ASCII:

American Standard format for data storage on magnetic media (tape or disk).

ASP:

Stands for: "Active Server Page". First see: Server Side Script. This is a type of server side scripting that usually operates on Windows-based servers.

Auto responder:

A program that responds to the email immediately with a pre-designed response.

Bandwidth:

1. In the hosting industry, this term is frequently used synonymously with "Transfer" to mean the total amount of data transferred over the period of one month. Typically measured in GB. 2. This describes the quantity of data that can pass through an Internet connection over the period of one second. (i.e. 1000 bits-per-second, or 1Kbps).

Banner Ad:

A graphical web advertising unit, typically measuring 468 pixels wide and 60 pixels tall (i.e. 468x60).

Bits:

If a byte is like an atom in computer language, a bit is like an electron. A bit is either on or off. It is either a 1 or a zero. Eight bits make up one byte.

Browser:

A browser is a piece of software that is used to view data on the Internet. Examples are Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera, and Safari. Online Design, Inc. recommends Firefox to all our clients.

Bugs:

Errors that crop up in software. Caused by inability of programmers to predict all possible ways that the code in their programs will be used to process data.

back to top

Byte:

A unit of computer memory. One letter or number is a byte. A byte is usually composed of eight bits.

C:

A commonly used programming language that is sometimes used for Server Side Scripting.

C++:

A commonly used programming language that is sometimes used for Server Side Scripting. It is a modified version of C above.

Cache:

A program's local store of response messages and the subsystem that controls its message storage, retrieval and deletion. A cache stores cacheable responses in order to reduce the response time and network bandwidth consumption on future, equivalent requests. Any client or server may include a cache, though a cache cannot be used by a server that is acting as a tunnel. For instructions on how to clear the cache in your browser, click here.

Catch all:

A program allowing any email sent to the domain to go to a particular email address. So email sent to a misspelled or unused username is still received.

CGI:

Stands for: "Common Gateway Interface." The best way to illustrate this is with an example: A web page is created to add up numbers. The viewer enters in 2 numbers, and the webpage then adds up those numbers, and returns the answer to the viewer. HTML is not designed to process or calculate numbers, but what it can do, is pass those numbers to another program, and then accept an answer from that program for the viewer to see. So you really have 2 programs communicating with each other - one to calculate, and one to display (the HTML). Common Gateway Interface is the standard way for these programs to communicate.

CGI-bin:

This is a "bin" or storage folder on a server that stores programs that perform the calculations and return the values to HTML for display. (See CGI)

Client:

The "client" computer is the viewer's computer, as opposed to the "Server" which serves the client computer the web pages that it requests.

back to top

Conversion:

A completed transaction event on the Web site. What constitutes a conversion varies from business to business. The most common conversions include purchase, site registration, newsletter sign-up, requests for price quote or other lead-generating activity.

Cookies:

Small text files on the user's computer in which may be stored a code, which allows a site to stay in touch with the user during his or her visit. Files contain information about visitors to a web site such as username, password and items for purchase. This data is stored on the visitor's computer and sent back to the web site that created it when the visitor comes back or gets to the order page. Cookies can also retrieve information like monitor resolution and platform to webmasters who can use this information to improve their web site.

CSS - Cascading Style Sheets:

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a stylesheet language used to describe the presentation of a document written in a markup language. Its most common application is to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML, but the language can be applied to any kind of XML document, including SVG and XUL. The CSS specifications are maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Demographics:

The data collected on a particular group such as income, education level, sex, race, entertainment interests, age and so forth.

DHTML:

Dynamic HTML. An extension of HTML that enables, among other things, the inclusion of small animations and dynamic menus in Web pages. DHTML code makes use of style sheets and JavaScript.

Diskspace:

This refers to the amount of space you can use on a host's computer. The size of all the files on your website cannot exceed the total amount that you are allowed. It is usually measured in MB, and sometimes in GB. (1GB=1000MB= 1,000,000 KB= 1,000,000,000 Bytes)

Domain:

A domain is an area of the Internet. For example, internetsimplicity.net is a domain. Domains get more specific as you proceed from right to left. " .net" ".com" ".org" are considered top level domains and are very large, including millions of domains within each. An address such as members.internetsimplicity.net is an example of a domain with a subdomain within it.

E-commerce:

The ability to sell products or services and process payments over the Internet.

back to top

Email:

The transmission of computer-based messages over telecommunication technology.

Email marketing:

The promotion of products or services through email. You can view examples of email marketing services provided by Online Design here.

