| April 2006 |
| By Elizabeth Swanson |
The job title is a bit of an anachronism, dating back to the early days of the Internet when pages were mostly text, Flash was a superhero, and people looked for webs in dusty corners more often than on their computers – if they had computers. As electronic gravel roads became the beginning of the Information Superhighway, corporate managers realized that publishing information on the web was a good way to reach customers with minimal expense. By the time forward-thinking investors had positioned themselves to make millions of dollars on tech stocks before the bubble burst, the Webmaster was a well-established fixture.
Since then, the actual job description has, in many cases, changed and become more specialized. In the beginning, the Webmaster was a guy who did it all – server setup and configuration, domain registration, content creation, and web page maintenance. Now rather than having a single company Webmaster – or Webmistress – many businesses make use of a fleet of web caretakers with responsibilities ranging from programming and development to content creation, editing and updates, graphic design, and server maintenance.
Today’s Webmaster
Despite the growing segregation of web-related jobs, the Webmaster is not a thing of the past. Especially at smaller or less web-focused companies, there may still be a single person who is the focal point for everything having to do with corporate web activity. With web hosting typically outsourced, the Webmaster is freed from server issues. That extra time will come in handy because today’s web sites are far more complex than yesterday’s, which were more involved than the ones created last week, and… you get the idea.
Mad Skills
The Webmaster’s toolbox should include everything from coding expertise to an eye for design, an attentive ear, and a strong voice to communicate good web practices. There will always be someone who wants to add kittens dancing to salsa rhythms (or something equally ridiculous) to your company’s web site, and you need to be able to gently but firmly talk him down and explain why that isn’t a good idea.
You should have a firm grasp of not only how to use a wysiwyg editor, but also understand how to hand-code HTML. Knowledge of style sheets, JavaScript, and basic CGI scripting is a must. Depending on your company’s needs, you may also need to be knowledgeable about additional languages such as DHTML, XML, or PHP. It doesn’t hurt to be familiar with a command-line UNIX interface, as well as FTP and SSH.
It’s likely that at some point you’ll be asked to set up database-driven content on your web site, in which case you’ll either need to have a grasp of how to code it or enlist the help of a database pro, either within your company or, if budget allows, from a third-party vendor.
What They See is What You Get
The first thing someone notices when visiting a web site is what it looks like, so design is crucial. As a Webmaster, you absolutely must have a good sense of design, organization, and layout. Visual appeal and easy navigability are major components of a good site, and without them you may as well just email all your customers to tell them your competitor is having a big sale – and oh yeah, they’re also handing out free cupcakes. You’ll need a good image editor and graphics creation tool to channel your fabulous designs into pixels. Both Adobe and Macromedia sell top-notch creative suites, and which one you use will likely be determined by what was used by whoever preceded you in the position. You may also need to be familiar with creating Flash animations to snaz up your site.
Lions and Tigers and Web Sites, Oh My
Larger companies will not only have a single corporate web site, but also an internal web site or series of internal sites which may be maintained by various individuals within the organization. It seems reasonable to think larger companies would have sizeable web organizations, but that’s not always the case. A lone Webmaster in such a situation will need to add “Rodeo Cowboy” to his job description because it will be necessary to attempt to wrangle all the disparate content together, create as much uniformity as possible, disseminate good web practice, and try to ensure content doesn’t become orphaned or outdated.
At the End of the Day
Being a Webmaster – in any of its many possible incarnations – can be a rewarding challenge. It requires both technical and creative skills, as well as the ability to communicate them clearly. Today’s Webmaster is an artist, programmer, diplomat, detective, and juggler, not unlike Webmasters in the early days of the web – except we tend not to fiddle with servers or have hieroglyphs on the walls of our cubicles.
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