introduction
A web site is a location in the WWW (World Wide Web). Located in a web site are a collection of web site resources, such as a bunch of HTML pages and pictures. Every web site resource has an address, called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
Web site resources are a subset of Internet resources.
what it is
A web site is one location in the WWW. Each web site contains resources for some small area of human endeavor. A site may be full of mad scientist research material or contain only a single photo of a man and his dog advertising their true love.
A resource is information such as a document or a program. The most common type of web site resource is a web page. Resources are also called content.
A site used by computers may have nothing at all for a person to look at: it is purely there to get a job done. Sales and marketing guys like to talk about B2B web sites and tend to call any other type of company web site a B2C (Business to Consumer) site.
Some organisations sell data stores that categorise web sites. Categories from the Websense organisation are shown in the table. A category database allows an employer to automatically restrict employee viewing pleasure.
| Websense URL Categories | ||
|---|---|---|
| category | sub-category | description |
| Abortion | Sites with neutral or balanced presentation of the issue. | |
| Abortion | Pro-Choice | Sites that provide information about or are sponsored by organizations that support legal abortion or that offer support or encouragement to those seeking the procedure. |
| Abortion | Pro-Life | Sites that provide information about or are sponsored by organizations that oppose legal abortion or that seek increased restriction of abortion. |
| Adult Material | Parent category that contains the categories: | |
| Adult Material | Adult Content | Sites that display full or partial nudity in a sexual context, but not sexual activity; erotica; sexual paraphernalia; sex-oriented businesses as clubs, nightclubs, escort services; and sites supporting the online purchase of such goods and services. |
| Adult Material | Lingerie and Swimsuit | Sites that offer images of models in suggestive but not lewd costume, with seminudity permitted. Includes classic 'cheese-cake,' calendar, and pinup art and photography. Includes also sites offering lingerie or swimwear for sale. |
| Adult Material | Nudity | Sites that offer depictions of nude or seminude human forms, singly or in groups, not overtly sexual in intent or effect. |
| Adult Material | Sex | Sites that depict or graphically describe sexual acts or activity, including exhibitionism; also, sites offering direct links to such sites. |
| Adult Material | Sex Education | Sites that offer information about sex and sexuality, with no pornographic intent. |
| Advocacy Groups | Sites that promote change or reform in public policy, public opinion, social practice, economic activities, and relationships. | |
| Business and Economy | Sites sponsored by or devoted to business firms, business associations, industry groups, or business in general. | |
| Business and Economy | Financial Data and Services | Sites that offer news and quotations on stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles, investment advice, but not online trading. Includes banks, credit unions, credit cards, and insurance. |
| Drugs | Parent category that contains the categories: | |
| Drugs | Abused Drugs | Sites that promote or provide information about the use of prohibited drugs, except marijuana, or the abuse or unsanctioned use of controlled or regulated drugs; also, paraphernalia associated with such use or abuse. |
| Drugs | Marijuana | Sites that provide information about or promote the cultivation, preparation, or use of marijuana. |
| Drugs | Prescribed Medications | Sites that provide information about approved drugs and their medical use. |
| Drugs | Supplements and Unregulated Compounds | Sites that provide information about or promote the sale or use of chemicals not regulated by the FDA (such as naturally occurring compounds). |
| Education | Parent category that contains the categories: | |
| Education | Cultural Institutions | Sites sponsored by museums, galleries, theatres (but not movie theatres), libraries, and similar institutions; also, sites whose purpose is the display of artworks. |
| Education | Educational Institutions | Sites sponsored by schools and other educational facilities, by non-academic research institutions, or that relate to educational events and activities. |
| Education | Educational Materials | Sites that provide information about or that sell or provide curriculum materials or direct instruction; also, learned journals and similar publications. |
| Education | Reference Materials | Sites that offer reference-shelf content such as atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, formularies, white and yellow pages, and public statistical data. |
| Entertainment | Sites that provide information about or promote motion pictures, non-news radio and television, books, humor, and magazines. | |
| Entertainment | MP3 and Audio Download Services | Sites that support downloading of MP3 or other sound files or that serve as directories of such sites. |
