The nature and types of websites

In August 1991, the English physicist and programmer Tim Burners-Lee published the first website. He was the first person to combine Internet communication (which for decades had been used mainly for email) with hypertext (which had also existed before, but was used only for browsing information) on a single computer.

Web pages are written in the HTML (HyperText Markup Language) markup language. The first versions of this language were very limited and allowed websites only a basic structure consisting of paragraphs and headings, as well as the use of hypertext. Despite these limitations, it was an innovative form of communication that let users move freely between different pages by following hypertext links.

The Canadian computer scientist Paul McFedries defined hypertext as a special word or phrase on a web page that points to another page. When you click on hypertext, the browser takes you to the other page.

As the Internet developed, the markup language was steadily improved to provide greater complexity and flexibility. It made it possible to add various kinds of objects to pages, such as images and tables. Elements such as tables, originally intended for displaying and organising tabular data, came to be used as invisible carriers of page structure and layout. With the development of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), table-based page layouts came to be seen as outdated. Technologies enabling websites to be integrated with databases, as well as the emergence of W3C standards, brought further changes and improvements in the way websites are built. Over time, websites change both on the inside (scripts, programming languages) and on the outside (appearance, design) – all of this is made possible by software and new media.

According to Wikipedia, a website (in the sense of a web service) is a group of interlinked web pages designed to provide greater functionality. Besides static content, such websites include a news section and allow users to log in and have their preferences remembered, so that content can be tailored to be as relevant to them as possible. Websites often contain interactive elements – forms, buttons and applications. The important role of interaction on a website is also emphasised by e-marketing specialist Justyna Adamczyk. In one of her articles she writes that websites build a positive image and generate visitor statistics.

A typical website consists mainly of text and images. The first page of a website is usually called the home page. Some websites have an entry page known as a ‘splash’ page. This is a page with links to the most important areas of the site. It also offers a choice of language when the website is aimed at audiences of different nationalities. Typically, a splash page detects (via the IP address) where the user currently is and adapts all the site content to that location.

Paul McFedries pointed out, however, that before a website is created, its purpose must be defined. This is done at the very start of the build and is the first step in the planning process. Defining how the website will work should focus on what the owner wants to achieve with it and what it can offer to its future audience. The website's goals should be clearly specified. This will later help to define the target group precisely and to prepare the right content for the website.

Setting out both short-term and long-term plans makes it easy to carry out any later modifications and improvements to the website. Every step in building a website should be monitored. This allows the project to develop properly and succeed in the future. Today, the following types of websites can be distinguished: portal, vortal (vertical portal), blog, company website, corporate website, online shop and social networking site.