Member Avatar for teedoff

Ok I know this might sound like a silly question, but now working in an office environment, and eventually having to rely on someone else for content update and management, whats the best way to "export" my Dreamweaver created coldfusion templates to another desktop so that she can do database updates and whatever else needs to be done to manage the site. I dont know if I want someone performing inserts and updates on the remote server, so would I need to set up a testing server on her computer as well? We are all on a local network, so I thought I could just copy and paste the page files to her folder, but not sure that will work. Maybe the wrong forum for this question, but hope someone can help! Thanks in advance!

Tony

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— ColdFusion templates (.cfm/.cfc) are server-side. Copying files from Dreamweaver to another desktop just moves source; those pages still need a CFML engine and the correct datasource to run. For an editor who only updates text, the safest options are: give a local/staging install that mirrors production, or expose a small admin UI (or CMS) that allows edits without direct DB or server access. As pointed out, a CMS or dedicated content screens avoids a lot of risk.

Minimal checklist to hand off for a working local copy:

  • site files: all .cfm/.cfc, .cfc components, include folders, assets, Application.cfm or Application.cfc, custom tags and mappings
  • a database export (schema + data), with sensitive fields sanitized
  • notes: exact datasource names used in code, CF version, any special JVM/driver requirements
  • a short README describing how to import the DB and where to set the datasource in ColdFusion Administrator

Quick setup and troubleshooting notes:

  • Install a CFML server (Adobe ColdFusion Developer Edition or an open-source CFML engine such as Lucee) and a local DB server, then import the SQL dump and create the datasource with the same name used in the code.
  • If CF tags render as plain text, the machine is not running a CF engine or the webserver is not pointing to the CF connector.
  • If DB connections fail, verify DSN name, username, password, port and any firewall rules. Check Application.cfm/cfc for hard-coded paths or mappings and update them.
  • Use a sanitized DB copy for testing and never hand out full-production DB credentials.

Longer-term: add role-based admin pages or migrate editable sections into a CMS, keep site files in version control, and use a staging server on the LAN for editor access rather than giving production write access.

Member Avatar for JRM

This exactly why they invented Content manager system frameworks like Drupal and Joomla!
Perhaps in your situation, the other person can write the the text and you can paste it into a wysiwyg editor. Database entry might be a bit "dangerous" using PHPmyadmin in an office enviroment.

Having specialized entry screens and permissions like there would be in a CMS is the way to go.

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