Web Development Ireland
Web development is different to web design, in that it involves the construction of more advanced interaction with the user then with a basic brochure website. Usually web development involves backend databases, with special programming behind your website that allows your website to talk to the database. This is known as server side programming and examples of languages used to do this include asp, asp.net and php. Web development allows you to expand how your site works and how visitors interact with it. While brochure sites are usually the first step in testing the water with a web presence, the next logical step is to add functionality that engages the user. From a service point of view, this is known as web development.
There are so many ways in which you can expand your website using web development and it is specific to each and every website. Here are a few examples of website features that are implemented using databases and server side programming:
- Content Management System - Probably the most commonly found examples of web development is the installation of a content management system on a website. A content management system, also known as CMS for short, is where all the content from your website is stored in a database and the web pages that users visit, are programmed to go into the database, pull out the information the user is looking for and display it in a presentable fashion. The owners of the website, who do not need to be any way technical, are given an easy to use user interface for adding/updating content in the database and therefore, the website. Content management systems are best suited for larger websites (20+ pages), websites that change on a regular basis (property websites, news websites, etc.) or e-commerce websites (where pricing, product or any other information needs to be easily and quickly controlled by the owner).
- Restricted User Areas - These types of systems are basically areas that require users to login to get to certain areas of a website. They involve a database of all users and their passwords, which is checked against when the user fills in their username and password on a login form. If the user is successful, they are given access to the restricted areas of the website. These types are systems are quite common on websites today and allow you to engage with your visitors by knowing who has signed up as a "member" of your website and you may gather certain information about them. You can then integrate services directly to this user based on their saved preferences. There are so many examples of restricted user areas that I'll just pick a few, such as online forums (where the user logs into the website to post messages), intranets/extranets (which are usually content pages only being made available to users who have the rights), or my account sections (which would allow the user to set up specific services for themselves, which is used a lot on property websites to allow the user to save searches, viewed properties or set up automatic alerts of new properties coming online).
- E-Commerce Systems - E-Commerce websites are a great example of web development. These websites store all product information in a database, allow users to search for products, add them to their basket, checkout, enter their details, process payments via a payment service provider and allow the user to track everything using a my account area discussed above. That is a typical store described there but e-commerce can come in many other forms, such as booking systems (flight, hotel, event bookings), premium content (where the user pays to view pages on your website), etc.
- Custom Applications - You are not stuck with traditional applications/services available today. Many companies are being very innovative and creating exciting online applications that interact with the user and allow them to do so much more than ever before. Last year we developed an online Wedding Booklet generator for gettingmarried.ie, which is attracting so many frantic brides to be, where this information is difficult to get elsewhere. If you can think up an idea for how something could be done, or how it could be done better... you should talk to someone who is good at web development.
Well, we've covered some of the different kinds of web development applications here just to give you an idea of what is possible (if you didn't know already). If you are interested in doing any of these types systems, we would be more than happy to discuss the details of them with you. As always, you can contact us using the details on our contacts page or the Contact Us form above (top right) and we will get back to you as soon as possible.