What is a website

What is a website

   History of the World Wide Web

The World Wide Web (WWW) was created in 1990 by the British CERN physicist Tim Berners-Lee.On 30 April 1993, CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be free to use for anyone.

   Websites have many functions and can be used in various fashions; a website can be a personal website, a commercial website, a government website or a non-profit organization website. Websites can be the work of an individual, a business or other organization, and are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose. Any website can contain a hyperlink to any other website, so the distinction between individual sites, as perceived by the user, can be blurred.

   Websites are written in, or converted to, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and are accessed using a software interface classified as a user agent. Web pages can be viewed or otherwise accessed from a range of computer-based and Internet-enabled devices of various sizes, including desktop computers, laptops, PDAs and cell phones.

A website is hosted on a computer system known as a web server, also called an HTTP server. These terms can also refer to the software that runs on these systems which retrieves and delivers the web pages in response to requests from the website's users. Apache is the most commonly used web server software (according to Netcraft statistics) and Microsoft's IIS is also commonly used. Some alternatives, such as Nginx, Lighttpd, Hiawatha or Cherokee, are fully functional and lightweight.

   Types of website

Websites can be divided into two broad categories - static and interactive. Interactive sites are part of the Web 2.0 community of sites, and allow for interactivity between the site owner and site visitors. Static sites serve or capture information but do not allow engagement with the audience directly.

Some web sites are informational or produced by enthusiasts or for personal use or entertainment. Many web sites do aim to make money, using one or more business models, including:Posting interesting content and selling contextual advertising either through direct sales or through an advertising network.

E-commerce - products or services are purchased directly through the web site Advertising products or services available at a brick and mortar business

Freemium - basic content is available for free but premium content is paid There are many varieties of websites, each specializing in a particular type of content or use, and they may be arbitrarily classified in any number of ways.