A website or web site (often shortened to a site) is a collection of web pagess, that is, documents accessible via the World Wide Web on the Internet. The pages of a website will be accessed from a common root URL, the homepage, and usually reside on the same physical server. The URLs of the pages organize them into a hierarchy, although the hyperlinks between them control how the reader perceives the overall structure.
Web sites are written in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and are accessed using special software called web browsers. Plugins are available for browsers which allow them to show active content, such as Flash, Shockwave or applets written in Java. Some interactive content may also be generated with JavaScript, support for which is built-in for most browsers. An emerging standard called Dynamic HTML is starting to make an appearance, though no standard has been formally adopted yet.
Search Engine: a site the provides general information and is intended as a gateway or lookup for other sites. A pure example is Google, and the most widely known extended type is Yahoo.
Shock site: includes images or other material that is intended to be offensive to most viewers
Game site: a site that is itself a game or "playground" where many people come to play, such as Zone.com, Pogo.com and the MMORPGs Everquest, Solar Conflict and Kings of Chaos.
Vanity site: run by an individual or a small group (such as a family) that contains information or any content that the individual wishes to include
Wiki site: a site for people to contribute to material and exchange ideas (such as Wikipedia)
Many websites are a mixture of types. For example, a business web site may promote the business's products, but may also host informative documents, such as white papers. There are also numerous sub-categories to the ones listed above. For example, a porn site is a specific type of eCommerce site or business site (that is, it is trying to sell memberships for access to its site). A fan site may be a vanity site on which the administrator is paying homage to a celebrity.
Many business websites, have all the appearance of brochures—that is an advertisement that can be strolled around. Some websites act as vehicles to communicate with other people via webchat.
The content of a website is constrained by the hosting computer's power, and also legally, e.g. by copyright, pornography laws, etc.
