Glossary of internet terminology
Sometimes the technical jargon of computing and the internet is used to bamboozle people. We hope that we are never guilty of that. This jargon-busting section is designed to explain some of the most commonly used terms so you are more empowered to make decisions about what you need.
This section is still being worked on. We apologise if the term you are looking for has not been explained.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Accessibility
Web accessibility means designing sites so that people with disabilities
can use them fully. The aim is to ensure that whatever disability a
person may have, they should be able to perceive, understand, navigate,
and interact with the web. This means ensuring that a site can be seen
clearly; enlarged if necessary; be read by screen reading software;
can be accessed without needing to use a mouse; and other features
depending on the needs of the person. Web accessibility also benefits
others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging.
ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is the usual Broadband technology,
that allows more data to be sent over existing copper telephone
wires. It splits the signal into two channels - one for voice communications
and the other for the high speed data communications - by using a
frequency range not used in normal voice communications. There are
different types of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line). ADSL is asymmetric
because the sending and receiving speeds are different.
Alexa Traffic Rank
A measurement of traffic to a website drawn from data provided to the
search company Alexa from tracking software embedded in the Alexa Toolbar.
Some people view this as an increasingly important measure of a website's
success. However, it is relatively easy to manipulate the statistics
and it only measures visits from users of their toolbar, who may not
be your target market. If you ask your customers if they use the
Alexa toolbar and everyone says "yes", then it is time to work on a
higher ranking. Many people (and most anti-spyware software) view
the toolbar as a possible security risk.
Applet
Most often refers to a small program on a web site written in JavaScript or Java,
for example, that performs some interactive function like providing you with
web form-mail, or creating animations.
ASP
Active Server Pages is Microsoft's server-side technology for dynamically-generated
web pages. The latest version is being branded as ASP.NET or just
.NET.
The term is also used for Application Service Provider, an outsourcing service where a software application is hosted and maintained remotely (and accessed over the internet or virtual network) rather than being installed on a local server or workstation. It also stands for the Association of Shareware Professionals.
Attachment
A separate file that is sent with (or attached to) an email message, such as
an image file or Word document.
Blogs (web logs)
A blog (short for web log) is basically a journal that is available on
the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and
someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically
updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical
background to update and maintain it. Blogs are increasingly important
to search engines as they are viewed as independent sources of information.
Bot
see Spider
Browser
A browser is the software you use to view web sites.
The most common ones are Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape
- but that doesn't mean they are the best. There are many other excellent,
more user-friendly and faster browsers available.
These others are mostly free and don't suffer from being owned by global corporations. We at Leaping Hare would recommend Opera or Mozilla Firefox. If you are a Mac user you will want to use Safari especially since Microsoft has discontinued support and development of IE for Mac.
Captcha
An image containing a numerical or alphabetic code that can normally
only be read and interpreted by a human. It is used to verify a form
or other log in on a website to prevent computers from spamming the
form. Also known (slightly inaccurately) as a Turing test, named after
Alan Turing who devised "games" to test if computers could
be said to have intelligence. The name is apparently an acronym for
Completely
Automatic Public Turing
Test
To Tell Computers and Humans Apart.
Cookie
A cookie is a small piece of information which a web site can store
temporarily with your web browser. This is useful for having your
browser remember some specific information (such as your username,
or your preferences), which the web site can use to save you time
when you next visit. On the downside they can be used deviously to
capture information. It is sensible to use a comprehensive anti-spyware
system to identify and destroy malicious cookies. Some examples of
spyware removal tools can be found on our software
page.
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is used by both the authors and readers
of web pages to define colors, fonts, layout, and other aspects of
document presentation. It is designed primarily to separate the
structure of a web page (written in HTML, XHTML or a similar markup
language) from its style or the way it looks (written in CSS). This
separation can improve accessibility, provide more flexibility
and control in the specification of presentational characteristics,
and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content. CSS
can also allow the same web page to be presented in different
styles for different applications, such as on-screen, in print,
by voice (when read out by a speech-based browser or screen reader)
and on braille-based devices. Similarly, identical HTML
or XML code can be displayed in different 'skins', colour schemes
by accessing different CSS files. You may have seen this on sites
that allow you to customise its colours and appearance.
