You could use xml on the page so again they dont touch the page just change the xml A sound principle. Ideally, you need to keep the user out of the web pages themselves altogether unless you use DW templates (with editable /noneditable regions). Contribute is effectively a server-based implementation of DW templates which allow centralised control of who can do what; it is probably overkill - and too expensive - for what you want.
Suggest you look at two things - both easy to implement:
- SSI (server side includes) which allow any web page to import any other HTML on the fly. Your user can then create text (or any HTML) for any points in the page where
you decide he/she may do so, FTP upload it, and that's that. You will need to give the user some cast-iron rules about what they must not do, mainly using HTML tags in text which may destroy the look of the host page. But they cannot do permanent damage because the host page remains unaltered.
- use of Coffeecup's Photo Gallery (v. cheap) which will allow them to add photos into a static or rotating photo display at the point or points in the page
you decide. Photo Gallery creates Flash code without the need for the expensive Adobe Flash developers system, and it needs no software to be installed on the server. Note that the usual problems with users adding photos directly to a web page are that the page ends up looking terrible (no whitespace margins around the photos for example) and that photos get imported without drastic size reduction: an unreduced photo from a modern digital camera will totally blow a web page.
Do by all means have a go at using PHP (not on PN CGI servers as they are planned to be removed: sign up for 'preview PAYH') . You could, for example, create a PHP form for the user to update instead of their uploading text. This will give you the opportunity to clean up their input and remove unwanted tags.
Zen from May 17. PN Business account from 2004 - 2017
