Introduction to MikeLoPresti.net

So this is Michael LoPresti's Blog, but it's also much more than that. This website is a CMS (content management system) based site also known as a dynamic website. If you don't want to hear the technical difference skip to the third paragraph. Normal websites are made up of a set of fixed static files that sit on a server, each time you want to view a page you are actually viewing an individual file and each time you change pages you are viewing a new file. Every file must be made by hand and any global updates, like changing a piece of the header information on top of the page, means that your programmer has to go thru every file and repeat the update over and over.

This site is more like a computer program than static files. Each time you view a page the server dynamically generates that page grabbing information stored in a database. Because every time a page is viewed the system makes the content of that page on the spot it is very easy to make changes. As an example I'll use the changing a piece of the header information that I used earlier, to change this on a dynamic site like this one means changing that one entry in the database so that all new pages grab their information from the updated entry, because all information is pulled from the same database this makes it very easy.

Their's one more fundamental difference and that is in how old pages are edited and new pages are created. Instead of coding a page and uploading it, you login to the website and fillout what is basically a form and submit it. I compare it a lot to Facebook, because Facebook is a massive CMS website that people are used to using. Anytime you create a profile, post a photo or video, or anything on that site you are creating new pages by filling out a form.

Imagine the power of this, a cost effective, easy to update website.