# Answer: How to edit iWeb site from non mac computer.



## jonnynewbreed (Nov 25, 2007)

I am not a computer guru but I am a detective when it comes to this kind of stuff. I have built a website www.routehsp.com that needs to be updated from a non mac computer and I couldn't find any info at all. Trial and error brought me to this:

Install the program snippetmaster lite on your server (follow directions) and input the two lines of HTML [with the HTML editor online; don't try and do it with iweb as it won't work] where you want to edit and presto, content management (wysiwyg) for an iweb site.

Easy to follow instructions and seems to be working well for me so far. Doesn't work so hot with Safari so use firefox.

Hope this helps ya'll. If there are any other ways of doing this i'm all ears. 

I've tried to RSS feed blogs into iweb which works with iweb enhancer but it was far more difficult. I don't think this will work for a blog style iweb page but if you are mindful while you are building the site this should work just fine.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

I'm guessing once you set this up, that you can't ever go back and use iWeb to edit the site? I'd think iWeb would have problems with being out of sync with what's on the webserver compared to the locally saved files.


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## jonnynewbreed (Nov 25, 2007)

if you wanted to edit the particular page all you'd have to do is input the two lines of html in again into the index file. I still edit other parts of the site but this allows the client to update from wherever they wish on their own without screwing up anything.

I'm all ears if anyone has any other ideas on this.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

I'm a bit confused at how iWeb doesn't overwrite the changes you've made from the PC. iWeb doesn't sync, it overwrites changes to the server with the data stored in the locally saved file. So next time you run iWeb, it would overwrite your changes on the server. Unless the changes you make using snippetmaster are not editable using iWeb and vise-versa (the content is kept seperate from each other on the server).


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## jonnynewbreed (Nov 25, 2007)

sorry, I'm not using .mac account. I publish to a folder upload the site to my server and then input the code using the HTML editer online into the index file I want my clients to be able to edit.

I think you are right that using a .mac account where iweb publishes direct it would overwrite the file.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

jonnynewbreed said:


> sorry, I'm not using .mac account. I publish to a folder upload the site to my server and then input the code using the HTML editer online into the index file I want my clients to be able to edit.
> 
> I think you are right that using a .mac account where iweb publishes direct it would overwrite the file.


But correct me if I'm wrong, you'd have the same problem even if you re-published from iWeb to your own server.

Am I correct in assuming you use iWeb just to build the basic look of the site/page and then do all your editing using snippetmaster? You can't also use iWeb to edit the same content you'd created using snippetmaster, can you?


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## jonnynewbreed (Nov 25, 2007)

No you are correct. When I upload the site I do not upload the index pages that have been edited through snippetmaster. There are some pages that I edit from iweb still but others that are edited strickly online from various computers.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

jonnynewbreed said:


> No you are correct. When I upload the site I do not upload the index pages that have been edited through snippetmaster. There are some pages that I edit from iweb still but others that are edited strickly online from various computers.


OK, that clarifies things. Still, this is a good tip for those who want the simplicity of using iWeb for the basic page design, but need to be able to update the content from non-Macs or even more than one Mac.


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## jonnynewbreed (Nov 25, 2007)

madgunde said:


> OK, that clarifies things. Still, this is a good tip for those who want the simplicity of using iWeb for the basic page design, but need to be able to update the content from non-Macs or even more than one Mac.


Exactly. Could be PC or blackberry for that matterl. I built this site and am in charge of keeping it up to date but the client (a sailboat race) will need to update the Race Results page from a laptop through a cell phone internet connection while the boats are finishing. I will be on one of those boats and unable to do any updating and my computer is a G5 Tower so not very portable.

I did a tonne of research and came to the conclusion that this snippet master program would work best because the Race Results page is one that once it is finished being updated it will stay stagnent for two years (that's when the next race starts). 

But seriously if anyone on here has any better options I'm all for it.


