A

Absolute Path
The complete path to a resource, independent of the location of the visited page.

ACDSee
Software for viewing, archiving and editing sound, video and picture files.

Acrobat Reader
Plug-in from Adobe. It reads documents in PDF format on any platform.

Actionscript
programming language based on ECMAScript, used to define behaviours of Adobe Flash applications.

ActiveX
Software components from Microsoft. They enable sound, Java applets and animations to be integrated in a Web page.

AdSense
AdSense is an advertising program run by Google. Web site owners can enroll in this program to enable text and image advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on a per-click basis. Google utilizes its search technology to serve ads based on website content, the user’s geographical location, and other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google’s targeted ad system may sign up through AdWords.

ADSL — Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
A new standard of Internet connection which allows very large download speeds over your existing phone line by utilising the high-frequency ability of the existing infrastructure.
ASCII — American Standard Code for Information Interchange

AdWords
AdWords is Google’s branded P4P service. It provides relevant text-based ads on Google’s site, and on external sites willing to host Google ads. On the Google site, they are pure text, and thus difficult to block. However, on external sites, they are hosted within an IFRAME tag, making them easy to remove with advertisement blockers like the Mozilla extension AdBlock. Companies wishing to promote their products can enroll in this program to their adds on Google or on websites which use AdSense, the other side of the Google advertising model.

Affiliate
An affiliate is an entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.

Affiliate Network
An affiliate network is composed of a group of merchants and a group of affiliates. Merchants join the network and affiliates join the network in order to advertise the merchant products in exchange of a commision from the merchant. Affiliate networks present some great advantages for the merchant and the affiliate. The merchant gets potential access to a wide networks of affiliates. The affiliate dos not necessarly need to make a certain sale amount for one particular merchant but rather for the entire range of merchants before getting paid.

After Effects
Software for creating special effects, published by Adobe.

AIFF or AIF
Audio file formats on the Macintosh platform.

Alias
A generic name used to identify a mail account.

Alignment
Positioning of lines in a text or a paragraph: on the left, on the right, centred or justified.

Alt Attribute
Alternative text to be rendered when a graphic element cannot be displayed. Alt attributes of images are indexed by search engines. Alternately referred to as the Alt tag.

Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible text in a hyperlink. Anchor text gets a lot of weight in search engine algorithms because the linked text is usually relevant to the landing page. The objective of search engines is to provide highly relevant search results; this is where anchor text helps as the tendency is, more often than not, to hyperlink words relevant to the landing page.

Animated GIF
A small animation based on successively displayed GIF images.

Anonymous FTP
Public file servers that can be accessed by means of anonymous login and using an email address as the password.

Apache
Most widely available web server on the Internet.

Applet
A small program written in Java and included in a HTML page. It is independent of the operating system on which it runs. An applet can be used to display scrolling text in a specific area, or animations.

Application
A self-contained program that performs a well-defined set of tasks under user control, as opposed to a system program. Web browsers, mail readers, and FTP clients are examples of applications commonly used on the Internet.

ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard character-coding scheme used by most computers to display letters, digits and special characters.

ASP
Active Server Pages (ASP) is Microsoft’s server-side technology for dynamically-generated web pages that is marketed as an adjunct to Internet Information Server (IIS).

Attribute
This is a command that goes inside a tag to further define what the tag does.

AU
A sound file format on Sun systems.

Audience Measurement
A free online service that analyses by means of marks how often your pages are visited and can produce a daily or monthly report with following values: number of visited pages, browsing time, users’ browser version, operating system, country of origin, referrer’s URL, etc.

Audience Measurement Mark
A mark placed on your pages by an online service offering audience measurement. The mark can be invisible or display the service supplier’s logo.

Authoring Tool
An authoring tool is a software application used to create multimedia content typically for delivery on the World Wide Web.

Autoresponder
An e-mail utility that automatically replies to an e-mail message with a pre-written response.

AVI — Audio/Video Interleaved
One of several compression techniques (this one’s by Microsoft) for Internet video with sound.

B

B2B
processes between trading partners and is performed in much higher volumes than business-to-consumer (B2C) applications.

B2C
Business-to-consumer electronic commerce (B2C) is typified by the publicly addressed forms of eCommerce such as webshops and TeleShopping.

Backbone
A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network.

Background
The colors or images used as the background of a Web page

Backlink
Backlinks are incoming links to a website. For example, a site with a lot of backlinks implies that many other sites link to that site.

Band
A range of frequencies between defined upper and lower limits.

Balloon Help
Information that appears in a small area when the mouse pointer is positioned on a page element (for instance, topic title, menu, image, etc.).

Bandwidth
The word bandwidth is also used to mean the amount of data that can be transferred through a digital connection in a given time period (i.e., the connection’s bit rate). In such cases, bandwidth is usually measured in bits or bytes per second.

Banner
A small area of a window or screen used for advertising purposes, often consisting of GIF images. A standard size for this area is 486 x 60 pixels.

Baud rate
Baud rate was the prevalent measure for data transmission speed until replaced by a more accurate term, bps (bits per second). One baud is one electronic state change per second. Since a single state change can involve more than a single bit of data, the bps unit of measurement has replaced it as a better expression of data transmission speed.

BBS (Bulletin Board System)
An online community run on a host computer that users can dial or log into in order to post messages on public discussion boards, send and receive e-mail, chat with other users, and upload and download files. BBSs are text-based and often related to the specific hobbies or interests of their creators.

Behavior
In Dreamweaver, interaction between objects of a Web page, for instance, the change in the display of a page element when the mouse pointer is placed over a link.

Binary code
A numeric system that represents all numbers using only two digits: 1 and 0. Binary code is the way in which complex images and information are translated into a simple language that computers can understand and then manipulate for us.

Bit
A unit of measurement that represents one character of data. A single bit can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1. More meaningful information is obtained by combining consecutive bits into larger units. For example, a byte is composed of 8 consecutive bits.

Bitmap Image
A pixel-based image (.BMP). Its quality decreases when the image is enlarged.

Blog
A weblog, Web log or simply a blog, is a web application which contains periodic posts on a common webpage. These posts are often but not necessarily in reverse chronological order. Such a website would typically be accessible to any Internet user. The term “blog” came into common use as a way of avoiding confusion with the term server log.

Blogosphere
The collective totality of blogs and their connection with each other. Blogs are believed to be connected to each other through the internet as a community.

BMP — BitMaP
This is the file extension for saving Windows bitmap files (used by primitive programs like Microsoft Paint). A bitmap is an image that is made up of lots of rows of little dots. A GIF is another type of bitmap, but is a better format for the web than normal BMPs. pronounce it: ‘bimp’

Bookmark
A Web page link stored in a browser for quick and easy retrieval (Netscape). See Favorite.

Border
The boundary of a HTML element. The thickness of a border is expressed in pixels.

bps (bits per second)
The standard measure of data transmission speeds.

Bridge Page
Bridge Page are web pages that are created to rank high in search engines for particular phrases with purpose to seduce or hoax you to watch another page. They are also known as bridge pages, portal pages, zebra pages, jump pages, gateway pages, entry pages and by other names.

Broadband
1) A range within a band of frequencies or wavelengths. 2) The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second. Broadband technology can transmit data, audio, and video all at once over long distances. See also narrowband.

