This web design glossary has been created to further your understanding of web design jargon & related wording that you will encounter in this site and elsewhere. This glossary's intention is to be relevant and beneficial to your understanding rather than be comprehensive. While this glossary will grow over time, if you have any questions (whether it's help you're seeking or advice you are suggesting), please feel free to contact us.

Perl [Practical Extraction and Report Language] − Perl is a server−side, interpreted language that provides much of the web's interactivity.
[Top of page]
Pixel − Refers to how monitors divide the display screen into thousands or millions of individual dots to display an image. A pixel is one dot.
[Top of page]
PHP [Hypertext Preprocessor] − A server−side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. Designed for Windows and Unix type platforms.
[Top of page]
Ranking − The number (order of ranking; ie 1 being the highest) that a web site is listed for a specific search term in a specific search engine. Search Engines utilize a ranking algorithm (mathematical formulas, variables, and set of weights) to determine a site's ranking for a particular keyword or keyword phrase.
[Top of page]
Resolution − The resolution of an image describes how fine the dots are that make up that image. The more dots, the higher the resolution. When displayed on a monitor, the dots are called pixels. A 640 x 480 screen (resolution) is capable of displaying 640 distinct dots on each of its 480 lines, or about 300,000 pixels.
[Top of page]
Script − A script is an executable list of commands created by a scripting language. Scripts that are executed on a web server (eg; Perl, PHP) are said to be server−side scripts. Scripts that execute on your own home PC (eg; JavaScript) are said to be client−side scripts. Scripts can be embed within HTML to produce a web page with dynamic actions.
[Top of page]
Scripting Language − A scripting language is a simple programming language used to write an executable list of commands, called a script. JavaScript, Perl, VBscript are scripting languages rather than general-purpose programming languages.
[Top of page]
Search Engine − A server (computer) or commonly a collection of servers dedicated to indexing internet web pages, storing the results in a giant database and returning lists of pages which match particular searched queries from within its database. The indexes are normally and automatically generated using spiders.
[Top of page]
Server − A computer, program or process which responds to requests for information from an user. On the internet, all web pages reside on servers (computers).
[Top of page]
Spider − An automated software robot that continuously crawls hyperlinks and pages on the Internet and collects data that is returned to its database for indexing. This is how Search Engines function. The process of crawling the web, storing URLs' and indexing keywords, links and text, is the act of Spidering.
[Top of page]
SSI [Server−Side Includes] − Tells a server to include information (source from a separate file) in a document before sending it to the browser. A very effective method of producing the same information over many pages as one file can be altered to produce the changes over the many the pages that includes the SSI file.
[Top of page]
Sub−Domain (Name) − A sub−domain is a domain that is part of a larger domain name. DNS hierarchy consists of the root-level domain at the top, underneath which are the top−level domains, followed by second−level domains and finally sub−domains.
[Top of page]
Tag − An HTML tag is a formatting command written into a document that specifies how it should be formatted. A web browser interprets these tags and outputs the intended command (action).
[Top of page]
Template − HTML templates are skeletal HTML pages with the main content left out. Templates provide an effective solution in creating many pages with an identical look or navigational structure but different content.
[Top of page]
Traffic − Similar to a real−world sense of traffic on a road or freeway, traffic in a web−sense is a measurement of the amount of users that visit a Web site.
[Top of page]
URI [Uniform Resource Identifier] − The generic term for all types of names and addresses that refer to objects on the World Wide Web. A URL is one kind of URI.
[Top of page]
URL [Uniform Resource Locator] − Each separate page accessible on the Web has a unique address which can by identified by it's URL. The first part of the address (eg; http or ftp etc) indicates what protocol to use, and the second part specifies the IP address or the domain name where the resource is located.
[Top of page]
Usability − Refers to the level or degree of a page's operating friendliness for the user.
[Top of page]
Validation − Validation is a way to make sure that your (HTML) code is compliant with current HTML specifications.
[Top of page]
W3C [World Wide Web Consortium] − Established in October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.
[Top of page]
WWW [World Wide Web] − Is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. Browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape are utilized to access the vast collection of interconnected (hyperlinked) documents on the web.

Copyright © 2007 Web−Designz.com. All rights Reserved.