| |
|
Data
Database
HTML pages
Dynamic web pages and programming
Uses for database driven web sites
Examples of database driven web sites
Search engines and database driven web sites
|
We thought you might like to look over the components
of a web site that works with a database. |
| The information you want to display or gather is called data. |
| display: |
If you wanted someone to order one of the great fishing lures you sell in your online
store,
you would want to display the lures, their prices, descriptions and pictures. |
| gather: |
You would want to gather from your new friend who wants your lures the info you'll need
to get them there... |
| Now you need
somewhere to keep, or serve as a base, for all of this data: |
These little guys come in a variety of sizes. In a database your information is stored in what you
might think of as compartments called tables. Your database can grow from one to many
tables depending on the complexity of the information you're handling.
Currently Microsoft SQL and MySQL are two popular SQL databases developed for holding large
amounts of data.
We've also developed a number of sites for clients using Microsoft Access databases. These
robust databases can be used for many applications without resorting to the more expensive
development of SQL databases.
While some developers believe Access databases are limited in the number of users they will
serve, much depends on how the web site that uses the database is designed. We have clients
using Access databases with over 10,000 visitors a month who have experienced no problems
whatsoever. One of the main advantages of utilizing Access databases is ease of
backup, portability and customization.
Examples of database-driven web sites
|
You'll have some regular web pages written in HTML that display the text and graphics of your web
site.
If you click "View Source" on your browser, you'll see this page's HTML code.
Here's the HTML code for the title of this page you see displayed in the top of your
browser:
<Title>Atlanta Web Site Design: Database-driven Web
Sites Sophia Solutions</Title>
Now for the exciting part! |
dynamic web
pages add power to your web site
To put stuff into your database, and to get it out later, you need some
dynamic web pages that we create for you that will do these things by talking to the machine where your site
lives in a language, or programming such as VBScript or PHP, in a way
that she understands.
Your database and the programming code we develop for your web pages work together to produce the
information your users will give you or get from you on your web site's pages, as well as
display pictures and descriptions that match the user's search.
We specialize in dynamic database-driven web sites to provide online
services for your site's visitors as well as providing dynamic content
that will be up to date and fresh for your readers. |
| Unlike search engines which search the words written on a web page, database driven web sites seek
their information in a fixed database so that we can present exactly the information the user is seeking in a neat, orderly fashion. |
- password protection for membership web sites
- present catalogs of products or services
- listings according to specific information
- specific information based on what the user has entered
for a search term
- entries users have posted that other users may retrieve
- pricing, description and ordering information for eCommerce
- dynamic content management
- validating user input
|
| These Sophia Solutions web sites are examples of database-driven web sites we've developed for our
clients to suit their specific needs: |
|
|
One of the things we've discovered about database-driven web
sites is that if they are set up properly, the search engines love them. Search engines are
looking for information and they, just like us, want to be efficient and get their jobs
completed. When they find a web site that serves up many listings for a given subject from a
database it makes them feel happy because they've done the jobs they were designed to do.
last updated 05/02/11
|
Back to top of page
|