Broadcast
1) To e-mail or fax a message to multiple recipients simultaneously; to transmit information simultaneously to everyone on a network. 2) To transmit television or radio signals.

Browser
Software used to navigate and display web pages in HTML or XHTML format.

Browsing Options
To provide increased flexibility, a site can offer two navigation options: with HTML or with Flash

Byte
In most computer systems, a byte is a unit of information that is eight bits long. A byte is the unit most computers use to represent a character such as a letter or number.

C

C
A programming language, originally limited to the Unix operating system, widely used to develop systems and software.

C++
Enhancement to the C language, providing object-oriented programming features.

Cable modem
A modem that uses cable television’s coaxial cables to transmit data at faster speeds than modems using telephone lines.

Cache
A place on your hard drive where downloaded pages are stored temporarily, which means that pages don’t need to be downloaded again if you press the ’Back’ button for example, or if you are reading offline. pronounce it: ‘cash’

Case
Character property distinguishing uppercase from lowercase letters.

ccTLD
Country Code Top Level Domains. The country code for domain names (.fr for France, .uk for United Kingdom, .be for Belgium, etc).

CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-only Memory or Compact Disc Read-only Media)
A computer storage medium similar to the audio CD that can hold more than 600 megabytes of read-only digital information.

Cell Padding
The amount of space between edges of a table cell and the cell content.

CGI — Common Gateway Interface
This is one way of creating dynamic pages, like when you fill out a form and on the next page the information you entered is displayed. They’re used in Search Engines too. They are scripts which are placed on the server, usually in a directory called the “cgi-bin”, which stands for binary. CGI scripts are usually written in PERL, a programming language; which we have tutorials up for in the CGI Scripting section.

Chat
A form of real-time electronic communications where participants type what they want to say, and it is repeated on the screens of all other participants in the same chat. Internet Relay Chat or IRC is an Internet protocol for chat, and there are many other chat systems in services like Delphi. Other commonly used chat systems are iChat and ICQ.

Check Boxes
Elements used in a form enabling the user to select several replies to one question.

Client
In computing, a client is a system that accesses a (remote) service on another computer by some kind of network. The term was first applied to devices that were not capable of running their own stand-alone programs, but could interact with remote computers via a network. These dumb terminals were clients of the time-sharing mainframe computer.

Clipart
A ready-to-use graphic file.

Clipboard
A special area in your PC’s memory that temporarily stores data which which can be copied to another location.

ColdFusion
In computing, ColdFusion is a tag-based, middleware programming language used chiefly for writing web-based applications. The language was created by JJ Allaire and his brother Jeremy Allaire, but the product is currently owned by Macromedia.

Color Code
Hexadecimal value of colors used in a HTML page.

Color Palette
The set of colors included in an image.

Combo-Box
An element in a form, combining a drop-down list with a text field.

Compressed file
A computer file that has been reduced in size by a compression software program. The user must decompress the file(s) before they can be viewed or used.

Connect time
The amount of time that a terminal or computer has been logged on to a computer or server for a particular session.

Content
Different content includes: text, audio, video, and images.

Continuous Tones
Uniform color without dithering, often used as a background.

Cookies
Text files downloaded onto a visitor’s computer hard drive to store the visitor’s actions in order to better customise their following visits.

Copy
To copy a piece of data to a temporary location. In word processing, for example, copying refers to duplicating a section of a document and placing it in a buffer (clipboard).

Copyright
Legal rights to commercialise, license, transfer, broadcast or reproduce an original piece of work, irrespective of its supporting media.

Counter
Counters are (usually) numerical counters displayed on some Internet web pages. Once set up, these counters will be incremented one every time the web page is retrieved (viewed on a web browser).

CPA
Cost Per Action (CPA) for banner ads; the fee charged every time a user completes a desired action, such as filling out a form, downloading software, or viewing a series of pages.

CPC
Cost Per Click (CPC) for banner ads; the fee charged every time a user clicks on a banner ad or HTML link.

CPL
Cost Per Lead (CPL). A lead can be anything from an e-mail address for a newsletter to a complete survey that needs to be completely filled out and verified in order to get credit.

CPM
Cost Per 1000 Impressions (CPM), of buying advertising space in a given media vehicle. For example, $100 CPM means each impression cost 10 cents. “1″ CPM mens “1000″ Impressions.

CPS
Cost Per Sale (CPS); the fee charged every time a user completes a purchase.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The part of the computer that contains the microprocessor, power supply, hard drive, and disk drives.

Crawler
A web crawler (also known as web spider) is a program which browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner. A web crawler is one type of bot. Web crawlers not only keep a copy of all the visited pages for later processing - for example by a search engine but also index these pages to make the search narrower.

CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a computer language used to describe the presentation of a structured document written in HTML, XHTML or XML. The CSS specification is maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

CTR
Click Through Ratio (CTR); the ratio of click-throughs to impressions for a given ad run. For example, if a banner has a CTR of 40:1, it means that 1 out of 40 people have clicked on it.

Cut
To remove an object from a document and place it in a buffer. In word processing, for example, cut means to move a section of text from a document to a temporary buffer (clipboard).

CuteFTP
One of the most widely-used FTP clients.

Cyberspace
Term to describe the Internet, coined by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer. Cyberspace is a virtual space, you’re in Cyberspace when you are cruising the Web.

D

DBMS
Database Management System.

Dead Link
A dead link is a link on the world wide web that points to a webpage or server that is permanently unavailable. Dead links are commonplace on the Internet, but they are considered to be unprofessional.

Design
Visual appearance is the first thing a visitor sees upon entering a Website. The use of colors, consistency, content, graphics, navigation and Web style all work together toward creating an effective Website.

De facto standard
A specification that hasn’t been officially established by an accrediting agency, but that is accepted and used as a standard by a majority of practitioners.

Default
A setting that the computer system uses automatically, unless it is changed by the user.

DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A TCP/IP protocol that dynamically assigns an IP address to a computer.

DHTML
Dynamic HTML or DHTML designates a technique of creating interactive web sites by using a combination of the static markup language HTML, a client-side scripting language (such as JavaScript) and the style definition language Cascading Style Sheets.

Dial up
To open a connection between a user’s computer and another computer via a modem.

Digital
An electrical signal that varies in discrete steps in voltage, frequency, amplitude, locations, etc. Digital signals can be transmitted faster and more accurately than analog signals.

Digital Camera
A camera equipped with an electronic photosensitive sensor. The digital pictures are stored directly in the camera’s memory and can be used immediately on a computer.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
A service that offers a faster Internet connection than a standard dial-up connection. Special hardware attached to both the user and switch ends of line allows data transmission over the wires at far greater speed than the standard phone wiring. In addition, it is a constant connection so you have access to the Internet and e-mail 24/7. There is no need to dial in to your ISP each time you want to get on-line. But, DSL is not available in many areas because of various reasons.

Directory
In computing, a directory, catalog, or folder, is an entity in a file system which contains a group of files and other directories. A typical file system contains thousands of files, and directories help organize them by keeping related files together. A directory contained inside another directory is called a subdirectory of that directory. Together, the directories form a hierarchy, or tree structure.

Discussion boards
Forums on the Internet or an intranet where users can post messages for others to read.

Dithering Removal
Elimination of dithering from an image (for instance, after a scanning operation)

DNS
The Domain Name Server (System) or DNS is a system that stores information about host names and domain names in a kind of distributed database on networks, such as the Internet. Most importantly, it provides an IP address for each host name, and lists the mail exchange servers accepting e-mail for each domain.

