Website

A website (alternatively, "Web site") is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a World Wide Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN.^[1]

A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is typically accessed using the HTTP protocol (or HTTPS, which is the secure version of this protocol), which transfers information from the Web server to display in the user's Web browser. Only the code and scripts are transferred to website users; the user's web browser then interpenetrates this information and displays the page.

How they work[edit]

Modern websites generally try to create the impression of coherent session, with the user exploring and interacting with many webpages which all have the same look and fell. In reality, the basic website is typically composed of many independent pages (each of which is a separate file on the web server), which the web browser downloads one at a time, and displays. Web 2.0 sites which take information in from the user also upload any needed data (such as user comments or wiki edits) to the server.^[2] Scripts on the page may also make some pages more interactive, and add functionality. To offer user sessions, cookies are typically used so that the server can identify the user each time they download or upload content. In this case, the web browser presents the user token from that cookie (which is a pseudorandom code) every time the browser interacts with the server; this enables users to have accounts and customization options on websites.

Some newer websites attempt to have only one landing page. In this case, users who think they are accessing multiple pages are actually triggering scripts on the one page which then displays the desired material, but without downloading a new web page.^[3]

References[edit]