Questions on creating/copying a website from another website

You can migrate an FTP site to a CMS like WordPress, but it isn't exactly easy. There are minor complications that will happen. That's just the way it is. Someone with good reviews on oDesk or elance can probably do it for a reasonable price.

You can use a wysiwyg FTP editor or site that basically functions as your CMS. That's the easiest, fastest and chepest option. CoffeeCup has a decent option for like $30. I also think someone recommended this to me once - https://www.cushycms.com/en - but I could be wrong.

 

Sites without programming or without a CMS like Wordpress or Joomla are said to be "static", where there isn't scripting to change the pages based on a language that can make decisions. It is all "markup", no programming is involved. STILL, you mention "scripts"... so... are these a server-side programming language (like Perl or PHP or ASP) or JavaScript in basic form or as jQuery or any other type of scripting?

Wordpress lets you bring in the scripts and edit its source or its stylesheets, but I am not 100% sure on what you mean by the "scripts" that you have via FTP. Are you saying all the content is available via text?

Easiest way would be to create a template or a design or buy one that you would like to use via WordPress, and just drop in the content, graphics, etc. As you add pages, make them appear on menus easily with the administration via WordPress.

This seems to be a bit too technical to be discussed on a forum, and you might need personal consulting, unless you're willing to place a mock/sample of what you have here.

The HTML on a Dreamweaver site can also be edited by multiple people using the check-out/check-in feature. This "locks" the files so they only can be edited when checked in by the editors. An email can be sent to the person currently working on it. It's still doable, although a bit cumbersome.

 

You're asking to do something that isn't easy and will be extremely time consuming and frustrating, even for a pro. You're much better off starting from scratch and migrating your content (text) into a WP template, like Swoly said.

 

Nah, wysiwyg FTP editor is easier. You can get someone on guru.com to copy and paste your content into a new CMS for like $3/hr though.

 

OK. So CoffeeCup is just another HTML editor... and... why is this different than just opening it up with Dreamweaver? Or... maybe you don't have Dreamweaver and I misunderstood. I thought you did.

Any which way you cut it, you will have a lot of CUT-N-PASTE to do, no matter what solution you take. If all the HTML is written already and you're not doing any dynamic (PHP, Perl, ASP, etc.) content, or using a CMS, you'll still need to copy-n-paste. It will be a pain to copy it, but that's just the nature of this beast, such as it is any web page or rebuilding a site.

If you're just re-designing the site, a well-made WordPress or Joomla template is the way to go. If you want people to edit it, all solutions have this capability, including Dreamweaver. I don't see that CoffeeCup has this.

In regards to the scripts you mention, it's just one... but... if this does nothing but display content and it isn't static, it can easily be copied or referenced in a SCRIPT tag.

Anyway... I hope the solution you choose is the less painful one. It will take some time. Good luck!

 

i think what you want to do is import an existing static website to wordpress, or similar, correct?

this might be what you want:

http://wordpress.org/plugins/import-html-pages/

 

How many pages are there? And does it have to look exactly like it does now? If you can use a template for whichever CMS you choose it would make it easier, otherwise somebody would have to convert your current site's layout into a template. That may be a simple task if there's not much to the current design.

 

She wants it "easily editable by other people"

Keeping it straight HTML isn't going to help with that, even using a wysiwyg editor. Wordpress, Joomla, etc, are the way to go for end users wanting to update content. It's better, IMO, to start from scratch.

 

I beg to differ, Xerobull, straight HTML can be edited by a WYSIWYG, and even be managed by things like Contribute or Dreamweaver. You can even apply templates if you use them properly. One modification can be applied to pages using the same template.

I've never used that CoffeeCup program, but I don't think it's too different from Dreamweaver. I don't recall if you said you have Dreamweaver or you don't.

Yes, you can hire someone. Yes, it can be moved to WordPress. ANY site can, in my opinion). It is not straight-forward. It can take a few days to a few weeks depending on how much content you have, estimating at about four to six hours per day. It will take a couple to a few hundreds of dollars, but it all depends on how well the peeps know HTML or your site. It's just not that simple. It's tough to gauge how much work it will be.

Can you share one page here or via private message... or at least its HTML... change a few things in case you don't want to show its content so we can see how much work it would be?

I still think WordPress is the easiest way. Have two peeps as administrators, two or three more as editors.

 

With CoffeeCup I imagine it could be hard to edit navigation for a novice. But a slightly better program should do the trick. There are several options.

From what I've read, I think the easiest thing would be for Swoly to migrate everything on his own time in exchange for a rep. Swoly, let her know when it's done.

 

The .js file could be something like a slider image on the home page or even the menu bar.

 

Sure, Yao Ming. You got it!