Domain
One of the elements that comprise a DNS address. Domain names are divided into different categories: .com, .net, .org, .edu, .fr, .uk, etc.

Domain Name
A domain name is the unique name of a computer on the Internet that distinguishes it from the other systems on the network.

Domain name registrar
Domain names ending with .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net or .org can be registered through many different companies (known as “registrars”) that compete with one another. A listing of these companies appears in the Registrar Directory

Doorway Page
Doorway pages are web pages that are created to rank high in search engines for particular phrases with purpose to seduce or hoax you to watch another page. They are also known as bridge pages, portal pages, zebra pages, jump pages, gateway pages, entry pages and by other names.

Download
The process of retrieving information from any computer to your computer is called downloading.

Drag and Drop
Moving an element from one location to another by dragging it with the mouse.

Drawing Tablet
A peripheral used by graphic designers, which combines a digital tablet and an electronic pencil. It provides a high level of drawing precision.

Dreamweaver
Powerful WYSIWYG authoring software from Macromedia enabling easy creation of sites containing graphics and multimedia elements. It is one of the best programs for creating JavaScript and DHTML animations.

Drop-Down List
A list of options from which the user can select one.

DTD
Document Type Definition. A document that describes the structure of a Web page written in XML.

Dynamic Page
Information on web pages which changes or is changed automatically. Sometimes it’s possible to spot this technique by looking at a page’s file extension.
Search engines will currently index dynamic content in a similar fashion to static content.

E

E-Zine
An online magazine maintained by a private person.

ECMAScript — European Computer Manufacturer’s Association Script.
This is what we’re going to be calling JavaScript in the future. Otherwise it’s pretty much the same as before.

Email — Electronic Mail
We all know how to send and receive emails, right? Otherwise, you are most likely in way over your head here.

End user
The person for whom a particular technology is designed; the individual who uses the technology for its designated purpose.

EPC
EPC means; Earnings Per Click.

EPV
EPV means; Earnings Per Visitor.

Error 400
Error 400: Bad Request means; the request is incorrect.

Error 401
Error 401: Unauthorized means; the client does not have the required privileges to access the site.

Ergonomics
Design principles relating to the comfort, efficiency, and safety of users.

Error 403
Error 403: Forbidden means; the request is forbidden. You don’t have an access to enter the site.

Error 404
Error 404: Not Found means; the requested resource no longer exists or has been moved, or the address may be misspelled.

Error 500
Error 500: Internal Server Error means; the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request by the client for access to the requested URL.

Error 501
Error 501: Not Implemented means; the server does not support the service type or the called protocol.

Error 503
Error 503: Service Unavailable means; the server took too long to answer and the connection timed out.

Ethernet
Local network generally offering a throughput of 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps

Events
Actions in programs that are triggeredto call a function or start an operation.

F

FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions. A list of the most frequently asked questions along with their respective answers.

Favicon
A favicon (short for “Favorites icon”), also known as a page icon, is an icon associated with a particular website. A web designer can create such an icon, and many graphical web browsers—such as recent versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla, Opera, Safari, and Konqueror—can then make use of them. Browsers that support favicons may display them in the browser’s address bar, next to the site’s name in lists of bookmarks, and next to the page’s title in a Tabbed Document Interface.

FFA
A Free For All link page (FFA) is a web page set up to ostensibly improving the search engine placement of a particular web site.

File Extensions
This is the 3 or 4 letter suffix at the end of any filename. For instance, this page is called glossary.html, with the .html bit being the extension. It tells the computer what type of file it is and therefore, what program to use to open it. You can learn how to save as a .html file, see a list of commonly-met file formats on the Internet, or check out the web’s most popular image formats.

Firewall
A server whose role is to protect a private site connected to the Internet from unauthorized access.

Fireworks
Graphics creation software from Macromedia. It is useful for optimising image size, editing animated GIFs, creating buttons, animations or roll-overs.

Flash
Software from Macromedia for creating small vector animations played back on the Web. A user’s browser needs the Flash Player plug-in in order to interpret Flash animations.

Font
Character set from a font family.

Form
An interactive Web page with predefined sections to be filled in or options to be selected. The data is then collected for processing, generally by a CGI script on the server.

Forum
Internet applications often called bulletin boards that allows discussion on a distinct topic.

FPS
Frames Per Second. Measures the speed of an animation.

Frame
Part of a window that displays self-contained information. Its content can be changed without affecting the other window frames.

Frame
Frames enable the division of a browser window into independent areas. Each frame can display content in a self-contained page. It is a useful feature for separating browsing menus from contents. Also a HTML tag.

Frameset
A HTML page that contains an exclusive description of a site’s frames (names, layout and content). Also a HTML tag.

FrontPage
A WYSIWYG HTML editor from Microsoft that features dynamic functions (FrontPage components), available without the need for programming knowledge.

FrontPage Express
Smaller free version of FrontPage integrated with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

FTP
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a software standard for transferring computer files between machines with widely different operating systems. It belongs to the application layer of the Internet protocol suite.

FTP Client
Software used to upload your site to your provider’s Web hosting server, or download files from a server.

FTP Server
A machine or software for storing and forwarding data files.

G

Gateway Page
Gateway Page are web pages that are created to rank high in search engines for particular phrases with purpose to seduce or hoax you to watch another page. They are also known as bridge pages, portal pages, zebra pages, jump pages, gateway pages, entry pages and by other names.

GB (gigabyte)
2 to the 30th power (1,073,741,824) bytes. One gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes. Just over one billion bytes.

GIF — Graphics Interchange Format
This is the most popular graphics format on the Internet (along with JPEG). It was made by CompuServe, is limited to a palette of 256 colors, and is generally the best format for simple graphics. For a complete profile of this format, head over to the image formats page. pronounce it: ‘jif’

GIF Animator
An easy-to-use animated GIF image editor, published by Ulead.

GoldWave
Software for digitising and editing sound files on a PC.

Golive
A WYSIWYG HTML editor from Adobe, direct competitor of Dreamweaver from Macromedia. It is a complete and powerful program that is targeted at experienced webmasters.

Google Dance
The fluctuation of search engine results (SERPs). Websites experience surprising change of website rankings. At this time it is said that Google is in the process of updating the search engine rankings.

Guest Book
A method of collecting feedback from visitors.

GUI — Graphical User Interface
This is the part of a program you see — the icons, buttons and menus are all parts of the interface. Everything that surrounds this page in your browser is all interface that allows you to interact with the program.

H

HEX — HEXadecimal
The format of colors on the web. If you are telling a browser to make a background white, for example, you write background=”#ffffff”. You could say background=”white”, but some browsers wouldn’t know what you’re talking about, so expressing colors in HEX is better. Hex codes are 3 groups of two numbers, which in turn signify the amount of Red, Green and Blue in the color, hence “RGB”. These are the three primary colors of light. The range is 0 to 9 plus A to F. So, 0 means none (therefore #000000 is pure black; while f means full, resulting in white). With this knowledge, you can now create tonnes of colors by changing numbers. Although, some look better than others at all color depths — these are the 216 safe colors.

Hit
Hit is a request for a file on a webserver. Each HTML document and graphic file counts as a separate hit, so they aren’t an accurate representation of the number of different visitors to your site.

