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Website

The rest of this site talks about “web sites” but it is more or less assumed that everyone knows what a website is. It is worth just looking at what makes up a web site. In short, what are you actually “buying” when you commission a web site?

There are many components, some of which are topics in their own right and have their own pages on this site. The first of these is the domain name which is the address of a site which is never actually owned and has to be renewed every few years. The second is web hosting which usually involves the rental of space on a computer which transmits the web site data to visitors via a web server.

The web site itself is actually just a collection of files. Some files contain pictures, some contain text and others may contain data in other formats but at a fundamental level a web site is a collection of files. Once created many of these files are simply sent to the visitors web browser when the visitor goes to a particular page in your site.

When a visitor types in your domain name, your web server sends the first page file (usually something like “index.html” which contain XHTML) to the visitors web browser. That page contains the writing of the page and lists all of the pictures and other pieces of the page (like CSS style sheets). The web browser requests these additional files from the web server and when it has them, it draws the web page. Links on the page simply name other page files on your web server. When a user clicks on a link, the page file that it names is requested from the server and the process repeats.

Some files hold a special kind of text which is called a script (written in a language like PHP). Rather than being sent directly from the web server to web browser, a script has instructions for the web server. These instruction may enable the server to dynamically add information from a database or even another web site to the page that is being sent to the requesting web browser.

The web developer creates the files that make up your web site. He also uploads and organises them on the web server. Many files, especially any script files may require a particular kind of web server and different scripting languages to be installed on that server. Because a web site may contain hundreds or thousands of files which all have to be organised carefully, maintaining a web site (adding new pages or updating old ones) requires attention to detail, can be highly technical and can be quite time consuming.

One of the points this article is trying to make is that a web site is more of an on-going process rather than a one off purchase. It is important to understand this so you can plan and budget accordingly. When you choose a web developer, you should also be looking for someone who you will be happy working with over time.

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