally, you're a dot commer too! It's much more than that you see. First, you have to maintain the content and update it regularly. This is to keep the family informed. Please post the pictures we send you and take some of your own. Make sure you orient them right, don't upload them if they're too large, and I find that increasing brightness and contrast plus a touch of sharpen image makes pictures look terrif! I know you don't have a digital camera - just ask for a CD of pictures when you have your film developed - it's only a few dollars more.
In addition to the gift of maintaining content I've also given you the opportunity to learn new software. While something like Microsoft Front Page would really be useful to you in maintaining your site, Microsoft is bad so instead I've refurbished this Pentium 120 and installed Linux on it. To go with it, here is a vi reference card (look, it's laminated!) and "Teach yourself HTML in 21 days".
I know you think this is enough, but it's not! You'll also be receiving all sorts of e-mail from friends, family, and most of all, advertisers. You'll find "webmaster@ourfamily.com" is a very popular address. (here's a tip - "enhancement" products do not work) Finally, I present to you the gift of recurring bills in the form of domain name registration and web hosting. Don't worry, it's not much and it's a small price to pay to be on the Information Superhighway!
Love,
Your spiteful son
Look guy, just get your parents a Netflix gift membership. They'll thank you for it.
The UI isn't spectacularly pretty, but it works well (though the CSS is broken in IE, oh well) and has all the needed functionality.
The Wish List
-Brian
Have you looked at the Ceiva Frame:
http://www.ceiva.com/
They're terrific for the grandmas of the family. Relatively cheap, and anyone you give permission to can upload pictures. Essentially, the thing calls home at a frequency you set, and downloads whatever pictures have recently been uploaded. So family from all over the world can upload pics via the web, and then the thing just automagically calls home at night (to a local number you pick), and the next morning the person sees all the brand new pictures appearing in the frame.
The only problem I ran into with the one I bought my brother is that around the Holidays, as many of these things are given as gifts, the call in number is busy for awhile, so it doesn't update every day. But once the holidays passed, the frame called home relgiously and grabbed all the new pics for my brother.
Kind of off topic I know, but sounds like something your grandmother would like.
jeff
- http://www.scronline.com
The pricing is a bit higher than most hosting, but we work with you person to person instead of tossing you into a control panel. You can run any content management system you want. In this case, I would setup something like Moveable type. Possibly postnuke and just show them how to actually use it.And you forgot that he used capital letters for his subject heading... that's an important one!
What are you waiting then? Try it now! In fact, Plone will give the best implementation of content management right out the box. Plus, Plone, being based on CMF and Zope, still let you to increase even that level. Wokrflow management, Rule and Role Based Access Control, triggers and out the box persistence with ZODB, load-balancing and distribution with ZEO - I can list more. Zope brings a whole Universe to you without requiring to know all of that. By default Plone is already well designed and very usable. And once you begin to change it - you learn it, step-by-step, by example. Of course you don't have to learn all that for simple blogging: just install Plone and start using it. That's it.
Less is more !
I would suggest getting a $9.99/month ASP.Net hosting plan and installing .Text for them. It is a free (as in beer) blog engine with an okay photo-gallery system.
.net software "open source" because I don't think it can really be 100% open.)
.Text release hits.
Pros: extrememly easy-to-use and easy to learn. It is also as free-as-in-speech as you can get for MS-based software so you can download the source and fix any bugs you find or download an already-changed version from someone if the problem you have is one they've already had. (I refuse to call any
Cons: thumbnails are not cropped square, they retain the original photos' aspect ratio. Requires MS SQL Server. Requires IIS, ASP.Net. The rich text editor is a plain text box in any browser other than IE.
NOTE: this is not what I use for my sirshannon.com engine, I use a weak-azz homebrew I plan on replacing when the next
The truth doesn't care what I think.
If you're running Windows, you can try dynamicthumbnails a .NET ASP photo album at/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dynthumbnails
I tried the beta of Typepad.com and it's what you want, photo albums, blog stuff, all hosted and very easy to use for beginners, but with the power of Movable Type. Costs a bit, but you can add a domain name to it for them even, very nice.
sig:
See the "..for smart people" banners Wired runs here? Look elsewhere guys.
it would be waaay more fun to get a mouse with a 60 foot cord, connect it to the pc and gift wrap it under the christmas tree. Oh, and the mouse should have an arrow pointing to left click !_! damn the holidays! oh god why bother.
