Hypertext is a dynamic form of text which, unlike traditional media can be read non-sequentially, allowing for several different paths to connect any two elements in a hypertext structure (see basic chart representation of The Welsh Pop Music Resource Pages at the end of the paper). Originally designed as a system to create links between text-only documents, hypertext now supports true multimedia such as graphics, sound and video - some of which are utilised on the Welsh Pop Music Resource Pages. Rather than linking to other text media, hyperlinks can also identify locations of graphic images and soundfiles and place them within the main body of a text document. The correct term for hypertext should therefore be hypermedia, though the former is still used since there is no special term for text-only systems and therefore no confusion between the two terms.

The advantages of hypertext is that a reader (or user) determines which elements of a hypertext structure to follow, and in which order. The author merely provides a set of alternatives for readers to explore rather than a single stream of information.

A website is constructed as a series of nodes which are basically points of contact within a web of documents. The nodes are all interconnected by a system of links or anchors, the number and structure of which change from one document to the next. There are two main types of nodes associated with the Internet: frame-based and window-based systems.

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