Glossary Definitions

(The following glossary definitions are not intended to be complete or absolutely definitive, but are intended solely to provide an overview of commonly used terminology for people who are not familiar with the internet or the world wide web.)

Ad Banner - See Banner

Applet

An applet is a small application which usually runs in a browser, and provides addiitonal functionality for a web page.

Attachment

A file that is attached to (and sent with) an email message.

Bandwidth

The data transfer rate available for your web site, for uploading or downloading information to/from your server. The lower the bandwidth, the slower uploads or downloads will be.

Banner

A small image on a web page (usually at the top of the page), typically used to contain an advertisement - often animated - which links to an advertiser’s web site.

(Some 'free' hosts require that their own banners be included on any web pages which they host.)

Browser - See Web Browser

Cross-Browser/Platform Compatibility

Web pages are written in HTML, and web browsers interpret the HTML in order to determine exactly what is to be displayed for the page. However, the same HTML will not necessarily always be displayed the same on one computer as on another; this is for a number of reasons, such as : different display capabilities; different browser interpretation; different resident fonts, and so on.

Good web site design should take account of this potential incompatibility of different platforms which might browse the site.

Dedicated Hosting

In order for your web site to be 'visible' on the web, it must be hosted (stored) on a web server.  In dedicated hosting, your web is the only site on the server.  This means that your site benefits from increased bandwidth, and uploads/downloads can be are extremely fast. However, dedicated hosting can be very expensive and is usually only used by large businesses.

Dial-Up Account

A basic account that allows a user to connect to his/her ISP’s network, using a computer with a modem, in order to access the internet.

Domain Name

In internet addresses such as "www.businessname.co.uk", "businessname.co.uk" is known as the domain name. There are various domains currently in use and proposed in the UK, including the following: .co.uk, .ltd.uk, .plc.uk and .com.

Domain Name Registration

In the UK, if you want your own domain name, this must first be registered with Nominet.uk (which maintains the registry for UK domain names), usually through an ISP (internet service provider).

To check whether your proposed domain name is available, click on the Nominet link below.

Download

To copy or transfer a file (or files) from a server onto your computer. (The opposite of upload.) When browsing the web, your computer requests servers to download web pages as required.

Drop Down Menu

A menu in which the options 'drop down' when you click on the menu's drop down button.

E-Commerce

Electronic Commerce : Conducting business (selling goods, products or services) on-line.

E-Mail

Electronic Mail : Text messages (and attachments) sent from one computer to another via the internet. 

Font

The fonts used on a site are the text typefaces, and how they are displayed and printed. There are many thousands of different fonts in use around the world, but very few are supported by all platforms.

If your web pages specify fonts that are not resident on the platform on which a page is being browsed, the fonts you have specified will not be displayed; instead the 'closest' (in appearance) resident font will be used instead. (See also Resident Fonts)

Frames

An HTML format in which - essentially - 2 or more web pages are shown in a single display screen (window). Some browsers do not support 'frames' format, and care has to be taken when using the format on a web site, so that search tools can properly index the site.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol : The protocol (rules) that determine how files and programs are transferred between computers on the internet. FTP allows files to be copied from one computer to another regardless of the types of the computers or the operating systems in use. (FTP is the usual method of uploading your site onto your server, once the site has been designed.)

GIF

Graphics Interchange Format : A method of compressing image files. Widely used on the internet, GIF compressed files are typically used for black and white images, or images with few colours.

Home Page - See Welcome Page

Host

A computer on which a web site is stored.  When a user is browsing a web site, pages of the site are downloaded by the server to the user's computer on request.  When you have designed and created your web site, before it is accessible via the internet, it must be uploaded onto the server.

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language.  This is the code (language) in which web pages are written. Browsers interpret the HTML code for a page, in order to derive what should be displayed.

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol :  The protocol (rules) that determine how hypertext pages are transferred between computers on the internet.  (Other protocols include FTP.)

Hypertext Link - See Link

Internet Account

An account with an ISP that allows users to access the internet.

