Okay, so this isn’t 1990 anymore. Websites are dynamic, not static. No one uses .html (hypertext markup language) anymore. Instead, modern websites use https, .asp, databases, interactivity, splashy advertisements and pictures that fly across the screen, areas of the page that stand still whereas others move around … all that is terribly impressive.
But, after fidgeting around with with WordPress, Moodle, Joomla!, add-ons to those, databases from MySQL and Microsoft SQL, and various other CMS packages made for teachers & students & school admin, I’ve decided they all suck.
I’m sticking with ordinary .html pages (oooh, how static!). Why? Here are some reasons:
- too much splash – There is too much in terms of giant, tiny, and every size in between of font, too many special pictures and taglines and logos and crap.
- too much wasted space – Most of the pages are taken up with logos, menus, special features, advertisement space, parts of the page that slide in and out of view whenever you even breathe on the mouse wheel, and all kinds of other special effects. Where the hell is the content? Is it that tiny little strip in the middle with giant margins, crowded on top, bottom, and both sides by crap? Is that the entire area I’m to use to display content? Good god.
- too specialized – I have to conform to its forms, its patterns for menus, and its appearance. Why? Because that’s how its features are all laid out. Divert from that, and … well, you can’t. That’s the way their package is laid out, and that’s that. What if I want a different layout? No, it doesn’t work with their specialized package. My content never expires, isn’t grouped the way they want it grouped, and doesn’t conform to its format (demanding all in .pdf format or limiting its upload size). I ain’t gonna conform to that.
- all in the database – I can find no way of including a list of content without adding it to the database. I have 2.66GB of privately made stuff and 62.1GB of material I’ve collected over time, not to mention buckets of content in video, picture, PowerPoint, and other formats. I’m to add all that to a database when I’ve already got it in folders on a drive? Don’t think so.
- setup takes eons – I could be using my time creating more assignments, but I’m stuck creating another website. Again – I ain’t gonna do that.
Oh, the list goes on. So, I’m abandoning the database-driven dynamic website for the simplistic, clean, clutter-free realm of static web pages.