I've setup Postnuke sites for computer-challenged people before. There's a couple different gallery plugins and you have total control over the way it looks. The best part is that there's not a separate admin account you need to login to. Just add the users you want to the admin group and they have all privelages. Heck, you can even setup the permimssions so that they only have the ability to manage the gallery and news.
l e.com (self plug)
Two sites I designed, one with all postnuke features, and one with just a gallery, news, downloads, and an FAQ:
http://zaurus.loveslinux.com
http://www.riskab
I'm not a web designer nor a programmer. But I can make a decent-looking Postnuke site. Definitely give PostNuke a look.
-Riskable
"Those who choose proprietary software will pay for their decision!"
This is very easy to use.
Yes, I'm one of the developers (1 of about 140)
Right at the very top of the page, on phpnuke's logo it says "advanced content management system"
g o. gif
wtf?
http://phpnuke.org/themes/PHPNuke-Max/images/lo
hooray! it's a sex wiki
Pick Radio. It's $40 and you get a year of free updates, built-in web hosting and the app runs on a Mac or a PC. The program is managed through a web browser and it also allows remote management (so you can help your family when needed.
Most of all, you can post pictures just by dropping them into a foler and the are *automagically* up to the web
If your
I'm going to "third" this suggestion!
.Mac. You get iTunes and the Apple music store (start them out right, instead of trying to pirate music of questionable quality off Kaaza, Morpheus, etc.). And lastly, you get (at least in many major cities) a nice clean, store you can walk into and get a respectable amount of customer service and assistance. (Before you flame me on this one, I'm well aware of some of the horror stories. But *in general*, you're talking about a place that offers regular free training on their popular products, a "genius bar" that's there just so you can ask questions/get help, and more. Beats calling some 800# and waiting on hold for 40 mins.)
I just got home from a LONG day of doing on-site PC service, and the last 3 calls I've struggled with were the same old story. Clueless family orders high-speed Internet access and plugs cable/DSL modem straight into the back of the computer. A month or two later, system has slowed to a crawl and loses connection constantly. Web pages often produce "DNS error" messages. Pop up ads are out of control.
Say what you will about the Mac, but none of this crap happens in the "Mac world". Not only that, but you get photo software that actually downloads images off their digital camera with zero pain and hassle (just plug the thing in and away it goes). You get easy web site creation via
If you're running Panther (10.3.x), be sure to get the updated version of iBlog (1.3.4 as of post time). Earlier versions have a bug that prevents publishing to .Mac.
Mac/PC is a bit of a holy war. but instead of arguing it, I'm going to point out just what type of person each is best for. When Apple was designng the Mac, they surveyed artists, and set up an interface that worked the way artists work. If that's how your mind works, fine; us it, as it's best for you. If you're not artistic, as I'm not, it's wrong and feels like it. For me, a PC is better, because it comes closer to working the way I want a computer to work. My point is, find out which one feels right and stick with it. As you're setting up a site for your parents, let them experiment a little with both, and find out what makes them comfortable, then get them that.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Have you considered that giving computer illiterate people their own website may have unpleasant side effects?
For some reason people forget about the simplest security measures, such as publishing their mailing address on one page, and the pictures and names of all their children on another.
After all, only the family is going to see it, right?
If you're going to set them up with a site, sit them down and give them a good lesson on what they should and shouldn't post.
How about: :)
linux + apache + mod_php + perl + tikiwiki + adsl + dyndns.org =
Oh, and vim. PostgreSQL for data storage. Should take you a week to slam out a custom content management system. Absent the current skills, add O'Reilly to the list. Llama, then Camel. Wish your folks a happy holiday from me.
I'm lucky enough to have a full time job developing custom products for Zope (yay, fs python+subversion is your friend!). ZPT is indeed the second coming, or rather the whole concept of TAL (template attribute language) is. Why major players aren't scrambling to adopt TAL is beyond me. Finally, scripted pages that validate as HTML!
However, zope 2's api is convoluted and poorly documented (and worse, changes between versions in ways that is even more poorly documented). Zope itself is a nice framework+ODB for developing truly OO web apps with python. However, CMF and Plone are so single-purposed for CM as to be practically useless as a basis for anything else. Say, intranet apps with multilayered security or interesting workflow. Good luck doing anything interesting without mondo monkey patching. And heaven forbid if you have the poor luck to run afoul of acquisition.... spawn of the devil, to hell with thee!
