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Frequently
Asked Questions: General Topics
Below is a set
of frequently asked questions with answers to them. We are trying
to make this list as complete as possible. If you have any questions
that you think should be part of this list but is not, please
send us an email to [email protected]. If you are looking
for technical information, please refer to our Technical
FAQ.
About QuickModules.com
About QuickModules.com's
Services
About Online
Applications
What
is QuickModules.com?
QuickModules.com is a website that offers its clients the facilities
to develop and deploy their online applications in quickly. Database-enabled
web applications can be built quickly using online wizards available
on the website. All data and application modules are hosted on
QuickModules.com's servers, relieving the clients of all the hassle
involved with doing it themselves.
Is
QuickModules.com reliable
Yes. QuickModules.com is built and maintained by a team of experienced
software developers. Its initial development followed extensive
research and testing of new technologies. The website is being
tested and upgraded constantly to keep it operating optimally.
Who
would benefit most from QuickModule.com's services?
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Web developers
who build database-enabled websites or online applications
can use QuickModules.com to build and host applications at
a fraction of the time and cost. |
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Webmasters
can database-enable their websites with QuickModule.com as
a database backend. |
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Corporations
can use QuickModules.com to build online applications quickly
for sharing and managing data across their enterprise. |
Why
is QuickModules.com useful for websites?
Websites require database access to make their web pages dynamic.
Installing databases for web sites is expensive and time consuming.
It also requires writing complex CGI or ASP scripts to handle
the integration of the data with the web pages. All this can be
done seamlessly using QuickModules.com. We host the database data
which can be intergrated into websites using simply HTML links.
Why
is QuickModules.com useful for corporations?
Corporations need to build online applications for easy accessibility
to their employees and to their clients. Traditionally speaking,
building online applications is expensive and time consuming.
It requires considerable technical skills. QuickModules.com changes
all this. Building and online application is now as easy as assembling
it from working parts. No programming or technical skills are
required. It can now be done in minutes instead of weeks. All
this translates to huge savings in time and money.
Can
QuickModules.com be used to implement an e-commerce shopping cart?
Yes, it can. QuickModules.com can be used to quickly develop product
lists, order forms, and total calculations. The one thing that
you cannot do is validate the credit card information. The reason
is that QuickModules.com is an application development platform,
not a merchant account service. However, many online credit-card
companies have automated validation services where the credit
card information is sent to the validator's website using a secure
link. QuickModules.com is capable of sending such information.
If you plan on using QuickModules.com for accepting orders, then
make sure you subscribe to either the Business Plan or the Corporate
Plan since those are the plans that support secure communication.
Will
QuickModules.com save me money?
Definitely. If you want to setup an online application for your
website, you need to purchase and install a database system, hire
somebody to maintain it, and hire somebody to develop the application.
We will not speculate about how much all this will cost, but if
you are researching the topic, then you would probably have a
good idea.
How
much time does it take to build an application?
Developing online applications using traditional means requires
considerable time, effort, and technical knowledge. Depending
on their complexity, applications can take from a week to several
months. Using QuickModules.com, you can develop applications in
a matter of minutes that would otherwise take weeks to implement
and deploy.
How
much technical knowledge is required?
Not much. If you want to build a database and application from
scratch, you just need a little understanding of databases so
that you may design your data tables properly. You can get this
information from the online help. If you are using an existing
application template to build your application, then all you need
to do is insert a link from your website to your module's URL
to get it up running. A one minute task.
How
powerful are online applications developed at QuickModules.com?
We have gone through consiertable efforts to make QuickModules.com
as easy to use and as flexible as possible. Infortunately, part
of the simplicity has come at the expense of power. In order to
accommodate most users and browser types, we had to forget about
using fancy features such as Java or ActiveX, which would have
made application more powerful, but less compatible. Still, QuickModule.com's
applications are enough for more than 90% of users and websites.
We are continuing to evolve our website to make it even more encompassing.
What
is an online application?
An online application is a program that is accessible using a
web browser. The program and the data reside on the server and
the user simply interacts with the presentation layer (the user
interface) that is displayed by the browser.
What
are some advantages and disadvantages of online applications?
Remember that an online application is run off a website. This
means that a user can run the application using a web browser
and without having to do any software installations or upgrades.
The application is accessible from any computer with a web browser.
Since surfing web pages has become second nature to most users,
running an online application is much more intuitive to a casual
user than installing and running custom application on his/her
computer. Unfortunately, with all this ease of use come some drawbacks:
because an online application has to run in a browser, and in
order to support most browsers, its functionality has to be more
limited and it cannot compete with regular software in terms of
features, fancy gadgets, and speed.
What
is an online database?
An
online database is a database system that is accessible through
a website. The obvious usefulness of online databases is that
they can be accessed from anywhere using a web browser. Compare
this to a local database which has to be backed up and transfered
manually from one computer to another.
What
is the difference between a database and an application?
A database is a repository of data. You can store in it information
is structured formats. A database can be used to insert and update
via entry forms, and view data using reports and tables. An application
is a sequence of procedures that perform a particular task. There
is a notion of a process flow that takes a user from one step
to another. An application usually makes use of a database to
store its data.
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