What Web site is
A place on the World Wide Web that's comprised of files organized into a hierarchy. Each file or document contains text or graphics that appear as digital information on a computer screen. A site can contain a combination of graphics, text, audio, video, and other dynamic or static materials. As a form of media, Web sites are similar to motion pictures, television, or print magazines, which also create and manipulate digital pictures and text. But a Web site is also a communications medium.
The main difference between a Web site and traditional media is that a Web site is on a computer network (the Internet) and is coded in such as way that allows users to interact with it. Once you're on a site, you can make purchases, do searches, send messages, and other interactive activities.
As is the case with many Net terms, "Web site" is often used interchangeably with other words, such as homepage and Web page. For example, you may hear someone refer to their "homepage" when in fact they are talking about an entire Web site. (A homepage is usually a vanity page.) Like homepage, "Web site" is often spelled as one word and not capitalized, as in, "website."
It is important for Web developers to establish a style guide for consistency, which among other things should state whether the preferred usage is the single-word or two-word form. We feel that the two-word form is more grammatically correct; the single-word form is rarely used outside of marketing campaigns. At its bare minimum, a Web site is simply any computer hooked up to the Internet and available via a host name, domain name, or URL.
The meaning of Homepage
The first page or front page of a Web site. It serves as the starting point for navigation (not be confused with a buffer page, doorway page, or splash page). Why is it sometimes seen as one word and other times as two words? When referring to the Web site of an individual or a company, or to a Web site you want someone to visit, the one-word version is used. For example, "Have you seen my homepage?" or "We've got to get a homepage up, even if it just says 'under construction'." The two-word version is more applicable when talking about the front page of a larger Web site (consisting of many pages) or when referring to the front page from a site map or page of navigational directions. For example, "Welcome, this is our Home Page" or "From the Help Page, go back to the Home Page." You may also see it simply written as "Home." One thing you should be sure to take advantage of is the server space your ISP offers to you account holders, where you can put up your own homepage! You will need an HTML editor, a graphics program, and an FTP program to get started.
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