Really, I prefer coding for embedded, but if you have to do webdev Zope is the only way to fly despite its warts.
Come on, she's cute.
Although, what I'd prefer, is a frame with wireless built in so it can update from the web via my existing internet connection rather than having to dial out every night. Has anyone see something like this?
Doing a quick google search didn't give me a commercial product, but I did find the following link that might be of interest to someone:
Building a digital picture frame from a PowerBook Duo 270c/280c
Neat. I couldn't help noticing that Scoop and Slash are missing though, although PHPNuke is represented.. do they have any reason for that? Also Movable Type is missing but that isn't open source.
I set her up with a MovableType blog - even though her webhost provided a ready-to-use blog called Bloxsom - so she could keep people up to date and interact with the other artsy-fartsy bloggers. I also setup an art Gallery for her to more easily manage and show off (and sell) her photography.
She says she'd never go back to the way she did it before because of all the time the web interfaces save her. I imagine these kinds of CMS's will only get more popular as time goes on; and I for one am GLAD to see the barrier to entry being lowered for people would rather spend their time taking pictures than fucking around with archane nuts and bolts.
(PS. please don't mod this up - don't want a /.'ing ... and I'm not using reverse psychology you ... you sweaty, basement-dwelling, cocksucking mods. crap. now that would be a mod up out of revenge, so here's a link to goatse.cx and tubgirl - nobody mods that shit up).
Power to the Peaceful
You might want to check out B*Gallery. It is an easy to use desktop client (written in Java, no less) for building up photo galleries. It also makes easy work of publishing the content to your ISP.
Maybe your goal is to create something from scratch? If not, there are a bunch of services you can buy into that do some of the same stuff and many of them have put a lot of time into their user interface to make it fairly easy for non-programmers to participate.
Ideas:
Use o-photo or shutterfly in conjunction with a password protected blog. Or use a family site system like MyFamily.com or FamiliesR.us (I use familiesr.us. I still end up doing most of the posting in the family.)
I may be excessively dense here, but why on earth would you want to do this? This is the sort of idea that probably only makes sense on /. If you want to get them a gift, get a gift. You'd be giving them a chore that by your own admission they're not suited for, and a monthly bill, just to demonstrate how clever you are.
I just went through the process of looking for a hosting company and wound up taking advantage of the unbeatable promotional offer over at <a href="http://www.1and1.com">http://www.1and1.com</ a> where you get 3 years of hosting for free. Domain registration is the cheapest I've seen too at $5.99 per year.
500mb storage
linux shell account
50 pop3 accounts
1 mysql database
1 secure server redirection
cron jobs
etc, etc
I installed movable type there with no problems at all.
I was stuck with this same question, a lot of our clients, art gallerys, adult entertainment, etc. all needed self-publishing (basically so they'd leave us, their site designers, alone), I didn't find anything that fit the layout of their sites (I didn't want to change the overall look) so I started writing something that was somewhat flexible in terms of layout.
... really. Nearly done. So that's the only problem with DIY, you have to be fast, or really dedicated. IMHO A content management system is not THAT easy...
All I knew, well, was asp so it's written for IIS, and uses some PHP for file uploads and Graphicsmagic (spawn of ImageMagick) for image manipulation. It works directly with the file system and text files, no database.
If I had to do it over I might say use MySQL but I wanted to make it work pretty much anywhere, and I knew the file system object so... Anyway I started about 9 months ago and it should be finished any day now
closed minded is as closed minded does
thanks for putting this post up.
My mum wants me to create a photo gallery for my dads 60th birthday.
Its a gallery from when they where 21 and travelled by combi van overland from Singapore, through Iran and Iraq to Turkey and then through Europe to England.
I'm going to give your suggested Gallery a look at.
Can I ask a question? What is a good host? One that has decent MB allowance, supports the required PHP and not to many ads?
sitesage is brain-dead simple. used it for about 4 months for my personal site. free for personal use. the latest release (5.0.8) support wysiwyg editing with mozilla 1.3a or higher
If someone has shown interest in having a site then; Yes, get them one AND show them how to use it. If they have'nt ever shown any interest; then they won't.
Just the idea of doing something like that (putting up a web site) is very scarry to most non-tech types (in the time set on there VCR?). If you show them and they pay attention then there's hope after all. You better be ready with some "content" to put on it or your wasting time. They are not going to have/know/get any content for it on from there computer. Buy a digital camera or scanner and then the site domain.
