Adobe adds functionality beyond your harddrive
I just got an email announcing Adobe’s new “hosted services” At first I was thinking, “Lovely, Adobe is hopping on the hosting bandwagon. What’s next, Adobe ready made websites reminiscent of GoDaddy’s Website Tonight feature?” But alas, I was wrong..
This is not hosting for your websites, but instead it is web hosted features for you to add to your design arsenal along with your local Adobe Products. There are two new feature/services that work seamlessly with Dreamweaver to allow you to offer your web design clients complete control over their content, and give you, the developer, a tool that can save you hours of time testing your websites in different browsers.
Adobe Incontext Editing (click on Online Services) is probably one of the most revolutional things to come out of Adobe in ages. We all know that Adobe is great at what they do, but they have been doing the same thing for so long that we kind of forget that Adobe is still there, trying to continue to revolutionize the way we, as developers, view the web.
InContext Editing is Adobe’s response to the boom of CMS users. Web designers are heeling to the needs of their client’s control issues, and most are utilizing basic CMS (Content Management Systems) to build a creative and unique website while still allowing the client the ability to easily add content and change the basic appearance. My assumption is that with this boom of CMS, less people are using Dreamweaver and more are using freeware text editors.
Dreamweaver is an amazing tool for starting a website from scratch, but if you do not know a little bit of coding and a lot about standards, if you just let Dreamweaver code your website for you in WYSIWYG mode, you will end up with a tangled knot of code and content. Dreamweaver does what is function, but not what is “right” and most of the times, it’s great of getting started, but then you have to head in and clean up what they did. Thus the turn to CMS (like wordpress). CMS already have a coding base, there is already a main structure which you can build upon and change, and the massive amounts of free templates out there, if a web designer wants to create a quick basic website, all they need is a skeleton template and they are more than halfway there! But enough about CMS, I am not here to tell you all about what a CMS can do for you.
I am here to talk about Adobe’s respone to the CMS craze. InContext Editor allows web designers to design a website from scratch using Dreamweaver, but it also allows the client to edit their websites from their own browsers similar to that of Wordpress. The developer can design a website and give it editable “Hot Spots” These “hot spot” will work similar to that of the FCK editor that we are all familiar with, or TinyMCE. When a developer is done designing their website, they create the editable regions and then add the website to thier InContext account. Now, it is important for me to mention that although the preview is free, there will likely be a monthly charge of $10-$20 to use this service. I am not entirely sure how I feel about this, I would rather pay a one time fee and get some sort of “plugin” for Dreamweaver, but that is where they are not.
InContext will allow the web developer to invite users and grant them access to different web pages and sites. You, as a developer, can control the permissions of each user in order to limit the type of editing each person can do. Users can upload pictures using the build in “behind the scenes” FTP connection that you would have set up when you added your site. They can also change fonts and other styles that you define when coding the website. You can strictly limit the extent of which the CSS style sheets can be edited, or you can leave them completely open for the user to do what they will with it.
InContext’s user interface is extremely easy to use, and very “newbie friendly” There is very little training, if any, that will need to be done in order to show your “users” how to use this feature. Its very self explanatory, which I believe it needed to be in order to compete with the likes of Wordpress and Blogger.
The other new feature that was announced in the email was the “Browser Lab” Now, I was a lot more excited about this before I found out that you had to pay for this service, but none the less, it is really cool. Browser Lab is what is sounds like. It’s quick and easy UI makes for a smooth experience, unlike the browser checker over at browsershots.org. I have used Browser Shots since I started web designing, and I honestly do not think that I will ever pay for this feature, but I am sure that accessability and smoothness will appeal to some and it could be worth spending the money to have access to this at all time. The onion skinning of the various shots along with the ability to organize the shots side by side or full screen view make this feature a little bit more appealing than the free Browser Shots.
I am going to continue to play with these features since I now have a free trial account, and i will definitely report back with any findings and my overall experience.
Have you used any of Adobe’s Online Products? What do you think of them? Anything you could do with out or couldn’t live without? I want to know!
