Adobe Contribute CS5 Review

What is Contribute CS5?

Contribute is a Web site publishing and management tool. It operates as a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. It is similar to Dreamweaver, in that it can create static and dynamicwebsites. The difference is that you don't need a 1000 page manual to operate Contribute.

Contribute CS5 is available bundled in Adobe CS5 Web Premium (visit Adobe CS5 Web Premium site) or it can be purchased as a standalone piece of software (visit Adobe Contribute CS5 site).

Contribute CS5 Offers 2 Main Applications:

1. Web Site Updates: You can update websites in a WYSIWYG environment. The program feels a little like Microsoft Word, but creates and maintains Web sites instead of text documents. This is beneficial, because if you hire someone to create your site, in Dreamweaver for example, you can have editable regions inside of the site that you can edit and create inside of Contribute. If you want control of making minor updates, but don’t want to study html and php, then this should work out quite well.
2. Blog Management: You can also manage your blogs: creating new posts and pages. An interesting feature of Contribute is the ability to manage all of your blogs from the one program. How to Connect a WordPress Blog to Contribute CS5.

And why would anyone need another program to do what WordPress or Blogger already does?

Why Contribute CS5 is better than WordPress or Blogger:

Adobe Contribute CS5

Courtesy of Adobe

1. You edit the copy in a WYSIWYG environment. If you’ve ever used blogging software you know that the copy you create can look very different once it’s “Posted” depending on the theme you have installed. With Contribute you create the copy inside of the theme – so you see what it looks like as you’re typing it. It’s a real time saver – and it makes a better finished product.
2. Consolidation: One blog used to be sufficient, but today many business people have multiple work and personal blogs and sites. With Contribute, you can manage then all inside of one program – regardless of the platform or domain. Enter your passwords once and you’re done.

In Browser Editing

With one click, you can go from viewing a Web page to either editing it or blogging about it. In-browser editor is supported in most browsers, including Firefox 3-3.6 and Internet Explorer 7 and 8.

1. While viewing your own sites, you may notice an error or want to add a little something. Just click the “Edit in Contribute” button and you can fix or add to it in seconds.
2. While viewing another person’s site, you may notice something you want to blog about. Just click “Post to Blog” and it will open the selected excerpt inside of Contribute – complete with backlink and ready for your comments. Once you’re done, just click “Publish” and you’re done.

What is the learning curve? It is very intuitive and in just an hour of use I got the hang of it – it worked very smoothly. Contribute CS5 operates more like blogging software than a Web design program.

The one thing you may have a challenge with is connecting your WordPress Blog to Contribute, but with this simple tutorial it won’t be a problem.

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