Been, There, Done, That.
Good luck...
I don't want a pickle; I just want a Motor-Cycle! A four foot cop arrived with a five foot gun!
try CMSwebmaster.com
Great resource
I'll have to check out GNU transcode again. Last time I checked it did not support digital video, but it claims to now. I've been using a Windows product that forces me to manually select digital video files to convert them to mpeg. With transcode most of the process (all except actually getting the stuff on the computer which I need to watch anyway) will be scripted. I'd password protect the site, but I can't imagine anyone outside the family could possibly care. Maybe when she hits high school...
I won't give the URL because:
The web is good for small things that only a few people care about as well as stuff that lots of people want to see.
You got me into this! You were the ideologue! I'm only a poor assassin! - Twenty evocations, Bruce Sterling
In truth, all you're going to do by giving them "their own website" is just create yet another back water of stagnant web content. I would bet you that months from now it will be one of those websites where we see...
March 3, 2004 We'll be updating this website real soon with new stuff!
Their Basic Personal package is $8.95/month quarterly and they provide PostgreSQL and Python support. Lots of Slashdotters host with them since the owner has a journal here.
Could you recommend a Perl script that will work with glitter, macaroni, gold spraypaint, and mySQL?
I'm more or less a linux newbie, but I found Gallery to be really easy to set up and host from my home box over my cable connection (with a bit of port forwarding... damn you port-blocking ISP bastards!). If you want to use a commercial host, the requirements for Gallery are pretty minimal. The only non-standard thing required is the netPBM image libraries. It uses a pretty slick mechanism to store serialzed data in text files, so no DB required.
webeasel.net is one example of a content system so easy your grandma can use it. Its a locally produced new product from an up-and-coming tech company in town (Urbana, IL). I don't work there but know people who do.
ezPublish is a very sophisticated GPL-licensed CMS that I've used for several projects. Really worth a look; for some reason it's a lot better known among Europeans (perhaps because it's developed by a bunch of Norwegians).
The salience to this discussion is that's real simple to administrate an EZ site, and install/setup is more straightforward than other similar systems I've tried.
DigitalWork offers a personal web site service that's really easy to use, and includes a blog, unlimited photo posting, calendar and e-mail applications. Their service is only about 10 bucks a month and includes a domain name. The other cool thing is that the photo album lets you instantly post using a cell phone or any e-mail client.
I should know, I did exactly what you are proposing for my mother last mother's day. She wanted a website where she could share her quilting and craft projects with family and friends...
So I setup QuiltZilla for her. I took me five minutes to get it up and running, and it only took her 10 days and a digital camera to get the first 200 pages of content in the system.
But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself.
Kwiki is a simple wiki based content management system, that even my mother can use, and it only takes minutes to set up.
Here's a simple suggestion:
:)
For the content management part, all you need to do is create the capability for them to add new sections, each with a customizable title and content. For the content, just have them type into a DIV, and write some simple javascript functions to handle formatting within the DIV, and then save the innerHTML to an XML file or to a database.
Storing the data in an XML file is pretty simple. Then use XSLT to generate the page. That way, you can also give them a new "skin" or "theme" for future holidays/gifts and they will be able to immediately apply it to their existing content. Just make sure you escape the HTML you store inside the XML properly...
IMHO this can be done a lot simpler with XML/XSLT and a simple schema, and will be very portable if they change web hosting providers, etc.
Amazing magic tricks
Man, and here I was all proud of making my folks a clay ashtray.
"Yeah, well, Dracula called and he's coming over tonight for you and I said okay."
Comes with themed plugins, gallery options, minor image editing options. Can include custom scripting code files, etc.
http://www.howdev.com/
Step 1. Go to my very simple example Web-page at http://www.geocities.com/michael_xavier_maelstrom/ tag2.html
(WARNING! This page contains picture of Alyson Hannigan in plaid in suggestive position)
Step 2. Use your web-browsers VIEW-SOURCE command to see the entire HTML document that generates my page.
It is very small but contains ALL the commands you will need to develop a full web page with photos and text including a very simple technique for increasing or decreasing font/text size.
Step 3. Get them a FREE Geocities web page and use my web-page source-code as your template plugging in your family photo(s) and your own text, 'natch.
Step 4. Now all you have to do is teach them how to log into geocities.com and hit the EDIT button on index.html and show them where to add text.
Presto instant EASY web-site and blog at the touch of a button, and, best of all it's COMPLETELY FREE.
