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My question is specifically related to mini sites, smaller sites that are usually part of a much larger site. Are these typically done in flash, or can they be done in usual html as well? Do you always need a mini site, or is it better to just have a single site with multiple pages and whatnot? I'm a bit confused as to the difference between them. Thanks in advance for the help
You're talking about Portlets - pluggable software components that are managed and displayed in a web portal.
see also Wikipedia article about Portlets
Regards,
Remi
Actually, aren't mini-sites a little different from portlets? I thought they were just sub-sections of particular sites devoted to specific things. Or smaller sites again with a really narrow focus.
I don't really know that they have much of a point unless you're an company with a huge site launching a specific ad campaign, or something like that. I also don't know that companies specifically set out to "create" mini sites, I think they just sort of happen. The two best examples I can think of are
www.subservientchicken.com -- which is really a Burger King ad on Burger King's site with a diff url, and
www.carfunfootprint.com -- which mini cooper made, it's a neat little calculator for cars' green and fun scores
The latter was I *think* done in flash, don't know about the other. Again, though, I think the best thing is to just let your project develop organically, no one really "needs" a mini site
On the tech side, minisites do things like share servers with the main site and other mundane stuff. They are also known as microsites and sitelets. They are often designed to exist only for a short time, such as the duration of an ad campaign. For us average people, there's no reason to mess with them. A single site with multiple pages is easiest.
Tom