Home Page
A site’s main page. It contains the table of contents and links pointing to other pages. Generally, the home page file is called index.html or index.htm.

Host
A remote machine whose contents can be accessed via the TCP/IP network.

HTML
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages and other information viewable in a browser.

HTML Editor
Software that simplifies the creation of HTML Web pages.

HTML Validator
A utility for checking the syntax of HTML pages, the display of images and link validation prior to putting a site online .

HTTP
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the primary method used to convey information on the World Wide Web. The original purpose was to provide a way to publish and receive HTML pages.

HTTPS
HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the communication protocol of the World Wide Web. It was invented by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide authentication and encrypted communication and is used in electronic commerce.

Hub
A network device that connects communication lines together.

Hyperlink
A hyperlink, or simply a link, is a reference in a hypertext document to another document or other resource. As such it would be similar to a citation in literature. However, combined with a data network and suitable access protocol, it can be used to fetch the resource referenced. This can then be saved, viewed, or displayed as part of the referencing document.

Hypertext
Hypertext is a user interface paradigm for displaying documents which contain automated cross-references to other documents called hyperlinks. Selecting a hyperlink causes the computer to display the linked document within a very short period of time.

Hypertext Link
Element on a Web page which you click on to jump to another location (on the page, the site or the Web). The mouse pointer changes when it is placed over such a link.

I

IAB
Internet Advertising Bureau. The organisation that defines the standards for advertising on the Internet (among others things, the size of banners).

ICANN
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The organisation in charge of world-wide domain and commercial names management on the Internet.

ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol. Protocol from the IP layer for generating error, test and information messages about transmission through the network.

IE — Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is a popular browser, made by Microsoft.

Illustrator
Vector drawing software from Adobe.

Image Map
In HTML, a list of co-ordinates relating to a specific image, created in order to hyperlink areas of the image to various destinations. For example, a map of the world may have each country hyperlinked to further information about that country. The intention of an image map is to provide an easy way of linking various parts of an image without resorting to dividing the image into separate parts.

Image optimization
Image optimization reduces the file size of an image or graphic, while maintaining the integrity/look of the image.

Indexes
A search engine “indexes” your page when it adds you to its database/index. Normally you get added to these indexes by specifically requesting to be added on the engine’s submission page.

Information architecture
A description or design specification for how information should be treated and organized. In Web design, the term describes the organization of online content into categories and the creation of an interface for displaying those categories.

Information Technology (IT)
The broad subject concerned with all aspects of managing and processing information, especially within a large organization or company. Because computers are central to information management, computer departments within companies and universities are often called IT departments. Some companies refer to this department as IS (Information Services) or MIS (Management Information Services).

Infrastructure
The underlying mechanism or framework of a system. The infrastructure includes the means by which voice, video, and data can be transferred from one site to another and be processed.

Instant Messenger (IM
Software that lists users’ selected “buddies” (friends, family, co-workers, and etc.) who are online and enables users to send short text messages back and forth to them. Some Instant Messenger software also includes voice chat, file transfer, and other applications.

Integration
Combining hardware, software components together to work as an interoperable system. The process of integration may also include front-end planning and strategy.

Interactive media
Allows for a two-way interaction or exchange of information.

Interlaced GIF
Enables the progressive display of an image, so that it appears to gradually fade in.

Internet

An international network first begun by the US government as DARPA-NET. The Internet now provides communication and application services to an international base of businesses, educational institutions, governments, individuals and research organizations.

InterNIC
Internet Network Information Center. A service providing information on domain names registration services (.com, .net and .org), responsibility of which is assumed by ICANN.

Interoperability
The ability of hardware or software components to work together effectively.

Intranet
A private company network based on Internet technologies: Web, e-mail, etc. When accessed from outside, it becomes an extranet.

IP
Internet Protocol. The protocol that handles the delivery of packets on TCP/IP networks.

IP (Internet Protocol) Address
Every computer on the Internet is identified by a numeric address (for example: 188.147.6.90). Each IP address has a corresponding DNS address (for example: www.xyz.com).

IP Packet
Data packet forwarded on a TCP/IP network.

ISDN — Integrated Services Digital Network
A digital upgrade of your phone line, which downloads up to twice as fast as a modern modem — around 128 kbps. It’s moderately expensive, and not available everywhere. If you have the option, ADSL is a better connection.

ISP
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a business or organization that offers users access to the Internet and related services. Most telecommunications operators are ISPs. They provide services like internet transit, domain name registration and hosting, dial-up access, leased line access and colocation.

J

Java
Java is an object-oriented programming language developed primarily by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems. The language, initially called Oak (named after the oak trees outside Gosling’s office), was intended to replace C++, although the feature set better resembles that of Objective C.

JavaScript
JavaScript, often mistyped as “Javascript”, is an object-oriented scripting language based on the concept of prototypes. The language is most well known for its use in websites. It was originally developed by Brendan Eich of Netscape Communications under the name Mocha and then LiveScript but then renamed to “JavaScript”. JavaScript has a syntax close to that of Sun Microsystems’ Java language. But beside name and syntax the language has more in common with Self than with Java. JavaScript was first standardized in 1997–1999 by ECMA under the name ECMAScript. The standard (as of December 1999) is ECMA-262 Edition 3, and corresponds to JavaScript 1.5. This is also now an ISO 16262 standard.

JPEG — Joint Photographic Experts Group
The image file format best suited to photographs, due to its ability to handle color transitions well and compress complicated photos into a smaller size. It is 24-bit, and capable of showing millions of colors. Find out more. pronounce it: ‘jay-peg’

K

KB (kilobyte)
Is a measure of computer memory or storage. A kilobyte (KB) is approximately a 1,000 bytes. But, precisely a kilobyte is equal to 1,024 bytes.

KBPS — KiloBytes Per Second
The speed at which you are downloading a thousand (kilo-) bytes of information. For example, a 28.8 kbps modem can transfer 28800 bits a second. A bit is a single 1 or 0, and a byte = 8 bits.

Keyframe
This denotes a change in an animation process.

Keyframing
A technique used in animations to enable the definition of transition scenes between beginning and end sequences

Keyword
A word searched for in a search command. Keywords are searched in any order. Use spaces to separate keywords in simple keyword searching.

Keyword Density
A property of the text in a web page which indicates how close together the keywords appear. Some search engines use this property for Positioning. Analysers are available which allow comparisons between pages. Pages can then be produced with the similar keyword densities to those found in high ranking pages.

Keyword Phrase
More than one Keyword, searched exactly as keyed (all terms required to be in documents, in the order keyed). Enclosing keywords in quotations ” ” forms a phrase in Search Engines. Some times a phrase is called a “character string.”

Keyword Research
Process of analyzing the best and most effective keywords which brings higher and better search engine traffic and ranking to a web page or website.

L

LAN (Local Area Network)
A group of personal computers and/or other devices, such as printers or servers, that are located in a relatively limited area, such as an office, and can communicate and share information with each other.

Layer
In image-editing software, a constituent part of an image that can be manipulated independently of other parts.

Layers
DHTML element for superimposing text or images in a page. In image-editing software, a constituent part of an image that can be manipulated independently of other parts.

Link
Hypertext link.

Link Building
Creation of inbound links from an external website to a particular website.

