Talk:Webmaster

message: My name is Rhyanna Britney and I coined the word/phrase "Webmistress" back in 1995 when I was at Cal State Northridge (CSUN). I had learned to code (html) for websites and designed a number of pages for different groups on campus. I went to a 
few conventions and when asked for profession or title I put "Webmistress". I want to stand out a bit from the guys! So that is where the word/phrase came from. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.24.198.162 (talk • contribs) 
: AFAIR, Laura Lemay was using it before that.  Also see   Andy Dingley (talk) 23:28, 13 November 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Webmistress 

message: Anyone know anything about how this term was coined?
It comes from Dungeon Master in Dungeon's and Dragons.  It was a game that was popular around the time that the World Wide Web was conceived.
:If you do a search for webmaster on dictionary.com, you'll find that the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing says that the term probably came from the term postmaster. I would suggest perhaps doing a usenet search to see when the term was first used there. Theshibboleth 07:31, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Alright, I found the term first used on usenet in 1994. See http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&num=100&q=%28%22web+master%22%2C+webmaster%29&safe=off&qt_s=Search&as_drrb=b&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=27&as_maxm=11&as_maxy=1994. The term is split into "web master". Theshibboleth 07:38, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology of webmaster as: [< WEB n. + MASTER n.1] (The definition of master cited here as "A person or thing having control or authority"), but makes no reference to the  word "postmaster" as a precedent.  The OED also lists the earliest known print reference as having been in PC Week magazine in April of 1994, which predates your Usenet  reference by about 7 months. Kevyn 05:35, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Emology

message: I propose that the article be edited to move the term "webmistress" down in the article and to add some discussion about its relevance. It is fairly clear from the "sexism: webmistress" thread below that there isn't a clear consensus that "webmistress" is the simple feminine of webmaster. 
Kevyn and others who support the current state of the article ("webmaster (feminine: webmistress)") need to provide some verification, not only of the term but of the assertion that it is the common feminine form. 69.114.55.186 (talk)  —Preceding undated comment was added at 13:05, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree... I can find no reputable source for the term "Webmistress"... And just pulling up a result on Google doesn't qualify; I can find plenty of spelling mistakes and outright errors on the web, that doesn't make them right. The assertion fo those who want to add this term as the default feminine term need to provide evidence of this; their personal observations and feelings that it's correct doesn't make it so. I'm really surprised this article has lasted in an incorrect form for as long as it has... 167.92.122.10 (talk) 12:51, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Relevance: Webmistress 

message: In many classifications that indicate an individual's level of achievement, rank, or position, "Master" is very common. It is also often used to indicate, in a respectful manner, the relative age of the person so named. For instance "Master Lifter" is applied to those over a particular age that compete in powerlifting; you can probably think of many other examples. Apparently there is no term that is used to indicate that a "Webmaster" has achieved a certain level of experience by virtue of spending a significant amount of time in the field and having acquired an, assumed, wealth of "Life Experiences" (not fond of that term) by virtue of just getting older. This is a term of respect, but is not due to income, certification, or formal training. To this end I propose the title "Web Elder" to be used by those webmasters over 60 years old, with a minimum of 10 years experience as a webmaster, and being active in the field.  Any thoughts?
*Is there anyone rooting for web-builder or webuilder?--Patchouli 06:35, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  WebElder 

message: Disagree - Someone has proposed merging online producer with Webmaster and pointed the link here. I almost removed the proposed merge because that person should have started the discussion, not me. But I oppose merging Online Producer, because I am employed as an online producer and I am definitely NOT a webmaster! Online Producer is now a common occupation where broadcast media meets online media, so I guess the best solution is to find some citations (it's hard, as the best evidence is in job advertisements, which tend not to stay online: see google). Can you help? Any webmaster working in media will know an online producer is not a webmaster. Most online producers I know don't even have HTML skills these days. The webmaster article even mentions online producer as a different role. Tale 07:08, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've removed the merge proposal tag, as it's about 1.5 months since it was tagged, with only my Disagree and no input from the proposer. The tag was also used incorrectly according to the merge guidelines as it was only placed on one of the articles. Tale 00:02, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Ah ... The merger proposal may have actually been an attack on my contributions, as I had reverted the user's vandalism to Sydney gang rapes. See User_talk:203.208.102.224 for what was going on at the time. Tale 00:26, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed merge of "Online Producer" 

message: I have created a directory called webmaster forums since it will be useful to webmasters to around world wide
The directoy only contains a list of webmaster forums not than any other thing
Dmoz only contains 12 webmaster forums 
but my directory has more than 125 forums and why can't be it included in external links as it will be useful to webmasters —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ramanean (talk • contribs) 23:56, 4 June 2007 
Are you affiliated with this site?Ttrain88 (talk) 23:16, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Webmaster Directory

