XML Site Engine

(tools)

If it were easier to update and maintain information on the Web, a Web site could be more than a billboard for an organization: it could support organizational memory and communication between members. To use the Web this way, people would need to frequently and easily modify Web site content without writing code. However, in many organizations only a few select individuals have the technical knowledge to code a Web page. All information must flow through them. Web sites made this way cannot support communication. They tend to be updated infrequently and so discourage repeat visits.

The XML Site Engine allows all members of an organization to add content to its Web site just by typing text into forms on a Web browser. It not only updates the Web site dynamically, it also automatically cross-references the site and generates hyper-links. As new content is added, it is checked for references to the existing site, and existing content is checked for references to the new text. The XML Site Engine then reconstructs the Web site from previously specified templates, automatically hyper-linking any cross-references among the pages of the new site.

The Computational Design Lab Web site is powered by the XML Site Engine. It's easy for anyone to add or modify a project description or to update any information on the site. Whenever a project description mentions another CoDe Lab person or project, the XML Site Engine automatically links the text to that person's page or project. It could be used to maintain constantly changing information about a firm's ongoing projects, team management, or suppliers and contractors. The XML Site Engine enables a Web site to be more than a snapshot of an organization, the site becomes a window into the organization in action.

web page: /dmgftp/XMLSiteEngine/

researchers: Michael Philetus Weller

last updated 9.15.2006 by Mark D Gross