Hope it helps.
Why not some kind of wiki? You type into a text box, press OK and it appears on the page. But not every wiki has good support for pictures.
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
Try phpWebSite http://phpwebsite.appstate.edu/, I haven't used it myself, but it seems good and people have given me positive reviews.
Thomas
You might want to take a look at OpenACS (http://openacs.org) which is a 'community toolkit', and you will have all sorts of things like chat rooms, photo albums, blogs, and a lot more pre-built.
of Alyson. :)
OK, I'm probably a bit late in the day for this, but I'll post anyway.
I personally use Tonguewag http://www.tonguewag.com
Its ideal for users such as your family as content can be updated through a number of avenues, including Messenger, and has the benefit of video blogging.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
I like Xoops a lot - it's very easy to administrate, and has some nice modules
http://www.xoops.org
You need PHP and MySQL (it might support other databases, but I'm not sure). Also, it works with a "standard" compilation of php (no extra modules), which a lot of ISP's have.
Easily done - build the Wiki on top of an app server that handles the security for you.
Without wanting to flog a dead horse, Zope will do this for you. Ooh look - a Zope-based wiki. Plays nicely on top of Plone, too.
The only thing you can accurately describe as "Scotch" is a sticky tape made by 3M. And it's
http://www.mac.com/1/mac_faq.html
If your family are using Linux, you're SoL, but from the context of the question (need an idiot-proof solution), I suspect this is not the case.
The only thing you can accurately describe as "Scotch" is a sticky tape made by 3M. And it's
I dunno - I work in IT, use a Mac (home and work) and am not, by any stretch of the imagination, particularly artistic! Neither for that matter are friends of mine who work in network ops for a big IT multinational, and choose Mac for their own machines.
(I only 'switched' from Windows about 18 months ago, and at first found some things on the Mac annoying; now I find the lack of consistency on Windows far more infuriating.)
.Mac is giving subscribers a $20 rebate on Macromedia Contribute. Also, free iBlog, free Virex (like they'll really need that), free Backup utility, free VersionTracker Plus (like they'll use that), training stuff (some free), free sound tracks for their movies, thousands of free AACs, automatic address syncing for access from any browser on any computer, bla bla bla.
People always say "get them what you want, what you'd like to get, and you're home safe"...
...which is a load of CRAP! My family has been following that logic for years, and all I get is tasteless crap that they'd love to get for themselves, but I hate and wouldn't ordinarily touch with a ten foot pole.
Consequently: don't get your parents what you'd like to get yourself, or what you think they should have. Get them something they actually want. My guess is that a website/blog is NOT on the top of your their whish list.
P.S.: For those of you who whish to buy ME a gift, you (almost) can't go wrong with Thinkgeek D.S.
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
Shoot with cannons on pidgeons but if you'd like to have a look at full-blown CMSs give the OpenSource Typo3 a look - after looking through all these phpNuke* siblings which (usually) lack a reasonable user management or real user-definded templates I found typo3 to be scalable, user-friendly and loaded with tons of "extensions" (they call it) for e.g. implementing awstats and such. The learning curve is quite steep but worth dealing with...
-nerbas.
Mambo isn't bad. It's certainly pretty simple to use. opensourceCMS has an example of it.
impressed me. it's not db driven, instead it just generates all the HTML pages statically and then uploads it to the webserver. very simple. you can find it somewhere from http://www.joelonsoftware.com
http://www.web-app.org
It's a NON-SQL Web Portal, written in perl, with a ton of Add-on's.
They're going through a complete OO rewrite right now, but it's definately worth a try, and I've run it on my sites for ages now.
www.slightlycrewed.com - Because aren't we all?
check out http://www.opensourcecms.com/ They have a pretty good list of CMS systems.
eZ publish is definitly one of the best open source CMS out there. I prefer it for it's flexibility, but it's also simple to use.
If you wan't you can alter the admin interface and make it even easier for your parents to use. If you configure the webDAV support properly, your parents can just drag'n drop new images directly into the site (works with konqueror and ie).
You can download it from http://ez.no.
I haven't tried it yet myself (anyone know of a .torrent?) but there is a Knoppix-based LiveCD version of Plone called LivePlone
Obligatory horror story in an attempt to put this thread back on topic.
.mac account, I would have been able to plug in my 300D and uploaded that without any effort. yay.
