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Website solutions
The amount solutions available for websites around the world is vast. But I'll explain some of the more
popular website solutions which I tend to use on a regular basis to meet my clients requirements, of which have
good results and proven successful.
Please make a selection:
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HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language
HTML was created by Tim Burners Lee, the founder of the Internet. He created HTML originally in a very basic form, to send text onto a server where others could access and then read. The first Internet browser and HTML language was so basic that it lacked much of what we take for granted in HTML today. Later versions of HTML and Internet browsers gave us the ability to do more with Text, colours, images, videos and sound and much much more.
All websites are built on HTML. HTML is the foundation for all websites. Without HTML, websites would simply not work. But HTML is a very basic language and only offers a few features that allow you to get the most out of your website. The true brilliance of a website comes from several languages and solutions all working together, languages like JavaScript which allows forms to work correctly and allows us to store data in variables and display time and date, plus much much more.
All HTML web pages are saved with the following extensions: .html, .htm. Both work the same. HTML can be created using a simple text editor using Markup tags.Return to Top Δ
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CSS - Cascading Style Sheets
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets.
Styles define how to display HTML elements on the Internet browser.
Styles are normally stored in Style Sheets,
styles were added to HTML 4.0 to solve a problem with lack of control of placement of text and images.
External Style Sheets can save a lot of work as
External Style Sheets are stored in CSS files,
Multiple style definitions can cascade into one. What this means, is with CSS you can position images and text anywhere on or off the screen and you can also overlap content and prioritise order of placement via layers.
With HTML you can't really have too much control over the look of a web page, but with CSS you can have absolute control of the look and feel and even where everything will be placed, exactly. The 2 immediate benefits of CSS are:
1) Say you have 100 web pages with the same font, font size and colour. But a year down the line, you wish to change the font, colour and size on every page. With HTML, you would have to edit all 100 pages by hand. Long winded and time-consuming. But with CSS, you can store the font, size and colour under a tag attribute and store in an external css document, which then the webpages would call up the file and retrieve the layout requirements. So by doing this, you would only make changes the once on the CSS document and the results would occur on all 100 web pages. Fast and time saving.
2) The 2nd benefit of CSS is the absolute positioning attribute, which allows you to place images and written content anywhere on or off the screen. By doing this you have more control over the layout and visual display of the web pages. Also using DHTML you could create animation, which would allow you to hide an image off screen, then animate it coming onto the screen. CSS has made such a major difference to the construction of websites that now it is used by majority of web designers.Return to Top Δ |
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DHTML - Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language
DHTML is not a standard defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). DHTML is a "marketing term" - used by Netscape and Microsoft to describe the new technologies the modern generation browsers would support.
DHTML is a combination of technologies used to create dynamic Web sites.
To most people DHTML means a combination of HTML 4.0 and above, Style Sheets and JavaScript combined and downsized.
DHTML is also a great language to create animation. Unfortunately these days not used by many web designers as its main functionality is redundant due to FLASH animation which is easier to use, faster to load and less bulky. But DHTML still has some functionality which makes good websites come alive. I tend to use DHTML on rare occasions, at my clients request.
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FLASH
FLASH is an animation tool originally created by Macromedia but now owned and managed by Adobe. FLASH allows websites to come alive with rich animated and interactive content. FLASH animations are fast to load and easy to install on web pages, and is compatible on all modern Internet browsers.
But FLASH isn't all about animation, FLASH also can be very powerful with the aid of its own programming language: ActionScript. ActionScript allows interaction with your websites visitors. This could be via interactive online forms, 2 way videos and voice communication, interaction with an online database, games, control of images and content, which allows the website visitor to have control over the look and feel and also to make there experience more interesting.
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ASP.net
ASP.NET is a server side scripting technology that enables scripts (embedded in web pages) to be executed by an Internet server.
- ASP.NET is a Microsoft Technology
- ASP stands for Active Server Pages
- ASP.NET is a program that runs inside IIS
- IIS (Internet Information Services) is Microsoft's Internet server
- IIS comes as a free component with Windows servers
- IIS is also a part of Windows 2000 and XP Professional
What is an ASP.NET File?
- An ASP.NET file is just the same as an HTML file
- An ASP.NET file can contain HTML, XML, and scripts
- Scripts in an ASP.NET file are executed on the server
- An ASP.NET file has the file extension ".aspx"
How Does ASP.NET Work?
