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How does Contemplate compare to other website management tools?

Many software developers have offered solutions for separating website content from code. We like Contemplate because it can work seamlessly with just about any development tool or technology. However, its functionality is focused on assembling, rather than managing, dynamic websites -- it's not a CMS. Here are a few pros and cons to consider when evaluating Contemplate:

Pros

Use your favorite tools: Content and templates are standard HTML and can be edited in any text or HTML editor. You're not limited to editing content in a browser-based form or in a proprietary application.

Edit content in human-sized pieces: Contemplate doesn't force you to split content into paragraph-sized or smaller pieces, so content editors can do their work naturally without the burden of an arbitrary delineation between pieces.

Create any layout you like: Contemplate is not based on predefined layouts such as "press release," "news," etc. You can use any HTML file as a Contemplate template and embed as many pieces of content as you need.

Re-use the same content in multiple pages: A "page" is a non-exclusive collection of content pieces, so you can easily display content on multiple pages without duplication.

Deploy on a variety of servers: Contemplate is compatible with any web server that can run PHP, and no database is required.

Cons

No approval workflow: Contemplate does not include functionality for managing the editing and approval workflow in your team. If you need to create different access levels for different users or enforce a policy of content review, you'll need to use a content management system instead of or in conjunction with Contemplate.

No version histories: Contemplate does not include functionality for saving previous versions of content files. However, it works very well in conjunction with standard version control tools like Subversion or CVS.

No multiple users: Actually, you could set up FTP or WebDAV access to your content files for multiple users, but this is not handled by Contemplate.

No scheduled publishing: Contemplate does not include functionality for making edits and automatically publishing them at a later date.

If you need any of those last four features, they're all available in the Meditate™ Web Content Editor. This free, open-source CMS works in conjunction with Contemplate to edit your content files in a web-based interface.