Editable sites bring control of websites into the hands of the end users. This has great benefits for website owners but it does bring with it some challenges. That benefit of cutting out a whole level of middle man - the web 'designer' is to some extent a double edged sword. Massive savings in terms of money and turnaround on edits, but some more complex tasks falling on you the site owner.   You have removed a layer of technical expertise between you the owner and the complexities of the website and web server. You have 'sacked' the web designer or web master and as a whole you (the owners) have less technical knowledge than your former web masters.

Whilst a website can be shown to be a relatively simple creature the processes involved in its creation are not as simple as you might suspect.

Think about this - I am sat at my computer (which may be using entirely different operating system, software or hardware) to you or to the webserver, drafting text which has to be transmitted from my PC to a webserver which must be setup to work with my chosen domain name. I have the ability to move files from my PC to this other computer (the webserver) and in turn the webserver passes my text and my imagesback down to you.  It is actually a complicated old business and there are far more configurable options than most people realise - switching some of these on will enable new features, perhaps at the cost of performance. Sometimes the configuration involves editing files and a mistake here will take down the whole website. It happens.

Hopefully you can see from this that running a website is a complex business - certainly not rocket science by any means, but a little involved. Anyone new into this industry faces a few months with a steep learning curve.  Whoever runs your site at the technical level would be well served to have this knowledge - either before they start or to acquire it shortly thereafter.

"Nothing I do is difficult" - Dean Marshall

Here at Dean Marshall Consultancy our boss - Dean - has a saying he likes to mention at least once a day. "Nothing I do is difficult" - please understand, this guy really does know his stuff and advises clients including blue chip multi-national corporations and governement bodies but the way he explains it is something like this:

Some tasks are complex in-so-far as they require prior knowledge or are built up from multiple simple steps that need to be done in the right order. No one step is difficult in and of itself, but the combination is often more daunting - especially to the uninitiated.

The solution - according to Dean - is simple. Be prepared to read and ask questions. Read pre-emptively. Don't wait until someting goes wrong and then look for the solution. Find out the top 10 or 20 things that can go wrong and read the solutions before you start. You won't remember the exact details of all of the solutions - but when you get bitten by the problem you will recognise it and remember that you have seen a solution. This is how those 'technically minded' people who 'intuitively' know how to set the timer on the VCR or tune the new TV do it. They read the manual - either before they start setting up their equipment or after a very quick perusal of the basic features.  But don't stop there - once you are up and runninggo back and re-read thosehelp files and websites. Now you have a bit of experience some of what you previously didn't understand will start to fall into place and make so much more sense.

Of course all this reading and learning isn't for everyone - if you are too busy to learn all this stuff, or you tried and it just didn't happen for you there is always another option. Pay someone who already has the expertise to help you. There are a number of such CMS experts out there - and we would of course mention that we are right up there with the best.