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.
D
- Database
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A Database is an organised collection of data.
- DDA (Disability Discrimination Act)
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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.
- Deep Linking
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Deep linking on the World Wide Web, is making a hyperlink that points to a specific page or image on another website, instead of that website's main or home page. Such links are called deep links.
- Description tag
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Meta information tag inserted at the top of a web page to describe its contents.
- Digital Native
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The term digital native is being applied to individuals who have grown up immersed in technology.
- Digital Immigrant
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Those individuals that are trying to get to terms with digital technology.
- Directories
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A web search tool compiled manually. Sites are submitted with information such as a title and description, assessed by an editor and, if deemed suitable for addition, will be listed under subject categories. Users can search across a directory using keywords or phrases, or browse through the subjects.
- Discussion Thread
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Discussion threads are used to organise discussion postings. A discussion thread consists of messages that share a common subject heading.
- DNS (Domain Name Server)
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A computer system that translates Domain Names to their corresponding IP Address.
- DOM (Document Object Model)
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The DOM is a description of how an HTML, XHTML or XML document is represented in a tree structure.
- Domain Name
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An identifying name for an organisation on the internet, which is tied to an IP Address. The domain name is an alias for the actual numeric IP Address of the server that hosts the website. The domain name also is part of the URL.
- Doorway Page
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A Web page created to try and artificially improve Search Engine rankings. Doorway Pages are of no benefit to a Web site user.
An unscrupulous method of Search Engine Optimisation.
- DoS (Denial of Service) Attack
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An attack on a computer system or network.
A DoS attack attempts to overwhelm the target by flooding it with requests for data. The target can become unresponsive due to the volume of requests and therefore unavailable to other users.
- DPI (Dots Per Inch)
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DPI is a measure of Printer Resolution which indicates how many dots, or Pixels, the Printer can produce within a 1-inch space. The higher the DPI, the clearer and more detailed the output.
E
- E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce, eCommerce)
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The conduct of commerce in goods and services using telecommunications and telecommunications based tools, also known as conducting business transactions over the Internet.
- Electronic Commerce
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See E-Commerce.
- Electronic Mail
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See Email.
- Email (Electronic Mail, E-Mail)
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Email is a method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems.
- Email Marketing
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The process of using email to market your website.
- EPS
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EPS, abbreviated from Encapsulated PostScript, is a common Vector Graphics file format.
- E-zine
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An electronic magazine. Also sometimes called an e-mag.
F
- Featured Site
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The term used by many portals, and other search properties, that incorporate some element of bid-listing results in their normal search results.
- Feed
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A Feed is a document which contains items of content, usually summaries of Blog posts, with a link to the full article.
The two main Feed file formats are RSS and Atom.
See also: Syndication.
- FFA
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Free For All link pages, see also link farms
- Firewall
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A Firewall is a piece of hardware or software that functions within a network environment to prevent undesired communication.
Typically a Firewall will allow communication from a source that is trusted and block communication from a source that is not.
- Flash
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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.
Most search engines have problems with Flash if it is deployed badly. Requires particular care for good Search Engine Optimisation.
See also: SWF.
- Flash Player
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See Flash.
- Forums
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A forum is an online discussion group, where participants with common interests can exchange open messages. When using a forum messages are posted asynchronously, which means they can be posted and read at different times. Many forums use threading so replies to posts can be read in the order they were posted. Forums are regarded as a good way of promoting a website.
- FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
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FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a commonly used protocol for exchanging files over any network that supports the TCP/IP protocol (such as the Internet or an intranet).
FTP is normally used for uploading files to a Web Server.
- Fuzzy Search
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A search that will find matches even when words are open partially spelled or misspelled.
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