Simply put, the “Frontend” of your website is the public side that your visitors will see.
More technically, it’s the sum total of all the layers in your website stack working together to present the webpage through a browser.
Think of your website like a sandwich.
And like every good sandwich, it has layers.
The layers are the ingredients of your sandwich.
Here are common (and simplified) ingredients layers that most WordPress sandwiches websites have:
- Domain
- DNS
- Web server
- Website files
- Database
- Browser
- Device
The “Frontend” of your website is a compilation of all these layers working together, and it’s what the visitor will see on their end.
It’s the result of all the design and development put into a website.
Hungry for a little more knowledge?
So here’s how it all plays out using our sandwich analogy:
- Layers = ingredients
- Recipe = programming/code
- Kitchen = web stack
- Chef = web designer/developer
- Sandwich = website
- Browser = customer
- Frontend = what is presented to the customer
Now here’s the interesting part.
When you click a link or type in the URL for a website, your requesting or ordering a sandwich.
That sandwich is then assembled (on-demand) in the kitchen using ingredients set in the recipe by the chef and delivers it to the customer to eat.
More technically, the website is assembled (on-demand) by the web stack using the layers programmed by the web developer and presented in the browser to click through.
Now, web developers and chefs alike will critique my anecdote here, but I think they can all agree that it serves the purpose of illustrating the complexity of website, even if they don’t agree on the specifics.
Looking for a chef to design your special sandwich?
We can help with that.