Glossary of Terms

Don't know the difference between HTTP and TCP/IP? Have no fear - our handy glossary of terms is here to shed light on even the most obscure of Web-related acronyms.

If there's something you'd like explained that you can't find in here then please let us know about it. The glossary is expanding all the time so we welcome suggestions.

• Common
• ABC
• DEF
• GHI
• JKL
• MNO
• PQR
• STU
• VW
• XYZ

A

Accessibility

See WCAG.

B

Breadcrumbs

Navigation links on a Web page allowing navigation back through the hierachy of the Web site.

Usually in the format Home > Products > Shirts.

C

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

CSS is a language used to describe the presentation of HTML or XHTML documents.

D

DDA (Disability Discrimination Act)

UK legislation that makes it unlawful to discriminate against individuals in respect of their disabilities in relation to the provision of goods and services.

Also applies to goods and services provided on the World Wide Web. In this respect, it is largely agreed, although not yet tested in court, that a Web site failing to meet WCAG guidelines is in violation of the DDA.

E

E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce, eCommerce)

The distributing, buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services over the Internet.

F

Flash

Flash is a multimedia authoring program produced by Adobe (previously Macromedia) and is primarily used to create content for Web sites. This content can take the form of applications, games or movies, among others.

Whilst strictly the authoring program itself, Flash is also used to refer to Flash Player, a free computer program that is required to display Flash content within a Web Browser.

See also: SWF.

G

GIF

GIF is a compressed image file format capable of containing up to 256 colours. The GIF file format is commonly used on Web sites and is best suited for displaying images that contain large areas of few colours, such as a logo.

GIF is abbreviated from Graphic Interchange Format and was first developed by CompuServe.

H

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

HTTP is the method used to transfer information on the World Wide Web.

The original purpose of HTTP was to provide a way to publish and receive HTML pages.

I

IP Address

An IP Address is a unique number that identifies each computer connected to the Internet or other network.

An IP Address consists of four 32-bit numbers (from 0 to 255) in the format 192.168.0.200.

J

JPEG

JPEG is a compressed image file format commonly used on Web sites and best suited for Photographs or images with millions of colours.

JPEG is abbreviated from Joint Photographic Experts Group who first developed the format.

K

Keyword

A Keyword is a single word typed into a Search Engine query. Keywords are also placed in Web pages to help Search Engines identify the content on that page.

See also: SEO.

L

Linux

Linux is a Unix-based Open-Source Operating System originally developed by Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki.

M

MySQL

MySQL is an SQL-based Database management system. MySQL is commonly used for storing data collected by, and served to, Web sites.

N

Net

The Internet.

O

Optimisation

See Search Engine Optimisation.

P

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)

PHP is an Open-Source Server-Side language. PHP runs on a Web Server and produces an output, normally in the form of a Web page that is interpreted by a Client

Q

Query

A request for specific information from a Database or Search Engine.

R

Resolution

Refers to the amount of data an image or display can hold and is usually measured in Pixels. Higher Resolution means more image detail.

S

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing is a set of marketing methods intended to increase Web site visibility in Search Engine listings.

The three main methods of Search Engine Marketing are Search Engine Optimisation, Pay Per Click advertising and Paid Inclusion.

See also: Search Engine Optimisation.

T

TCP/IP (Transmisison Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

TCP/IP is the set of communication protocols on which the Internet and most commercial networks run.

U

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

A URL is an address that refers to the location of a file on the Internet.

Web pages are accessed using an HTTP URL which is displayed in a Browser's address bar in the format http://www.eazytiger.net/index.htm. All resources delivered on the Internet, including Web pages, images and documents have a URL.

V

Vector Graphics

Vector Graphics use geometric shapes, lines and curves to represent an image. As they are based on mathematical calculations, Vector Graphics can be scaled to any size without loss of quality.

A common Vector Graphics file format is EPS.

See also: Raster Graphics.

W

Web Standards

Web Standards refers to a set of technical specifications that define best practices for building Web sites, and for Web design in general.

A Web site is said to meet Web Standards when it adheres to these specifications.

In general, a Web site built to Web Standards will benefit from improved Search Engine visibility and is more likely to display correctly across various platforms, including different Operating Systems, Web Browsers and Mobile Phones.

See also: W3C, WCAG.

X

XHTML (eXtensible HyperText Markup Language)

XHTML is a markup language similar to HTML and serving the same purpose, but with a stricter syntax.

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