Dynamic Content

What is Dynamic Content?

Forget about Dynamic Content for a minute, First, What is content?

Content is logos, navigation, text, forms, images and other aspects of a single web page. Simply put, content is the makeup of a specific page.

For example, you are reading the content of this web page.

Now for the Dynamics

In terms of the English language, dynamic refers to something that can adapt or change to suite.

So, Dynamic Content is content on a web page that can adapt or change to suite.

Dynamic .vs Static

Static Content

Static pages always stay the same, unless they are manually changed by a web designer/developer.

Static pages simply contain their content and do not require any software to work. All they require is HTML. Generally you will have a different URL/Address for each static page.

The URL/Address is the location of the web page. Static pages usually end in .html .htm or .shtml.

Dynamic Content

Dynamic page change depending on the information processed and the output required.

Dynamic pages can be either completely produced by software, or in-part. The output from the software is the HTML code.

A Dynamic Page may end in anything from .html to .asp. It all depends on the web server configuration. Some of the common Dynamic Web Page Suffixes are .php .asp

How does Dynamic Content work

Dynamic content works by the web server processing information, then producing the output. This is called server-side.

Dynamic content is effectively software that produces the required content. This software is only limited in its capability by the server it is running on and the functionality of the language being used, e.g. php.

Make sure you pick your web hosting needs carefully when looking to host a new web site.

Content Management Systems

A CMS or Content Management System is software that helps with the development or update of a web site.

A content management system is normally written in a scripting language that will work on your web server, or rented web server space.

Content management systems normally use dynamic web pages and dynamic content to run themselves and your web site.

Indentifying Dynamic Content

Dynamic content can normally be indentified just by browsing a web site.

Locating the following points can assist in identifying dynamic content.

Look for a query string

A query string is a an added part to a URL/Address of a web page. The query string is denoted by a ?. Everything after a ? in a URL/Address is a query string.

E.G. Web Page URL/Address is http://www.yourwebsite.com/index.php?d=wkjdf&arti=0090900)

Does the Web Page URL/Address Change?

When you are navigating through a web site, the URL/Address changes depending in what page you are viewing. With some Dynamic Pages the URL/Address does not change.

Check for interactive aspects

If a web page has interactive aspects, like games, a login page, search facility or otherwise, then it is normally dynamic.

Different Dynamic Technologies

There are many different technologies that have been developed by industry leaders to provide dynamic content.

The following are just a few of the common technologies being used to produce dynamic web pages.

PHP

One of the most popular web development (server side) programming languages around today.

Perl

With a long term term history spanning back to pre-linux days, Perl is a programming language that can produce web based applications (dynamic content) as well as system administration and server based applications.

Javascript

This technology is client-based. That is it runs on the web browser, not on the web server. Javascript has many uses including AJAX applications.

Java

Developed by Sun Microsystems®, Java is both client-side and server-side. That is the main application runs on the web browser and talks to the server to retrieve different information.

ASP (.NET)

Developed by Microsoft® ASP is an abbreviation for Active Server Pages and is a server-side scripting language.

Optimising Dynamic Content

Optimising Dynamic Content can be achieved in several ways depending on the functionality of the software/scripts running in the background and your web server capability.

Sometimes dynamic web sites cannot be optimised because of thrid party involvement. For example; If you are using an online shop and the software is rented, but not owned by you, then the owner of the software may not want their solution changed.

So, when you are looking around for web solutions, make sure that either you can change the software you use, or the software does the job efficiently anyway.

Sometimes CMS systems employ a template system. This is excellent for the purposes of optimisation, but can still hinder a web sites performance in the search engines.