- When a browser requests an HTML file, the server returns the file
- When a browser requests an ASP.NET file, IIS passes the request to the ASP.NET engine on the server
- The ASP.NET engine reads the file, line by line, and executes the scripts in the file
- Finally, the ASP.NET file is returned to the browser as plain HTML
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XML - EXtensible Markup Language
XML was designed to describe data and to focus on what data is, while HTML was designed to display data
and to focus on how data looks.
XML is a markup language like HTML, except, XML tags are not predefined.
XML tags have to be defined by the web designer.
XML uses a Document Type Definition (DTD) or an XML Schema to describe the data. A DTD or XML Schema
is designed to be self-descriptive which makes XML a powerful yet simple coding language to use on websites.
The tags used to mark up HTML documents and the structure of HTML documents are predefined. The author of HTML documents can only use tags that are defined in the HTML standard (like <p>, <h1>, etc.).
XML allows the author to define his own tags and his own document structure.
XML is not going to replace HTML, but it will become more powerful and all future websites are expected to require XML coding to improve website visitor experiences and be able to utilize some future web technologies.
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XSL - eXtensible Stylesheet Language
XSL is a style sheet coding language solution, very much like CSS, but far more sophisticated than CSS. One way to use XSL is to transform XML into HTML before it is displayed by the internet browser. With XML you need to be able to control how the information is displayed, CSS isn't exactly the best solution for displaying XML, but it works well with HTML. XSL gives so much power when used with XML. Both work hand in hand and the results are brilliant.
XSL consists of three parts:
- XSLT - a language for transforming XML documents
- XPath - a language for navigating in XML documents
- XSL-FO - a language for formatting XML documents
The Difference between CSS and XSL:
CSS = HTML Style Sheets
HTML uses predefined tags and the meaning of the tags are well understood.
The <table> element in HTML defines a table - and a browser knows how to display it.
Adding styles to HTML elements is simple. Telling a browser to display an element in a special font or color, is easy with CSS.
XSL = XML Style Sheets
XML does not use predefined tags (we can use any tag-names we like), and the meaning of these tags are not well understood.
A <table> element could mean an HTML table, a piece of furniture, or something else - and a browser does not know how to display it.
XSL describes how the XML document should be displayed!
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JavaScript
JavaScript is used in millions of Web pages to improve the design, validate forms, detect browsers, create cookies, and much more.
JavaScript is the most popular scripting language on the internet, and works in all major browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Netscape, and Opera.
What can a JavaScript Do?
- JavaScript gives HTML designers a programming tool - HTML authors are normally not programmers, but JavaScript is a scripting language with a very simple syntax! Almost anyone can put small "snippets" of code into their HTML pages
- JavaScript can put dynamic text into an HTML page - A JavaScript statement like this: document.write("<h1>" + name + "</h1>") can write a variable text into an HTML page
- JavaScript can react to events - A JavaScript can be set to execute when something happens, like when a page has finished loading or when a user clicks on an HTML element
- JavaScript can read and write HTML elements - A JavaScript can read and change the content of an HTML element
- JavaScript can be used to validate data - A JavaScript can be used to validate form data before it is submitted to a server. This saves the server from extra processing
- JavaScript can be used to detect the visitor's browser - A JavaScript can be used to detect the visitor's browser, and - depending on the browser - load another page specifically designed for that browser
- JavaScript can be used to create cookies - A JavaScript can be used to store and retrieve information on the visitor's computer
Below is a demonstration on JavaScript in action. Its a simple clock, which gets the time from your PC and displays the results including a seconds ticking away feature:
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VBScript
VBScript is a scripting language very similar to JavaScript. In fact its almost the same in many instances. Some would argue that JavaScript is much better and VBScript holds no actual purpose. But thats not entirely the case. VBScript does have some components which can be created much quicker than in JavaScript, which makes VBScript better in these instances. But there aren't many of them. Another issue with VBScript is that IE is the main browser which supports the coding language, while the others don't 100% support the coding, which is a problem.
VBScript is a light version of the popular programming language Visual Basic. While JavaScript is based upon the monster of monsters programming language C.
VBScript is a language rarely used. But in some very rare conditions it may prove the more ideal choice for coding part of a web page.
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Perl & CGI
Perl and CGI are 2 server side based languages which can manage many functions, both are dated technologies now, but are still used on many websites and are still supported.
Benefits of Perl and CGI include:- Dealing with form data sent by website visitors from online website forms.
- Storing data from websites in CGI-Bin's. (data storage and management folders based on the server)
- Creating and managing very basic Content Management Systems.
- Dealing with Database content.
