A few explanations
Most people get confused concerning extremely complicated terms, such as internet security or long and short protocole (say, even a computer engineer finished by saying that the one lasted longer than the other, which was at the origine of a bad joke of mine concerning a long protocole given over to Caroline de Monaco and a short one for Stéphanie) and thus have little criteria of choice at the moment of deciding which type of web page they actually want, or which is the one that does fit best their business.
1. The differentiation between short and long protocole as commercial choice appeared around 1990. Most countries decided to further the long protocole for quite undetermined reasons, and most of the web page business turned around it ever since.
A long protocole differentiates itself from short protocole the following way:
1. if you have a program in order to make your page, such as (mainly in use), Frontpage, Dreamweaver or Flash, you’re making your page inside of your computer and all data stay inside of it. You thus need a second program in order to send the information to a server, which is linking the page to a satellite for emission. Inside of the satellite, these pages are recognized through the long protocole codification www. The pages receive thus a little case inside of a huge memory which is measured by weight. The more weight there is, the more space it takes, and thus, the more it costs. Benefit through long protocole derives actually from the space taken in weight.
2. Short protocole uses a ‘page generating’ program which stays inside of the satellite. Whatever kind of program it is (wordpress, slide, walla, now even yahoo and other) it will allow getting a page or space that ‘falls’ from the satellite, without it depending from your computer, nor you needing a program in order to get the information up. Thus, the whole information stays inside of the satellite and does not refer to any particular computer. Property is assured through the codes that allow entering your particular space. Thus, the page and contents remain the property of the owner, and does not necessarily pass through a webmaster in order to be dealt with. Benefit derives from agreements with servers who pay percentages on the ‘time use’ of the program, reason why it is usually free.
Before 2001, the web business involved two activities: programming and design. As most of the programs needed in order to create a skin (the formal appearance of the page including buttons, links, organization of space) needed of the knowledge of a particular programming language such as Java or other, it was programmers who prepared these, having to confront themselves constantly to the problem of the right reserving most of the computer functions, which made their task difficult or extremely expensive. Designers were responsible for the esthetical arrangements of the page. After 2001, two programs are developed, Dreamweaver anf Flash 8/9, that do not need of the designer anymore. Or at least, such it seems. They include ‘esthetical arrangements’ that do make the work of the designer not necessary anymore. Flash though is extremely heavy and many programmers have severe problems in dealing with it: thus, highest problems in security appear. Dreamweaver does offer little choice in the factual arrangement of the page, as it mainly consists of little cases that are more or less well ordered.
It is obvious that pages show both an obvious lack of presentation due mainly to the fact that the programmer thinks in a ‘1+1′ (computer language) – which has quite funny results once translated into a visual object – and a lack of security.
The use of short protocole finishes thus by offering a fine solution to both problems. Mainly relegated to the category of chaotic ‘blogs’ – spaces for personal expansion – they finish though by producing a high amount of extremely valuable skins and features that would become unbearably expensive if attached to a singular page. And this because 1. people creating skins have become specialists in their domain 2. the mass of pages producing benefit through use (in time, or ‘currents’) does allow improvals for a whole that would become unbearabale for one alone. Thus, extremely sophisticated stats sections, including specific search results, links, pingbacks and other, over 70 different skins, a great variety of options including the possibility of ‘horintolizing’ a page, which thus finishes by looking very much like flash, links, insertion of music, videos, moving icons, fonts, colours, pictures, spaces for optional public comments with hidden e.amil contac adress, make of it an extremely interesting tool for a designer, who thus has to not to care anymore about programming, but just needs some intuition in order to establish which skin does finally fit best to a certain type of business.
Considering the large amount of features and options given, it is obvious that this allows a sharp lowering of prices. It is possible, on top of that, to transfer the given page to long protocole at a cheaper price: only the ‘name’ is transfered, so that the weight remains with the short protocole, allowing the use of thousands and thousands of images, if ever of need for the same price (50 mega free), well, about 150.
