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Flat HTML site rather than CMS

  • 22-11-2011 10:03pm
    #1
    Trojan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,402 ✭✭✭✭


    Aidan's post on the one-page-website thread got me thinking about flat HTML sites.

    Although I do 99% of sites in CMS these days (98% of them in WordPress), there are occasions when I might do a flat HTML site - one opportunity upcoming in fact. It's a site for a professional firm, they are old school - don't use the web much at all. I think they'll want every pixel in the right place when we setup the site, and won't want to change a thing on the site for years once it goes live.

    But I need to examine that - how true is it to say that they won't need to change anything? Well they probably won't move offices, or change phone numbers, or change the way they do business. But they might change partners and need that page changed. Is that enough to go with a CMS?

    To choose not to use a CMS these days is a questionable decision - they provide so much flexibility and website accessibility to the client. You can use page templates to provide the design flexibility that flat HTML provides. Plugins give you infinity possibilities.

    It's an interesting question - what do you think? When would you use a flat HTML site as opposed to a CMS?

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Comments

  • #2
    Pixelcraft
    Registered Users Posts: 742 ✭✭✭Pixelcraft


    Something like unify is great for bridging that gap, and very easily set up.


  • #3
    Placebo
    Registered Users Posts: 8,070 ✭✭✭Placebo


    Interesting debate, the over head of making the changes in the future vs the burden of setting up and educating the client with the cms.

    Depends on your client, in your case not too technical, perhaps best solution would be FLAT html and making the changes yourself [as annoying as it is]. I think educating and setting up the CMS out weigh the minor change requests.

    Unify does seem like a great solution. But cost is something to take into account


  • #4
    Giblet
    Registered Users Posts: 11,977 ✭✭✭✭Giblet


    I'd setup a CMS anyway and don't tell them.


  • #5
    S.M.B.
    Registered Users Posts: 9,347 ✭✭✭S.M.B.


    Pixelcraft wrote: »
    Something like unify is great for bridging that gap, and very easily set up.
    We use something similar here, PageLime. It's 20 dollars a month for up to 50 sites.

    You can then bridge the gap between a normal static HTML site and a CMS as you see fit.

    Editable content, repeatable content, image galleries, navigation management, use includes to manage content across a large number of pages. It's all there.


  • #6
    Pixelcraft
    Registered Users Posts: 742 ✭✭✭Pixelcraft


    S.M.B. wrote: »
    You can then bridge the gap between a normal static HTML site and a CMS as you see fit.

    Yes, and sometimes it's a better option than a full CMS, if it has all the functionality a site is going to require then it's a much friendlier UI for the client.


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  • #7
    tommycahir
    Registered Users Posts: 2,593 ✭✭✭tommycahir


    again something that I have used in the past is http://www.cushycms.com/en
    where it gives you a quick an easy interface to change the content on any specific DIV if needed without going to the trouble of implementing a full blown CMS system.


  • #8
    28064212
    Registered Users Posts: 10,454 ✭✭✭✭28064212


    To a techno-phobe, Wordpress can be very intimidating. Trying to teach someone who has trouble with MS Word and uses the google bar for web addresses how to use a CMS would be a nightmare. Implementing a CMS that's not going to be used is (or can be) time-consuming, so why do it?

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  • #9
    Giblet
    Registered Users Posts: 11,977 ✭✭✭✭Giblet


    28064212 wrote: »
    To a techno-phobe, Wordpress can be very intimidating. Trying to teach someone who has trouble with MS Word and uses the google bar for web addresses how to use a CMS would be a nightmare. Implementing a CMS that's not going to be used is (or can be) time-consuming, so why do it?

    If it's time consuming, you're not doing it properly.


  • #10
    28064212
    Registered Users Posts: 10,454 ✭✭✭✭28064212


    Giblet wrote: »
    If it's time consuming, you're not doing it properly.
    Depends on the client's requirements. If they're happy with a template, then obviously, no problems. If they have a very specific layout in mind that doesn't match up to a template nicely, or they're the type to need you to "move this column 5 pixels over", a flat HTML site will be easier to manage

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  • #11
    yupyup7up
    Closed Accounts Posts: 845 ✭✭✭yupyup7up


    From what I've learned from my web development days is that if they say they won't change something or are happy with everything the way it is, then they are lying.

