A splash page can be a number of things, but for Personal Telco, we use it to mean the visual component of a CaptivePortal containing node information and our AcceptableUsePolicy. It is the main point of interaction between Personal Telco and those who use our network.
It works like this:
Visitor arrives at a location with a PersonalTelco node
Visitor instructs their wireless device to connect to PersonalTelco AccessPoint
Device connects to AccessPoint
Visitor opens web browser application to a random Wikipedia page
Visitor does not see random Wikipedia page ... yet. Visitor sees SplashPage!
From SplashPage, Visitor learns about individual, business, or organization kindly sponsoring their internet access. Visitor experiences gratitude.
Also on SplashPage, Visitor reads rules governing use of network.
Visitor realizes others use network. Visitor decides to be respectful of others, rather than be an InternetNuisance. Visitor agrees to rules by tapping "Agree" button.
Visitor is now sent to the Wikipedia page they requested, and witnesses no more surprises
As of March of 2014 the PTP Splash Page is once again under active development. That effort is described in SplashPage2014.