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Options in Publishing a Web Site

Published September 30, 2023

When you decide to publish a web site, you have options for which platform you can publish it on. Here, we try to give you an idea of the various methods to help you choose the one that works for you. In summary, here are the ones we are covering:

• Plain HTML This is the first way of serving up web pages and it is still basically the same as it was when it was published. It consists of a text file with markups designated by enclosing your content within tags. It forms the basis of the web and is what the browser recognizes.
• Blogging Software This consists of a database that holds the content and software that converts the content into HTML on the fly on the server as part of the delivery to the end user. It will include a way of editing the content and you can customize your web site via plugins.
• Offline Content Management Software This is a hybrid solution in which the content is kept locally and the HTML pages are generated by the software, but they are uploaded into the server as plain HTML files and remain static (unchanging) once there. This is how we're developing ps|ocm to gain the best parts of the above methods.

Plain HTML

Pro/Advantages

• Fastest to serve pages on the server as the server does not need to generate them (just sends out what is already there)
• Supported basically by all web host providers as it's the standard
• Complete control of content, appearance, and what comments get through to the end users
• No extra software to install, configure, or keep up to date/upgraded
• Server only sends out what you intend and will not become a "spam" server

Con/Downsides

• Can be slower to develop pages, especially in the beginning
• Have to learn HTML
• When adding a page to your site, you will need to update several others (no automatic site organization)
• Have to monitor feedback manually (if you allow it) and add to the pages manually
• Have to manually push content up to the server using your platform's tools

Blogging Software

Pro/Advantages

• Faster to add pages and content
• Automatic indexing of the site (when you add more content, the extra links within the site will be added by the server)
• Automatic tracking of feedback (if allowed) without any intervention from you
• Instant publishing (Just add content and press a button)

Con/Downsides

• The server has to render the HTML pages as requested so it may appear solower to the end user (but should not be much slower)
• You will need to keep the software up to date (unless you use a providor that does this for you)
• You will need to research the plugins you want to use in order to make the site safer and to appear the way you want it to
• Not every hosting providor will support this method
• If you are not up on your security, the server can start sending out pages with links that are to non-desirable places

Offline Content Management Software

Pro/Advantages

• Fastest for the server to deliver and universally supported
• You have control of the content and user comments being delivered
• No software to install and configure on the server
• The software adds the links and connections within the web site as new content is added
• The basic advantages of using Plain HTML without needing to learn HTML

Con/Downsides

• Have to manually push content to the server using your platform's tools (although some software can automate this)
• Have to learn the local software, but this should be in line with learning the blogging software, but easier than learning HTML
• Software options in this category may be limited as it's not a common way of doing this

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