Securely add and edit content - and keep control.
neatComponents is ideal for building websites that need to be maintained by non-skilled users. The component based system means that web designers can create complex sites without using expensive skilled programming staff.
To be effective, a website's design needs to both match users' expectations for the market the site is competing in, whilst simultaneously being distinctive and memorable.
See 'The Guide' for detailed configuration advice >
Content Management
The trick is to separate out the design from the content, and neatComponents gives you an array of facilities for doing just that, all the while ensuring you have the utmost freedom to design and structure.
CMS - Content Management System
Understanding CMS on the nC Platform
neatComponents pages inherently provide Direct Editing CMS - so there is no additional configuration required where editing is done right on the page.
neatComponents powerful data handling system also makes it easy to build highly structured pages where the content is entered and edited by the use of Forms. This type of CMS uses Structured-Content Editing, and is explained more fully below and in the Manage Data section.
Control appearance
All aspects of the site can be configured to be edited by end-users. They don't need any editing software on their machines, and don't need to use FTP or other technical tools. Text editing, links, and image controls are intuitive and the user-friendly on-screen editor means there's virtually no training needed. User-group edit controls can be set to protect the site structure from accidental 'damage' during editing by non-skilled users.
In-Place Editing - (unstructured or direct editing)
User Editable Pages are at the heart of web content management systems. neatComponents provides Users with a full-featured 'wysiwyg' Text Editor. Users can easily – instantly – add, edit or remove text on their webpages without any other software.
Simply login, browse to the page to be changed, and click 'Edit'.
Changes go live immedately, with no need for FTPing uploads, or getting involved with HTML. The User experience is familiar to anyone who has used a word processor. All of the normal controls are available, and in addition advanced Users can easily insert HTML code either directly or by copy-and-paste from their favorite editor.
Approval controls & Workflow Locking
Workflow locking allows teams to work on the same site without the danger of overwriting each others work.
Approval Controls provide full editorial control of changes to be made to any page on the website. Editors are notified automatically by email when an editorial decision is required - it is impossible to 'forget' to get approval for a submission.
Structured-content Editing - (form-input editing)
Unstructured data is fine for small sites, but when you have a site that is growing, it is worth investing some time in structuring your data. Structuring data is all about separating the storage of information from its display.
There are lots of advantages in using structured data. Some will be immediately apparent as you create the site, whilst others will come in to play later on in the lifecycle of the site – as you need to make changes, and find they are easier than you might have expected. For example:
- Allowing some users to modify the data, but not to affect the display fonts etc
- Managing the validity of data by providing input choices rather than just free-text input
- Allowing content approval flows to approve data that has been entered in forms before displaying it on the site
- Emailing people to inform them of new content
- Showing the same information in different places – and keeping it all synchronised
- Providing search tools to allow users to find information quickly