Link Farm
Link farm is a large group of web pages created that contain hyperlinks to one another or a specific other page. Link farms are normally created by programs, rather than by human beings.

Link Popularity
Link popularity is a measure of the quantity and quality of other web sites that link to a specific site on the World Wide Web. It is an example of the move by search engines towards off-the-page-criteria to determine quality content. In theory, off-the-page-criteria adds the aspect of impartiality to search engine rankings.

List-Box
Drop-down list.

ListServ
One of the most widely used newsletter servers.

Live Cam
A Webcam that continuously broadcasts live on Internet.

Log
A journal file that reports connections to a server.

Log in/Log on
To establish a connection over a network or modem with a remote computer to retrieve or exchange information.

Login
Identification supplied by users to access a server.

Log off
To terminate a connection to a computer or network.

Lurking
Reading the postings in a discussion forum or on a listserv but not contributing to the discussion.

M

Maintain
To keep up to date or current; to keep at a given level of working condition.

Markup
Text and codes added to a document to convey information about it. Usually used to formulate a document’s layout or create links to other documents or information servers. HTML is a common form of markup.

MB (megabyte)
1,048,576 bytes, often generically applied to 1,000,000 bytes as well.

Mbps (Megabits per second)
A measurement of data transmission speed in a communication system; the number of megabits transmitted or received each second.

Meta data
Information about content that enables it to be stored in and retrieved from a database.

Meta Tag
Meta tags are used to provide structured data about data.

Microwave
Electromagnetic waves that travel in a straight line and are used to and from satellites and for short distances up to 30 miles.

MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A format for sound data.

Mirror Site
Mirror site is an exact copy of another Internet site (often a web site). Mirror sites are most commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information, and are of particular value as a way of providing reliable access to large downloads.

Modem
A device that enables computers to interact with each other via telephone lines by converting digital signals to analog for transmitting and back to digital for receiving.

Mouseover
Synonymous with rollOver.

MP3
MPEG1 Audio Layer 3. Audio file compression format with CD quality. A standard on the Internet.

MP3 Encoder
Software that converts Wave or AIFF sound files into MP3 format.

MPEG — Motion Picture Experts Group
Another compression technique for video and audio. Over time, there have been versions, called ‘layers’. One such layer was MPEG Layer 3, which was shortened to MP3, a very popular music format.

Multimedia
Encompasses interactive text, images, sound, and color. Multimedia can be anything from a simple PowerPoint slide slow to WebVideo.

MySQL
The most popular database servers used in web development with PHP.

N

Namo Web Editor
A WYSIWYG HTML editor from Namo Interactive. Easy to use for DHTML animation creation, it has many wizards and predefined templates. It supports XML, PHP, ASP and style sheets.

Narrowband
1) In data transmission, a limited range of frequencies. 2) More specifically, a network in which data transmission speeds range from 50 Bps to 64 Kbps. See also broadband.

Navigation
Finding your way from page to page on the World Wide Web.

Navigation bar (Nav-bar)
A collection of text (or graphics) and hyperlinks to pages that are part of the same Website.

Navigation Menu
Essential on a site home page, it can have different appearances. It contains the table of contents and the links to the other pages of the site.

Nesting
Placing documents within other documents. Allows a user to access material in a nonlinear fashion, the primary requirement for developing hypertext.

Netiquette
Unofficial rules defining proper behaviour on Internet.

Netmeeting
Videoconferencing software from Microsoft.

Netscape Composer
A free WYSIWYG HTML editor included in Netscape Communicator. Its limited functions would suit only novice users.

Network
Two or more computers that are connected so users can share files and devices (for example, printers, servers, and storage devices).

Network Errors
HTML pages returned by the server when browsing a site. On the client side, you can receive errors of type 4xx, and on the server side, errors of type 5xx.

Newbie
A beginner. All of today’s experts began as a newbie once.

Newsletter
An informative letter mailed to subscribers.

NFS
Network File System. Standard for accessing files on a remote computer appearing as a local volume.

NN — Netscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator is a popular Internet browser, which was originally based on the Mosaic browser, which contributed greatly to the popularity of the web a long time ago. It has been overshadowed by better browsers since

Notepad
A text editor supplied with Windows. It is sometimes used to type in HTML code.

O

Objects
In HTML programming, building blocks of a page (paragraph, image, sound, ActiveX components…)

OCR
Optical Character Recognition. Technology used to identify characters in a digitised document.

ODBC
Open DataBase Connectivity. Standardised interface, or middleware, for accessing a database from a program.

Offline Browser
Software used to save all or part of a Web site onto a user’s hard drive.

OLE
Object Linking and Embedding. Microsoft technology that enables the creation of documents by incorporating elements created using different kinds of software.

Online
The state in which a computer is connected to another computer or server via a network. A computer communicating with another computer.

Online community
A meeting place for people on the Internet. Designed to facilitate interaction and collaboration among people who share common interests and needs. Online communities can be open to all or by membership only and may or may not offer moderator tools.

Online learning
Learning delivered by Web-based or Internet-based technologies. See Web-based training and Internet-based training.

Online training
Web- or Internet-based training.

Open Source
Open source or open-source software (OSS) is any computer software distributed under a license which allows users to change and/or share the software freely. Many programs use a specific license agreement satisfying the Open Source Definition.

OpenType
Microsoft font types support technology.

Opera
Small Web browser, competitor of Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer, which supports style sheets and JavaScript.

Optimizing an image
Optimizing an image is essentially reducing the file size of a graphic or picture, so it loads on a Webpage as quickly as possible.

Option or Radio Buttons
User interface elements placed in a form to provide a limited number of options, from which only a single reply can be selected.

P

Packet
A bundle of data transmitted over a network. Packets have no set size; they can range from one character to hundreds of characters.

Page Size
To ensure optimal browsing, the home page size should not exceed 30 Kb.

PageMill
A WYSIWYG HTML editor from Adobe.

PageRank
PageRank is a family of algorithms for assigning numerical weightings to hyperlinked documents (or web pages) indexed by a search engine. Its properties are much discussed by search engine optimization (SEO) experts. The PageRank system is used by the popular search engine Google to help determine a page’s relevance or importance. It was developed by Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin while at Stanford University in 1998.

Paint Shop Pro
An image creation and editing tool from JASC Software. It provides an animated GIF editor, a screen-capture function and a graphics format conversion module.

PAP
French term meaning Page Avec Publicité vue, i.e., Page with viewed advertisement. It is an audience measurement unit used to pay a webmaster according to the traffic drawn by his site.

Path
The location of a file or a page in the file system of a remote server.

Pay Per Click (PPC)
Advertising model where a publisher website is rewarded and/or paid for each click-through visitor.

PCT
Graphic file format on Macintosh.

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)
Handheld computer device used to organize personal information such as contacts, schedules, etc. Data can usually be transferred to a desktop computer by cable or wireless transmission.

PDF
Portable Document Format. Document readable by the Adobe Acrobat Reader. It allows very good formatting and control on how it is going to be displayed on the monitor. It has the .pdf extension.

Perl
Perl, also Practical Extraction and Report Language, is a programming language released by Larry Wall on December 18, 1987 that borrows features from C, sed, awk, shell scripting and from many other programming languages.

Personalization
Tailoring Web content to an individual user. Can also be accomplished by a user entering preferences or by a computer guessing about the user’s preferences.

