Development

Having developed the web site, it is all too easy to forget the onus to maintain and update the site. This is increasingly becoming an important consideration because the success of any web site depends on keeping the content current, interesting and relevant to its audience.

It is perfectly reasonable for small web sites to be updated by an individual in the organisation who has the necessary skills, but for large and more complex sites, it is likely that this would be impractical. A web site is usually designed as a mixture of graphic images and the ‘language’ of which sites are comprised, HTML (HyperText Markup Language). This language is rather like programming the pages for the site and requires the knowledge and skill of web site design. There are, fortunately, many excellent software tools on the market to make this task easier, so that in effect it is rather like using a word processor or a desktop publishing program, with the HTML being generated automatically. The main products include:

• Macromedia Dreamweaver;
• Microsoft FrontPage;
• Adobe GoLive.

However, after developing the initial web site, it can be a time consuming task to regularly make updates or changes. If this is likely to be a problem then it is worth considering a content management system (CMS) whereby the web site itself allows site administrators to update the site without the need for any special skills. By putting in new or changed content, the web site is automatically re-generated to display the revised pages.

A CMS usually has to be built in to the original design and construction of the site and requires special programs to be written to run it, but the investment at this point will pay off with the ease and speed of future changes. There are commercial CMS but it is important that they can meet the needs of the site.

There are also generic application development tools which can form part of the web hosting system such as Microsoft’s Active Server Pages (ASP), Macromedia Ultradev and ColdFusion and the open source PHP web-scripting language. The strength of such products lies in their ability to store content in special databases through the use of input templates, with no requirement to use complex programming languages such as Visual Basic, Java or C++. Examples of the databases that can be used include Microsoft’s SQL or the open-source equivalent MySQL. Once stored, the data can then be reassembled automatically, with web pages being created and delivered once again through the use of templates. The main requirement of the user is to ensure that the database is maintained and that all data used is current. Such data-driven sites are frequently used in dynamic publishing applications to produce e-mail newsletters or e-zines. However they are also extremely useful in keeping lists up to date or maintaining constantly changing information on e-commerce sites where godos are being sold.