Clients asking for admin panel

Hi,

I'm doing my first steps in getting into freelance web design, I design and code everything myself without using any CMS.

The problem is when a client asks for admin area to add or modify content, usually showing off some new products. I don't know if it is possible to setup a CMS on a HTML website without having to change the whole code and keeping the design?

What do you do when facing this situation? Do you code your own admin panel or use CMS?

Thanks in advance.

 

I do everything with wordpress(unless its an ecommerce site), just updated a range of sites as well, that stuff just keeps getting better. There is nothing you can't do with it and its really easy to get your head around.

Nigel

 

Thanks Nigel,

By updating, you mean recreating them in WP? And what about the design? Should I recreate it as a theme for WP?

Thanks again.

 

Yes, you would basically skin WP. By update I mean clients can login to the backend and do whatever they want. The admin panel has a 5 minute learning curve.

Tad swamped and heading to sleep but I am happy to run you through it real fast tomorrow. Or its just a LAMP app so its crazy easy to install. I typically work with something as a jumping off point that has a really advanced admin panel as well. Currently working with this http://themeforest.net/item/avada-responsive-multipurpose-theme/2833226 It makes things much easier.

With that said you can also start with a responsive framework such as ehh this I guess... have not tried to many lately http://wordpress.org/themes/responsive

Basically you can make wordpress do anything with plugins and widget areas etc. You would just have to style some stuff and port the design over. Its really very easy, steer clear of Joomla as well.

Nigel

 

Thank you very much Nigel,

I can say you answered all my questions.

Cheers,
Elyas.

 

There is a commercial script called mojomotor, which is fairly easy to convert a hmtl site into the CMS software (the software comes with the ability to convert html by itself). You can still have unique design on the home page, and different layouts for the other pages. But with mojomotor, when they view their website, they just click the areas they want to change and a little text box pops up and they make the adjustments and DONE!. It is one of the easiest for clients to update. -> with wordpress, clients ENTER the admin panel, with mojomotor, the website becomes the admin panel...
I setup a demo for a client with mojomotor, and they were just WOW, and that same person had struggled with wordpress types of sites in the past. I can easily cut down what features they can access in the admin, (down to customizing if they even can bold text or not) and this helps me protect clients from themselves)

Another alternative to mojomotor is concrete5, its free, but harder to convert html into the CMS. But again, once a client is logged in, they view the website, and just click on whatever they want to change...

Everyone blindly recommends wordpress (and most people that do simply havent tested anything else). Wordpress IS what I will be using for clients, but before you settle on one, it is nice to know what else is available.

 

Thank you man,

I will surely give it a try by tonight.

 

Providing that you've created your markup correctly and professionally there is absolutely no reason why you should need to change any of your markup. You would simply pull that very content from a database instead of on the page. Bad markup would result in broken pages from content created via a CMS, good markup will have the opposite effect.

 

Thank you for your answer Scott,

Let me see if I got it, you mean I install a CMS, I use it for creating content and pull that same content from the database through my handcrafted website?

Is that right? it seems like what I was looking for!

What would you advise as CMS for this?

 

It's hard to know without having the specs and what the client wants. This should all be agreed prior to agreeing the project though. If it's a basic portfolio website that simply needs pricing updated, I'd have a look at existing basic CMS text editors. I don't know any off the top of my head though. Sometimes going for existing things can simplify the project and become more cost effective, other times it's worth creating your own stuff and re-using it.

 

Sorry for for asking so many weird questions but I never used a CMS before.

Would Joomla be adequate for this kind of use? I have no idea how its database is structured like...

 

I tend to stay away from solutions and integrate my own stuff. Ideally for a client unless they're paying really good money, you want them to come back to you as much as possible. What I would advise is allowing them to edit a products page rather than the whole website as I say unless they're paying good money. If you have this 1 products page in mind, there's no point bloating the website with some kind of solution when a simple password protected page that takes the user to /admin/ with a simple form and text editor to edit that 1 page. Here's a list of CMS text editors. The only thing you'll need to be updating is the actual content of the page so everything from for example:

 <div id="content"><?php //grab the content from the db ?></div>

PHP:

 

Thank you very much Scott,

Now everything is clear.

 

If the client needs are very simplistic you could also code something to allow them to use CKEDITOR.