not sure if this is the correct place for this but I didn't think there would be a better place...

I'm looking for an alternative to php include for updating menus. I have clients who like to update their sites and can handle adding and changing their own content in a HTML program. If I use php include and make them php files to call menus all referring to menu.php, they will then have trouble editing php files.

Can anyone suggest alternative approaches? Thanks

You could use your menus 'inline' rather than using an external file. Effectively using a CSS styled list would create you your menu. However, you would probably need some form of Javascript to call any dropdowns when the menus are activated.

The only real solution I can think to make this easy for them is to actually create a backend CMS for your clients, where they can update the content through the web browser with a WYSIWYG editor. This could also handle/store the menu contents in a database. It would require a bit more work from you in setting the site up but would make life very easy for your client when editing pages.

Cheers
Ian

I tend to agree with Ian. I think that by using a simple CMS for the site instead would eliminate future headaches for you and your clients. Also, since this is a discussion on SEO, I would mention that Joomla has been a very friendly open source CMS that we have utilized on many projects. You may want to consider Joomla, Wordpress (not so good for the menu issue in my opinion) or Drupal. Let us know if you have any questions!