Webmaster

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(Redirected from Web master)

A webmaster (some women prefer webmistress) is a person responsible for designing, developing, marketing, or maintaining website(s). The term webservant is sometimes used when the person is providing such services to a church or charity. The webmaster of a website may also be called a system administrator, the author of a site, or the website administrator.

1 Webmaster as a profession
2 Use of the term Webmistress
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

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Webmaster as a profession

Webmasters are practitioners of web communication. They are responsible for all aspects of an organization's web presence, including web content development, technical operations, and business management. They may have specific areas of expertise, but are most valuable as generalists who can manage all aspects of web operations.

On a smaller site, the webmaster will typically be the owner, designer, developer and/or programmer, in addition to writing the actual content.

On larger sites, the webmaster will act as a coordinator and overseer to the activities of other people working on the site and is usually an employee of the owner of the website, hence webmaster can also be listed as an occupation. If the webmaster is hired by a larger website, or promoted to the position, he could be doing things ranging from system administrating work, to managing large projects, and making sure everyone is doing their job(s) correctly.

Another, broader, definition of webmaster is a businessperson who uses online media to sell products and/or services. This broader definition of webmaster covers not just the technical aspects of overseeing website construction and maintenance but also management of content, advertising, marketing, and order fulfillment for the website.

Core responsibilities of the webmaster include the regulation and management of access rights of different users of a website, the appearance or design of a website, and setting up website navigation. Content placement can be part of a webmaster's responsibilities, while content creation is typically regarded as something that is not part of what a webmaster does. But on a site the webmaster is creating independently, the webmaster is usually the person who creates the content.

The webmaster usually also looks to improve his current web properties, or websites, by reading user reviews and complaints. There is usually a page to email the webmaster or site administrator.

The webmaster's e-mail address often acts as the point of contact for a website, mainly if you want to notify the website of a problem, or flaw in the design or system, but not as a sales contact. The webmaster's email usually contains the word webmaster or admin. ie. webmaster@example.com or admin@example.com. The email is usually found in the footer of the website, or on a contact us pages.

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Use of the term Webmistress

Because of the gender-specific bias present in the "master" part of the term webmaster, some women choose to use the feminine term webmistress as the name of their profession, although many do this only informally, and some find the term offensive. Its use, despite the sexist implications of a gender-specific job title, is often an ironic, tongue-in-cheek play on the word Mistress in the BDSM sense. However, it just as often used in the sense of being an in-control, dominant woman in a field largely populated by men. Because of its implicit sexist nature and the risk of creating offense, it is probably unwise to apply this label to a female webmaster unless she herself describes her profession this way.<ref name="Source citation needed">Source citation needed.</ref>

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