| Gambling | Sites that provide information about or promote gambling or support online gambling, involving a risk of losing money. | |
| Games | Sites that provide information about or promote electronic games, video games, computer games, role-playing games, or online games. Includes sweepstakes and giveaways. | |
| Government | Sites sponsored by branches, bureaus, or agencies of any level of government, except for the armed forces. | |
| Government | Military | Sites sponsored by branches or agencies of the armed services. |
| Government | Political Organizations | Sites sponsored by or providing information about political parties and interest groups focused on elections or legislation. |
| Health | Sites that provide information or advice on personal health or medical services, procedures, or devices, but not drugs. Includes self-help groups. | |
| Illegal or Questionable | Sites that provide instruction in or promote nonviolent crime or unethical or dishonest behavior or the avoidance of prosecution. | |
| Information Technology | Sites sponsored by or providing information about computers, software, the Internet, and related business firms, including sites supporting the sale of hardware, software, peripherals, and services. | |
| Information Technology | Computer Security | Sites that provide information about or free downloadable tools for computer security. |
| Information Technology | Hacking | Sites that provide information about or promote illegal or questionable access to or use of computer or communication equipment, software, or databases. |
| Information Technology | Proxy Avoidance | Sites that provide information about how to bypass proxy server features or to gain access to URLs in any way that bypasses the proxy server. |
| Information Technology | Search Engines and Portals | Sites that support searching the Web, news groups, or indices or directories thereof. |
| Information Technology | URL Translation Sites | Sites that offer online translation of URLs. These sites access the URL to be translated in a way that bypasses the proxy server, potentially allowing unauthorized access. |
| Information Technology | Web Hosting | Sites of organizations that provide hosting services, or top-level domain pages of Web communities. |
| Internet Communication | Parent category that contains the categories: | |
| Internet Communication | Web Chat | Sites that host Web chat services or that support or provide information about chat via HTTP or IRC. |
| Internet Communication | Web-Based Email | Sites that host Web-based email. |
| Job Search | Sites that offer information about or support the seeking of employment or employees. | |
| Militancy and Extremist | Sites that offer information about or promote or are sponsored by groups advocating antigovernment beliefs or action. | |
| Miscellaneous | Parent category that contains the categories: | |
| Miscellaneous | Content Delivery Networks | Commercial hosts that deliver content to subscribing websites. |
| Miscellaneous | Dynamic Content | URLs that are generated dynamically by a Web server. |
| Miscellaneous | File Download Servers | Web servers whose primary function is to deliver files for download. |
| Miscellaneous | Image Servers | Web servers whose primary function is to deliver images. |
| Miscellaneous | Images (Media) | URLs ending with image filenames. |
| Miscellaneous | Network Errors | URLs with hosts that do not resolve to IP addresses. |
| Miscellaneous | Private IP Addresses | IP addresses defined in RFC 1918, 'Address Allocation for Private Intranets.' |
| Miscellaneous | Uncategorized | Sites not categorized in the Websense Master Database. |
| News and Media | Sites that offer current news and opinion, including those sponsored by newspapers, general-circulation magazines, or other media. | |
| News and Media | Alternative Journals | Online equivalents to supermarket tabloids and other fringe publications. |
| Racism and Hate | Sites that promote the identification of racial groups, the denigration or subjection of groups, or the superiority of any group. | |
| Religion | Parent category that contains the categories: | |
| Religion | Non-Traditional Religions and Occult and Folklore | Sites that provide information about or promote religions not specified in Traditional Religions or other unconventional, cultic, or folkloric beliefs and practices. |
| Religion | Traditional Religions | Sites that provide information about or promote Bahai, Buddhism, Christian Science, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Shinto, and Sikhism, as well as atheism. |
| Shopping | Sites that support the online purchase of consumer goods and services except: sexual materials, lingerie, swimwear, investments, medications, educational materials, computer software or hardware, alcohol, tobacco, travel, vehicles and parts, weapons. | |
| Shopping | Internet Auctions | Sites that support the offering and purchasing of goods between individuals. |
| Shopping | Real Estate | Sites that provide information about renting, buying, selling, or financing residential real estate. |
| Social Organizations | Parent category that contains the categories: | |
