web design glossary of terms

Glossary of terminology

The web and design industry can be a jargon cluttered place at times, which is why we have compiled this comprehensive list of definitions and terminology to help ease understanding.

ActiveX
A programming interface that allows web browsers to download and execute Windows programs.

Anchor tag
The text applied to a hyperlink used by search engines to apply relevance to that particular link.

API (Application Programming Interface)
A method for allowing developers to integrate a piece of software with another applications data and code.

ASP.NET
ASP.NET is an application framework developed by Microsoft which allows developers to build dynamic web sites and web applications.

Authentication
The method used to verify the identity of a user, program or computer on the web.

Bandwidth
A measure of the rate at which you are able to transfer data through an internet connection.

Bookmark
Keep a note of useful web sites by bookmarking them in your browser.

Browse
The term for when a user views web sites from one to another, or using search engines.

Cache
The cache is a stored version of a web page. Usually kept on your PC and managed by your browser. A cache is kept to reduce the time taken to load the page or site in the future.

Click
A mouse click on a hyperlink element. Clicks are often monitored to discover where users are clicking/viewing.

Click-through Rate
The click through rate is the number of times visitors click on a hyperlink to view a specific page.

CMS (Content Management System)
A CMS is a piece of software developed to assist users in organising site in complex data structures such as websites. DSM has its own web content management system which utilises ASP.NET and PostgreSQL to help users manage dynamic websites.

CMYK
CMYK typically refers to the four inks used in color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key black.

Compression
Compression reduces the size of files such as web documents and images for faster transfer or a smaller storage size.

Cookie
A cookie is a snippet of information stored on your computer by a website and managed by the web browser. When you revisit the site the browser returns a copy of the information stored.

ColdFusion
Web development software for most platforms (Linux, Unix, Solaris and Windows).

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
A W3C recommended language for defining the styles of a web page such as font, size, color, spacing etc.).

Database
A database is information stored on a computer in a manner which can be easily retrieved and manipulated by software.

DHTML (Dynamic HTML)
A term commonly to describe HTML coded content that can change dynamically such as that done by components and readers.

DNS (Domain Name Service)
A method of translating domain names into IP addresses or vice versus.

Domain Name
The name of a web site. (like: dsm-design.co.uk)

Download
To transfer a file, image or document from a web source to a local computer.

Dynamic IP
An IP address that changes every time you connect to the Internet.

E-commerce
The term used for shopping online or online purchasing. Otherwise known as e-shopping.

Firewall
Software that provides a security filter or wall to restrict specific types of communications between the computer and the internet, such as downloading viruses and bad networks.

Flash
A vector-based multimedia format, useful for animation and interaction, developed by Adobe for use on the web.

Frame
Frames are used to display web content from other web pages within your own web page. This is now generally regarded as bad practice.

FrontPage
A windows based WYSIWYG HTML editor used by some to create simple web pages.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A common method for transferring files, documents and images between your local computer and your web space.

FTP Server
A web server from which you can download or upload files, images and documents to and from for displaying content on the web.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
A compressed format for showing images on the web, plus has the ability for animation.

Google
One of the most popular search engines for finding information and businesses on the web. Read more about the Google search engine.

Hits
The number of times a web page is viewed by a audiences on the web.

Home Page
The primary or top level or main page of a website. This is usually the default page when visiting a site.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
HTML is a set of type of computer mark-up language used to define the content, layout and the formatting of a web page. Web browsers read the HTML and convert, the script into a series of images and text in position as the designer intended.

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)
This is the standard method for transferring files across the internet. i.e for a browser to view a web page from a web server.

HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure)
Same as above except it provides secure internet data transfer using SSL.

Hyperlink
A hyperlink is link or reference to another page or document used to share information and navigate from one page to another.

Internet
The internet or net, for short, is a global system of networked computers all communicating to each other. It is a network of networks that serves billions of users everyday with private a public networks for sharing and transfering data.

Internet Explorer
A web browser designed by Microsoft. We are currently up to version 8 of internet explorer.

Intranet
An Intranet is a a private Internet, which runs within a local area network (LAN).

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)
The IP is a unique number which identifies every computer on the net e.g. 168.177.177.2.1

ISP (Internet Service Provider)
A company that provides access to the Internet.

Java
A programming language developed by SUN generally designed for programming web servers and web apps.

JavaScript
A popular scripting language developed by Netscape which enables smooth animation and customisation of web features. It as no connection to the Java programming language other than in name.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group)
A common method of lossy compression for storing and transmitting images. The degree of compression is adjustable, allowing trade-off between size and image quality.

JQuery
JQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript library which simplifies the creation of animations, communications to server requests, document transversing and event handling.

Keyword
A primary phrase commonly used to search for a specifc product or service in search engines. Webmasters use keywords to target their website towards keywords for maximum potential exposure on the web.

Landing pages
Landing pages are sub pages of the home page but equally carry the potential to rank in the search engines for specific pages. Landing pages build site context.

LAN (Local Area Network)
A network of computers in a localised ares such as in an office or building or home.

Meta Data
"Data about Data", There can be many different types of meta data web pages typically provide a title, description, keys and the time the page was last modified.

