Glossary
- AJAX
- Short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, it is a term that describes a new approach to using a number of existing technologies together, including HTML or XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript, the Document Object Model, and XML. When these technologies are combined in the Ajax model, Web applications are able to make quick, incremental updates to the user interface without reloading the entire browser page.
- Browser
- Short for Web browser, a software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. Browsers can also present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require Flash and Java plug-ins for some formats.
- CSS
- Short for Cascading Style Sheets, a feature added to HTML that gives Web site developers more control over how pages are displayed. With CSS, designers can create a single style sheet, or template, that defines the look of multiple web pages. CSS reduces the amount of code needed on each page to structure and decorate the content resulting in faster load times, easier editing and unobstructed crawling by search engines spiders.
- Domain Name
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A name that identifies one or more IP addresses. Domain names provide recognizable names, to numerically addressed Internet resources. By allowing the use of unique alphabetical addresses instead of numeric ones, domain names allow Internet users to more easily find and communicate with web sites and any other IP-based communications services. The following example illustrates the difference between a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and a domain name:
URL: http://www.yoursite.com/index.html
Domain name: www.yoursite.com
Registered domain name: yoursite.com
- Flash
- Browser independent vector and graphic animation technology owned by Adobe Systems. Most browsers support Flash technology with the appropriate plug-ins.
- Google Maps API
- API is the abbreviation of application program interface, a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. The Google Maps API lets you embed Google Maps in your own web pages with JavaScript. The API provides a number of utilities for manipulating maps and adding content to the map through a variety of services.
- HTML
- HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to describe the structure of text-based information in a document — by denoting certain text as links, headings, paragraphs, lists, and so on — and to supplement that text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects. Web pages that are designed with HTML are referred to as "static pages" as opposed to "dynamic pages" that are authored in Flash or programmed using AJAX.
- IP Address
- An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical identification that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network.
- Java
- Java is a general purpose programming language with a number of features that make it well suited for use on the World Wide Web. Small Java applications are called Java applets and can be downloaded from a Web server and run on your computer by a Java-compatible Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
- Keyword
- In website design, this refers to a word or phrase that describes your specific industry. For example, Cargo Cult Web Design could not be described without using words such as "web designer, website design, website development" and so on. Relevant keywords, properly placed within the structure and content of a site, give internet users more opportunities to find your site on the web using search engines.
- Open Source
- Generically, open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and or modification from its original design free of charge, i.e., open. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. Open source developed in the technological community as a response to proprietary software owned by corporations. The Firefox web browser and WordPress bloging software are examples of open source software projects.
- Search Engine
- A program that searches web documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. A search engine works by sending out a spider to fetch as many documents as possible. Another program, called an indexer, then reads these documents and creates an index based on the words contained in each document. Search engines use proprietary algorithms to create indices that, ideally, only return meaningful results.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- The purposeful structuring of a website to enhance your chances of being listed higher in search engine results for the top keywords in your industry. As an example, if you own a Mexican restaurant in Cedar Rapids, IA, your website should be designed in such a way to get you listed high for keywords such as "Mexican food, Mexican restaurants, Cedar Rapids, IA."
- URL
- Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.
- Web Host
- A web host is a business that provides server space, web services and file maintenance for websites controlled by individuals or companies that do not have their own web servers.