While both languages have uses, both are dated and are much slower than current languages. Against
ASP.net, Perl and CGI are left behind.
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PHP and Apache
PHP is a Development language for working with Content Management solutions (CMS), while PHP is a good language with great support available and a large following of die-hard coders. PHP lags behind ASP.net, which not only out performs, but also gives better support.
Apache, (which is the server-side solution) is also a great solution, which is not only fast at handling data, but is also very secure when handling PHP coding and supporting websites. Apache is the main choice when it comes to coding PHP websites.
PHP is good, but there are much better languages available.
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MS SQL
MS SQL is a database solution which works brilliantly with ASP.net, and the .net framework. There are various different solutions available for Database web solutions, including Microsoft Access amongst others. But MS SQL is the god father of all Datbase solutions.
I offer 150mb MS SQL and 300mb MS SQL, which both are huge. When it comes to choosing a database you need to way-up how many visitors you are expecting to visit your website and how many searches are you going to be expecting every second. If its not many or within 100's, then an Access database should be fine. If your expecting 1000's every second, then you will require a more powerful and stable solution, and thats where MS SQL comes into its own. The true power and stability of MS SQL is amazing. MS SQL is one the main prefered choices of Corporates.
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JAVA
JAVA is a programming language and collection of associated technologies created by Sun Microsystems.
The programming language is freely available for everyone to use as required. JAVA has been used on many Websites, Corporate Enterprise systems, NASA spacecrafts, Online Games and advanced application solutions.
JAVA was created from the ground up to be a simple, secure and object-oriented language. JAVA's syntax is acquired from the C++ programming language, but JAVA has numerous improvements beyond C++, designed to gain brilliant results.
JAVA applications and JAVA applets run within the JAVA Virtual Machine, which must be installed on the client computer to run properly. (most modern computers will come with JAVA pre-installed, the same goes for FLASH components)
The JAVA Virtual Machine is packaged up with the JAVA Runtime Environment. This provides a managed environment for JAVA to run in, on your PC.
While JAVA is a good language to have running on your website, many of the solutions can be found to be better in JavaScript and FLASH.
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Access Databases
I tend to use Access for CMS database driven websites, which aren't expecting mega high volumes of website visitors, but a reasonable sum of visits per second. Should you be expecting record high numbers of visits, then MS SQL 150mb or 300mb would suit you better. But if you expect a reasonable amount of people to view your website, then an Access database should be able to handle the volumes of traffic.
Access is the more cost affective solution and more suited for Small, Medium and Large businesses. Corporates are better suited to MS SQL.
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SSL
SSL Stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. SSL uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys to encrypt data - a public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message. More all less all Internet Browsers support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers.
By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http:.
Another protocol for transmitting data securely over the World Wide Web is Secure HTTP (S-HTTP). Whereas SSL creates a secure connection between a client and a server, over which any amount of data can be sent securely, S-HTTP is designed to transmit individual messages securely. SSL and S-HTTP, therefore, can be seen as complementary rather than competing technologies. Both protocols have been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force as a standard.
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eCommerce
Also known as Electronic Commerce, business that is conducted over the Internet using several applications that rely on the Internet, such as e-mail, instant messaging, shopping carts, Web services, UDDI, FTP, and EDI, among others. Electronic commerce can be between two businesses transmitting funds, goods, services and/or data or between a business and a customer.
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Blogging
A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) and are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
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RSS Feeds
RSS (formally "RDF Site Summary", known colloquially as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel", contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.
RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader" or an "aggregator". The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.
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ASP
ASP stands for Active Server Pages, which runs inside IIS. (Internet Information Services) IIS is a component which comes with Windows operating systems. ASP is technology created by Microsoft.
ASP is a file just the same as an HTML file, except the ASP file can contain text, HTML, XML and Scripts. Another difference is, HTML pages are executed on the browser, while ASP files are executed on the server. File extensions for ASP are: .asp.
When a browser requests an ASP file, IIS passes the request to the ASP engine.
The ASP engine reads the ASP file, line by line, and executes the scripts in the
file. Finally, the ASP file is returned to the browser as plain HTML.
You can do the following with ASP:
- Dynamically edit, change or add any content of a Web page
- Respond to user queries or data submitted from HTML forms
- Access any data or databases and return the results to a browser
- Customize a Web page to make it more useful for individual users
- The advantages of using ASP instead of CGI and Perl, are those of simplicity and speed
- Provide security since your ASP code can not be viewed from the browser
- Clever ASP programming can minimize the network traffic
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