When you decide to create a website, you may come across several words, abbreviations, and terms that you're unfamiliar with. Below we've created a list of those items that we believe are most common and tried to give short definitions to each one.
- Above The Fold:
- The top portion of a website that is displayed without having to scroll the page down.
- Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX):
- A group of technologies, often run in the background, used to update information on the current web page without having to refresh the browser.
- Cache:
- The data that is saved on a computer for future use. Web browsers save images, text, and other data on the users computer to speed up future visits to the same websites.
- Captcha:
- A program used to ensure that a response to a web page form is not generated by a computer. This is usually done with a small image of letter or numbers that are distorted in way that would make it difficult for a computer to read.
- Cascading Style Sheets (CSS):
- This is a language that is used to describe to the web browser the layout and presentation of a web page. A CSS file would contain information such as font formats and website colors.
- Cookies:
- Files that are stored on an individuals computer that communicate data between the browser and a web site. Cookies usually store personal preferences, settings, or login information.
- Content Management System (CMS):
- Software that provides a method of editing the contents and managing a website.
- Domain Name:
- The name that identifies a website. For example, our domain name is conecode.com.
- Domain Name System (DNS):
- A naming system that converts domain names into IP addresses. We use domain names to navigate to websites because they're easier to remember, but computers require IP addresses to communicate with each other.
- E-commerce:
- The activity of buying and selling products or services over the Internet. Amazon.com is an example of a popular e-commerce website.
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP):
- A standard network protocol used the transfer files over the Internet. FTP programs are used to transfer files to or from a web site.
- Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML):
- A markup language that uses "tags" to define the structure and content of a web page to a browser.
- Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP):
- The protocol used to transfer data over the Internet.
- Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS):
- Similar to HTTP, but uses a secure socket layer for security purposes.
- Internet Protocol Address (IP Address):
- A numeric code that uniquely identifies a particular computer on the Internet. 127.0.0.1 is an example of an IP address. The browser uses IP addresses to find websites on the Internet.
- Javascript:
- A scripting programming language most commonly used to add interactive features to webpages.
- Meta Tag:
- This is a special HTML tag that is used to store information about a web page. These tags are sometimes used by search engines to display a description of a web page.
- MySQL:
- Pronounced "My S-Q-L". A popular open source database software. MySQL is used by many popular websites to keep information such as user account data and preferences.
- PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)
- A widely used general purpose scripting language designed for web development.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
- The process of improving the search engine results for a particular web site.
- Secure Socket Layer (SSL):
- A protocol developed to transmit data securely over the Internet.
- Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP):
- The standard protocol used to transfer electronic mail or email over the Internet.
- Spider:
- An automated program used by search engines to visit websites and index the content on their pages.
- Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
- The address of a specific website or file on the Internet. An example of a URL would be http://www.conecode.com/.
- Web Host:
- A computer that stores all the files of a website and makes them available to other computers on the Internet.