Extranet:

Similar to an Intranet, an extranet is designed for authorized access by outside users.

FAQ:

Abbreviation of "frequently asked questions."

Flash:

Flash is a program owned by Adobe (formerly Macromedia) which produces high quality animation and interactive graphics for the web.

Form:

A form is a element that is sometimes included in a website which has pre-made boxes or users to enter in text usually with a "submit" button. For example, one's name, company, feedback, comments, etc. These may use text fields, check boxes and multiple choice options to structure user responses. Click here to see an example of a form.

FTP:

Stands for "File Transfer Protocol". This is a standard language that is used to transfer files over the Internet. Sometimes you will come across an address like "ftp://www.internetsimplicity.net/documents.doc" The "ftp" in the beginning of this means that it is communicating with the server in a special language used only for transferring files, not HTML. See also HTTP

Ghz:

1,000,000,000 periods per second.

back to top

GIF:

A graphic file extension understood by all graphic browsers.

Hit:

Download of each element of a Web page. When a user views a Web page that includes nine images, the server records ten hits (one for the HTML page file and one for each image file).

HTML:

Stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This is the main programming language of the Internet. Your browser reads HTML files and knows from that code how to display a page. The word "Hypertext" is another name for text that links to other pages on the Internet. Traditionally, the word "markup" was used to mean for an editor to put marks on a page to show how it should be displayed when printed. (i.e. a newspaper or magazine article) You can see HTML by going to your browser window and clicking View>Source. Your browser interprets this code and turns it into what you see on your browser.

HTML email:

Email that is formatted using Hypertext Markup Language, as opposed to plain text, flash or other technology. See also HTML.

HTTP:

Stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol" This is a standard language that is used to transmit specifically HTML and other similar languages to your browser. An address like "http://www.internetsimplicity.net" in your browser's address bar means that your browser is receiving HTML and other code from the location www.internetsimplicity.net. See also FTP

Internet Marketing:

Strategies and techniques applied on the Internet to support the organization's overall online marketing goals.

Intranet:

Designed to be used to share internal information within the same company usually behind a firewall.

IP:

The Internet protocol address identifying a computer connected to the Internet. Every computer is assigned one when they log onto the Internet. You can view the IP for your computer here.

back to top

ISP:

Short for Internet Service Provider, a company that provides access to the Internet. For a monthly fee, the service provider gives you a software package, username, password and access phone number. Equipped with a modem, you can then log on to the Internet and browse the World Wide Web and USENET, and send and receive e-mail.

JAVA:

An object-oriented programming language.

Javascript:

This is a programming language that runs on a client's browser which makes a page more interactive. Java Script can do things such as make animated images, pop-up windows, cause an image to change when your mouse rolls over it, etc.

JPEG:

Joint Photographic Experts Group, or graphic file format that stores images in a compressed form.

JSP:

Stands for Java Server Page. It is a server side scripting language. Instead of running on the viewer's computer, as with Java Script, it runs on the server before the page reaches the viewer's computer.

Keywords:

The words that best characterize the business and web site used for search engine visibility.

Log:

The record the web site server keeps with information on who visits, when they visit and which pages they viewed.

Lorem Ipsum:

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularized in the 1960s with the release of Letterset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Mail filter:

A program allowing email sorting before viewing by filtering the subject, sender's email address or information in the body of the message.

back to top

Meta tag:

An HTML tag invisible when the document is viewed, coded within the head tag to target search engines. Most common metatags are the description, title and keywords.

Modem:

A device permitting a computer or terminal to send information over a telephone line.

MPEG:

Motion Picture Experts Group, the standard format for digital video and audio compression.

mySQL:

(Pronounced "my-ess-cue-el") This is a database which is commonly used with web pages. It can allow viewers to look up specific information from a large quantity of data stored in the database. Example: A website has a "look up a member" text area. The viewer can search by last name, and find a single name or list of names out of all of the names stored in the database. The language that is used to perform this search is called Structured Query Language (SQL). See also: SQL

Opt-in:

People subscribing to a mailing list that have asked to receive the information or advertising.

Opt-out:

People subscribed to a mailing list that haven't asked to receive the email, but have the option of removing their information from the list.

Page view:

Hits to HTML page files only, excluding downloads of non-HTML documents like image files.