Photoshop
image-editing and graphics creation software from Adobe. It provides a large library of effects, filters and layers.

PHP
PHP is a widely-used open-source programming language primarily for server-side applications and developing dynamic web content.

PICS
Platform for Internet Content Selection. Specification from the W3C to define the content of your site for your visitors by associating labels (metadata).

Pixel — picture element
A pixel is the smallest area that can be displayed on a monitor. Pictures are made up of lines of different-colored pixels. Your screen resolution is the amount of pixels your monitor is displaying at a time.

Plug-and-play
The ability of a personal computer’s operating system to recognize and install– with little to no intervention by the user–new peripheral devices that are added to the computer. Also spelled plug-n-play or plug ‘n’ play.

Plug-in
An additional module that adds features to a browser in order to support certain elements, such as support for sound, video, and 3D animation files.

PNG — Portable Network Graphic

Podcast
Podcast is a multimedia, such as audio or video, distributed via RSS, over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

Point-to-multipoint
Transmission between multiple locations using a bridge.

Point-to-point
Transmission between two locations.

Pointer
Cursor of a pointing device, such as a mouse or an electronic pencil.

POP3
Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) is an application layer Internet standard protocol used to retrieve email from a remote server to a local client over a TCP/IP connection. Nearly all individual Internet service provider email accounts are accessed via POP3.

Popunder
Pop-under ads are a form of online advertising that, spawns a new browser window in the background.

Popup
Pop-up ads are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to increase web traffic. It works when certain web sites open a new web browser window to display advertisements. The pop-up window containing an advertisement is usually generated by JavaScript, but can be generated by other means as well. A less intrusive variation on the pop-up window is the pop-under advertisement. This opens a new browser window, but in the background, so as not to interrupt the user’s page-view.

Portal
A portal is a web site that provides a starting point, a gateway, or portal, to other resources on the Internet or an intranet. Intranet portals are also known as “enterprise information portals” (EIP).

Positioning
Result of your ranking in a result list displayed by a search engine.

Post
To place a message in a public message forum. Also, to place an HTML page on the World Wide Web or post to a blog.

Power users
Advanced, sophisticated users of technology (usually a computer application or an operating system) who know more than just the basics needed to operate it.

PPC
Pay per click, or PPC, is an advertising technique used on websites, especially search engines. Pay per click advertisements are usually text ads placed near search results; when a site visitor clicks on the advertisement, the advertiser is charged a small amount. Variants include pay for placement and pay for ranking. Pay per click is also sometimes known as Cost per click or CPC.

PPL
Pay per lead, or PPL, is an ad pricing structure by which the advertiser pays the publisher according to how many leads are generated by an ad, often determined by information submitted directly into the banner ad.

PPP
Point to Point Protocol. Protocol encapsulating a connection to a TCP/IP network through a modem and a telephone line.

Problogger
Professional Blogger. Blogger who gets makes a living by getting paid by companies or individuals to blog about their website, business or product.

Program
Computer software, also called an application. An organized list of instructions that, when executed, causes the computer to behave in a predetermined manner. Without programs, computers are useless.

Programming language
A vocabulary and set of grammatical rules for instructing a computer to perform specific tasks.

Promotion
All the techniques used to promote a site by search engines and directories.

Protocol
A formal set of standards, rules, or formats for exchanging data that assures uniformity between computers and applications.

Proxy
Server placed between a user’s machine and the Internet. It can act as a firewall to provide protection and as a cache area to speed up Web page display.

PSA
A public service announcement or PSA is a non-commercial “advertisement” for web sites.

Pull
On the WWW (World Wide Web), the technology whereby people use software such as a Web browser to locate and “pull down” information for themselves. See also push technology.

Push
Automatic upload of data to a user’s computer.

PWS
Microsoft Personal Web Server. It is bundled with Windows 98.

Q

Query
An inquiry sent to a server.

QuickTime
An Apple utility used to develop and play back audio and video files.

Quotes
Punctuation characters often used to delineate a character string.

R

RAM (Random Access Memory)
Temporary storage built into a computer system that functions as a “workspace” for data and program instructions.

RDBMS
Relational Database Management System.

RealPlayer
Plug-in from RealNetworks for sound and video file management and streaming.

RealProducer
Encoding software from RealNetworks for converting sound files into RealAudio format.

Reciprocal Link
A reciprocal link is a mutual link between two objects, commonly between two websites in order to ensure mutual traffic.

Referrer
When visiting a webpage, the referer (sic) or referring page is the URL of the previous webpage from which a link was followed. More generally, it is the URL of a previous item which led to this request - the referer for an image, for example, is generally the HTML page on which it is to be displayed. The referer is part of the HTTP request sent by the browser program to the web server.

Registrar
A company specialised in the registering of domain names with the InterNIC.

Relative Path
A partial path relative to the location of the visited page.

Research
Research is used to describe a collection of information about a particular subject, and is usually associated with science and the scientific method.

Resolution
The clarity of the image on the video display screen.

RGB Mode
Images in RGB (red, green and blue) mode are displayed on the screen by means of three primary colors.

Robots.txt
The robots exclusion standard or robots.txt protocol is a convention to prevent well-behaved web spiders and other web robots from accessing all or part of a website. The information specifying the parts that should not be accessed is specified in a file called robots.txt in the top-level directory of the website.

ROI (Return On Investment)
Generally, a ratio of the benefit or profit received from a given investment to the cost of the investment itself.

Rollover
The effect produced by changing the appearance of a graphical element when the mouse pointer moves over it.

Router
Typically a machine, though it can also be software, that acts as a gateway to provide access to network resources, irrespective of the protocols or operating systems the users use.

RSS
Really Simple Syndication. XML feeds usually fetched by a reader like Bloglines and Google Reader for conversion to readable format.

RTSP
Real Time Streaming Protocol. A client/Server communication protocol that simplifies the distribution of multimedia contents on the Internet.

S

Scanner
A peripheral for digitising documents (photos, slides, drawings, texts), though it can also digitise small objects. It is an essential tool for putting pictures on a personal web site.

Schema
1) A relatively simple textual description or representation of the internal structure of a database, including table names, element names, and relationships between elements. 2) One of several new entities that define the structure and content parameters for XML documents.

Screen reader
Computer software that speaks text on the screen. Often used by individuals who are visually impaired.

Scripts
A piece of text that either gives commands to your web-browser (in the languages of JavaScript and VBScript), or to your web-server (in CGI scripts).

Scroll
To move text and images on a computer screen in a constant direction–down, up, right, or left.

Search Engine (SE)
A search engine is a program designed to help find files stored on a computer, for example a public server on the World Wide Web, or one’s own computer. The search engine allows one to ask for media content meeting specific criteria (typically those containing a given word or phrase) and retrieving a list of files that match those criteria. A search engine often uses a previously made, and regularly updated index to look for files after the user has entered search criteria.

Search Engine Algorithm
Search engines’ process of determining the relevancy of web pages through various factors that will ultimately affect it’s rank in search engine results

SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of methodologies aimed at improving the visibility of a website in search engine listings. The term also refers to an industry of consultants that carry out optimization projects on behalf of client sites.

Serial bus
A communications method where data is sent along a path, one bit at a time (as in a series).

Serial port
A connection point for peripheral devices to be attached to a computer, through which data transmission occurs one bit at a time.

SERPs
Search Engine Results Pages. It is the page with website listings returned by a search engine from querying a keyword or phrase.

