Is this idea new or already taken?

CloudedVision · Mar 25th, 2008, 23:34

I have this genius new idea. Most new CMS's use a MySQL (or MSSQL, etc.) database to store data. And every once in a while somebody comes out with one that uses flat files. But here's my idea: Dynamically Generated Static HTML Pages. All the page content is stored in a MySQL database for easy editing. But the website completely static, and all that HTML is generated by the CMS. So that way you get all the advantages of static pages -- less CPU used, etc. -- with it still being easy to edit.

So, my question is, am I the first to do this, or has it already been thought up and is being used in a CMS?

aso186 · Mar 26th, 2008, 00:43

CV, this is a CMS!

Take Wordpress for example.

You can have pages, which are static. You can add, delete and edit them, but otherwise they are simply chunks of info stored in a database.

When a user requests information, the CMS pumps out the corresponding page.

I think you're getting confused with the definition between static and dynamic sites and content (and I admit it can be!)

Static sites consist of physical files with the content hard-coded within the file.

Dynamic sites consist of a database and template files to output content, based on the user's request. However, the pages the user views do not exist *physically*.

In other words, a site can be dynamic even if the content is static.

CloudedVision · Mar 26th, 2008, 01:02

thats what I mean. The SITE is static. The CMS takes the content from the database, merges it with the template, and saves it as a static HTML file for the user to view. When a user visits the site, no PHP goes on behind the to get the content, its already compiled into a static HTML file. Understand what i mean?

welshstew · Mar 26th, 2008, 08:47

yes i understand what you mean and we are doing this on our test site using asp.net. basically we run a script agaisnt the site that generates the static html pages, which are then stored on the server, as the pages have already been created, they are served faster to the end users - it reduces the CPU usage as it doesn't have to run against a database everytime a page is called.

basically you need to have the cms situated on a test site, then when you run "makelive.exe" the script would run and place these into the live folder area that is picked up by your host.

i haven't seen this as part of a available cms yet, and think it's a great idea

aso186 · Mar 26th, 2008, 10:29

Oh I see! My apologies CV.