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Macromedia announces Contribute 3

By PR Connections
Johannesburg, 26 Jul 2004

Macromedia has announced a major upgrade to Macromedia Contribute, available from Macromedia distributor, Dax Data.

"Contribute redefines Web publishing by enabling non-technical users to update pages on Web sites or intranets as easily as they would edit a Microsoft Word document," says Jeremy Matthews, MD of Dax Data.

"Macromedia Contribute 3 adds granular administrator control, flexible approval workflow, editing enhancements and Dreamweaver MX 2004 integration to its ease-of-use and browse-edit-publish workflow."

The upgraded Contribute 3 is a key element of the new, enterprise-ready Macromedia Web Publishing System for organisational deployments to hundreds or thousands of business users. For more information, visit http://www.daxdata.co.za/htm/Contribute3.htm.

"Every organisation benefits from sharing information via cost-effective Web and intranet sites, but the power to publish has often been restricted to a few technical gurus," says Matthews. "Contribute empowers individuals to edit and publish, while giving organisations the control they need to manage their publishing process."

Contribute has already unlocked the power of Web publishing for more than 200 000 individuals. A broad spectrum of users -- including teachers, students, government employees, project managers, sales and marketing professionals, administrative assistants, intranet administrators, and small business owners -- depend on Contribute to publish their own sites for small businesses, to maintain departmental intranets, or to edit corporate Web sites.

Unlike traditional Web content management systems, Contribute 3 does not require complicated workflow definitions and is able to edit any existing HTML Web site. Site administrators simply define which users have publishing permission or who can only edit and send pages for review. This gives significantly more control to administrators and Web developers.

"So much organisational information remains hidden on desktops and networked servers because non-technical users don`t have the time to learn complicated Web publishing tools in addition to their full-time jobs," says Matthews. "There is a desperate need for no-learning-curve, complementary solutions that tear down technical and institutional walls and make Web publishing available to everyone."

New features for content contributors include increased performance, support for editing a wider range of Web sites, integrated image editing, Microsoft Office integration and automatic electronic document publishing in PDF and Flash file formats via FlashPaper 2.

For Web designers and developers, Contribute 3 adds WebDAV support and incorporates the engine for Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) rendering from Dreamweaver MX 2004 to allow powerful, standards-based control of Web page layout and styling. A new external editing feature enables technical review and editing of Web page source code in an external HTML editor (such as Dreamweaver) before publishing.

Upgrades to Contribute 3 will include a single user access licence to Contribute Publishing Services, a new server component that is included with the Macromedia Web Publishing System. Contribute Publishing Services is lightweight and easily installed in minutes on Windows, Linux and Unix servers or deployed to standard J2EE application environments. It provides Web and IT managers responsible for larger organisational deployments of Contribute with centralised user management and Web site access control, including support for user authentication through integration with LDAP and Active Directory. Server-based logging and e-mail notification applications provide a deeper view into Web site publishing activities across the organisation.

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Editorial contacts

Debbie Sielemann
PR Connections
(011) 885 3141
daxdata@pr.co.za
Jeremy Matthews
REMOVED(Dax Data)
(021) 863 3861
jmatthews@daxdata.co.za