eHelpMacromedia Contribute is a simple way for people to add and update content on web pages even if they have no previous web experience; it is almost as easy to use as a word processor. Unfortunately, the default settings for a site administered with Contribute allow users to make changes that work against the common look and feel that the templates provide.
A little bit of configuration will solve this. To begin the configuration process, select Edit / Administer Websites, and choose the site you wish to administer. Select the Publisher role and Edit Role Settings.
There are many settings you may wish to change, but four specific screens include features that are necessary or desirable for using the templates. On the "Editing" screen, make sure that Paragraph spacing is set to "Two lines"; the "One line" method will not provide the blank line between paragraphs, which is set in the style sheet. Also, uncheck all the lower boxes except Require ALT text; by checking this, you will insure that users don't compromise the accessibility of the site.
On the "Styles and Fonts" screen, there are two sets of changes to make. First, you want to allow users to apply styles, including HTML headings, and all CSS styles. Second, you want to allow them to apply bold, italic, strikethrough, and fixed width, but not change the font size, color, or background (unless you are sure they won't use those abilities unnecessarily).
On the "New Pages" screen, you should disallow using the built-in starter pages (they are Macromedia-provided templates) or blank pages, but it is useful to allow users to duplicate existing pages. Second, you should allow the use of Dreamweaver templates (that's what this is all about). You can show the users only the templates you use in the site, or you can delete the ones you don't use.
Last, go to the "New Images" screen and make sure "Enable Contribute image processing" is checked, so that when users resize images, they are actually resampled. You might also want to set the maximum width to 660 pixels. This is the maximum for the fullwidth template only (the others have areas that require even narrower images), but it provides an additional check against too-large images.
Click OK and you're done!
Last, but not least, learn about common mistakes that webwrights make when using the templates.
