Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index simple:Website A website or web site is a collection of web pagess, that is, documents accessible via the World Wide Web on the Internet. The pages of a website will be accessed from a common root URL, the homepage, and usually reside on the same physical server. The URLs of the pages organize them into a hierarchy, although the hyperlinks between them control how the reader perceives the overall structure. Overview A website will often be the work of one person, one organization, or on a particular topic, or have a particular purpose. This is quite a blurry definition, given the hypertext nature of the web: the whole of Wikipedia forms a website, but whether the Meta-Wikipedia pages are part of the same website or a sister website is open to debate. Web sites are written in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and are accessed using special software called web browsers. Plugins are available for browsers which allow them to show active content, such as Flash, Shockwave or applets written in Java. Some interactive content may also be generated with JavaScript, support for which is built-in for most browsers. An emerging standard called Dynamic HTML is starting to make an appearance, though no standard has been formally adopted yet. Types of Websites There are numerous types of websites, each specializing in a particualr service or use. A few types of websites include: Business site: used for promoting a business or service Commerce site or eCommerce sites: for purchasing goods, such as Amazon.com Download site: strictly used for downloading electronic content, such as software, game demos or computer wallpaper Information site: contains content that is intended merely to inform visitors, but not necessarily for commercial purposes; such as: RateMyProfessors.com Shock site: includes images or other material that is intended to be offensive to most viewers Vanity site: run by an individual or a small group (such as a family) that contains information or any content that the individual wishes to include Wiki site: a site for people to contribute to material and exchange ideas (such as Wikipedia) Many websites are a mixture of types. For example, a business web site may promote the business's products, but may also host informative documents, such as white papers. There are also numerous sub-categories to the ones listed above. For example, a porn site is a specific type of eCommerce site or business site (that is, it is trying to sell memberships for access to its site). A fan site may be a vanity site on which the administrator is paying homage to a celebrity. Many business websites, have all the appearance of brochures—that is an advertisement that can be strolled around. Some websites act as vehicles to communicate with other people: Webchat. The content of a website is constrained by the hosting computer's power, and also legally, e.g. by copyright, pornography laws, etc. See also: Web content management This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.