Meta Tags
The tags are used to describe the document such as title, keywords and description. Learn how to optimise your Meta tags.

Multimedia
Multimedia is a range of media types formed into a presentation and combines text with pictures, video, or sound. Learn more about multimedia.

MySQL
Open source database software commonly used to provide e-commerce, transaction processing and dynamic data transfers.

Online Marketing
The process of developing awareness on the web through SEO, Social Networks and other marketing activites for better online return. DSM offers a range of online marketing services, click the link to learn more about what we do.

Opera
The browser from the company Opera.

Open Source
Software which is provided with a license that allows users to modify the source code of the software. Open Source software is often freely available however this is usually not a requirement of the open source licenses.

Page Hits
The number of times a web page has been visited by a user, usually from clicking from a link.

Page Impressions
The number of times a page is displayed in a search engine.

Page Views
The number of times a web page has been viewed by the user.

PDF (Portable Document Format)
A file format developed by Adobe for transfer and storage of documents. It is heavily geared towards print work and as such contains different pages with a set size and layout

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor)
PHP is a technology which enables server executable scripts within web pages. Generally used by Unix, Linux and Solaris platforms.

Ping
A processing of testing the communication effeciency between two computers. A "ping" is sent to see if the recipient responds.

Plug-In
A plug-in is an application which is built into another application or component which is able to handle specific functions such as e-mail, sound, or movie files. Our CMS uses a variety of plugins, learn more about plug-ins and components.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
An image format that employs lossless data compression. It was created to improve upon and replace the compression available with GIF files. It dramatically improves upon the transparency options available in GIF files.

Proxy Server
A which intercepts local network website requests and caches the data provided. Allowing it to be retrieved quicker and with less internet access if another user requests the same resource.

QuickTime
A multimedia file format created by Apple.

Redirect
The action applied to forward or redirect a specific web page to a new page. Commonly used when an existing page is deleted and/or URL changed.

RGB (Red Green Blue)
The three primary colours that represent the full colour spectrum.

Search Engine
A web program used to search and index millions of pages available on the web. learn more about search engines.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
SEO is the process of optimising a website for better rankings in the search engines. SEO is a major aspect of our business, learn more about search engine optimisation.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
A standard method for sending e-mail messages between email accounts.

Social Networking
The term used to describe the acivity of networking through social sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. Social networking is designed for business development and optimisation. Learn more about Social Networking.

SQL (Structured Query Language)
A standard computer language for accessing, manipulating and requesting databases.

SQL Server
A standard computer language for accessing, manipulating and requesting the data within databases.

SSI (Server Side Include)
A method used for inserting common code shared between multiple pages into each page.

SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
Sotfware that requires license to secure and protect a web site using encrypted transmission data.

Streaming
Enabling media such as video and audio to be viewed whilst it is being downloaded/transferred.

Upload
To transfer a file, document or data from a local computer to a web server.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The web address of a website and its subsiquent pages (known as URL extensions) e.g. http://www.dsm-design.co.uk/

Visit
A visit is the interaction between a user and a website, when they visit a page it is documented in analytics.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A private network between two remote websites, over a secure encrypted virtual Internet connection.

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
An organisation which manages the standards of websites and the way they interact in the world wide web.

WAN (Wide Area Network)
A network of computers connected together in a wide network often in separate geographic locations, usually connected via phone lines.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)
A method for transferring data and viewing web pages through wireless terminals such as digital mobile phones.

Web Address
The name of a website, the same as URL.

Web Browser
A software program which is used to view and browse web sites and web pages. What are web browsers?

Web Design
The design, layout and function of a website often done by a web design comapny. The design is what a website should look like when the code is read. Learn more about our web design services.

Web Development
Web development is the process of designing and creating applications for enhanced functionality within websites. It enables customisation for specific components for specialist needs. DSM offer specialist web development, primarily for our own Content Management System.

Web Host
A web host is a web server provider which offers space for "hosting" websites. Learn more about web hosting.

Web Page
A document within a website which represents an individual page written in code (HTML, PHP etc) and is read by the web browser and converted into the web design.

Web Robot
Search engines use “robots” or “spiders” to crawl, index and cache your website.

Web Server
A web server reads content from a server and provides it to a web browser requesting the content.

Web Site
A collection of related web pages belonging to a company or an individual.

Web Spider
A small program deployed by search engines and which search the Internet for web pages. Spiders are also known as Robots.

Widget
A widget is like a gadget for your website, it can either read or syndicate information from the web and displayed within a website or on your desktop.

Wildcard
A character used to substitute any character(s). Most often used as an asterix (*) in search engines.

WWW (World Wide Web)
The internet, a global network of computers exchanging web documents and data files.

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
When editing a page WYSIWIG will display a web page exactly the same way it will be displayed on the web. What You See Is What You Get.

XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language)
HTML reformulated as XML. XHTML is the latest version of HTML. Developed by W3C.

XML (Extensible Markup Language)
XML is a set of rules for encoding documents electronically and is a general method for communicating to other resources.

ZIP
A technique for compressing files or folders on a computer. Commonly used when the file may require downloading from the Internet.