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Everyone's moving from static websites to dynamic websites.This article compares dynamic and static websites and shows how people with static page development skills can use their current knowledge to go dynamic.

Database-driven dynamic sites enable you to:

· Develop fewer pages
· Keep content fresher
· Future-proof your site
· Use the skills you already have

Develop Fewer Pages
Traditionally, sites are comprised of a large number of straight HTML pages. But you can reduce the number of pages drastically by serving up pages and information dynamically.

Take the example of an employee directory. A static employee directory would have one page listing all the employees and then another for each individual employee that contains information—phone number, e-mail address, office location, etc. The main directory needs to be updated every time a new employee is added and all information regarding employees needs to be entered manually.

With a dynamic employee directory, you only need to create three pages. One page lists all employees, another provides a template that describes details about each employee, and a third page allows users to add new employees. Once complete, the employee directory application does not require a web developer to fill in the information manually. The next new employee at the company could have his or her respective information entered into the employee directory by a business user—someone from human resources, perhaps.

The Getting Started with ColdFusion MX Resource Center takes you step-by-step through building a dynamic employee directory—so you can experience firsthand how dynamic sites let you develop and maintain fewer web pages.

Keep Content Fresher
Maintaining content on a dynamic site is easier. People who don't necessarily know anything about building websites can deploy content effortlessly on a dynamic site. This means that information can be made available more quickly. Plus, dynamic sites help ensure that information is accurate.

Continuing with the employee directory example, when you work with a static employee directory and a new person starts at your company, it may take awhile for Human Resources to provide you with that employee's personal information. Once you get it, you need to update the main directory listing and create a detail page that has all the employee's information. Then, you need to link the main directory to the new employee's detail page.

While you are working, users of the directory may want to call the new employee but can't because they are waiting for you to update the directory. The content isn't as fresh as it could be, and people are frustrated because they have to wait for content.

If you had a dynamic site, web page developers wouldn't even need to be involved. As soon as the new employee's information was available, it could be entered into the directory by any business user. The web developer could work on other things and the employee directory could be updated immediately. With a dynamic site, new information can be available immediately and no one needs to wait for it.

Dynamic sites make it easy to keep content fresh. Beyond applications like employee directories, dynamic sites enable you to update information such as weather, headlines and stock quotes. They make it easy for content providers to include dynamic, fresh and relevant information on a web page.

Future-proof Your Site
In today's economy, change is constant. Business climates change; partners change; competitors change; technologies change. Websites—perceived to be quick to alter—need to change as well. Customers, both internal and external, now expect websites to be the leading source of up-to-date information.

For example, if your company puts its corporate headquarters' address and phone number on the bottom of every page of a static website, you would have to individually update every page on your website if your company moves. That could mean hundreds or thousands of pages and it would take days to complete.

When working with a dynamic site, pages can be based on templates. For that reason, you only need to update the portion of the template that includes the company address and phone number. Instead of thousands of updates, it takes only one minor edit to instantly update your site.

Regarding the employee directory example, a static site makes a web developer manually update the employee directory every time there is an employee turnover. However, if this was done dynamically, someone in HR could be given secure access to remove people from the phone directory. Not only would the directory be immediately accurate, but as changes occur, the site would be kept up-to-date without creating additional work for web developers.

Use the Skills You Already Have to Go Dynamic
By now you understand why dynamic websites are much easier to maintain and work with than static sites. But you might be wondering what skills are required to build dynamic sites, or if you will need to forget everything you already know about web page development and learn something entirely new to create them. You are probably also wondering how this helps your career.

First, let's take a look at the skills needed to build dynamic sites. Using the skills you already have, you can get started building dynamic Web sites today. If you are a visual developer and use a product like Macromedia Dreamweaver to develop web pages, you will feel very comfortable working in the intuitive, familiar environment of Dreamweaver MX to start building dynamic sites.

And if you are a code-centric developer and write code that generates web pages using Macromedia HomeSite, BBEdit or other software, you can use the new code centric features of Dreamweaver MX or HomeSite+ (included with Dreamweaver MX) to get started building dynamic sites in a development environment that feels completely familiar and lets you code each line of each page.

You can get started using whichever product you prefer, and combine the power of Dreamweaver MX with ColdFusion MX Server. Your current skills—creating web pages, designing tables, and formatting text—are a great base that will enable you to quickly learn how to use application servers, databases and Structured Query Language (SQL). Our tutorials will help you take advantage of your experience to expand and advance your skill set.

And how will this help your career? Before you know it, you will be serving up data dynamically and generating information on the fly. Not only are you more valuable to your company because you can save time for users of your existing applications, but you can use this newfound time to build new applications instead of maintaining old ones. And most importantly, with new skills that are in high demand—like working with application servers and databases—your skill set will be greatly advanced and so will your career opportunities.

Everything you need to start building dynamic sites is at your fingertips with the Getting Started with ColdFusion MX Resource Center. Have fun going dynamic!

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