Server
Server is a computer software application that carries out some task on behalf of users. This is usually divided into file serving, allowing users to store and access files on a common computer; and application serving, where the software runs a computer program to carry out some task for the users. This is the original meaning of the term. Web, mail, and database servers are what most people access when using the internet.

Servlet
A server-side Java program that provides additional features to the server.

Session ID
Session ID (Session Identifier) is a value generated by a server that identifies a particular session.

SET
Secure Electronic Transaction. Technology developed by Visa and Mastercard to secure online payments.

SGML — Standard Generalised Markup Language
This is HTML’s daddy, as HTML is a set group of tags that is unchanging. SGML contains an infinite number of tags as it is customisable. It is defined as “the international standard for the publication and delivery of electronic information”.

Shareware
Most shareware is delivered free of charge, but the author usually requests that you pay a fee if you like the program and use it regularly. By paying the requested fee, you become registered with the producer so that you can receive service assistance and updates. You can copy shareware and pass it along to friends and colleagues, but they too are expected to pay a fee if they use the product.

Shockwave
Software developed by Macromedia to create and distribute multimedia animations on the Web. To support Shockwave files, a browser needs the appropriate plug-in (available free of cost). Flash is its successor.

SHTML
A file name extension that identifies web pages containing SSI commands.

Silhouetting
A technique used to select all or part of an image in order to include it in another image or document.

Site Submission
All the techniques involved when submitting a site to search engines or directories.

Sitemap
A page on your website where you can find links to all internal pages or at least to the pages with high importance or value. Sitemaps were built for search engine spiders for easier indexing of the website’s pages. The use of XML sitemaps were also introduced to signal search engines how important a web page is and how often a web page is updated.

SMTP
SMTP is a relatively simple, text-based protocol, where one or more recipients of a message are specified (and in most cases verified to exist) and then the message text is transferred. It is quite easy to test a SMTP server using the telnet program. SMTP uses TCP port 25. To determine the SMTP server for a given domain name, the MX (Mail eXchange) DNS record is used.

Software
A set of instructions that tell a computer what to do; a program.

Source Code
All the tags and instructions contained in a text file used to compose a Web page.

Spam
Spamming is the use of any electronic communications medium to send unsolicited messages in bulk. In the popular eye, the most common form of spam is that delivered in e-mail as a form of commercial advertising. However, over the short history of electronic media, people have done things comparable to spamming for many purposes other than the commercial, and in many media other than e-mail. In this article and those related, the term spamming is used broadly to refer to all of these behaviors, regardless of medium and commercial intent.

Spider
A spider is a program which browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner. A web crawler is one type of bot. Web crawlers not only keep a copy of all the visited pages for later processing - for example by a search engine but also index these pages to make the search narrower.

SQL
Structured Query Language (SQL) is the most popular computer language used to create, modify and query databases.

SQL Server
Microsoft database management software.

SSI
Server Side Includes or SSI is a simple server-side scripting language used almost exclusively for the web. As its name implies, its primary use is including the contents of one file in another.

SSL
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), its successor, are cryptographic protocols which provide secure communications on the Internet.

Static Page
Static Page is a standard web page using only HTML. Static pages do not employ dynamic technologies (like PHP, ASP, Perl…), and have standard URL’s.

Storyboard
A sketch used to plan a Website showing the basic navigation structure and arrangement of Web pages. Much like a storyboard used to plan of a comic strip or film.

Streaming
Technology that enables the playback of sound or video without the need to download the entire resource file in advance.

Style sheets
On the Web, style sheets specify how a document should appear. Standardizing such elements as fonts, colors, spacing to Web documents. Style sheets can help ensure consistency across Web pages. HTML coding can override the sheets. Also see CSS.

Subdomain
In the DNS hierarchy, a subdomain is a domain that is part of a larger domain name. A DNS hierarchy consists of the root-level domain at the top, underneath which are the top-level domains, followed by second-level domains and finally subdomains.

Submit Button
Transmits the data entered in a fill-in form to the processing program and resets the input fields.

System requirements
Goals that a computer system should meet. Most software development models require requirements to be explicitly and completely articulated prior to the system design. The implemented system is then evaluated in terms of whether it meets the requirements. Some requirements may only surface during the use of the system.

T

T-1
This is a connection capable of 1,544,000 bits a second. The speed goes up to T-3, which is capable of shifting 44,736,000 bits/second.

T-3
A digital channel that communicates at a significantly faster rate than T-1.

Table
Enables the layout of a Web page that keeps the same general appearance irrespective of the browser window size. Depending on requirements, the number of rows and columns can be adjusted, as can the size of the cells.

Tags
Keywords that represent what a website, blog post or website link is all about.

TCP-IP — Transmission Control Protocol - Internet Protocol
On the Internet, some computers are connected through Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and some through Internet Protocol (IP). Used in conjunction they form TCP-IP. This is a standard for connecting to the net. Therefore, your computer can connect through any other computer that uses TCP-IP, which most do.

Telecommunication
The science of information transport using wire, radio, optical, or electromagnetic channels to transmit receive signals for data or voice communications using electrical means.

Telecommuting
Working at home but connecting to one’s office by way of a computer network.

Teleconferencing
Two-way electronic communication between two or more groups in separate locations via audio, video, and/or computer systems.

Telnet
A utility that enables a user to log onto a computer or server and access its information remotely, for example, from home or a work location in the field.

Template
A pattern used to create documents.

Text Field
Generally associated with a form that receives data entered by the user.

Thread
1) A path of execution in a program. Each application has at least one thread executing it, although it is possible to have more than one thread in the same instance of a program. 2) A series of messages on a particular topic posted in a discussion forum.

Tiff
Tagged Image File Format. A graphic file format for PC and Macintosh (.tif). It is compatible with most image-editing software.

Timeline
Linear representation of the progress of an animation from the first to the last frame.

Title Bar
Located at the top of the browser window, it displays the title of the visited page

TLD
A top-level domain (TLD) is the last part of which Internet domain names consist of. For example, in the domain name MyWebmasterIndex.com the top-level domain is com (or COM, as domain names are not case-sensitive).

Toolbar
In a graphical interface on a computer monitor a toolbar is a row, column, or block of onscreen buttons or icons that, when clicked, activate certain functions of the program.

Touch screen
An input device used to simplify user input and response. The user touches the screen to control the output, working with menus or multiple-choice decision points. Allows some simulation of hands-on training; for example, pointing to parts on a machine.

Traceroute
A Unix command that precisely locates a server that is slowing down transmission on the Internet.

Traffic
Traffic is the amount of data sent and received by visitors to a web site. This is determined by the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are popular and if there are any apparent trends, such as one specific page being viewed mostly by people in a particular country. There are many ways to monitor this traffic and the gathered data is used to help structure sites, highlight security problems or indicate a potential lack of bandwidth – not all web traffic is welcome.

Transparent GIF
Enables the creation of a transparent background.

Tree
Hierarchical structure of a site’s elements in directories and sub-directories.

Trojan horse
Like the Trojan horse of mythology, Trojan horse viruses pretend to be one thing when in fact they are something else. Typically, Trojan horses take the form of a game that deletes files.

TrueDoc
Netscape’s dynamic font type.

TrueType
Vector font type from Apple and Microsoft. The character size is adjustable without quality loss.

