Macromedia`s Contribute underpins the operational success of the Web portal of the Botswana government`s Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) (www.finance.gov.bw).
Contribute, available through Macromedia distributor, Dax Data, enables anyone to easily update and publish content to existing Web sites in minutes without knowing HTML, while offering Web professionals the control they need to lock down site design, layout and code.
XON Systems won the tender for the development of a Web site portal for the MFDP headquarters, as well as all departmental Web sites linked to the portal.
According to Minesh Manga, project manager and developer at XON Systems, the aim of the project was to provide an intentions-based, customer-centric, outward-facing Web site that was easily updateable by non-technical employees. The project also called for a development framework that would enable the future integration of varied state applications and data for presentation on the Web site.
"Ministries and departments realised the importance of building independent Web sites to allow information to be available to other government departments and the public," says Manga. "Our solution, using Contribute and Macromedia Studio MX 2004, unites all the departments under a single structural portal, and allowed us to finish on time and on budget."
"Macromedia Contribute dramatically simplifies Web content management for the departments within the MFDP, allowing user-friendly updating while maintaining the overall look and feel of the site," says Jeremy Matthews, MD of Dax Data.
"Employees simply browse to the page they want to modify, make the necessary changes and post the updated page back to the server. There is no risk of the site design being compromised," he says.
Macromedia Contribute is built on the Macromedia Dreamweaver MX engine, so changes don`t insert extraneous code or reformat existing code. Content is also protected as Contribute locks out any scripts or server code on pages being edited. Additionally, users can recover previous saved Web pages with a single click, using page history.
"Macromedia Contribute recognises both style sheets and Dreamweaver MX 2004 templates to ensure the look and feel of the site remains consistent from page to page. Web professionals can also identify existing pages for contributors to use as templates when creating new pages," Matthews says.
All the Web sites were developed using Macromedia`s Studio MX 2004 using a combination of HTML and Macromedia Flash. Scripting is via PHP and the sites are hosted on a Linux server.
"Using Flash MX technology, we created a visually stimulating interface for the MFDP without sacrificing speed or efficiency, giving the Web site a fresh appearance," says Manga.
"Flash as a technology has many advantages. Images and information can be updated and changed with minimal effort. Using Flash it is also possible to reduce downtime of the Web site during updates and growth of the site can be easily managed," he adds.
Once the Flash page is loaded the client no longer waits for additional loads, as opposed to normal Web sites where pages have to be loaded individually.
Says Felix Kabwe, IT manager at MFDP: "The site ensures employees and the public have all relevant information at their fingertips. It includes detailed descriptions of government structures, policies and procedures, downloadable files, a search option, an FAQ section, as well as online forms that can be filled in where required.
"Departmental information is more organised and streamlined and we are very happy with the end result. We have received positive feedback from the public and organisations accessing the site on a regular basis."
Kabwe adds that MFDP is implementing an ongoing training programme to ensure all employees that need to update the site have the knowledge to do so. "As employees get promoted or move around within the MFDP, there is a need to keep them up to speed on the technologies," he says.
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