This is some text prior to the author information. You can change this text from the admin section of WP-Gravatar Someone who is relatively new to web design. I am new enough to still remember how absolutely frustrating it was to try and get anything done in this field, but have also been around long enough to be able to help those that are where I was a year ago.
Aside from web design, I run the office of my dad's engineering business, and do book keeping by trade.
I love my pets.. All 6 cats, 1 peg legged dogs, and 1 hedgehog. LOVE THEM!!
Oh yea, and my husband. He lets me chase my dreams and I let him do the same. We are happy people because of it. Read more from this author
Dreamweaver was the first tool I ever used for building a website back in 2001ish but I haven’t used it since I started using php and found out that WYSIWYG didn’t apply there.
Now I use a text editor (Text Wrangler from Bare Bones) and find it so much better and cleaner – I’m now using XAMPP as well so I can see what I’m doing on my computer without having to upload to a server.
I find many WYSIWYG editors can be very dirty (FCK springs to mind with osC)- ok if you know nothing but even then you’d be better off with a html coding book and a text editor, at least you’d be learning.
Maybe Adobe are charging a monthly fee on everything to try and claw back the revenue they feel they must be loosing to pirated copies of their programs? Maybe they should try bringing the price down
I totally agree. All adobe has to do is make their software affordable and people will stop pirating. I mean, MOST people would rather pay than go through a lot of trouble pirating their software.. BUT their prices are ridulous
Agreed! Considering the whole world is using Adobe, you think their prices would reflect their hold on the market. No wonder Adobe and Microsoft decided to hold hands. They both want to own the world.
How do you configure Dreamweaver to have server view for PHP?
Actually, none of this is php based. You design your website in HTML and CsS and the. In dreamweaver there is a function where you create an editable region on your HTML site. When you upload the site to your server, you then have to log into the InContext editor web application and basically tell it that your website is attached to this account.
Then the client logs in to adobes web app and can view thier website as if it is a CMS but it’s not. It’s all powered by HTML and adobes APIs for connecting to those areas you specified.
For me, it’s too complex. I’d rather code a php website using wordpres
This looks like a really useful and innovative feature. While Wordpress may be a good solution for us in many cases, it does have its design limitations and sometimes it’s just not enough. It’s quite nice to have the ability to make editable regions for the client without having to build a whole new admin panel from scratch.
I think that is what will help separate this from things like wordpress. its easy and if the client wants ease and is willing to pay for it, it could be a great solution!
I can’t wait for the next version of dreamwaver. I’m tired of creating websites with notepad
Yuck, yuck yuck. Notepad indeed. Everyone posting here should already be using the rather magnificent Espresso from Macrabbit it has code hinting and hi-lighting for the most common languages (html, php, jquery etc etc) and if it isn’t in the install there will no doubt be a ‘Sugar’ for it any how. A built in FTP client with auto upload on save and finally a webkit preview for any pages that aren’t using PHP…
Also, I agree Xampp/Mamp is a given if you are working from a laptop (like me) – but add ‘Sequel Pro’ too – its an open source SQL DB front end – no more messing with phpMyadmin to maintain your DB’s…
In regard to Lindsay’s original post I would rather build a simple admin page for my clients than force them into using an adobe product that knowing their past history they will pull without letting anyone know about – anyone remember Imageready or golive ?
I dont think that you understand that these websites are for COMPLETE NEWBIES.. They aren’t going to understand how to program a back end utility for their clients (they probably dont even HAVE clients) or how to use XAMPP…
It was just a simple review on what is out there
But if they are complete newbies a simple admin system (built with their needs in mind) is far better than a hosted solution that adobe control.
The notepad comment and related info was in relation Gadget Reviews post about waiting for the next dreamweaver so they didn’t need to use notepad.
