How to know a website is static or dynamic

[lkovnih226]

Hi everyone,
Is there any ways that we can check a website is either dynamic or static or when visiting a few pages in a website you can know whether it is a static or dynamic website.
Please share your experience.

 

[EpicGlobalWeb]

You need to clarify what you mean by "static" or "dynamic." However, I'll take a guess at what you mean and try to answer you.

1. A static website could be a website that does not change its text or navigation content. One way to tell if this is the case is to look at the URL extension on your browser. If the site says "something.com/this-is-a-file/this-is-a-page.html" then it is likely static, because html doesn't change its content except through JavaScript when you interact with it, if there is any script in it.

That is not 100% way to tell however, because php (with the help of the fwrite function) can generate html pages if it was programmed to. Also, a common practice for SEO or vanity reasons is URL re-writing, which usually rewrites the URL in the code to cut off the page file extension, like this: "something.com/this-is-a-file/this-is-a-page" instead of "something.com/this-is-a-file/this-is-a-page.html"

More websites today are dynamic or becoming dynamic. Dynamic websites might have a URL extension ending in ".php" or ".asp" which means that the page you're viewing was generated by the server through server-side code instead of client side code.

2. The comments. If you right click any website, you'll see a button that says "view source" and you should click it. If there is anything dynamic, good programmers will comment where their php code is during development and sometimes they leave it there when the site goes live too.

3. In the same "view source" you might find tags that say "<script>var x = "a_variable";</script>" which is JavaScript code. JavaScript code will tell you that there are dynamic elements going on in between those tags. Sometimes they call other parts of the website to change when an event happens such as a mouse-click or even a hand gesture infront of your webcam.

You probably wanted to know about websites that can change dynamically, so that's my answer.

4. Sometimes dynamic can mean rotating IP addresses. Your website likely doesn't do that, however, and is usually static on hostgator, for instance, and your IP doesn't normally change there I don't think.

 

[RebeccaDooley]

I have cleared out your confusion about the website which is static or dynamic. There are basically two main types of website - static and dynamic.

A static site is one that is usually written in plain HTML and what is in the code of the page is what is displayed to the user.

A dynamic site is one that is written using a server-side scripting language such as PHP, ASP, JSP, or Coldfusion. In such a site the content is called in by the scripting language from other files or from a database depending on actions taken by the user.

 

[grimgrinn]

Hey there. Try to use chrome extension (aavilable for firefox and opera also) called Wappalyzer. It determines technology that web site is built on. For example this is how its look for webmastersun.com

So this way when you come to certain site you just look to wappalyzer icon in yuors browser address string and is it show you for example wp or dle or joomla or somth like this you can already say the site is dynamic/ If it shows just apache logo or jquery or somth else js framework most likely its static )

 

[OSSMediaLtd]

Hi

Static websites: Websites contains fixed pages and formats. It display the exact same information whenever anyone visits it.

Dynamic websites: Website can change the web page contents dynamically based on client's browser.

You can also use browser extension or addon to check the site is static or dyanamic:

Wappalyzer:

I am using wappalyzer in my browser to know sites information. Wappalyzer is a browser extension that uncovers the technologies used on websites. It detects content management systems, eCommerce platforms.

 

[RenderedElite]

Very easy to tell, just look at the source code. As grimgrinn said, you can use the Chrome extension Wappalyzer to find out even quicker.

 

[Aby]

There is one app that I know of that detects whether a web page is static or not.
It is called as Wappalyser. It is the best one out there.
I hope you find it easy to use and even more so while recommending it.

 

[Azmeri]

All websites are dynamic, it’s just a question of when. Some change several times a day. Others change less often, once or twice a year maybe… sooner or later they'll most likely all change to ‘just a memory’.

They are also static. Even the most dynamic doesn't change at every request. Else reverse proxies and caches wouldn't make a lot of sense.

So look for the marks of a CMS or some kind of rendered page.

 

[anghelvalentin95]

You can use the website builtwith. This give you information about the server side. If that section is not available, there is a possibility that website is static.