home page
{{short description|Main page of a website}}
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{{For multi|the English Wikipedia's home page|Main Page|main screens on devices|Home screen||Home page (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Start page|the Windows GUI element|Start menu|the Dutch search engine|Startpage.com}}
File:English Wikipedia home screen in browser.png (in 2023) is displayed in a web browser. The small house-shaped button in the upper left is for the browser's start page.]]
A home page (or homepage) is the main web page of a website.{{Cite web |title=What is a Home Page? – Definition from Techopedia |url=http://www.techopedia.com/definition/5172/home-page |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=Techopedia.com |language=en|archive-date=5 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905231003/https://www.techopedia.com/definition/5172/home-page}} Usually, the home page is located at the root of the website's domain or subdomain. For example, if the domain is example.com, the home page is likely located at the URL www.example.com/.
The term may also refer to the start page shown in a web browser when the application first opens.{{Cite web |title=Start page |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Start+page |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com|lang=en}}
Function
A home page is the main web page that a visitor will view when they navigate to a website via a search engine, and it may also function as a landing page to attract visitors.{{Sfn|Nielsen|Tahir|2002a|p=7}} In some cases, the home page is a site directory, particularly when a website has multiple home pages.
Good home page design is usually a high priority for a website;{{cite web |author=Nielsen |first=Jakob |date=12 May 2002b |title=Top 10 Guidelines for Homepage Usability |url=http://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-ten-guidelines-for-homepage-usability/ |access-date=4 September 2014 |publisher=nngroup.com |archive-date=3 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403052904/https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-ten-guidelines-for-homepage-usability/ |url-status=live }} for example, a news website may curate headlines and first paragraphs of top stories, with links to full articles.{{sfn|Kalbach|2007|p=106}}{{Sfn|Nielsen|Tahir|2002a|p=3}} According to Homepage Usability, the home page is the "most important page on any website" and receives the most views of any page.{{Sfn|Nielsen|Tahir|2002a|p=1}} A poorly designed home page can overwhelm and deter visitors from the site.{{Sfn|Nielsen|Tahir|2002a|p=3}} One important use of home pages is communicating the identity and value of a company.{{Sfn|Nielsen|Tahir|2002a|p=2}}
Browser start page
When a web browser is launched, it will automatically open at least one web page. This is the browser's start page, which is also called its home page.
Start pages can be a website or a special browser page, such as thumbnails of frequently visited websites. Moreover, there is a niche market of websites intended to be used solely as start pages.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2013/nov/07/igoogle-alternatives |title=iGoogle: what are the best alternatives? |first=Jack|last=Schofield|author-link=Jack Schofield (journalist)|date=7 November 2013 |access-date=4 September 2014 |work=The Guardian}}
See also
{{Commons category|Home pages}}
References
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=Bibliography=
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- {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Jennifer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5IDAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |title=Web Design: Introductory |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-305-17627-0 |page=76}}
- {{cite book |last=Kalbach |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LC0cG-vFJbcC&pg=PA106 |title=Designing Web Navigation |publisher=O'Reilly Media |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-596-55378-4 |page=106}}
- {{Cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Jakob |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48657258 |title=Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed |publisher=New Riders |date=2002a |first2=Marie |last2=Tahir |isbn=0-7357-1102-X |location=[Indianapolis, IN] |oclc=48657258}}
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