Define Webmaster

Job Description

[henry0]

Rosalind in another topic had the following comment
which is the reason for that thread:

"Of course it depends how narrowly you define "webmaster", because it can mean anything from graphic designer or programmer to a business person who runs the site but isn't involved in the actual building of it, plus many other sub-categories of webmaster jobs in between.'

How do you define webmaster?

regards

Henry

[The_Hat]

Spot on twist,
Had a fella that was looking to have a site done awhile back, We were in communication for a bit till he found out that his nephew could put something on the internet for him.

All I could say was "good luck with that" in the nicest possible way and let it go.

It begs the question how can you educate the potential client enough to appropriately value your services without wasting a wheel barrow load of your own time. If the potential client can't see through his own ignorance the difference between what his nephew can do and what you can do there is very little you can do the persuade him from his path.

Then when he does have his nephew put up something for him. Gets lack-luster to no results it puts him off from the internet as a whole., Just can't win.

Anybody with a geocites account can call themselves a webmaster.

[kpaul]

a webmaster, to me, has always been the net's equivilant to jack-of-all-trades. that is, a person who has a little knowledge about a lot of web technologies.

back in the day, most web operations were run by just one person so they had to know about a lot of different things.

today, though, you don't see that type of person anymore as most people specialize in scripting or marketing or network admin, etc.

-kpaul

[Bentler]

I was checking out the course catalog [iwa-hwg.eclasses.org] at the International Webmaster's Association site the other day and it reminded me of this discussion. Courses cover a motley selection design and multimedia, writing, business issues, and programming and SQL database design.

Here's how IWA describes its membership:

IWA Membership Includes:
Webmasters, Web site developers, graphic designers, programmers, multimedia specialists, system administrators, educators, eCommerce Specialists, Intranet/Extranet specialists, and others who participate in the development, monitoring and management of Web sites.

[wkitty42]

twist wrote:

Kidding aside, it would be funny to see someone have their email say, [e-mail] instead of the usual [e-mail]

yo twist... how about sysgod? take a quick google for that one and see what you find ;)

[valder]

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

[MrFishGuy]

I think Sitemaster would be a better term for most things. We're not really in control of the entire web, we're merely masters of our own little universe(site).

Maybe a webmaster is the person who has the power to put himself down as "webgod" on his site. :^)

[webnerd]

webmaster --- A person who has gained a complete and total mastery of the internet.

After ten years internet programming and 30 years of programming mainframe computers
I have to admit I am still on a steep learning curve.

Every time I reach where the destination was the destination has moved even further away.

I have never reached the point where I have caught up with the advances in the technology;
therefore I am not yet a webmaster and probably never will be.

[justgowithit]

Webmaster (w b m s t r)

An often solitary being that suffers from delusions of grandeur brought on by an over consumption of caffeinated beverages where one is convinced that they must defeat a mysterious beast called a “spider” in order to achieve ultimate wealth and power while sacrificing any enjoyable social interaction.

Bam!

[dohs]

valder: 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.

i agree, i've always thought the term webmaster is a bad one. it sounds like it was made up by a "know it all" 13 year old trying to proclaim he is king of the world.

web developer, programmer,or designer are much more professional sounding. i'm sure there are many other fine titles too that can help get rid of this webmaster thing...

[twist]

Since the "web" is just a clever nickname someone came up with for data transferred over the internet using the hyper text transfer protocol, maybe it should be httpmaster.

Or if you want to be a uber geek you could call yourself a tcp/ip\http//:master

For no better reason than to waste time, how about trying to come up with some clever words for the word webmaster or webdeveloper/designer by mixing up the letters. Must be at least one cool word, although I cant think of any.

webmaster = brew steam, web stream, beam strew, straw beem, mr we beast

webdesigner - sr begin weed

[valder]

Twist said:

Or if you want to be a uber geek you could call yourself a tcp/ip\http//:master

Or how about HyperText Author? :) You could even abbreviate it to HTA, which sounds a bit important and could possibly get you far..

HTA (actually web developer) - "Hi, I'm the HTA, you must obey me."
IT manager (actually HTA's boss) - "Wow, HTA, huh? That sounds really important, therefore I will do whatever you command me to."

:)