ISP

Internet Service Provider : A business which provides users with connections to the internet, through either a dial-up account, or a direct connection.

JPG/JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group : A method of compressing image files. Widely used on the internet, JPG/JPEG compressed files are typically used for photographic images.

Link (Hypertext Link)

Text and/or an image or an image area on a web page that a user can click on to connect to and view another web page or document, or a different part of the currently displayed web page or document.

Mail Server

A computer that stores and/or forwards e-mail for users on the internet.

Meta Tag

Meta tags are 'hidden' tags in your web pages that convey information or determine how the page should be displayed. While there are many types of and uses for meta tags, the 'Description' and the 'Keywords' meta tags are of particular importance in ensuring that your site is correctly indexed / ranked by internet search tools.

PDF

Portable Document Format : Created by Adobe, PDF documents can be displayed (n the same type styles and formats) on different platforms, regardless of the platform / application used to create the document, or the platform on which the document is being displayed.

Platform

The type of computer / operating system on which an application runs. Common platforms are PC, Macintosh and Unix.

Plug-In

A plug-in is a small program which extends the capabilities of the application which it is 'plugged into'.  Plug-ins may be supplied with a web browser, or may be added to the browser by the user.  Many plug-ins are available for browsers, to allow the browsers to download and display items such as video clips, animations and so on.

Pop Up

An additional window (usually containing an advert or banner, and often animated) that opens automatically when a web page is opened.

(Many 'free' hosts incorporate pop up's in any web pages which they host.)

Portable Document Format - See PDF

Resident Fonts

These are the fonts that are installed on a platform. While you can  always install your own fonts, there are very few fonts that are resident as 'standard'.

Scripts/Scripting

A script can be described as a small program or application that is interpreted (run) in support of an HTML web page, and is generally used to make web pages interactive. (The term Applet was invented to mean a small application.)

Scripts generally fall into two main types: server side scripts (which run on your web server), and client side scripts (which are embedded in the HTML code of a web page, and run on the computer that is actually browsing the web page).

Search Engine - See Search Tools

Search Tools

There are many different search tools available on the world wide web, and these generally fall into three main types:

Search engines		Search engines (such as AltaVista, Excite and Lycos) use tools (robots, spiders, crawlers) to automatically find and retrieve information from the world wide web.
Classified directories		These tools (such as Google and Yahoo) organise information found on the web into browsable directories.
Meta search tools		These tools (such as Dogpile and Metacrawler) submit a query to a number of different search engines/directories at the same time.

Server

A host computer on the internet which stores  web site information, and downloads information (such as web pages) to clients on request.

Site - See Web Site

Thumbnail

A small version of a larger graphic or image.  Thumbnails are usually used to 'index' the larger size files. A large number of thumbnails can be placed on a single web page; you can then review all of the thumbnails, then click on a single thumbnail to display the full-size version of the graphic / image.

Upload

To copy or transfer a file (or files) from your computer to a server. (The opposite of download.)

Virtual Hosting

In order for your web site to be 'visible' on the web, it must be hosted (stored) on a web server. Virtual hosting allows many different web sites to be stored on the same server.

Because many sites reside on the same server, this results in lower bandwidth and uploads / downloads may be slower. However, virtual hosting is considerably cheaper than dedicated hosting.

Web Browser

An application used to download and view pages on the world wide web. Most browsers (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator) can display text, graphics, images and other formats, but text-only browsers (which do not show graphics or images) also exist.

Web Page

A single page (usually a single HTML file) of your web site.

Web Safe Palette

The collection of colours that are (supposedly) common to all platforms. When browsing a web page, colours in this palette should be displayed in the same way, regardless of whether the browser platform on which you're viewing can display 16 million colours, or 256 colours.

Web Site

A collection of web pages (and other information) specific to one business or organisation (or individual).  Most businesses have a dedicated domain name for their web site.

Welcome Page

The first (introductory) page of a web site, often also referred to as a 'home page'.

World Wide Web

The collection of all the web pages / documents on all internet servers that use the HTTP protocol, accessible to users with web browsers.