valder - 8:54 pm on Jan 13, 2005 (gmt 0)

I think the term webmaster should be renamed "website master", as in "master of one or more web sites". I don't think there are any masters of the web, except perhaps the people at W3C :)

I consider myself a web developer, because that's what I do; I'm developing the web by creating web sites, which are part of the web. That includes layout as well as structure. (Design and coding.)

IMO, the only knowledge required for someone to call themselves web developer, would be html, because if you know html, you can put content on the web, thus developing the web to some degree.

People who use WYSIWYG editors are IMO web designers, not developers and certainly not webmasters. Why? Because even if they can put content on the web, they don't really know how, it's the WYSIWYG editor that knows how.

Define webmaster: there's no such thing.
I believe there are website masters, but not webmasters. Web is just the last part of "World Wide .." and can have no masters, unlike what the word webmaster implies. The only masters of the web must be the ones that dictate what the www is. I don't believe anyone here does that. What we do, however, is develop it. We create new sites that become a part of it all.

You may be a website manager or perhaps website owner, but IMO that doesn't give you the right to call yourself master of anything, unless you're particularly good at it, in which case you can call yourself website master.

People who call themselves webmasters are liars. :)

Twist it any way you want, the word webmaster in itself still implies that you're master of the web, which you're not.

Does someone who has a master degree in math describe themselves as mathmaster? -No. They do not decide over the math, even if they do know it pretty well.

So why don't we all stop using the word webmaster, because it's not the right word at all.
Web developer and web designer are much better descriptions of what I think most of us do.

If your job includes coding, then you're probably a web developer. If you're only doing graphics, then you're a graphics artist (and proably not reading this). If you're somewhere in between, you're most likely a web designer. If you manage a web site, then that's probably what you are; a web/IT manager.

If you're still not convinced then ask yourself this; what does the word "master" mean to you? ..and don't be afraid to consult a (reliable) dictionary, perhaps "webster's"? :D Do you still honestly feel you can call yourself a master of the web?

These are my not-so-humble opinions.
-Eivind