Website

Author: Leandro Alegsa

07-09-2021

This article is about the word website, not to be confused with web page.

A website ([ˈvɛpsaɪ̯t], also [ˈwɛpsaɪ̯t] or English [ˈwɛbˌsaɪt]), also web presence, web presence, web offer or web appearance, is the presence of a provider of telemedia in the worldwide web (World Wide Web) - accessible under an individual web address. It is created with web techniques, for example HTML, and can be displayed with a user agent, for example a browser. A web presence includes web pages and optional downloadable documents. In other words, a Web presence is a virtual place on the World Wide Web that usually contains several Web pages, files, and other resources, usually linked together by a uniform navigation (using hypertext techniques).

The English name website or web site is derived from site (German 'Ort', 'Platz', 'Stelle'), this in turn from Latin situs (German 'Lage', 'Stellung'). The other German terms Internetauftritt, Internetpräsenz and Internetangebot are less precise, since the focus on the World Wide Web (as part of the entire Internet) is not expressed in these terms. The term 'homepage', which is also frequently used, equates the initial page of the web presence, which is actually referred to as the homepage, with the entire web presence.

Homepage of the German-language Wikipedia website, November 2013

Term

By encompassing all the web pages and any downloadable documents on the World Wide Web grouped together under a given domain and belonging to a provider, the web presence is the preferred - though not the only - medium by which providers and users come together via the Internet.

The shortening of the long expression World Wide Web site to a single, lowercase word website in English reflects a typical development of technical expressions. Leading news agencies such as Reuters and The Chicago Manual recommend the contracted spelling website in English, similarly dictionaries and encyclopedias such as the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.

You can see the use of the spelling website at large Internet corporations such as Google and Apple. Microsoft, on the other hand, uses both spellings, website and web site.

The terms website, web presence, internet platform, internet presence and internet presence are generally used synonymously. In professional discourse, Internet presence (web applications + services/daemons such as FTP and e-mail) is sometimes used more broadly than web presence (web applications only). While Internet platform is generally used synonymously with website, web platform is often used synonymously with website in only a subset of cases.

History

The first website to go online was created and published on November 13, 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist employed at CERN. On April 30, 1993, CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be freely accessible to everyone. A copy of this website is back online today.

Questions and Answers

Q: What is a website?

A: A website is a set of webpages that are joined together.

Q: How do people look at websites?

A: People look at websites with a computer of some kind, sometimes including the computer inside mobile phones and televisions.

Q: Where are websites kept?

A: Websites are kept on computers called web servers.

Q: Are all types of computers able to access websites?

A: Yes, any type of computer can access websites, including those found in mobile phones and televisions.

Q: Is there only one webpage per website?

A: No, there can be multiple webpages that make up a single website.

Q: What connects the pages within a website? A: The pages within a website are connected by links or navigation menus.

Q: What is the purpose of having multiple webpages in one site? A: Having multiple webpages in one site allows for more content to be shared and organized in an easy-to-navigate format.