FileMaker instant Web Publishing

[zeyhra]

Does anyone out there have any experience with the Instant Web Publishing abilities of FileMaker (we're using FM 7)?

We're just starting to look in to it's potential, and our webmistress is insisting that it's too hard, you need special this or that, website host has to be set up a special way and half a dozen other excuses as to why it's not a good idea to do it... but on the other hand, our webmistress has a reputation for saying things are too complicated so that a) when she manages to make them work everyone thinks she's worked a miracle, b) she can drag out time spent on the "difficult" projects so she has an excuse to only work on the projects she wants to work on, and c) as a cover up when she doesn't know how to do something.

So, before we embark on this project I'm interested in finding out if there's anyone else who is using it to determine if it's worth spending my time on it.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Go

Which version of FileMaker 7...Pro or Server?

What kind of things are you looking to publish with that tool?

 

[zeyhra]

We have both Pro and Server... We have several things in mind for publishing, but one of the first things we'd like to do is simplify this work flow a bit...
A web-form is filled out and submitted via e-mail. The data from that email is then copied and pasted into a "data dump" field in a FileMaker database, and parsed to complete the record... then the data is exported into a table and posted on our website... The web-form is currently accessible only to certain people who have the password to access it. Ideally we'd like to take that same concept (password protected from the general public) and have the people currently entering their info in the web-form enter their info directly into the database instead, having it be viewable, searchable and data can be modified. While that of course is the ideal scenario, we'd be happy if the data was entered into the web-form, submitted via email, data dump, parse and have a live read-only version on our site. We really don't know the full extent of the possibilities as our webmistress shoots us down with excuses every time it comes up...

 

[mrdrill]

Probably too late to reply. But Instant Web publishing is extremely easy. Just need to turn it on, can modify the homepage without really knowing anything but some basic web language of javascript and css. The problem being is its incompatibility with a lot of filemaker scripts. send e-mail script doesn't work, print script doesn't work etc. In your particular case it would be really easy to use this solution http://filemaker.com/developers/resources/php/index.html It would take relatively no time to setup for what you are looking for. If the webmistress can't do this, she probably doesn't deserve the title of webmistress because this is basic web programming.

 

[zeyhra]

Thanks, we put this project on hold for a while and we're just starting to come back to it, so that's great info, thanks... and no, our webmistress doesn't really deserve the title, as we're discovering the bizairre and convoluted way she's built our website...