The last time I went into an apple store, I brought my camera. I _always_ bring my camera. I take pictures, that's what I do. Sometimes, I upload them to my webpage (I run gallery too).
Three steps in, they kicked me out into the street. I didn't even take off the lens cap.
Then while I waited on the street for my friends, the guard came out to the public street and tried to tell me off for loitering. Don't you dare take a picture of the storefront, he said.
I took a picture of him.
Presumably, if I had had a
There are many, many things wrong with XP. But it doesn't crash like you say. You should suspect a hardware problem. The most common issue is that when a computer is moved, the case flexes enough that one or more of the adapter cards stops making full reliable contact.
Just open the case and pull all the cards out a sixteenth of an inch or 2 millimeters. Then push the cards back in. (You will need to loosen the screws.) Do the same with the memory and the cable connectors.
Once the hardware is reliable, you may need to do a re-load of XP, but maybe not.
I suggest you take a look at wikis. Every page just has an edit button and, while it takes an afternoon to learn HTML, you can learn wiki markup in 10 or 15 minutes. There are a whole bunch of wiki from the very simple to the extremely complex. TikiWiki is a particularly powerful one that can do everything you describe wanting to do.
Download giFT, then setup OpenFT in LAN mode. Then all your content management problems will be gone.
wow that is pretty geeky!
Try Photostack instead. It's easier to setup than Gallery and you don't need a database, just PHP.
m.kelley
life is like a freeway, if you don't look you could miss it.
I ran into a similar predicament and decided to roll my own. So far I have Stories, Comments, Events, Accounts and and a calendar. I think I have maybe 12 pages of php. Sites based on Nuke just have too much legacy code clutter.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Mom, don't listen to this guy, that new car would still be just fine. I know about the gas and oil changes. ;)
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I've done something similar in the past (I didn't bill it as an Xmas present, but I did set up a site for my family) and it doesn't get used. If you want to set it up and maintain it, great. But I'd get them something with a smaller learning curve as well.
Just my 2c.
PostNuke, but found it cumbersome and tough to administer. Check out "GeekLog" (Link). I have found it pretty secure, easy to manage and easy to write new code for. It only took me about 10 minutes to get it up and running on a Windows platform (for testing...). One key feature I like, is that the developers always seem to be around to answer questions about features on their discussion boards.
Sig it.
If you don't like PHPNuke, you probably won't like DotNetNuke, but I use it and it's decent. One feature I haven't seen elsewhere is the ability to do multiple portals with one instance. In other words mom, dad, and your dog can all have a site on one hosting account. It is in it's infancy, though.
You also give up the right to fair competition in the market. If apple screws you, like they have in many horror stories, you have no recourse. And once your entire life is based on their proprietary systems (including software, hardware, vendors, etc.) the change factor is high.
"Ain't I a stinka..." - Bugs
Why not install php wiki for them? It's easy to get running and super easy to use. It has all sorts of nifty add ons for galleries, blogs, media, rss feeds, and more. It's way past the novice level for installation, but solidly in novice ground for daily use. Plus it comes with a bunch of design themes (lots more available online) and you can design your own. If you want it only for use by your gift recipient, simply secure edit authority appropriately. Good luck!
"Ain't I a stinka..." - Bugs
he he, good move taking a pic of the guard. Bet he LOVED that. Even if they have some privacy policy re. the employees that disallows picture taking, there's no reason to throw somebody out. Unless of course you were that egregiously annoying in only three steps. :-)
I bought my first Mac last month, a G4 12" Powerbook and I love it. Considering I've been programming under DOS and Windows since forever, that's saying something. And hey, it's Unix underneath so there's something to play with when you get tired of the pretty icons.
The revolution will NOT be televised.
I like using Bang! for my news/blog stuff. I have tried a number of photo album tools and none of the ones I've looked at is what you'd call noobie friendly.
--
If I actually could spell I'd have spelled it right in the first place.
Go out, get a few of 2 way (or better yet, 4 way) servers with 1+GB of ram and get them WebSphere Portal and a sys admin (hear you can get them cheap if you shop around) as a gift. Shouldn't cost more than $600,000 and if you act now, DB2 might be included. Happy Thanksgiving
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
"As if comment spam were not bad enough, MovableType includes, in its default installation, a CGI script called mt-send-entry.cgi which -- you guessed it! -- can be used to send email anonymously to anyone in the world.
And, no, this is not a merely theoretical issue; it's being actively exploited by spammers." There are more details, including a patch, in the blog posting.