PERL:

Acronym for Practical Extraction and Report Language. A commonly used programming language that is often used for server side scripting which has strengths in manipulating text.

back to top

Php:

Stands for "Hypertext Preprocessor." A server side scripting language used normally on Unix-based systems. It is similar to other scripting languages, but was designed specifically for the purposes of server side scripting on web pages, so it is often has simpler expressions for more commonly used applications.

POS:

Acronym for Point of Sale.

POP Email:

POP stands for "Post Office Protocol." It is a language that is used to send e-mails directly to a client's computer. With web-based e-mail, such as hotmail, or traditional Yahoo, a user logs onto a website, and their e-mail is on that website, not on their own computer.

Pop-up ad:

An ad that displays in a new browser window.

Proxy:

An intermediary program that acts as a server and a client, making requests on behalf of other clients.

RAM:

Short for random-access memory, this is the most common computer memory, used by programs to perform tasks while the computer is on; an integrated circuit memory chip allows information storage or accessibility in any order and all storage locations are equally accessible.

Ranking:

The placing a web site gets when visitors conduct a search for the keywords or keyword phrases using a search engine.

Retention:

The tendency for customers to keep buying.

back to top

Script:

A script is essentially a program. The only difference is that while a program runs directly on the operating system of a computer, a script runs on another program which is running on that operating system. (For example, Java Script is run on a browser, and not on the actual Operating system of the computer.)

Server:

A server is a computer that stores information, and "serves" that information to viewers who request to see it. Everything that you see on the Internet is stored somewhere on a server.

Server side script:

A server side script is a program that is processed on the SERVER, before the information ever reaches the viewer's computer. Compared to a client side script, which is processed on the CLIENT's computer. Examples of languages commonly used as server side scripts: php, jsp, asp, perl. Examples of client side script: JavaScript.

Search engine algorithm:

The criteria a search engine uses to determine which web sites match certain search words or phrases.

Search engine:

A CGI program used to search for words or phrases in a database of web pages. Popular search engines include Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Shopping bots:

Computer programs that search commerce sites for the best prices. An example is Froogle.

Shopping cart:

This is a piece of software that allows users to make financial transactions online.

Sig file:

Text at the end of a message, short for "signature".

back to top

SPAM:

Unsolicited commercial email.

SPAM filter:

Spam is a term used to mean unsolicited, bulk e-mail that clogs your e-mail inbox and is often annoying. A spam filter is a program that will actually capture e-mails that look like spam before they are sent to your in-box.

Spider:

A program following links through web sites to include, update or delete data from a database.

SQL:

Stands for: "Structured Query Language" A "Query" on a database is basically a search. On certain types of databases, a user can search by any number of criteria (for example by name, date, last name, etc, etc). SQL is the language that these queries take the form of.

SSI:

Stands for: "Server Side Include" A server automatically stores certain data about it's web web pages such as the date they were created, when they were last updated, etc. A web page can request that a server includes this value in a certain spot in the web page before it is sent to the viewer.

SSL:

Stands for: Secure Socket Layer. This is a very secure type of encryption that is used to make sure that a connection is secure before a viewer gives their credit card number, views personal information, etc. It makes sure that there is not a third party viewing a transaction, that the viewer's computer, and the host computer are who they say they are, etc. You will see a picture of a lock in Internet Explorer when you are in Secure Socket Layer. For a website to engage SSL, a website needs a digital certificate of authenticity. "Shared SSL" refers to when a host or other person allow you to use their digital certificate, and given that they know you are a legit company. More information can be found in the Secure Certificate section of our FAQ.

Streaming audio/video:

"Streaming" means that a file such as a sound or movie file gets played while it is being downloaded, instead of having to wait for the entire file to download before it plays. RealAudio is a brand of software that enables streaming audio.

Text ad:

An advertisement using text-based hyperlinks.

back to top

Transfer:

This is the total amount of data which is transferred from a host's computer to other's computers over the period of a month. Usually measured in GB.

Unique URL tagging:

Coding uniquely identifying data into URL's in HTML content. This allows web site owners to identify visitors and visit frequency.

Uptime:

If your website is considered "up", it is viewable over the Internet. Uptime refers to the percentage of time that it will be viewable.

URL:

"Uniform Resource Locator", or the web site's address.

User session, visit or visitor:

A session of activity for one web site visit

WWW:

This stands for World Wide Web. This is the publicly accessible, widely available part of the Internet. There are other sections of the internet which are not as broadly accessible.

WYSIWYG:

Acronym for "what you see is what you get", often used in regards to HTML editors.

Zlib:

This is a program on the server which compresses picture files on a website so that they will download to user's computers faster.

back to top