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Simple glossary of website terms

BBS (Bulletin Board System)

A web based public system for sharing discussions, files, and announcements.

Bookmark

In web terms: A link to a particular web site, stored (bookmarked) by a web user for future use and easy access.

Browse

Term to describe a user's movement across the web, moving from page to page via hyperlinks, using a web browser. (See Web Browser).

Byte (Binary Term)

A computer storage unit containing 8 bits. Each byte can store one text character.

Chat

An on-line text-based communication between Internet users.

Computer Virus

A computer program that can harm a computer by displaying messages, deleting files, or even destroying the computer's operating system.

Cookie

Information from a web server, stored on your computer by your web browser. The purpose of a cookie is to provide information about your visit to the website for use by the server during a later visit.

Database

Data stored in a computer in such a way that a computer program can easily retrieve and manipulate the data.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

An Internet connection over regular telephone lines, but much faster. Speed may vary from 128 kilobit per second, up to 9 megabit per second.

E-mail (Electronic Mail)

Messages sent from one person to another via the Internet.

E-mail Address

The address used for sending e-mails to a person or an organization. Typical format is username@hostname.

E-mail Server

A web server dedicated to the task of serving e-mail.

Encryption

To convert data from its original form to a form that can only be read by someone that can reverse the encryption. The purpose of encryption is to prevent unauthorized reading of the data.

Firewall

Software that acts as a security filter that can restrict types of network communication. Most often used between an individual computer (or a LAN) and the Internet.

Flash

A vector-based multimedia format developed by Macromedia for use on the web.

Form

See HTML Form.

Forum

In web terms: The same as Newsgroup.

Gateway

A computer program for transferring (and reformatting) data between incompatible applications or networks.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

A compressed format for storing images developed by CompuServe. One of the most common image formats on the Internet.

GB

Same as Gigabyte. 10GB is ten gigabytes.

Gigabyte

1024 megabytes. Commonly rounded down to one billion bytes.

Graphics

In web terms graphics describe pictures (opposite to text).

Hits

The number of times a web object (page or picture) has been viewed or downloaded. (See also Page Hits).

Home Page

The top-level (main) page of a web site. The default page displayed when you visit a web site.

Host

See Web Host.

Hosting

See Web Hosting.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

HTML is the language of the web. HTML is a set of tags that are used to define the content, layout and the formatting of the web document. Web browsers use the HTML tags to define how to display the text.

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)

The standard set of rules for sending text files across the Internet. It requires an HTTP client program at one end, and an HTTP server program at the other end.

Internet Explorer

A browser by Microsoft. The most commonly used browser today.

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)

A unique number identifying every computer on the Internet (like 197.123.22.240)

ISP (Internet Service Provider)

Someone that provides access to the Internet and web hosting.

Java

A programming language developed by SUN. Mostly for programming web servers and web applets.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group)

The organization that promotes the JPG and JPEG graphic formats for storing compressed images.

JPEG and JPG

Graphic formats for storing compressed images.

Keyword

In web terms: A word used by a search engine to search for relevant web information.
In database terms: A word (or index) used to identify a database record.

Kilobyte

1024 bytes. Often called 1K, and rounded down to 1000 bytes.

Link

The same as a hyperlink.

Linux

Open source computer operating system based on Unix. Mostly used on servers and web servers.

Mail Server

See e-mail server.

MB

Same as Megabyte. 10MB is ten megabytes.

Megabyte

1024 kilobytes. Commonly rounded down to one million bytes.

Meta Data

Data that describes other data. (See also Meta Tags).

Meta Tags

Tags inserted into documents to describe the document.

MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3)

An audio compression format specially designed for easy download over the Internet.

MySQL

Free open source database software often used on the web.

Page Hits

The number of times a web page has been visited by a user.

Page Impressions

The same as Page Hits.

Page Views

The same as Page Hits.

PDF (Portable Document Format)

A document file format developed by Adobe. Most often used for text documents.

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor)

A technology allowing the insertion of server executable scripts in web pages. Mostly for Unix, Linux and Solaris platforms.

POP (Post Office Protocol)

A standard communication protocol for retrieving e-mails from an e-mail server. (See also IMAP).

Robot

See Web Robot.

Router

A hardware (or software) system that directs (routes) data transfer to different computers in a network.

Server

See Web Server.

SPAM

In web terms: The action of sending multiple unwelcome messages to a newsgroup or mailing list.

Spyware

Computer software hidden in a computer with the purpose of collecting information about the use of the computer.

SSL (Secure Socket Layer)

Software to secure and protect web site communication using encrypted transmission of data.

Static IP (address)

An IP address that is the same each time connect to the Internet. (See also Dynamic IP).

Tag

In web terms: Notifications or commands written into a web document. (See HTML Tags)

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)

A collection of Internet communication protocols between two computers. The TCP protocol is responsible for an error free connection between two computers, while the IP protocol is responsible for the data packets sent over the network.

Trojan Horse

Computer program hidden in another computer program with the purpose of destroying software or collecting information about the use of the computer.

Unix

Computer operating system, developed by Bell Laboratories. Mostly used for servers and web servers.

UNZIP

To uncompress a ZIPPED file. See ZIP.

Upload

To transfer a file from a local computer to a remote computer. In web terms: to transfer a file from a web client to a web server. (see also Download).

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

A web address. The standard way to address web documents (pages) on the Internet (like: http://www.w3schools.com/)

Virus

Same as Computer Virus.

Visit

In web terms: A visit to a web site. Commonly used to describe the activity for one visitor of a web site.

Visitor

In web terms: A visitor of a web site. Commonly used to describe a person visiting (viewing) a web site.

Web Address

The same as an URL or URI. See URL.

Web Browser

A software program used to display web pages.

Web Hosting

Providing web host services.

Web Page

A document (normally an HTML file) designed to be distributed over the Web.

Web Server

A server is a computer that delivers services or information to other computers. In web terms: A server that delivers web content to web browsers.

Web Site

A collection of related web pages belonging to a company or an individual.

Web Spider

A computer program that searches the Internet for web pages. Common web spiders are the one used by search engines like Google and AltaVista to index the web. Web spiders are also called web robots or wanderers.

WWW (World Wide Web)

A global network of computers using the internet to exchange web documents. (See also Internet)

ZIP

A compressing format for computer files. Commonly used for compressing files before downloading over the Internet. ZIP files can be compressed (ZIPPED) and decompressed (UNZIPPED) using a computer program like WINZIP.

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  • Simple glossary of website terms

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