What are Static sites, Blog, Forum and Wiki sites

Many internet users mostly new web-masters who want to show their presence on internet or simply make money by creating a website often get confused when they come to topic – From where to start with? Is a static site good for them or they should make a blog site, a Forum or a wiki site?
I still remember, when I was thinking of creating my website in 2012, I also searched Google, Yahoo for  differences between Forums, Blogs and Static page sites simply called Websites and after a huge research and based on my requirements I decided to start a blog site (on which you are reading this article now)!
Today, I will tell you all the difference between a static site and a blog, difference between a blog and a Forum, difference between a forum and a wiki and all others step wise.If you are not a web-master even then you should have the basic knowledge of these things.
Now let’s start with the discussion :

1. Static Site or simple Webpage Website

   Checkout: Best Free Platforms for creating static site in 2013
   A static website is one in which homepage remains static i.e. its homepage does not change with time. The linked pages are shown up on the top or sidebar via navigation panes or menus. The site shows static information that do not change with time. Web masters may add new pages from time to time but the size as well as number of pages are less or limited as compared to other type of websites. These sites are on specific topics like cars, bikes, antivirus, security products or university websites. These are often used for branding. Language used is complicated, less informative and less user friendly however now-a-days webmasters have started to use simple language to make information more understandable and informative to visitors. Static sites do not have a commenting system generally but Contact-us pages are often employed. But with external commenting systems like Disquss and Facebook comments, some webmasters have started to employ these commenting systems to their static page sites for better user experience and interaction. Many Web builders offer drag and drop feature based website generators to make sites but coding from scratch is also available. Check out my post on Free Website Creators. Check out my static homepage site.

2. Blog – Simply Web Log

   Checkout: Best Free Platforms for Blogging in 2013
   Blogs are the sites whose content is dynamic in nature i.e. Homepage gets changed  whenever a new post is added.Blog is like creating our own webpage and hosting companies provide readymade templates which require minute tweaking to suit our needs and blog thus gets set up automatically. These are like online diaries whom anyone can read. The content is shown in reverse chronological order i.e. newer posts are shown on very first page and often 5-10 recent posts are shown by webmasters on homepage.Check out My Home Page for more info on which i have shown 5 posts to make it load fast. Blogs are the type of sites which are most informative, well written but in simple and reader understandable language. Blogs have their own commenting system and any visitor depending on Webmaster’s settings may comment with their IDs. Blogs are like a speaking platform where author/ admin or a team of authors publish/post whatever they like and interested people visit these sites and read it. Readers use the blog’s commenting system to start conversation with admins for asking questions and giving suggestions. Most used blogging platform includes Blogger, Word press, Tumblr etc. Blogs are the mot used type of sites. There is a separate page for each and every post but their summary is shown on homepage/ landing page of blog. Blogs cover a large range of topics. For Example: A blog on Technology offers knowledge about computers, tablets, smart phones, Cameras, gadgets, apps, android and windows along with iOS and Blackberry by employing suitable labels and categories and making navigation easily by Navigation menus.

3. Forums – The Bulletin Boards

   Forums are ancient methods of conversation but still very popular, In these sites every user is at equal level and one user starts conversation in form of threads and others comment on these threads according to their views, interest, knowledge and thinking. Forums, thus are social mixers where users cross comment on each others threads. Forums are generally on specific topics and are meant for common minded people like motor bike, cars, Technology, site development, gadgets etc. But now-a-days Forums also cover a large range of topics like blogs. A forum needs to have one or more moderators whose work is to maintain peace on discussion threads and forum and to ensure that everyone follows the rules and specified guidelines. Moderators comments, remove threads and even block users responsible for verbal fights, abusive comments and irrelevant arguments. In Forums, the content is sorted by Categories and sub-categories and not by individual authors.
   Forums are easy to setup, require self hosted or paid servers and require huge branding to join new users and maintain older ones. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are advanced versions of Forums where users signup, update status (threads) and other users comment on it. All users are equal in these sites.
   

4. Wiki Sites – The Informative Sites

   Wiki sites are the latest trend and Wikipedia Project by Wikimedia is the greatest example of huge success of these sites. These are given the most weightage by search engines, as you can see most search results from Wikipedia on first page of Google search results. Wiki sites are like forums but even then very different from them. Look wise both wiki sites as well as Forums are 100% of screen width i.e. both occupy the full width of page for better writing, ease of reading and understanding and both employ several users, authors, readers but wiki sites do not have commenting system. Here, one user creates content and others read it and if they find it undescriptive, incomplete or think that they can enhance and elaborate the article then they may edit the original post and threads are not made as in forums. As in case of forums, wiki sites also require self hosted or paid servers with users login feature.

NOTE: In wiki and forum sites, content is sorted or categorised by interest, categories, sub-categories etc. and in blogs by authors, recent posts, Popular posts etc. as set by Developer of Blog. In static sites, static pages are there and topics navigation is via navigation menu at top or side of page. Also the number of static pages is less mainly from 5-10 pages but may increase based on topic of site along with content.
So. which type of site you want to start or have already developed?
Tell us in comments below…………
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