There are two ways that came to mind. First, does what ever powers his website have a way to let you do this? If it's something other than flat html there might be a way to do it within the solution you are already using.

If you can't go this route try wordpress.com instead of blogger (you'll find it's easier to migrate away from if you try to do that down the road) and an iframe.

Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com

I realize that you're not currently a Drupal user but, I think, for what you're doing Drupal is a good tool and a direction that you should consider.

I, also, support sites for several missionaries, mission projects and organizations. Technically they're supported by a multi-site Drupal installations. For one of those projects we had team members updating the site from Mongolia, using borrowed computers. It worked GREAT!

On some sites I've had problems getting the users (e.g., the missionary) to grasp the idea of actually updating the site themselves. It's been a "I don't care how simple it is; I'm too busy to learn anything else." situation. It sounds like you don't have this problem if you already have a user that wants to blog.

Feel free to contact me by PM if you'd like to discuss this.

Good luck,
Curt

Hi

Just remember that whatever choice you make for the Blog software that many missionaries do not have a good reliable internet connection. Check with your people what limitations in technology they are dealing with before you make any decisions.

Matt,

I'm not totally sure if my host has a way to do this. Basically I redirect the paid domain to the real URL and then mask it off with the paid domain (hope I typed that right). All I have is the html file. Here is the site if that helps http://www.mthopebaptist.com/perfectingthesaints/.

I'll check out wordpress.com but unless they show you how, I'd still run into the same problem of having the blog show up in the website. It's not a huge deal, just asking this out of curiosity.

Curt,
I know pretty much nothing with Drupal. Just found out about it when I started listening to the podcasts.

Alli,
The missionaries site that I'm wanting to do this on is mainly in the states doing evangelism, however will do help missionaries and such in the field. So their connection probably isn't an issue, since they will be in the states for the most part.

Thanks for the responses guys. I don't mind critics on the site linked above. But just remember that I'm more of a "designer" than a coder. I am the guy that slicing the psd file that the guys talk about in the podcasts lol.

Here are a couple thoughts...

First, if you are going to consider using something like blogger use wordpress.com instead. If/when you want to migrate that data away from the hosted site to your own application it's a lot easier. Easy enough that a non-techie person could do it. This is a big deal when it comes to migrations and at some point just about everything will end up in some form of migration or lost.

Second, you can setup url redirection so it looks like it's part of the domain a certain amount. Some things you just can't do (like modify their urls). An iframe might be a good choice but there are some limitations.

In any case, there will be limitations no matter what approach you try to take with a hosted service. You can't make it look like it seamlessly integrates with your site because it doesn't.

Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com

JE,

I along with Matt and Curt highly reccomend checking out either WordPress or Drupal. Check with your hosting provider because many of them offer on click installs of both Wordpress and Drupal from their control panel without having to write any code or have to deal with creating the database yourself.

I think you will be surprised at how simple yet powerful both Drupal and WordPress can be and with just a small amount of work you can create a custom template for either one. It can be even easier if you choose a nice basic theme where you can swap out the header graphic with one of your own.

One nice thing I have found with Wordpress is the ability to set up WordPress to allow the Missionaries to post to their blog by simply sending an email. Check out this article: http://codex.wordpress.org/Blog_by_Email

Bottom line is, don't be afraid to try either system. You really will be surprised at how simple they are to get up and running. I got into building websites from a very similar background as yours and the idea of writing code completely intimidated me. The great thing about WordPress or Drupal is that you can get a great looking site up and running easily and as you begin to start learning and understanding the system you will be able to add in features and customize bit by bit.

Also if you do give Drupal a chance check out Rob's video podcasts over at http://mustardseedmedia.com/podcast I have learned a lot about how to theme drupal and do many other cool Drupal bits from Rob.

God Bless!

Mailhandler will allow you to create or edit Drupal nodes via e-mail. Step-by-step instructions can be found here. Blessings! -NP

Cool NP that's good to know. Thanks