Another solution both for a large amount of images and for security is the program ’slide’. This program, another short protocole, does not get ‘images’ to the space, but just ‘prints’, so that they have very little weight. As they have ‘covered’ their program with some flash feature lately, it becomes impossible to pick the images. Being probably one of the most secure programs actually available in internet, it does though not have yet an excessively ‘professional’ look: as it was intended mostly for personal use. It may though happen in the future, as the possibility of getting images at almost full screen dimension, in esthetical moving arrangements, with music, videos and even little stars, if necessary, may become a proper solution for many businesses who are in need of showing images the most securely as possible. This program is easily linked to WordPress (although former arrangements that allowed the insertion of it inside of pages are not current anymore).
The other advantage of the linking of ’slide’ to ‘WordPress’ is that ’slide’ is of extremely easy use. It is something like ’sending images’ on an e-mail account, which makes renewals easy, quick and cheap, as they may depend from the owner’s business. Thus, valuable information or pictures do not leave the owner’s place, which should always be an adavantage.
On top of that, as often stated, someone who is related to a business, does often know better what his clients like than a webmaster who actually catches just a range of esthetical possibilities. This way, images related to the business or being known as pleasing clients in general may illustrate the often very boring exposure of cold products. Texts, music, colours may thus easily be adapted to a particular esthetical environment.
It is not only this. It seems as if the use of short protocole for a business may open a new perspective on the commercial exploitation of web sites, which, actually being very expensive, have little financial feed back, and have though become necessary for simple reasons of image.
Thus: the possibility of inserting whole amounts of more or less related texts, augmentates the appearances in Google or other non manipulated search engines, as Google reads texts on WordPress, while it doesn’t on Flash. If the texts are chosen in the relative knowledge of likings of clients or possible clients, many potential clients may get in touch with an environment that may decide them to buy.
On top of that, the WordPress program has an ‘inner communication system’, which allows people to keep information related in special tag organizers, or find information on it through special search engines, such as Technorati, which do only ‘read’ short protocole pages.
These advantages do though not fit to a usually fixed, unmovable page. It needs a moving, changing, adapting context, where things do change periodically in order to reactivate Google appearances without paying. (600 Usd for 4 fixed search terms a month !!) Every time a change occurs in WordPress, almost the whole page is reactivated and depending on the amount of visits, stays or disappears quickly.
Even if born completely accidentally and used as ‘test page’, www.rogervivierparis.wordpress.com is a good example for what I mean. The possibility of attracting people through games and music, aleatory texts and other allows the thought of using space for punctual announcements (test Dan Hotels), which may pay off a webmaster in permanent engagement. Thus, punctual announcements are grouped under ‘houses’ that do more or less fit the clients and creates quite cheap ‘groups’ without legal entanglements.
To say, you profit of everything for almost nothing, and this should always be of commercial interest.
On the other hand, this type of page does not fit every business. Out of experience I see it of extreme interest for small or medium business, who may thus ‘notify’ clients of the arrival of new goods. It opens windows at home on the shop that may be decisive the very moment you decide to buy something without having to turn around 200 shops. But it doesn’t fit ‘internet sales’, for example, in the case of international distributors, as the direct payment system not possible this way. To my understanding it is Dreamweaver that does best fit this type of business. (Except if you use paypal, but even in this case it does limit itself to medium size business.)
It seems to me excellent for schools, universities, administration that may just fix a note on a given background and make it an image through Paint (inside of Office) in order to make it appear on the screen, without there being a possibility for it to be stolen. Insertion of .doc documents inside of WordPress, allow on top the easy distribution of examination texts, results or other, which may further more be ‘coded’ (through the .doc security system) so that only the ones having the code have access to it.
Other large businesses, mainly related to drinks, games, etc (like Coca Cola, or Kubrick and many others) may create a proper environment that keeps the interest awaken around a determined product. Thus also for art galleries, museums, hotels, campings or other, who may enlargen their presence in a most agreable way through internet. At higher ranked businesses, I do though still think that a Flash presentation becomes necessary, which could though easily link to further interactive spaces.
Being, to my understanding the best program in order to fix personal pages, it may become the presentation card of the future for artists, singers, dancers, designers of all sorts, lawyers, architects and in general, all those who may show this way what they have produced in image or music. (Test example www.inesdelafressange.wordpress.com )
