OT: new website build question

boomhower wrote on 6/7/2005, 1:29 PM

I've run into something I need clarification on....

I looked at Sitespinner (per some members of this forum) and it is very easy to use. On one of the two sites I'm working on, I would like to have people sign in before they can get to certain articles. I have been told that Sitespinner would not do this but instead I would need to use a CMS (content management system).

Can I use a CMS to build the entire site or is a CMS using in addition to something like Sitespinner/Dreamweaver etc.? Mambo and Typo3 are a couple of CMS programs I have found.

Head...starting...to..hurt......

Keith

Comments

Jason_Abbott wrote on 6/7/2005, 1:50 PM

To say you need a CMS for authentication (sign in/up) is a bit like saying you need a yacht to go to the store for a loaf of bread. Most authentication solutions will depend on your platform, such as Apache versus IIS. If you don't know what your host uses, it's easy to find out. Also, most hosts have a FAQ that talks about securing certain folders.

Alternatively, you can write or download some JavaScript to do your authentication, which will work regardless of the site platform. It's not as secure, but for articles, it may be all you need.

A quick Google yielded this, which seems to have links to other useful resources as well:
http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/htaccess3.shtml

boomhower wrote on 6/7/2005, 2:58 PM

Thanks Jason....

I was a bit thrown by the whole CMS bit. It appeared in some of the control panel demos that forums and other register to use type functions existed within the host itself. Just looking for a bit of clarification as the water gets a bit deeper and the mud stirs up.

Keith

riredale wrote on 6/8/2005, 1:03 AM

I just came across this the other day, and haven't had the time to really dig into it yet.

I really like SiteSpinner because it seems to have an elegant simplicity to it. The developers, however, keep reminding everyone that you can load your own HTML into the pages to do more esoteric stuff. This password code might be a good example.