I wasn’t trying to imply that everyone should start coding from scratch I was just trying to have a bit of fun regarding notepad…
Also, as website developers wouldn’t this provide a better solution
http://www.appelsiini.net/projects/jeditable
The above offers a solution that when coupled with a simple access system and some ajax would provide your clients the simplest system known to man or woman – click, edit, save )
And no adobe
not that I have anything against them – I couldn’t live without PS or ID 
I just feel that there are better solutions to ones hosted by big corp’s
Obviously you do have something against adobe.. But no, how in the world is someone who is trying to build thier first website and doesn’t even fully understand CSS or HTML going to be able to create a backend system admin? Even an ajax solution is too much for the average viewer of this website..
basically, the jed area is the backend of what adobe is doing. Adobe just makes it simple for the newbies, which is the average viewer of this website.. again
rotflmao, I have been using Adobe products since PS2 and ID before it was ID (read Pagemaker (originally owned by Aldus)). I have no problem with Adobe, I love their products.
I wasn’t supposing that they would know how to build a backend system – but then I’m not trying to say that DW is a simple program that any newcomer can pickup and use to create an entire site with editable area’s either…
DW is a beast and in the right hands is capaable of some truly excellent work – however it has a tendency to over bloat its code and when something goes wrong within a page it can be an absolute nightmare even for an experienced coder to resolve – especially if you have used and php or spry widgets to add functionality. I’d love to see a noob work out some of its crazy code placement when the page doesn’t do what they expect.
People should try to learn the fundamental building blocks of website design and development before becoming aquainted with WYSIWYG editors. I know, I went the easy route years ago and hacked some sites together in DW.
But, then when I couldn’t see the wood for the trees when my CSS was inline and all over the place, and I had layers here and DIV’s there, javascript and all – I decided to start over, and it was like an enlightenment when I produced a site entirely coded by hand – it was only three pages – using a correctly formed stylesheet attached to my nice XHTML pages – Javascript became easier to comprehend because my code had structure and more importantly flow and legibility.
Either way, we could probably argue all night how I like/dislike adobe – ultimately I use their products where there is a need – I’d never use The Gimp to retouch my photos or build a site layout… PS will be forever in my heart – DW however is somewhere close to the other end of my bodily functions
atb,
mmuller
ps, please don’t hate me… I’m a nice guy honest
Just a quicky to say that currently ‘BrowserLab’ is open for registration – for free. Or if you have an Adobe ID (I do, as I love their products) it available to test.
I have been using it to x-platform test some recent sites and it is incredibly handy not to have to open up parallels to see the results –
Again though there are alternatives to this services
http://browsershots.org/
For example…
You just proved my point. using Dreamweaver and fixing it’s problems is exactly how you started to learn how to code. That is how I started too, and if you had read any other articles on this site that regard dreamweaver, you will see that i say numerous times that you should never just create a site in WYSIWYG mode and walk away.
I always preach the “break it and then fix it” method of learning, and it works AMAZINGLY well with dreamweaver and learning coding. It creates HORRIBLY coded websites and I always can tell when a website is coded from the design mode.. its horrid.
MY point here is to just show people the new technology that is out there..
Also, if the readers here are considering hiring a developer, it would not be outrageous for them to ask for the ability to use this option instead of paying a developer a really large amount of money to create a backend system.. Its just another option.
Ahem, hang on a mo jo, I actually started to code by hand before DW existed and before CSS existed – in a world of tables and inline attributes. However like most people I got lazy and tired of building tables to reproduce my PS comp’s so when PS/IR & DW turned up – I was like okay I’ll have some of that.
However it was only because I had a rudimentary level of coding experience (html & php initially) that I saw how badly things were within DW’s code output and thats why I put it back in the box…
In regards to the new technology of in-context editing are you pushing it for developers or users ?
As a developer I would always steer my clients clear of a hosted solution and offer them a custom solution that sits hosted with their website – why would they want to pay ad infinitum – when for a modest fee they could have it forever…
Also, I believe http://cmsfromscratch.com/ would be the cheapest solution (it’s free and open source) and requires very little hacking to get it working across an entire site for a developer if the client is to be able to add pages to the site etc etc…
I’m not PUSHING anything. I am on Adobe’s newsletter list and wrote this article when I reviewed and tested it. I maintained the position that this was adobe’s way of answering the CMS craze and why they probably developed it and how it works. Plain and simple. i dont know why you think I am “selling” this inContext editing.
You really dont seem to have a concept of a real newbie, so i dont think this website is for you.
Thanks for the tip..