The ever-changing nature of web pages and updated summaries requires a different itemisation of the material used in an essay, report, or thesis.

Below is a suggested method of describing a complete reference to an online source. Keep in mind that it follows no standard form, but includes all the necessary data to describe the where, when, and who of a reference.

syntax:
 

Author(s) [last-, firstname], Title of article or page
        publisher and/or web site provider
        IP address of publisher and/or web site provider
        URL: complete URL for document, do not use the URL of a search result
        date updated: date document was last updated (date might be on index page)
        date accessed: date document was accessed to obtain material
        security: any special username, password, or software was used

• goal is to include as much information as possible in the reference, yet only include was is available
• complete URL (http://...) is required so that the exact document can be reviewed; do not use the URL of a search engine result, since this describes the address of a compiled page that is deleted once the search is over (it can’t be read again)
• date updated is necessary because it describes the age of the document, like the publish date of a book; further it also indicates if the page has changed upon review (unlike books and magazines, web page can change)
• date accessed is necessary because it describes when the material in the thesis was obtained; if upon review the material has been updated or changed, an archive could be searched for the required page
• security [optionally] describes any special username or password that was used to obtain the data, or special software that must be installed; although private, this entry indicates if the document is accessible by everyone