message: I am proposing that http://www.rippededge.net is placed into the webmaster resource.
I tried once and was told it was spam. I am not the owner nor am I affiliated. I often use phpBB for my web forums and this site, however new it is, was the first to inform me that the newest version was out. I also use the SEO-Friendly directory list all the time. They don't charge for much, just a few things here and there. I am sure it's not spam. I placed the link to help people out not to increase visibility to the site.Ttrain88 (talk) 23:14, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I've objected and removed the link per WP:EL. OhNoitsJamie Talk 17:41, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  This link does not violate any external link policy. The site is non-commercial and contains valuable current information.Ttrain88 (talk) 00:07, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  It doesn't have a lot of information, and it's soliciting advertisements.  Wikipedia is not the place to promote your website. OhNoitsJamie Talk 00:19, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  This is not my website. This is a collaborative effort of four other webmasters. The website is fairly new but I think solicitation of advertisements is acceptable as long as the purpose is funding of the site. Wikipedia accepts donations. The purpose of the effort at Ripped Edge is to provide a commercial free webmaster resource site that isn't motivated by sales of a product. As far as the External Link Policy is concerned this site doesn't seem to break the rules.Ttrain88 (talk) 00:49, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

text:  Edit: Doesn't seem to break the rules per my interpretation.Ttrain88 (talk) 00:55, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Webmaster Resource 

message: The two terms mean almost the exact same thing. I think we should merge this article into web developer, since the latter is used more often. — FatalError 08:23, 29 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Against. It could just be that I'm wrong, but I've always used the term "webmaster" to be someone who administrates and manages a site, but never to mean anything to do with writing and developing it. The same in reverse for a web developer - while they write the code and whatnot, they may never really actually run the site, beyond testing, bugfixing, things like that. Unforgiven24 Talk|Contribs 18:41, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

text: Against.  As a web developer I'm very much against being called a web master.  Web developers write technical specs, architect, and program web sites, but often don't administer them.  Webmasters deal with users and maintenance, but often don't program the site.  I'm not the webmaster of any web site I've built professionally.  Typically the business side has a webmaster, while the IT side has web developers.  The two tasks are very very different.  --Matt Schwartz (talk) 02:37, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

text: Against. In spite of the description provided in this article's intro, blurring the jobs of a Webmaster with a Web Architect/Web Developer, many contemporary Web Developers out there would agree that a Webmaster is much more about website administration and maintenance than development, architecture or design. A Web Designer/Developer may assume the extended role of a Webmaster after the development process has ended, but not necessarily. IMO the real problem here is with the article's content, which should be updated to reflect the consensus building up in this discussion. --Kgwikipedian (talk) 15:27, 24 March 2009 (UTC)

text: Removed Merge. Clearly the definitions of a Webmaster and Web Developer are different. Considering these differences, I have removed the merge suggestion from the web developer article. If anyone disagrees, you can re-add it for discussion. – Gregsabia (talk) 10:15, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge with [[web developer]] 

message: This sentence strikes me as a bit opinionated for Wikipedia: "On community websites, webmasters are able to change and manipulate any comment that the users make."!  It's not based on any fact, and it's biased against "community websites" (whatever they are).  In fact, any number of corporate / government website administrators could change and manipulate any comment that users make also, whereas plenty of community websites take great steps maintain their integrity...  IMHO the sentence should therefore be removed!  Thoughts? Iaindb (talk) 05:46, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: How is it opinionated?  It's clear fact.  Webmasters are project managers--they have access to the source and database of the websites they manage in order to perform their job effectively.  It's a simple point to reinforce the responsibly of webmasters. If you don't even know what community websites are, then you're clearly not educated enough on the topic to suggest something as dramatic as removing the statement from the article.  "Community website" is simply a site that allows the public (community) to add content. dearly (talk) 21:03, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  What's with the "Community website" FUD? 

message: According to the above discussion on merging Webmaster with Web Developer, a considerable consensus exists that both are not the same job. However, the definition provided in the article intro still implies that a Webmaster responsibilities include web development / designing by default. So, based on our discussion, i think that we may want to revise the definition we provide here. I have located this definition on "Tech Terms":  
:"The webmaster is the person in charge of maintaining a Web site. The jobs of a webmaster include writing HTML for Web pages, organizing the Web site's structure, responding to e-mails about the Web site, and keeping the site up-to-date."
According to the opinions made above in our discussion on the merge, some of us may actually find this definition more appropriate to incorporate, while adding that "in some cases" these responsibilities can include the initial design and creation of websites as well. But frankly, I do not know how credible "Tech Terms" is considered at Wikipedia. I appreciate your opinions.
--K.G. (talk) 17:14, 2 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: A contemporary Webmaster definition

message: Someone coined this term, we need to know who and when, and also when it fell into common usage. With sources. Laval (talk) 05:56, 13 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Fairly simple formation from the earlier 'postmaster', the admin responsible for maintaining email servers. 'Postmaster' in turn derives from RFC 822 (822?), the RFC that defined email services. All mail servers were required to have a functioning 'postmaster@<hostname>' mailbox that could be used to receive admin messages. Andy Dingley (talk) 09:19, 13 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Etymology and origins and history of use

message: I act as a virtual Webmaster to small businesses. The Internet provides the technology to work for companies anywhere in the world. Would I be allowed, or could somebody add the definition of Virtual Webmaster?
Wishing you all a successful 2012.
Regards
Pete  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Drachsi (talk • contribs) 09:50, 31 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  I would like some help on adding an additional reference for Webmaster if it is allowed.