webphlex offers:

• platform independence: complex sites can be created from simple HTML files, which are more likely to work on any machine using any browser than an equivalent site relying on more 'advanced' techniques,
• flexibility: because webphlex works on a simple principle of templates and text replacement, the user has complete control over the final result; you do the creative bits, webphlex does the donkey work,
• reliability: the consequences of any changes to a web site can be seen immediately, without the need for extensive testing,
• transparency: unlike many systems, webphlex isn't a 'black box', but allows the user to see and influence exactly what it's doing at every stage of the process,
• language-independence: a multilingual web site can easily be developed and maintained by a team of people who may not all have a language in common.
• media independence: sites can can easily be distributed on CD or made available for downloading,

Since the earliest days of the Web, one of its biggest problems has been browser compatability and cross-platform independence. A vast amount of effort has been expended by web designers in attempts to make their sites look the same (or even to work properly) in different browsers, older and newer versions of the same browser, different machines (Apple vs. Windows) and operating systems, not to mention the endless possibilties of how any particular visitor might have configured his browser (Javascript turned on or off, cookies allowed or not). Many sites contain complex Javascript routines for detecting how the page is being viewed and adapting it accordingly.

Things have got a lot better recently, with modern browsers complying (almost) completely with the HTML and CSS standards, but even now compliance isn't 100% and not everyone uses an up-to-date browser version.

On the other hand, since the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2, Internet Explorer regards Javascript and other 'active content' with great suspicion. This can result in endless warnings to site visitors, who may need to click on the Information Bar, click on 'Allow blocked content' and then click on 'OK' to confirm before the page will work properly. If this keeps on happening, how many of your site visitors are going to get past the second page?

The sort of web page most likely to work well on every possible platform is one built up of simple HTML statements, but creating and maintaining a complex, menu-driven, site built in this way involves a gigantic amount of work. webphlex was born out of frustration with this sort of problem. By creating complex sites from simple HTML files, with repetitive data maintained in one place only, it can produce sites which can be guaranteed to work for (almost) everyone.

In a large, complex web site with many internal links, changing one item can have unforeseen consequences elsewhere. If your site is made up of web pages generated 'on the fly' by a server-side application, there are ony two ways you can be sure a change doesn't cause unexpected errors: either invest the time necessary to thoroughly test the site (unlikely), or wait till your site visitors find the errors (and then hope that they bother to tell you about them - even more unlikely).

webphlex produces 'static' web pages which are then uploaded to the server. After any changes are made, the whole web site can be generated off-line. Any changes to existing files are reported (with the exact differences shown on the screen if required), so that the consequences of any change are immediately obvious.

see also:

web generation

The relative advantages and disadvantages of static versus dynamic site generation have been the subject of much discussion. It's generally agreed that static sites are faster, more reliable and more secure, whereas a dynamic site is capable of things such as Dynamic Customer Self Service, forums and E-commerce transactions, which are by definition impossible on a static site. For more information on this topic, see:

http://simon.incutio.com/archive/2003/12/13/staticContentGeneration http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_publishingmodels/index.html

Putting it very simply, webphlex works by replacing codes in templates with values stored in a database. You put the data in the database and you decide exactly what the templates look like, so you've got complete control over the final result.

In the design of any software, a balance has to be found between simplicity and flexibility. We've tried to keep webphlex as simple as possible, but when a choice has to be made we tend to go for flexibility. For instance, we allow you to put pretty well anything you like into any data field: if you enter something into a file name which isn't an existant file (or even a valid file name), you'll be given a warning but allowed to do it anyway. If you want to put a telephone number into a field designed for a hyperlink URL, or a Javascript statement into the e-mail address field, that's entirely up to you. This makes it easy to achieve the effect you want, but equally easy to make a total mess if you're not careful.

Anywhere a text is used, it can be replaced by a 'text block'. This is a group of data fields representing the given text in any number of languages. While a text is only displayed on the screen in one language (the user's 'preferred language'), it is usually sufficient to double-click on a text block number next to the field to call up a screen in which the actual texts can be maintained. When the web pages are generated, the text blocks are replaced by the actual texts in the appropriate languages.

This means that each user working on a site can see the content in his own language. The whole web-site can be handed over to a translater, who can only change texts in his own language. In this way a multilingual web site can easily be developed and maintained by a team of people who may not all have a language in common.

see also:

text blocks templates and text replacement introduction: languages introduction: translation management screen: text blocks

A web site produced by webphlex can easily be distributed on CD or made available for downloading. Being made up of simple HTML files it will look and work identically whether it's on-line or off-line.