Tutorial
Step-by-step instructions presented through computer or Web-based technology, designed to teach a user how to complete a particular action.

U

Unique Visitors
Unique visitor is a real visitor to a web site. Web servers record the IP addresses of each visitor, and this is used to determine the number of real people who have visited a web site. If for example, someone visits twenty pages within a web site, the server will count only one unique visitor (because the page accesses are all associated with the same IP address) but twenty page accesses.

UNIX
An operating system used only by the odd traditional bearded computer professor. Otherwise mainly for web-servers these days. The increasingly popular Linux operating system is based on UNIX.

Upload
When one computer sends information to another, it is called uploading. You upload your website data (pages/graphics) to your server.

URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)
Name and address of information (text, graphics, audio, video,etc.) on the Internet. A URI usually identifies the application used to access the resource, the machine the resource is located on, and the file name of the resource. A Web page address or URL is the most commonly used type of URI.

URL
A Uniform Resource Locator, URL, or Web address, is a standardized address for some resource (such as a document or image) on the Internet (or elsewhere). First created by Tim Berners-Lee for use on the World Wide Web, the currently used forms are detailed by IETF standard.

Usability
The quality of designing a Website or application that addresses how easily users can accomplish specific tasks.

User Agent
A user agent is the client application used with a particular network protocol; the phrase is most commonly used in reference to those which access the World Wide Web. Web user agents range from web browsers to search engine crawlers (”spiders”), as well as screen readers and braille browsers used by people with disabilities.

V

Validation (test)
The process of checking your documents against the formal standard published by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). Various free validation services can analyze Web pages and style sheets for errors in your code, check for accessibility issues, verify your hyperlinks and identify spelling errors.

VBScript
Visual Basic Script. A Microsoft scripting language derived from their object-oriented programming package.

Vector Image
This type of image (as opposed to Bitmap image) is calculated from its dimensions and can be reduced or enlarged without loss of quality.

Vexel
Vexel came from the two words “vector” and “pixel” often similar to vector-art appearance but is formed entirely by pixels which in turn imitates the looks of vector.

Viral Marketing
Viral marketing and viral advertising refers to marketing techniques that seek to exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness, through processes similar to the spread of an epidemic.

Virtual Domain
Also seen as “redirecting URLs,” a virtual domain is one that exists in type, but not on an actual server. Popular redirecting services (cjb.net, for example) will allow you to sign up for a virtual domain name of your choice. This is useful if your actual URL is long and not easily remembered. By typing in the redirecting URL of your choice, you are automatically redirected by the service to your actual, longer URL.

Virtual Hosting
Virtual hosting is a method that web servers use to host more than one domain name on the same computer and IP address.

Virus
A program or piece of computer code that’s loaded onto your PC and runs without your knowledge. Viruses can replicate themselves. Even a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the system to a halt. An even more dangerous type of virus is one capable of transmitting itself across the Internet. All viruses are man-made.

Virus detection program
A software program to detect, diagnose, and destroy computer viruses.

VRML
Virtual Reality Modelling Language. Software for creating 3D scenes in Web pages. The client needs to install the appropriate plug-in (for instance, Live 3D).

W

W3C
World Wide Web Consortium. The international organisation that defines standards and rules for the Internet.

WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative)
Guidelines on how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. These guidelines are intended for all Web content developers (page authors and site designers) and for developers of authoring tools. See also, Section 508.

WAP
Wireless Application Protocol. This provides access to the Internet for mobile telephones.

Wave
The most widely used format for sound files on Windows systems (.wav).

Web Blog
Refers to a Webpage which is published by either an individual or a group of individuals. Also called Blogs, are commonly personal journals/diaries and are used to comment on all sorts of topics depending on the interests of the blogger (author). A Blog is usually updated frequently (monthly, weekly or even daily), it all depends on the blogger. Most Blogs enable the visitors to post comments and/or suggestions allowing interactivity between the blogger and the visitors.

Web Hosting
Web hosting is a service that provides Internet users with online systems for storing information, images, video, or any content accessible via the web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients.

Web Page
A constituent part of a Web site linked to other documents or resources by means of hypertext links.

Web Ring
A chain of sites sharing a common theme.

Webcam
A small digital video camera (and sometimes a photo camera) connected to a computer for real-time acquisition and broadcasting of videos on the Internet.

WebMaster (or WebMistress)
If you own or take care of a website, you now can proudly call yourself a webmaster. This is also the person to target if you need to contact any site you’re on.

Web Server
A Web Server is a computer on the World Wide Web (connected to the Internet Backbone) that stores HTML documents that can be retrieved via a Web browser.

Website plan
Identify your intended audience; define the purpose of your site; create a draft for each Web page; specify your start date and update frequency; and select a host.

Windows Media
Audio and video file format.

Windows Media Encoder
Microsoft encoder that converts audio and video files into Windows Media format.

Windows Media Player
Integrated multimedia playback software integrated into the latest Windows versions.

Winzip
File compression program for Windows.

Whois
Whois is a protocol for submitting a query to a database for determining the owner of a domain name, an IP network, or an autonomous system number.

WML
Wireless Markup Language is the primary content format for devices that implement the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) specification based on XML, such as mobile phones.

Workstation
1) A device, often a microcomputer, that serves as an interface between a user and a file server or host computer. 2) More generally, a computer or a computer terminal.

Worm
A computer virus that replicates itself many times over for the purpose of consuming system resources, eventually shutting down a computer or server. This type of virus is most often directed at mail servers such as Microsoft Exchange and is usually unleashed when an unsuspecting user opens an e-mail attachment.

WWW — World Wide Web

WYSIWYG — What You See Is What You Get
This is the term used to describe the HTML editors that give you a graphical representation of what you’re coding. A very popular example is » DreamWeaver.
pronounce it: ‘wizzy-wig’

X

XHTML
XHTML (short for Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) is a markup language that has the same expressive possibilities as HTML, but a stricter syntax. Whereas HTML was an application of SGML, a very flexible markup language, XHTML is an application of XML, a more restrictive subset of SGML. XHTML 1.0 became a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Recommendation on January 26, 2000.

XLL
Extensible Linking Language (XLL), second part of the W3C’s XML specification concerning hyperlinks. An XML extension used to insert links that can point directly to a specific object (image, title, word, etc.) into a page.

XML
The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a W3C recommendation for creating special-purpose markup languages. It is a simplified subset of SGML, capable of describing many different kinds of data. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the sharing of structured text and information across the Internet. Languages based on XML (for example, RDF, RSS, MathML, XSIL and SVG) are themselves described in a formal way, allowing programs to modify and validate documents in these languages without prior knowledge of their form.

XSL
The eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is a set of language technologies for defining XML document transformation and presentation

Y

YModem: A protocol for transferring data via modem that incorporates error correction by introducting a batch mode; multiple files can be transferred at once using a single command.

Z

ZIP file
1) Files that have been compressed with the ZIP format are called ZIP files and usually end with a .ZIP extension. 2) A compressed file with the .EXE extension that is self-extracting (can be unzipped simply by opening it).

Zip drive
An external data storage device that reads Zip disks.

Zip disk
A portable disk (not floppy) that stores 100MB or 250MB of information. It was made by Iomega and is now considered a standard for large portable storage. There are many other storage formats but the ZIP disk is the most common. Zip disk has nothing to do with a “zipped file”.