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

Well, if you aren't knowledgeable at all in web design, this is probably the best bet since iWeb makes it dead simple to whip up a nice looking page design. If however you have some basic web coding skills (editing CSS, HTML or PHP from existing templates) and are looking for a bit of a learning experience, you could always install a blogging solution like wordpress on your webserver. Wordpress is designed to be administrated and updated through a web interface.

I use wordpress for my blog (see my signature). I suspect the install is going to be pretty similar to snippetmaster, only it requires MySQL, which is the database that manages all the content in addition to PHP. Wordpress is one of the more widely deployed blogging solutions out there. Once it's up and running, users can register and you can manage who has rights to write posts, but the web based editor is very powerful, allowing for the upload of images or other attachments to include in posts. There's also a full tagging and search facility that allows people to easily search or browse the content.

You can download and learn more about wordpress at wordpress.org. They also have a blog hosting service if you don't want to host it on your hardware at wordpress.com, but if they host it, you're limited in what you can do to the look of the site.

Oh, I should probably mention, it's all free.


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## norman (Nov 23, 2003)

So, can I use this on a .Mac site? I have a site, the iWeb source code got deleted when I was transferring files from my laptop to my desktop unit. The site is still there The Ogoki Forest , but I can't change it. It was for the most part done anyway, but it would be nice to add updates.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

I would have suggested that this was the wrong tool for this job. What you really wanted in the first place was something like Wordpress (blogger can do this as well) or Contribute.


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

chas_m said:


> Wordpress...


Oh gawd. We use Wordpress for a few things at work, and our techies just upgraded us from 2.3 something or other to the latest version. Bloody awful. The previous version had its problems but it worked alright, while the new one... yech. What were they thinking. tptptptp


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## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

norman said:


> So, can I use this on a .Mac site? I have a site, the iWeb source code got deleted when I was transferring files from my laptop to my desktop unit. The site is still there The Ogoki Forest , but I can't change it. It was for the most part done anyway, but it would be nice to add updates.


No, Wordpress needs to be installed on a server that is running MySQL and PHP that you manage yourself (or have someone manage for you). MobileMe (formerly .mac) only allows basic HTML site hosting. As I mentioned in my previous post (posted over a year ago, way to revive an old thread!), Wordpress.com has a free blog hosting service, so if you don't have the knowledge or resources to host yourself, just use their service, or one of the other free blog hosting tools.



The Doug said:


> Oh gawd. We use Wordpress for a few things at work, and our techies just upgraded us from 2.3 something or other to the latest version. Bloody awful. The previous version had its problems but it worked alright, while the new one... yech. What were they thinking. tptptptp


I'm hosting 2 blogs, one of which has been up a couple years now and I'm finding Wordpress to be a very reliable solution. If you're having a bad experience, I'd be more inclined to look at your techies and web designers as the culprits. You can really mess things up if you try to customize your own theme and don't have the strongest coding skills. I'm using one of the widely available themes that provides an interface for customizing almost everything without having to modify the actual theme files. I can now update my blog to the latest version of Wordpress with a click of a button and zero downtime. Even my plugins update themselves with a simple click. Wordpress is rock solid IMO if you don't screw things up tinkering. I guess my point is don't blame Wordpress for what most likely is poor hosting/coding procedures/skills.


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## norman (Nov 23, 2003)

chas_m said:


> I would have suggested that this was the wrong tool for this job. What you really wanted in the first place was something like Wordpress (blogger can do this as well) or Contribute.


I used to use Contribute, but, when I bought my new machine they wouldn't let me transfer my copy to the new machine, because they don't offer support after 2 years, and you can't activate the software without their support. Probably one of the worst licenses offered on any software ever. However I would consider it if I was sure it wouldn't totally mess up my iWeb pages. Does anyone know if
it will work with the soon to be discontinued .Mac and iWeb pages? I only ever used it for pages created with Macromedia software.


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