Definitions

This page is provided to give a definition of terms used in Web Design and Web Hosting.

Applet

A small program that can be embedded in an HTML document.

 

Background

Web pages may have special patterns or colours "underneath" the text in the document.

Browser

A software program that reads HTML documents and allows the user to navigate the World Wide Web.

 

Database

A collection of information, stored, and organised for easy searching.

Digital Images

A photograph, logo, picture, etc. stored in a digital format.

Domain Name

A textual alias for an IP address based on the domain name system.

Domain Name Registration

A process by which a Domain Name is registered and the fee paid to a registration authority.

Domain Names Service (DNS)

DNS exists on the Internet to let you use a name for a computer instead of a number.

 

E-mail

Abbreviation for electronic mail, a system for exchanging messages through networked computers.

E-mail Address

A mailbox location on the Internet.

 

FAQ

Acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. A page or section within a Web site that answers the most common questions on a certain topic.

Font

A set of characters that, together, make up a typeface such as Helvetica, Times, or Courier.

Form

An interactive Web document. The document can contain fields into which readers can type information. This information could be used as part of a survey, to purchase an item, to search a database, and so on.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is a "language" computers use over TCP/IP networks as a method for transferring files to and from remote computers on the Internet.

 

GIF

Acronym for Graphics Interchange Format. A file format commonly used with graphics or photos displayed on Web documents.

 

Hit Counter

A script on a Web server that registers a visit to a Web page and may display the running total number of "hits."

Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML)

HTML is the mark-up (or programming) language to make web pages. It allows formatting font size and colour, inserting images and links and creating forms.

Hypertext

Any text that contains a hyperlink to another document.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

HyperText Transfer Protocol is the language computers use over TCP/IP networks or the Internet to request, send and receive web pages.

Hyperlink

A string of text characters usually distinguished by underlining and/or highlighting that, when clicked on, takes the user to another section of the Web page, a new new page or another Web site.

 

Internet

An international network of networked computers.

Internet Explorer

A Web browser.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

A company that provides access to the Internet. They typically have a modems at a local phone number that you can call which have are connected to the Internet. An ISP can also supply email accounts and server space to keep your own web pages.

 

Java

A computer language developed by Sun Microsystems that enables the creation of "applets" or "live objects" that execute in response to mouse clicks to produce sound, video and other effects within a Web browser.

JPEG

Acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group. A graphic image compression format.

 

Keywords

Word(s) used in a search query.

 

Logo

An image that is used by a company, business etc.

 

MySQL

MySQL is a very fast, robust relational database management system. The database enables the efficient storing, searching, sorting and retrieval of data.

 

Netscape Navigator

A Web browser.

 

PDF

Acronym and suffix for Portable Document Format. The file format created by Adobe Acrobat.

PHP

PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server side scripting language designed especially for the web.

 

Scanning

The process of converting a photograph into a digital image file for inclusion on a web page.

Search Engine

A web site with millions of web pages indexed by the words in them, so users can search for a web site containing their chosen words. It returns a list of pages containing the search words.

Search Engine Registration

Most search engines allow you to register with them so you can have your pages added to their list.

Server

A computer running a special program that can send Web pages to browsers in response to requests.

 

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)

TCP/IP is the language spoken on the Internet. It defines how computers address messages to one another and also how to split big messages up into multiple chunks when they are large.

Traffic Statistics

A service provided by ISPs detailing information about the number of people who access pages within a web site.

 

Universal Resource Locator (URL)

A URL is an address for an item on the Internet. Every page on the Web can be referenced by a unique address, containing the Internet host address of the Web server, and, sometimes, the path through the directory structure on the Web server's hard drive to a particular file and the name of that file.

 

Web Author

A person who creates Web pages and Web sites.

Web Browser

A web browser is a program that runs on your computer and displays web pages. Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are two examples of web browsers.

Web Page

An HTML-scripted file which may contain text, images, a background, and even embedded video and sound files.

Web Server

A computer connected to the Internet which waits for HTTP requests for web pages and then returns the specified page. A Web server can host several Web sites by providing URLs that define a path to the Web site.

Web Site

A collection of Web pages residing on a Web server. Web sites are usually synonymous with a URL.

World Wide Web (WWW)

The collection of web pages on the Internet.

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