CSS can also be used and interpreted by some browsers to allow the user to change the general look and feel of a web site (e.g. fonts, colours etc.) to provide better accesssibility or a more personal viewing experience.
DHTML
DHTML (Dynamic HTML) is a combination of technologies used to produce
dynamic web content, for example web pages that the visitor can
interact with such as drop down menus, highlighting links when the
mouse is moved over them, etc
DHTML is not a standard defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It is merely a marketing term used to describe the technologies that newer browsers support. Usually it means a combination of HTML (or XHTML), Style Sheets and JavaScript.
Email Forwarding
This is a facility allowing you to redirect one email address to another.
Since many people have their own email account that they collect
mail from, email forwarding is often used so that anything@yourcompany.com
is redirected to their main email account.
Flash
Flash is an programme
for creating interactive websites and presentations with video, graphics,
and animated content. Browsers need an additional add-on reader
to be able to see Flash content. This is free and readily available
for download. Whilst Flash can create wonderfully engaging visual experiences
it needs to be used with care as it can deter visitors if not used
sensibly (especially if slow to download or they have introduction
animations that can't be skippped). Search engines are unable to index
Flash media as they would ordinary html text and so Flash sites are
harder and/or more expensive to to get ranked high in the listings.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is the method used to upload and download files
to a web server. It is possible to transfer files through some browsers
but it is easier, safer and more controllable to use an specialised
FTP application.
Google PageRank
PageRank (PR) is Google's method of calculating a web page's relevance and importance
through the quality of sites linking to it. The precise details of the algorithm
are kept secret and Google continues to "enhance" its performance. It is seen
as an important indicator as to the popularity of a site and thus its value
to potential advertisers. It can become a bit of a holy grail with developers
concentrating more on PR than getting the traffic they need. Small businesses
in particular should concentrate on getting customers first. If successful
Page Rank will follow.
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the basic language of a web page. An HTML
document allows text, images (including animation) to be positioned
on a web page. HTML is now being superceded by XHTML and XML.
HTTP
HyperText Transfer Protocol is the method of communication used between
your web browser and the server that the web site is hosted on. You
will notice http:// at the beginning of all internet addresses (before
the www). This is your browser's way of telling the web servers that
you want them to use this standard language.
HTTPS
HTTPS is the internet protocol used for secure servers and you
will see the http:// change to https:// when you are on a secure site.
The protocol ensures a secure connection and is usually used by e-commerce
sites where credit card transactions are required or personal data
is exchanged. Leaping Hare can of course provide you with a secure
server for your internet trading.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a scripting language compatible with most browsers. It
allows web developers to write interactive web pages that can respond
to user input (e.g. validating information entered in a form, highlighting
links when the mouse is over them etc.)
Malware
see Spyware
MySQL
MySQL (pronounced "my ess cue el" or, sometimes, "my sequel")
is an open source, RDBMS (relational database management
system). It uses Structured Query Language (SQL), the commonest
language for adding, accessing, and processing data in a database. MySQL
is used for dynamic web applications such as CMS systems, e-commerce
systems and message boards. Its popularity is mainly due to its speed,
reliability and flexibility.
Open source
An open source program is one where the source code is available for all to see.
Anyone can use and alter the software code to their requirements under a general
public licence without a fee. This fosters a collaborative approach to software
development where users improve and extend the core by adding their own work
back into the project for free. There is usually an enthusiastic and free support
network and frequently the development of the programme is faster and more
user oriented than many paid-for products. Examples of open source software
are MySQL, PHP, Apache, Mozilla Firebird and the Linux kernel.