Why would your parents want a website.
You're Dead.
try Moveable Type and Gallery
thanx!
I come from a huge extended family and one of my cousins set up a site on MyFamily.com. It's not perfect and you won't have a lot of control, but it has a ton of features and is pretty easy to use.
OddManIn: A Game of guns and game theory.
This is probably the best CMS out there, it's simple, and easy to style, or completely rebuild for that matter. It's kind of low budget on the outside, but the Admin area is more than adequate for someone who doesn't know what they're doing. go here: www.nucleuscms.com
I personally use Movable Type for my web sites. My job site also uses it for project management. I've trained several computer illiterate users on how to use it, and they love it! It includes picture uploading, no HTML entry writing, and extremely powerful layout tools. Heck, if you don't like the way it comes out of the box, the MT web site has some spiffy templates, and more are available on the 'Net.
It may require some work on your end, but almost no work on your parents' end. All you have to do is setup a bookmarklet or a shortcut, and your parents can happily blog all day long.
Snippetmaster Pro snippetmaster.com uses PHP easy to setup and configure John Schuster Yourlink Web Services inc. www.yourlinkweb.com
www.loudernet.com
I'm currently rewriting an OpenSource solution to this exact problem (in Perl/Mod_Perl) called FamilyCMS. Because I'm trying to get it to a point where it isn't embarassing to post to the public, I haven't published any code yet, but you can keep tabs on it's progress at:
http://projects.ldsoss.org/projects/familycms
Send me an e-mail or reply to this post if you are interested in contributing - I need all the help I can get! I already have a working system that is just missing some features - I'm just working on a slight-redesign and a way to package it all for others to download and install. Code will be available soon!
Anyone know a product that will allow members of my family view email from OE or from the web (using my own servers)?
I've been using PostNuke for a while and I love it, but I recently found out about a .Net based, open source CMS called DotNetNuke . I think it is a bit more streamlined and easier to administer than PostNuke, plus my background is in asp, so it is a lot easier for me to write modules. One downside is that the current version only works with SQL Server, but the next version (supposedly due very soon) will support other DBs. It will also be skinnalble. There are also quite a few modules available for it, including a great photo gallery called TTT Gallery .
I take my camera everywhere also. I've never been kicked out (I've even taken it into movie theaters which is a no-no). I have had a couple of places wanting to know what's with the bag. Told one guy it was my purse. He just stammered as I walked past.
I'd have thought an apple store would welcome an opportunity to let you see how easily your digicam interfaced with their stuff.
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
opensourceCMS.com has working installations of many php/mysql content management systems, so you can try before you install.
.Mac for beginners. They're not cheap, but they're (nearly) idiot-proof.
.Mac-like service develop, but it hasn't happened yet (and may never happen -- at least not until after their IPO).
.Mac
I'd also like to echo others' recommendations of Six Apart's TypePad and Apple's
When Google bought Blogger, I expected to see a
- opensourceCMS.com
- TypePad
-
That's more of the case when using MSFT products. In researching Apple products for using in an office environment, I've found that they've embraced open standards (ie Samba, LDAP, Kerberos, BSD) for basic infrastructure and then added their own polish for the interface. Aside from MS Office for OS X and GUI differences, I'm pretty sure I could swing between OS X and Linux on X86 pretty easily, given the same environment.
Their hardware is no more proprietary than any other OEM, like Dell or Gateway...they just distinguish themselves by using PPC CPUs. Regardless, you can still run an open OS like Linux on a Mac or another PPC system like the Briq.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
No one mention wordpress.org. I think it's a pretty good blog also.
You are mostly right in what you wrote in the first paragraph -- they do embrace more open standards (at least properly) than MSFT does. However, I totally disagree with your second paragraph. There is no comparison between the hardware of mac vs pc. You can easily yank your hard drive from a dell and through it in any other pc manufacturer and be pretty assured it will run. If you fight with Dell you can switch to ten other major manufacturers, or build your own. With apple, you are pretty well screwed. Especially with laptops.
"Ain't I a stinka..." - Bugs
Apple started using standard IDE drives several years back. There are no longer any compatibility issues - you can pop in your Windows drive and the Mac will be able to read the partitions.
A while back, I experimented with several CMS packages. PHPNuke and PostNuke weren't appropriate for my needs, so I ruled those out immediately. I tried Grey Matter, and was pleased with its simplicity and flexibility. However, at the time it didn't come with templates (it may now; I don't know), which meant it was really only appropriate for people who wanted to design their website's look and feel from scratch.
