CSS
Cascading Style Sheets. Expands the ability of HTML by assigning
page elements such as size, colour and position.
DHTML
Dynamic HTML. Further expands HTML by incorporating the ability
to change the CSS values in a document after it has been loaded, resulting
in animated and interactive web pages.
Drag and Drop
An application which allows you to use your mouse to drag elements
from one location to another.
HTML
HyperText Markup Language. A relatively simple programming language
still used as the basis for most webpages.
GUI
Graphical User Interface. A program that uses a visual interface
instead of a command line interface. DOS and Unix use command lines,
Windows and Macs use a GUI. The dropdown menu at the top of the browser
in which you are viewing this is a GUI. Linux, a development of Unix, uses
both. If you're fed up with the major players, have a look at Linux. It's
still a far cry from being user friendly, but thousands of developers are
working on it.
Keywords
Words (and phrases) used by search engines to give relevance to a page.
If your site is about "famous madmen" then it would be wise to mention
the term a few times on the first couple of pages, and in the metatags.
Metatags are hidden code on web pages which, among other things, inform
search engines of the page and site contents. They are much abused.
ISP
Internet Service Provider. A company that provides internet services
such as domain hosting and internet connection.
Dialup Service Provider.
An ISP that provides telephone connection services so that you can
connect to the Internet with your modem.
Access Service Provider.
An ISP that provides any kind of access to the Internet such as broadband.
Modem
MOdulator, DEModulator. A device which, when connected to your
computer and activated, makes a sound somewhat like a flock of magpies
being strangled. It translates digital signals produced by the computer
into analogue signals which may be transmitted over a phone line.
Mailto Form
HTML code to collect information from a visitor to a site and transmit
it via email.
Perl
Practical Extraction and Report Language. A scripting language
commonly used for web server applications such as Mailto Forms.
CGI
Common Gateway Interface. A protocol for gathering data from,
for instance, a Mailto Form and sending it to a program or script such
as Perl.
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. TCP/IP is the
method by which all computers talk over the Internet.
LAN
Local Area Network. Used in most businesses to connect their
computers to a server and to one another. Rather like a tiny version of
the Internet.
IP
Internet Protocol. The protocol that sends packets of data over the
Internet.
IP Address
Internet Protocol Address. Defines where an IP packet is going.
Written as a series as numbers and periods, it will look something like
this: 123.234.01
Domain
An Internet Web Site identified with an IP address, typically written
thus: www.dropbears.com
Domain Name
The name of a Web Site that is mapped to an IP address using a URL.
URL
Universal Resource Locator. The address of any resource on the
World Wide Web - it can refer to a domain, or any page found at a domain,
for instance:
www.mydomain.com/anydirectory/anypage.htm
FTP
File Transfer Protocol. The protocol used to transfer files from
one computer to another over the Internet. Most commonly used to
upload files to a server. Examples are CuteFTP and WSFTP.
PDF
Portable Document Format by Adobe. A most useful method of transmitting
formatted information such as news letters and sales brochures over the
web. Requires a plug-in. Read more
Spam (or Spamming)
Electronic junkmail.
An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other
networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which
it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who
didn't ask for it. The term probably comes from a famous Monty Python skit
which featured the word spam repeated ad infinitum. The term may also have
come from someone’s low opinion of the food product with the same name,
which is generally perceived as a generic content-free waste of resources.
(Spam is a registered trademark of Hormel Corporation, for its processed
meat product.)
The term has been extended to refer also to misleading information submitted
to search engines. Penalties for spamming can be harsh.
Virus
A program designed to in some way modify the operation of a computer,
and usually transmitted by email, media (cd or floppy disk) or directly
via an open port. Symptoms and effects range from a simple popup screen
through to the demolition of the contents of your hard drive. Opinions
vary as to who writes them and why, but the consensus is that it would
be universally beneficial to remove them from the gene pool.
More on viruses...
XML
Extensible markup language. The next generation of HTML, still under
development.
WYSIWYG
What You See Is What You Get. Usually refers to an HTML editing
program which enables the user to display a reasonably accurate version
of the code being written, without actually reading and writing the code
oneself. Examples are Dreamweaver and the Netscape editor.
The following resources expand considerably on this theme.
Glossary of Internet Terms
http://www.idea.org.uk/online_training/course/gloss.htm
Glossary of Internet Terms
http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html
Garry Herman's Glossary
http://www.labourtel.org.uk/glossary.html