Phishing
Internet fraud in which a criminal attempts to trick their victim into
believing they are communicating with a trusted source.
Usually this means the fraudster sends fake emails (email
spoofing)
to a victim purporting to come from a legitimate source and requesting
information (such as a bank account number and password) or directing
the victim to a fake Internet website where this information can be
captured (webpage spoofing). The name derives
from the analogy that internet scammers are using email bait to fish
for passwords and financial data from the sea of internet users. Apparently
it is the vogue amongst hackers to replace "f" with "ph" -
thus phishing rather than fishing.
PHP
PHP is a scripting language used to create dynamic websites. Its advantage
over JavaScript is that it runs on the web server rather than on the
viewer's PC or Mac. PHP can be used for the same kind of applications
as ASP and .NET but is free and open source.
POP3
A POP3 (Post Office Protocol) server is used to store email messages.
Messages are collected from a POP3 (incoming) mail box using an email
client such as Thunderbird, Outlook or Outlook Express.
Pop-up
A pop-up is when an applet on a web page
causes another window to open up, usually with some undesirable advertising.
As a form of adverting it is gradually being discredited (except perhaps
in the seedier aspects of the net) and most current browsers are equipped
with controls to stop pop-ups becoming intrusive. Sometimes, as in the
case of Internet Explorer, these pop-up preventions are clumsy and as
irritating as the pop-ups - another good reason for using Opera or Firefox!
A less intrusive, but no less insidious, variation is the pop-under where
an advertisement window is opened behind the originating page and is
seen when you exit.
Ranking
The position of a web site in the results list from a search engine.
Clearly your site gets a better chance of a visit if it is in the first
few results from a search. You should be aiming to get a high ranking
for the key words your potential customers will use to find your products
or services.
Ranking is also used more specifically for Google PageRank and Alexa Traffic Rank.
Robot
see Spider
Search Engine
This is an online tool which allows you to enter keywords or select
a category to help you find websites of interest. In many ways it
is the internet equivalent of a telephone directory.
Search engine ranking
see Ranking
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Search engine optimisation means designing a website in the best possible
way to be attractive to search engine indexing spiders.
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is the method of communication used to
send emails from your mail software to an SMTP (outgoing) mail server.
Spamming
Email spamming is when people send out large batches of emails (mail
shots) to unknown recipients. This is similar to 'junk mail' you
get through the post. Search engine spamming is used by people trying
to improve their rankings by repetitive use of keywords and submissions.
Both types of spamming are generally frowned upon and will usually result in the opposite to the desired effect.
Spider
Spiders or robots (bots for short) are names given to the indexing
programmes sent out to crawl the web by search engines. Eventually
they should find all the web pages stored on all the servers connected
to the internet, but there is an obvious benefit in telling them that
you have published a site (see submission) and giving
them additional information in the meta tags.
SQL
Structured Query Language is a language for accessing databases.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator. This is simply the address of a web site
or web page. For example 'http://www.leapinghare.co.uk'. For most
web sites, the URL usually starts with 'http://'. For sites with
secure connections, 'https://' is used. See above for details on
HTTP.
W3C
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international group who aim
to devise agreed, workable standards for web design.
Web log
see Blogs
Web robot or bot
See Spider
Web Server
A web server is a computer that hosts one or more web sites. When you
visit a web site, your internet browser receives the web page(s)
from the web server that hosts the site.
XHTML
XHTML stands for EXtensible HyperText Markup Language and is designed
to eventually replace HTML. It is a stricter and cleaner
version of HTML 4.01
XHTML is HTML defined as an XML application
XHTML is a W3C Recommendation
XML
XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language and is a markup language
much like HTML, but with the emphasis on describing and carrying data.
XML and HTML were designed with different goals; it could be said
that HTML is about displaying information, while XML is about describing
information. XML was originally developed to meet the challenges of
large-scale electronic publishing. XML is not a replacement for HTML.
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