123Live Content Management System
compared to Macromedia Contribute

Macromedia develop website design software for web developers. To address growing demand for websites that can be updated by non-technical people Macromedia developed Contribute.

Macromedia Contribute is software that is installed on an individual PC. Herein lies the first problem. Unlike the hosted 123Live content management system Contribute does not allow you to edit your website from any PC, only the one on which you have installed Macromedia Contribute.

Unlike the hosted service provided by the 123Live content management system which is automatically updated for you, with Macromedia Contribute you will need to ensure that the software is kept up to date.

Macromedia Contribute is designed for website designers to allow parts of pages to be edited rather than the entire website. So with Macromedia Contribute you cannot simply add a page and drag it around the menu. Adding new pages that can be edited with Macromedia Contribute is a job for the website designer.

With Macromedia Contribute you will need to know how to resize and optimise images to go on your website, and to do this for any images you wish to use. The 123Live content management system on the other hand allows you to upload your original images and the CMS takes care of resizing and optimising, you can even resize images within the content management system by simply dragging the edges. This feature alone can be a huge time saver.

Support is another issue to consider. Will your website designer be able to hook up remotely to share screens if you have a problem using Macromedia Contribute? With the hosted 123Live content management system this is all part of the service and allows issues to be resolved quickly so that you can get on with the job of creating your website content.