| Social Organizations | Professional and Worker Organizations | Sites sponsored by or that support or offer information about organizations devoted to professional advancement or workers' interests. |
| Social Organizations | Service and Philanthropic Organizations | Sites sponsored by or that support or offer information about organizations devoted to doing good as their primary activity. |
| Social Organizations | Social and Affiliation Organizations | Sites sponsored by or that support or offer information about organizations devoted chiefly to socializing or common interests other than philanthropy or professional advancement. |
| Society and Lifestyles | Sites that provide information about matters of daily life, excluding entertainment, health, hobbies, jobs, sex, and sports. | |
| Society and Lifestyles | Alcohol and Tobacco | Sites that provide information about, promote, or support the sale of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products or associated paraphernalia. |
| Society and Lifestyles | Gay or Lesbian or Bisexual Interest | Sites that provide information about or cater to gay, lesbian, or bisexual lifestyles, including those that support online shopping, but excluding those that are sexually or issue-oriented. |
| Society and Lifestyles | Hobbies | Sites that provide information about or promote private and largely sedentary pastimes, but not electronic, video, or online games. |
| Society and Lifestyles | Personal Websites | Sites published and maintained by individuals for their personal self-expression and ends. |
| Society and Lifestyles | Personals and Dating | Sites that assist users in establishing interpersonal relationships, excluding those intended to arrange for sexual encounters and excluding those of exclusively gay or lesbian or bisexual interest. |
| Society and Lifestyles | Restaurants and Dining | Sites that list, review, advertise, or promote food, dining, or catering services. |
| Special Events | Sites devoted to a current event that requires separate categorization. | |
| Sports | Sites that provide information about or promote sports, active games, and recreation. | |
| Sports | Sport Hunting and Gun Clubs | Sites that provide information about or directories of gun clubs and similar groups, including war-game and paintball facilities. |
| Tasteless | Sites with content that is gratuitously offensive or shocking, but not violent or frightening. Includes sites devoted in part or whole to scatology and similar topics or to improper language, humor, or behavior. | |
| Travel | Sites that provide information about or promote travel-related services and destinations. | |
| User-Defined | User-defined category. | |
| Vehicles | Sites that provide information about or promote vehicles, including those that support online purchase of vehicles or parts. | |
| Violence | Sites that feature or promote violence or bodily harm, including self-inflicted harm; or that gratuitously display images of death, gore, or injury; or that feature images or descriptions that are grotesque or frightening and of no redeeming value. | |
| Weapons | Sites that provide information about, promote, or support the sale of weapons and related items. | |
static or dynamic
A web site is full of pages that are either static or dynamic. If a page does not change no matter who is looking at it, such as a title page, is called static. A static page is contained in a file that is copied from a store every time someone asks to look at it. The only time the static page changes is when the site author edits it.
A page that looks different depending on who the customer is viewing it is dynamic, such as a shopping cart page. A dynamic page is generated by a program such as an application server.
| static and dynamic web site types | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | page type | description |
| blog | dynamic | (weB LOG) A journal where people can write their own entries and read everyone else's. |
| brochure | static | A few pages that act like an advert. It may introduce a company or show a catalog of products. |
| diary | static | A journal where the site owner publishes his thoughts. Similar to a blog. |
| holding page | static | One page that proves that a web site exists. It does nothing interesting. |
| productivity tool | dynamic | A site that helps a person to do her work. Many tools are available to help with tasks like time management, customer support, or conference registration. Companies like put these tools on their intranet sites for their employees to use. |
| search engine | dynamic | A site containing a text search tool and an absolutely enormous library of web pages. |
| store | dynamic | A catalog where goods are displayed combined with an ordering system to allow visitors to put goods in their virtual shopping cart and buy them. |
| B2C | static or dynamic | (Business to Consumer) A site that a company creates for its customers to use. Customers are usually the general public. B2C is quite a wide category: any of the sites above may be a B2C site. |
| B2B | dynamic | (Business to Business) A company places a productivity tool that business partners can use on a B2B site. It is entirely automated. The general public are barred from the site. |
what it isn't
where it is