Movable Type was next. I liked MT's interface, which was very slick. However, it stored everything in binary files which, in my personal experience, became corrupted easily. Poof, no more blog. (I believe MT now has the ability to store posts in a MySQL database, which would make it easier to backup/restore website content.)
In the end, I (and my users) went with PHPbb. It struck me as the "middle road" choice between GreyMatter and Movable Type. It has a lightweight GUI interface which lets you get in there and work under the hood if you want, or ignore all the techie stuff and just post your stories. Since it's written in PHP, it's also a simple matter to get in there and hack up the code to your liking.
I haven't had any issues or complaints in about a year and a half of running five PHPbb sites. Caveat, though: from what I've heard, installation can be tricky if you don't have root access to your server.
- 500 Mbytes space
- 5 Gb. transfer (.99 cents for every addtional Gb)
- PHP
- CGI
- SSH
- MySQL
- $25 Google ad words voucher
and you can register your own domain for $6 a year. I've been using it for a while and it's legit...they ask for your phone # to call you with a confirmation PIN number, but they never ask for your credit card. Drop $6 and get your family a domain, put up the content management system of your choice, and have it hosted free for 3 years.For the record, I actually do write my documents in HTML. Pure HTML 4.0 and CSS Level 2. It can get annoying at times, but it works, is completly cross-platform, and kinda fun.
There is also Edit-x.com
Okay is giving a website to your family who is computer ILLITERATE somewhat like giving a Ferrari to your 90 year old grandmother in a wheel chair?
Well okay maybe that was a drastic comparison, but come on... give them something they might actually WANT and CAN use...i.e. gift certificates for some computer literacy classes...
Just a thought =)
"Just Smile and Nod." --Huck
Gallery is an amazingly easy to use photo-site management tool that even has a java drag-n-drop front end available (haven't actually used that yet, tho). My sister was uploading her own photos in one afternoon, and she calls IE "The Internet"
grammar-lesson free since 1999. (rescinded - 2005)
NextEdit is a very simple (php based) web editor. It can do content areas as well as entire page edits.
:)
Designed _exactly_ for the not-quite-computer-iterate.
And yes, I did work on it...
Nah, it's weird indeed. With all due respect to the quality of their products, Apple tends to have a very "control" attitude.
I talked to some employees about it. They said that everything in the store was copyrighted; in fact, one specifically said "we don't know what you're going to do with the pictures. they might end up on the internet or something" (paraphrased).
I've taken the camera into theaters and whatnot as well, but their store is the only place I've been asked to leave (I didn't have a camera bag with me, so I guess I couldn't put it away). Well, there was that dinner club in HK where the busboy took it away, but that was semi-formal and my camera bag was made of duct tape.
If you start shooting though, lots of places get strangely angry. From worst to least,
1. Apple Stores
2. Airport Security Checks.
3. Starbucks
4. Urban Outfitters
well, #2 got as all searched. my bad.
I find Yabbse to be quite good for a simple BLOG/CMS. It is simple and looks good, yet you can add modules later on to make it more complex if you desire to. http://www.yabbse.org
This is a "straw dummy" arguement, really.
Most people I know using a PC are using an environment based on "proprietary systems". The OS and software is mostly Microsoft, and your peripherals may become instant, expensive doorstops the next time MS does an OS upgrade and the vendors decide not to write updated drivers for them.
Granted, Apple controls both the hardware and the OS - but their current OS is based on BSD Unix, which means much more opportunity for free or low-cost software alternatives than you have with the Microsoft solutions. You can always dump OS X entirely and run a PPC version of Linux, if you like, too.
Besides, Apple has such a niche market-share (and always has, really) - they're much less likely to really screw you over than a dominant player in the market (like Dell, Microsoft or HP). They're less able to afford bad publicity.
In my experience, Mac owners are much more picky and demanding than the average PC owner. Some of the anti-Apple rants I've heard are about Apple's failure to rectify situations that you'd be laughed right off the support hotline for bringing up to most PC makers. (Things like "My cooling fan isn't quiet enough! I shouldn't have to hear it at all in my dead silent room!")
I made the hideous mistake of checking that link when the "Troll" moderation came up for metamod. Big mistake. THe Mozilla developers need to look at that one, cos I got a load of pop-ups.