Dynamic Website Technology

What is Dynamic Website Technology?

Dynamic Website Technology, or DWT, allows for easy data collection, manipulation, and distribution. A website enhanced with DWT may have one or more of the following functions: Shopping Cart, Catalog, Information Collection, Secure Password protected regions, and user customized page views that allow for easy data modifications to the site. Some of the simplest sites on the internet pose some sort of DWT that allows for interaction with the web viewer, which ultimately enhances their experience. If Dynamic Website Technologies did not exist, websites such as ebay or yahoo could not function an bring you the information you request. Understanding how DWT's work will help you better decide what type of items you want to display on your website.

How do DWT's work?

 To understand Dynamic Website Technology, we must first understand how a static webste works. Basic websites use a programming language called HTML, also known as Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML based sites are simply request driven, for example, think of an HTML website as a  book. A book has some sort of cover, a table of contents, and multiple pages of data that are meant to be read in order. All of these items are good principals of a web site, but they represent a static HTML based site. Since you can read a book one way, users can only obtain the same experience and gain the same information each time they view the website.

A DWT website is like a Jukebox. Since a Jukebox allows each user to select a few songs, their experiences can vary. Although a user may choose to play the same song over and over, or play the same selections every time they use the jukebox, the user is totally in control of their experience. Another difference with the jukebox as compared to the book is that someone has the ability to change the music in the jukebox, resulting in new experiences after the old music is no longer popular. If you think of a DWT as a jukebox, then you will realize that web surfers have the ability not to just read a website, but will get to choose what they want to see and do. This will help to draw these people back on a reuglar basis to check for updates on your site.

What can a DWT website do for you?

A DWT enhanced site will allow you to collect information from your viewers such as orders and information requests. It will also allow them to add simple entry's to some kind guest book, message board, etc. A DWT also enhances the website owners experience as well. A site using DWT's will allow the site administrator and or owner to edit or add new content to the site. This usually requires the addition of a Data Stream Portal. Although it is nice to use DWT's to build websites, it is not necessary for every page to contain DWT code.