Contribute is a software product that facilitates distributed editing and publishing of web pages on a group web site. (It can also be used to edit and publish web pages on a personal site.)
Site administrators set up the Contribute configuration for the site, then distribute 'keys' which are small files that users install on their computers to configure Contribute for their site editing. The type of editing a user group is allowed is defined in the key, so that certain groups of users can be restricted to merely editing text, or allowed wide discretion in creating pages, editing text and page content, etc.
When editing a page with Contribute, the user merely navigates to the page with the Contribute browser portion, selects Edit Page, makes the edits, and publishes the page. (This is somewhat similar to the Netscape Composer functionality.)
Dreamweaver Templates and CSS style sheets can be used for a consistent look and feel, and templates can be designed to make it easy for users to edit only specific parts of the page.
Contribute also includes functionality for transferring Microsoft Office documents into the website.
Lehigh has an on-campus floating license for Contribute. This means that it can be installed on computers in offices and public sites. Our floating license is not currently available to WIRED, but individual copies of the software can be purchased inexpensively through the Lehigh Bookstore.
To install Contribute, go to the Install Software page. (Be sure you are in IE.) Find Macromedia Contribute on the list and click on it. On the Contribute page, click Install. Proceed through the install process.