[dba-Tech] Question(s) about web-site design and development

[Dan Waters]

Hi Arthur,

When I read your announcement I really felt like I'd been hit with a striking loss.  

But here you are - right back in the game! :-)

You are my role model ...

Don't stop for anything!
Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-Tech [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2016 10:18 AM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: [dba-Tech] Question(s) about web-site design and development

As Homer Simpson once said, "There are no stupid questions, only stupid people."

I confess I know next to nothing about either discipline mentioned in the subject, but I've been wondering about the design of numerous sites (ArsTechnica, NYRB, NYTimes, there's a long list) whose basic mode of presentation is analogous to the design of a newspaper: top-of-the-fold headline(s), a paragraph beneath each, and a link that takes you to the rest of the story.

It's obvious they use a template of some sort. In some cases, the story-boxes are always the same size, and in other cases the size varies.
Either way, I'm guessing there are tools to do this (WordPress seems popular), but what's the actual process? Do you start off with an entire article, snip the first paragraph and paste it into the Front Page? But then how do you add the link at the bottom of the story lead? Or maybe it's the other way around?

Given the rapidity of change in such sites, I have to imagine that various tools are available with which to control the flow of a story from lead to body. I can't believe that people have to do this by hand, but also can't imagine how these tools might work.

(Not that it's relevant to my immediate question, other than to illustrate my ignorance in many branches of computing, but I haven't the faintest clue how the software behind LucasFilm etc. works: more specifically, how do they make the images of Sigourney Weaver in Avatar?  I can't even imagine how to use such software, let alone how to write it.)

--
Arthur
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