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Dynamic website
Main article: dynamic web page
A dynamic website is one that changes or customizes itself frequently and
automatically, based on certain criteria.
Dynamic websites can have two types of dynamic activity: Code and Content.
Dynamic code is invisible or behind the scenes and dynamic content is visible or
fully displayed.
[edit] Dynamic code
The first type is a web page with dynamic code. The code is constructed
dynamically on the fly using active programming language instead of plain,
static HTML.
A website with dynamic code refers to its construction or how it is built, and
more specifically refers to the code used to create a single web page. A dynamic
web page is generated on the fly by piecing together certain blocks of code,
procedures or routines. A dynamically-generated web page would call various bits
of information from a database and put them together in a pre-defined format to
present the reader with a coherent page. It interacts with users in a variety of
ways including by reading cookies recognizing users' previous history, session
variables, server side variables etc., or by using direct interaction (form
elements, mouseovers, etc.). A site can display the current state of a dialogue
between users, monitor a changing situation, or provide information in some way
personalized to the requirements of the individual user.
Dynamic content
The second type is a website with dynamic content displayed in plain view.
Variable content is displayed dynamically on the fly based on certain criteria,
usually by retrieving content stored in a database.
A website with dynamic content refers to how its messages, text, images and
other information are displayed on the web page, and more specifically how its
content changes at any given moment. The web page content varies based on
certain criteria, either pre-defined rules or variable user input. For example,
a website with a database of news articles can use a pre-defined rule which
tells it to display all news articles for today's date. This type of dynamic
website will automatically show the most current news articles on any given
date. Another example of dynamic content is when a retail website with a
database of media products allows a user to input a search request for the
keyword Beatles. In response, the content of the web page will spontaneously
change the way it looked before, and will then display a list of Beatles
products like CD's, DVD's and books.
Purpose of dynamic websites
The main purpose of a dynamic website is automation. A dynamic website can
operate more effectively, be built more efficiently and is easier to maintain,
update and expand. It is much simpler to build a template and a database than to
build hundreds or thousands of individual, static HTML web pages.
[edit] Software systems
There is a wide range of software systems, such as Java Server Pages (JSP), the
PHP and Perl programming languages, Active Server Pages (ASP), YUMA and
ColdFusion (CFML) that are available to generate dynamic web systems and dynamic
sites. Sites may also include content that is retrieved from one or more
databases or by using XML-based technologies such as RSS.
Static content may also be dynamically generated either periodically, or if
certain conditions for regeneration occur (cached) in order to avoid the
performance loss of initiating the dynamic engine on a per-user or
per-connection basis.
Plug ins are available to expand the features and abilities of web browsers,
which use them to show active content, such as Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe
Flash, Adobe Shockwave or applets written in Java. Dynamic HTML also provides
for user interactivity and realtime element updating within web pages (i.e.,
pages don't have to be loaded or reloaded to effect any changes), mainly using
the Document Object Model (DOM) and JavaScript, support which is built-in to
most modern web browsers.
Turning a website into an income source is a common practice for web developers
and website owners. There are several methods for creating a website business
which fall into two broad categories
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