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● Economical Websites
An economical website is sustainable and efficient.
I. Sustainability
Everything (on the internet) emits CO². Since websites use energy, our aim is to minimize their environmental impact by keeping their energy consumption as low as possible.
II. Efficiency
When a website loads quickly, it's not just a perk for those on slow internet — it also helps search engines rank it higher.
● Flexible Websites
A flexible website is adaptable and can conform to various infrastructures.
I. Custom Code
Tailored websites enable us to translate ideas into concepts into designs into content, without constraining the content creation process. This approach prevents the imposition of content formation by technical capabilities. (For a more in-depth exploration, refer to the social construction of technology, SCOT.)
II. Infrastructure
A website that operates universally, allowing us to (a) freely choose our hosting/infrastructure initially, and (b) effortlessly switch hosting plans. Both are crucial for adapting to new technical possibilities and solutions or regressions.
● Secure Websites
A secure website is immune to hacking and facilitates effortless backups.
I. Not Hackable
Ideally, our data should be safeguarded, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access and modify it.
II. Easy Backups
Streamlining the backup process is crucial. Cumbersome chains of importing and exporting across various services are heavy on resources. The essence of an easy backup lies in minimizing the number of steps involved, while keeping the data as minimal as possible.
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● Dynamic
You might be acquainted with dynamic websites—those where, if you enter your Content Management System, adjust some text, hit save, and see your website instantly updated. This occurs because, each time you visit your website, the server processes and renders the content.
This rendering is crucial, even if you haven't made any changes. The content still undergoes processing on your server, creating workload with every page load.
To address this issue, caching is useful—however, pitfalls such as invalidation, poisoning, and isolation exist. To avoid these challenges, one can opt for static websites.
● Concept
The basic concept of static websites is to shift the server workload from a point the user chooses — every time a user loads a page — to a point the website editor chooses — when the editor releases a new version of the website.
Static websites are, essentially, complete exports of a website. To draw a comparison, it's like having a PDF version of a Word Doc. The Word Doc serves as your content management system, and the PDF represents your website. When you modify content in the Word Doc, you have to export the PDF again. However, the PDF is entirely independent and unaware that it was originally created from a Word Doc.
This procedure can be understood as a caching mechanism in itself, but with a shift of responsibilities to the website rather than an external source. Therefore, this approach offers numerous advantages.
It resonated so well with people that they coined the term JAM-Stack for this method.
● JAM-Stack
In web development, stacks are crucial setups or software bundles encompassing tools used to build websites. They address questions like data storage, programming languages, and server configuration. The popular LAMP-Stack powers dynamic websites, such as WordPress.
Contrary to this, the JAM-Stack emerges as a solution to issues posed by traditional websites. While designs differ, its essence lies in leveraging the advantages of static websites.
This is where the aforementioned concepts of economy, flexibility, and security come into play.
● Benefits
I. Improved Performance
Static sites, pre-built for faster load times and enhanced performance, provide users with quicker page loads, contributing to an overall enhanced user experience. Additionally, faster page speed serves as a positive factor in SEO rankings.
II. Reduced Environmental Footprint
Pre-building websites require fewer server-side processes, leading to decreased energy consumption. This reduction in server workload contributes to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable web presence.
III. Security
With reduced server-side processing and a focus on client-side rendering, Static inherently provides improved security. The attack surface is minimized, and the risk of server-related vulnerabilities is reduced.
IV. Scalability
Static allows for easy scalability. The separation of frontend and backend enables efficient scaling by distributing static assets through CDNs, ensuring consistent performance even with increasing traffic.
V. Reliability and Maintainability
In environments capable of building static websites, modern development concepts, such as component-based architecture, enhance reliability and maintainability. Breaking down the system into modular components streamlines development, making it easier to maintain and update specific parts without disrupting the entire system. This approach fosters an efficient development workflow.
● Downsides
While the advantages of static websites are significant, they do come with some drawbacks.
I. Deployment
Most European hosting providers are accustomed to PHP and offer it pre-installed, simplifying the deployment of PHP-driven websites (LAMP Stack). Static website generators, being less common, require custom settings and specific IT infrastructure.
II. User Interactivity, State Management
Determining if a user is logged in or displaying specific content based on user roles is challenging with a static site. To address this, we'd need to take detours around APIs, resorting to server-processed content.
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We consistently recommend and prioritize the development of static websites when the necessary requirements align.
To increase flexibility and simplify operations, we've built Another CMS, tailored to each projects needs and growing with it’s demands.
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The primary focus should always be on the website itself and the tools used to create and maintain it. A CMS should not dictate specific styles or interfere with the codebase — its sole responsibility is, as it’s name suggests, to manage content.
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Digital tools should adapt to the content they help create, not the other way around. When tools dictate the structure or style of what’s being made, they limit creativity and authenticity. Instead, they should be flexible, designed to support unique ideas and diverse expressions, allowing content to take the lead and technology to follow.
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Words, images, videos, audio… Yet the visual appearance – layout, typography, shapes, colors… – not merely frame the content; they constitute an integral part of it. The visual and structural design directly influence how content is perceived and interpreted, rendering the presentation and design inseparable from the message itself.
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