There are numerous websites on the internet that can be accessed through different web browsers. These websites and web contents are collected to a place from where users can search and get those contents according to their searches.
One can be confused about where the web contents are stored on the internet- WWW or Public_HTML. There are some differences between WWW and Public_HTML.
Key Takeaways
- The www folder is a subdomain representing the World Wide Web and is used to store website files accessible through the www prefix in a URL, while public_html is the main folder on a web server containing all files and directories for a website.
- Both www and public_html folders can store website content, but the public_html folder is necessary for hosting the website, whereas the www folder is optional.
- Redirecting the www subdomain to the main domain (or vice versa) ensures consistent URL usage and can improve SEO performance by preventing duplicate content issues.
WWW vs Public_HTML
www is a subdomain that stands for World Wide Web. It is used as a prefix in website URLs to show that the website is available via the internet. Public_html is a directory on a web server where website files are stored. www is a subdomain used in website URLs, while public_html is the directory.
WWW is considered to be the best information retrieval service on the internet. It is the combination of all users and resources on the internet that are using HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
A British scientist called Berners-Lee first invented WWW in 1989. For accessing a web page on the WWW either you have to follow the hyperlink or type the URL of the web page.
Public_HTML refers to the directory on web servers that contains all HTML files and other web content that can be viewed on the internet.
When you open a web page, the page of the website loads from the directory of Public_HTML. It can be found and accessed from your cPanel account.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | WWW | Public_HTML |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | WWW refers to the collection of web pages or websites stored on the internet. | Public_HTML is the directory where all the files of websites are stored and web browsers show the websites from this directory according to the web search. |
| Type | Symbolic link | Directory |
| Access | Through a web browser. | Through cPanel account. |
| Entity | Not an actual folder. | Actual folder. |
| Correlation | It is the symbolic link to the directory of Public_HTML. | It is the directory that is shown through the symbolic link of the WWW. |
What is WWW?
WWW refers to a global computer interface that is available through the internet. WWW consists of interconnected web pages made up of different types of multimedia and textual content.
It is based on hypertexts, which are the links that take you from one web page to another. WWW was invented in 1989 at CERN by a British computer scientist named Berners-Lee on a project of international communication.
With the invention of WWW internet became accessible to everyone rather than just for the researchers. WWW connected the whole world which made it easier to share and get information and communicate.
People started to share their thoughts and work through video sharing, social network sites, and blogs.
Basically, WWW refers to an Internet server system that supports HTML formatted documents. It is a large-scale client-server system with numerous servers spread all over the world.
All the servers maintain specific documents, and the documents maintained are stored as files. Servers transfer the requested document to the client by accepting the request and fetching the specific document.
WWW is considered to be the most innovative and fastest-growing part of the Internet. WWW is mainly composed of three elements- HTTP, URL, and HTML. HTTP is used for governing the data transfer between a client and a server.
URL or uniform resource locator is used for accessing a web component. HTML is considered to be the most commonly used format for publishing web documents.
What is Public_HTML?
Public_HTML refers to a public folder found on every web hosting account. It is the webserver directory that contains all the HTML-based documents on the internet.
It is the webroot of the primary domain name of the website. This public folder comprises all the web content when someone types the main domain name.
In other words, when users type a domain name into their web browser, whatever is stored in the Public_HTML folder will appear.
For accessing Public_HTML of your domain you need to first log in to the cPanel, under the file section click on the option for file manager, under the root directory of the primary domain you can see the Public_HTML folder.
If you create Addon domains and Addon subdomains they will be stored in the folder within the Public_HTML.
For instance, if you create an Addon domain named abcd.com, then the subfolder will be /public_html/abcd/ (unless specified as another name).
A Public_HTML folder needs to have 0750 permissions. Every folder within a Public_HTML needs to get 0755 permissions and every file inside a Public_HTML needs to have 0644 or 0755 permissions.
Sometimes scripts and websites suggest using 777 permissions. However, 777 files on any folder or file will result in the inaccessibility of the file.
Main Difference Between WWW and Public_HTML
- WWW refers to the collection of the web pages or websites stored on the internet, on the other hand, Public_HTML is the directory where all the files of websites are stored and web browsers show the websites from this directory according to the web search.
- WWW is a symbolic link whereas Public_HTML is a directory.
- WWW is not an actual folder whereas Public_HTML is an actual folder within which all files and folders of your domain are stored.
- WWW can be accessed through several web browsers but Public_HTML is accessed through a cPanel account.
- WWW is the symbolic link to the directory of Public_HTML.
- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=world+wide+web&oq=world+wide#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3D_9mXgxEPnY4J
- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=cpanel+login&oq=cpanel#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DIykKTRO3nRcJ
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