    I'd have any potentially changing content (images, text, links etc.) editable via CMS


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  • #12
    Giblet
    Registered Users Posts: 11,977 ✭✭✭✭Giblet


    yupyup7up wrote: »
    From what I've learned from my web development days is that if they say they won't change something or are happy with everything the way it is, then they are lying.

    I'd have any potentially changing content (images, text, links etc.) editable via CMS

    Exactly. There will always be changes, and if there aren't, you don't have to worry anyway!


  • #13
    matt-dublin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭matt-dublin


    Create a template with in PHP using includes.

    then have the editable content in separate php files so that all you need to do is reference it.

    That way they can just edit the files manually and upload and have a simple template that is easily editable across the site.

    I do it every now and again. The URLs don't look overly pretty, but with modrewrite you can come up with something thats very clever and usable.

    A Simple sctructure could be;

    index.php
    meta.php
    head.php
    menu.php
    content.php
    footer.php

    where content php changes based on your article name/id from querystring


  • #14
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    If they're just going to make minor changes like partner info then CushyCMS is the solution over flat html. PageLime if editing and adding some basic pages like news releases again over flat html. These two are more like Content Editing Systems than CMS and would be the ideal solution in this case imo. They just put an editing scheme over flat content. After that, the solution starts to move into the CMS/Framework territory where the content is actually managed, not merely edited.


  • #15
    matt-dublin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭matt-dublin


    is there any free versions of them without having to delve into the depths of joomla etc.


  • #16
    tommycahir
    Registered Users Posts: 2,593 ✭✭✭tommycahir


    I have used CMS Made Simple previously where you create and code up your design in HTML and CSS and then it is as simple as replacing the content with some smarty tags, uploading your images and some other basic configs

    Link -> http://cmsms.org/

    The reason I use it is that it allows me to use any HTML and CSS based template without knowing any php etc needed for wordpress or Joomla templates


  • #17
    Eoin
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 21,238 CMod ✭✭✭✭Eoin


    tommycahir wrote: »
    again something that I have used in the past is http://www.cushycms.com/en
    where it gives you a quick an easy interface to change the content on any specific DIV if needed without going to the trouble of implementing a full blown CMS system.
    S.M.B. wrote: »
    We use something similar here, PageLime. It's 20 dollars a month for up to 50 sites.

    You can then bridge the gap between a normal static HTML site and a CMS as you see fit.

    Editable content, repeatable content, image galleries, navigation management, use includes to manage content across a large number of pages. It's all there.

    I've used the two of them - they're both quite good. I switched from Cushy to PageLime because Cushy were incredibly slow at introducing features (like being able to create new pages from templates - took them ages to do that).

    PageLime looks lovely, but sometimes I think it's more geared towards impressing the web designer rather than the actual end user. Cushy is far simpler to understand IMO - though it's probably a couple of years since I've last used it.
    matt-dublin wrote:
    is there any free versions of them without having to delve into the depths of joomla etc.

    Yes - all the info is there on their sites:
    http://pagelime.com/pricing/
    http://www.cushycms.com/en/static/pricing


  • #18
    matt-dublin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,468 ✭✭✭matt-dublin


    Thanks eoin, but on both of them you can't fully skin them or remove their logos.


  • #19
    Eoin
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 21,238 CMod ✭✭✭✭Eoin


    Not for free, no. But if you decide to upgrade you can re-brand them a little bit.


  • #20
    S.M.B.
    Registered Users Posts: 9,347 ✭✭✭S.M.B.


    matt-dublin wrote: »
    Thanks eoin, but on both of them you can't fully skin them or remove their logos.
    I think that's the backend CMS though and not the actual site itself. And same with the domain limitation. You have to access it through cms.pagelime.com as opposed to cms.yourdomain.com,

    Not 100% sure on that because I have access to a professional account which we never skin or use the CNAME functionality.


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