Contribute’s helpful tutorial guides non-Web-savvy users into editing content.

To ensure you get repeat traffic to a company or other high-profile website, the content must be dynamic. Traditionally, though, posting new content was the domain of Web developers or others who have some technical knowledge of Web coding. But Adobe Contribute CS3 makes updating easy for the layperson too. Contribute enables anyone in a company who’s given password access from an administrator to revise or replace graphics, text, table content, or add pages.

To enable updating of content, Contribute uses the system of browse, edit, and publish: Find a page to update, download it, edit it, and then publish the new content to the website. A person designated as Contributor Administrator controls who makes changes and what elements can be updated, and also determines whether updates are published immediately or need to be reviewed before publication. Key elements such as a company logo can be protected from modification.

It’s impressive how much a nontechnical person can do with Contribute, which can also modify Web pages created by non-Adobe software, though you can add new pages from templates if you work with Dreamweaver. Supported blogs that can be edited include Blogger, Wordpress, and Typepad; supported APIs include RSD, Metaweblog, Movable Type, and Atom. Users need a password from the site administrator to alter blog content or images, of course.

You can also update content through supported browsers, which for Mac users means Firefox 2. Contribute adds in support for updating Flash animations and PDFs. Unfortunately, editing content from Microsoft Office apps isn’t quite as smooth - it’s for the PC only.

The bottom line. Contribute is a worthwhile timesaver for quickly updating professional websites. Having multiple contributors updating the site can be a real boon for creating dynamic content.

COMPANY: Adobe
CONTACT: www.adobe.com
PRICE: $149 a la carte, $79 upgrade, available in three CS3 bundles ($999 to $2,499)
REQUIREMENTS: G4 or multicore Intel processor, Mac OS 10.4.8, 512MB RAM, Firefox 2 for the Contribute Web browser plug-in
Easy, intuitive interface. Simple to learn. Provides blog and Web content updates. Uses Dreamweaver templates. Allows users to make simple updates themselves. Universal binary.
Some Microsoft Office support is PC only.