Shoutbox

Hey guys. I haven't been on here for a while but could always rely on the community for a bit of help.

In a nutshell, I've been asked to help someone update their website. I said I'd help assuming it wouldn't be too tricky and hopefully it won't be. The website is for a law firm and was made bespoke for the company by a private web designer. I just need to update various pages and add several others; change pictures; update maps etc.

To you guys I'm sure this sounds like a breeze, but having not done it before I was just wondering if you could point me in the right direction. What's a good editor to use and how do I actually go about making my changes update online?

I've just downloaded SeaMonkey having read some good reviews and trusting Mozilla, but I'm open to any better suggestions. Thanks.

Really, it depends on a few things and what you are editing. For plain HTML/CSS changes (from your description this sounds what is needed)  I'd recommend Dreamweaver for a visual editor. If you don't mind looking at code, Notepad++ is popular. I prefer phpDesigner myself.

Agree with MeEtc. Especially if they send you pre-formatted content on Word, Dreamweaver does a nice job of lazy importing

I use Dreamweaver.

Thanks for the suggestions. I avoided Dreamweaver purely because it required a fee and have actually managed to perform most of the editing I needed using SeaMonkey. (But thanks, I wasn't ignoring the suggestion - just being cheap )

However, I've become a little helpless with two related tasks. Perhaps if you wouldn't mind having a peek at www.franklinslaw.co.uk and offering a suggestion.

Firstly, on the left menu I need to add a field. It doesn't require any pop-outs on hover but just needs to link to a new page of information.

Secondly, on the left menu under 'Property Law' I need to remove the 'HIPS' pop-out link and it's related page.

So far I've not had much luck whilst playing around with the ftp access so any help would be greatly received. Thank you.

quote:

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Originally posted by kierant
Secondly, on the left menu under 'Property Law' I need to remove the 'HIPS' pop-out link and it's related page.

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html code:

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            <li class="x"><a href="property_law/index.htm" title="Property Law" class="x">Property
              Law</a>
              <ul>
                <li><a href="property_law/hips.htm" title="HIPS">HIPS</a></li>
                <li><a href="property_law/remortgaging_property.htm" title="Re-mortgaging a Property">Re-mortgaging
                  a Property</a></li>
                <li><a href="property_law/flats_apartments.htm" title="Flats &amp; Apartments">Flats
                  &amp; Apartments</a></li>

                <li><a href="property_law/equity_transfer.htm" title="Buy-outs &amp; Equity Transfer">Buy-outs
                  &amp; Equity Transfer</a></li>
                <li><a href="property_law/stamp_duty.htm" title="Taxes &amp; Duty">Taxes
                  &amp; Duty</a></li>
              </ul>
            </li>

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Just remove the line regarding HIPS.

quote:

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Firstly, on the left menu I need to add a field. It doesn't require any pop-outs on hover but just needs to link to a new page of information.

---

Just copy & paste the line with the "Home"?

Great, thanks. It works, but...

Although this method of deleting the line of html text works by removing the entry, it would appear that I'll have to do this for every individual page on the website because the link is located in the left panel on every page.

Unless there's something I'm missing, it looks like I'll have to edit the code for 20-30 individual pages to remove the HIPS section, and then again to add a new section to the list afterwards...?

Is there usually a root page of code that can be edited once that updates all other pages?

Depends on the creator of the site. Usually, professional creators have some method of replicating the same content, as far as my limited knowledge goes.

I did once use javascript (I think) to make a "template", and now I use PHP includes. Saves me the hassle of updating every page.

If there isn't a root code, then yes, you do have to manually change it. Or, if the code on every page is the same, then just use find and replace. (If you're modifying, you could might as well make a "root".)

quote:

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Originally posted by kierant
Is there usually a root page of code that can be edited once that updates all other pages?

---

I looked at the code on the site you linked and from the tags in it, it was clearly created in Dreamweaver, using Dreamweaver templates.

With DW templates, you create a template page that is usually the "shell" of the site and may include navigation, common header and footer, with one or more designated content areas.  When you create new pages from the template, DW makes a copy and only lets you edit the previously marked areas.  If you later change the template, DW will reapply it to all the pages that use it. 

It doesn't look like the template file itself ("/Templates/franklins.dwt") made it to the server.  It can be recreated from any of the pages though.  There is a 30-day Dreamweaver trial, if you want to give that a shot. 

On the other hand, the time investment of setting up Dreamweaver, recreating the project and the template, may not be worthwhile if you don't plan to do a lot more with it.  What you need right now can also be easily accomplished with any text editor capable of search and replace on multiple files.

Make sure you have a good understanding of CSS/HTML. If you like WYSIWYG editors, definitely go for KompoZer. If code is more your thing, Notepad++.