Member Avatar for Tsmagik

A friend of mine said that being a webmaster is basically changing pixs on the site upload/download. Is that true or is there more to do?

  • 2 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 232 Views
  • 4 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Tsmagik

Dani AI

Generated

Short answer: being a webmaster is usually more than swapping images and text. As is learning Dreamweaver and building a small portfolio site, and as hinted, the role depends on the site size and who pays for what. Small sites often need one person to handle many different day-to-day tasks; larger sites split those tasks across specialists.

Typical day-to-day responsibilities you might see under the “webmaster” label include content publishing and layout tweaks, front-end fixes (HTML/CSS/small JS), administering whatever publishing tool the site uses, creating and verifying backups, deploying updates, basic hosting/FTP and DNS work, SSL/renewals, routine security checks and patching, performance tuning (image sizes, caching), basic accessibility/SEO checks, monitoring uptime and analytics, and handling user support requests.

Practical advice if you want to offer maintenance work now: start with a tightly defined service package (for example: content updates, image optimization, monthly backups, plugin/theme updates, emergency restore) and write that scope into a simple agreement. Always make a tested backup before changes, use a staging copy if possible, and test changes on mobile plus at least one desktop browser. These practices reduce accidental breakage and scope creep.

Learning path that matches real work: keep building the Dreamweaver project (your interactive character ideas are a good playground for progressive enhancement and usability), add solid HTML/CSS fundamentals, learn FTP/SFTP and basic Git, get comfortable with one CMS, and practice troubleshooting live problems. With a finished sample site and a clear list of what you will and will not do, you can advertise as a site caretaker while you expand skills.

Member Avatar for bkendall

I think it depends on the site. It can be as simple as just maintaining a site, which could be images, text etc. Nowadays the smarter developers use some sort of content management system to allow clients some control of the more mundane tasks such as entering text and images, this frees them up to do other tasks such as redesign build and maintain databases and in alot of cases maintain the server.

So to answer your question I think the best definition of a webmaster is a general jack of all trades when it comes to the web. in the early 90's companies looked for webmasters because they could not justify spending the resources on an entire team to maintain websites. byt the late 90's some companies had 100s of people doing specific functions like: designers, copywriters, programmers, quality control and so on.

Now I think in some regards we are back to companies wanting jsut a few people that can perform many functions.

Sorry about the history lesson hope it helped.

Member Avatar for Tsmagik

Thank You J
My friend gave me the same info as you did about putting in pixs and text. which i have no problem uploading and downloading as i have used the web making tools on a freeweb space site and tripod, and am teaching myself dreamweaver. Should i wait till i know dreamweaver better to say i am web care taker?

Member Avatar for bkendall

It sounds like you are thinking about advertising yourself as a webmaster or web care take in order to get work? If that is the casse I think it depends on the job and how well you learn on your feet. Some of us do better under pressure and when we are in real world situations, while others would rather learn in a more academic setting before heading into the real world.

As for dreamweaver, I found I learned it faster by just doing projects in it but again it depends on the type of learner you are.

Member Avatar for Tsmagik

I am working on a web page (slowly lol) to show case my writing at the moment. I am putting up synopsis of a manuscript and am drawing up the characters to appear and disappear around it. But as i said it is going slowly. This is how i am teaching myself dreamweaver

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.