Web Glossary
Browser - Browsers are software programs which ‘interpret’ the code in Web pages and help you view them. The first browser that could view graphics, Mosaic, was not developed until 1993. Prior to that, web information was only text. A year later Netscape was developed. While Internet Explorer is the most commonly used browser, it is also the most commonly hacked. Mozilla Firefox is the fastest growing browser and is considered to be the standard for correct interpretation of code display. Why do you care? Designers design viewing their work in one browser or another. If they are not careful to check their code, it may look great in IE, but awful in everything else.
Colors – Web colors arent the same as print colors. Print colors are created by adding ink, web colors are created by removing light. Print colors uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and K(Black) [CMYK] to create color, while the web uses Red, Green and Blue [RGB] to make colors. Web safe colors are the 216 colors that most nearly all color web monitors can correctly "read", but all newer monitors can read most colors now. However, no two monitors willl interpret the colors exactly the same.
CSS – Cascading Style Sheets are used to define styles in a website, such as font face, size, color and placement of text and objects, like photos and graphics. The purpose of using CSS is two fold. It keeps all these definitions in one place so changes only need to be made once, and the individual pages don’t need to carry the “weight” of all those definitions in each page’s code.
Download time – the time it takes for a page or site to become visible. Ever sat and stared at the screen waiting for a site or picture to load? How annoying is that? Its dependant in the file size. Theoretically, this should not be longer than 8 seconds on a 56K connection (dial-up) or you may lose the user (they will click off).
File size – the load or size of a graphic (picture or other image), or a web page, or an element of a site. The bigger the file size, the longer it takes to download.
Flash - overused for banner ads (those annoying pop ups that used to plague the web), but a wonderful tool. Allows greater use of fonts and truer colors, adding sound and video and great for animation. More computers can present Flash than any other code. Cross browser.
HTML - hypertext markup language. Primary and first language used for basic coding of websites.
HTML Editor - pros use Dreamweaver or GoLive. Frontpage and CoffeeCup are not usually used by professional web designers. They can create sites which are not technically standards compliant and are often difficult or impossible to edit or which are not cross-browser friendly.
HTTP - hypertext transfer protocol. Browsers and servers converse via HTTP
HTTPS - the ‘s’ here indicates secure. Do not give any information on the web that is of a personal or private nature unless the page has the ‘s’ at the end of the HTTP.
Javascript - Code used for doing many cool things, like drop down menus, slideshows, random pictures, switching content
Platform - any combination of hardware (kind of computer like Intel processor or MacIntosh) and software (operating system like Windows XP, Mac System 8) that work together
Resolution – used for graphics (Photos and designs), the higher the number usually means the better. Measured in dpi (dots per inch) for print or on the web in ppi (pixels per inch). Printing standards are 180-300 dpi and up, but web resolution is a standard of 72. This is why printing things from the web will never be as crisp as having it printed.
Search Engine Optimization – this is an often used and more often misunderstood phrase. Technically it means making the website as good as it can be for the search engines to find and crawl (or search) it. Another name people use for this is organic optimization. It includes using keywords in the headings and text and naming images through alt code. It does not include Pay- Per-Click or AdWords or other paid campaigns, although SEO specialists usually do both as well as site analysis which usually (but not always) evaluates how the web is working for users (as opposed to Search Engines). They may also do link building, registrations (such as to Yahoo Local and Google Places), or even social media campaigns which may help your ranking, but these too are technically not Search Engine Optimization.
Server – A server is hardware like a computer which stores files. Think of it like a block where web information is stored. It may have many houses for many web sites, or one very big one, or part of a huge one. Most companies “rent” server space, where large companies may own their own servers. Be cautious about purchasing a server - it requires tech support. For the most part, if your firm doesn’t have an IS department, you may not want to go there.Companies which supply server space are called hosts. For small companies, its better to rest server space with a web host and allow them to keep your site safe from hackers and up 24/7.
URL – Uniform Resource Locator- A web address- is actually a number (64.226.232.169) or the domain name (www.richterworks.com)
W3C - World Wide Web Consortium. This is the group that develops standards for web language and practices. They determined the “correct” html, xhtml, xml, and css and can check whether the code on a site is in accordance with standard use. Yes, there actually ARE standards.
WWW - World Wide Web, and yes, you can have an address without it, but these are usually back end entrances into a site and restricted.
XHTML - Extensible hypertext markup language is used primarily for Web pages. It is meant to ensure total cross-browser compatibility but is being replaced by HTML5.
XML - Extensible markup language is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations.