Glossary
CGI
CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface. A CGI script is a small
piece of software residing on the server and allows the server to
receive and process data. The most popular CGI script is Form Mail
which takes the data a visitor enters into a form, processes it
and e-mails the result to you.
Directory
A directory is a collection of web site addresses organized into
categories and each category into sub-categories. The difference
between directories and search engines is that all web sites in a
directory are selected by hands whereas search engines use
softwares to automatically index the web pages.
DHTML
D stands for Dynamic. DHTML is a set of technologies that extend
the functionality of HTML. Key components that make up DHTML
include Style Sheets, Layers, Multimedia controls and Javascript.
Domain
Think of your domain as a piece of real estate you rent in the
infinite cyberspace. A domain name is the address of your
property. The beauty of cyberspace is you can name your own
address (as long as no one has registered it before you).
Doorway Page
A doorway is a web page that is used to lead people to the target
site. Doorway pages are designed to optimize search engine
placement and attract visitors' attention. The problem with
doorway page is the misuse by many web site owners to optimize the
doorway page with keywords that are not truly relevant to the
content of the target site. The use of doorway pages is viewed
unfavorably by search engines.
Error 404
You will see "Error 404. File Not Found" if you type in
an URL of a page that does not exist - either because it has been
deleted or renamed.
Flash
A very popular format introduced by Macromedia. Flash uses vector
instead of bitmap, resulting in very small file size - which is
great for web use. Flash is an excellent tool for web animation
and a great alternative to animated gif.
FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is just a method to
transfer files and the most common way to upload your web pages.
GIF
GIF stands for Graphic Interchange Format. It is the most widely
used graphic format on the web. GIF supports transparency which
allows creative use of irregular shape graphics over any
background. GIF is limited to 256 colors so it is great for logos,
icons or any graphics with flat colors. It is not so great for
photographic images.
HTML
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is the basic
language that describe the web pages. A markup language means that
you start with the text of your page and "mark it up" by
adding special tags around words and paragraphs. Learning HTML is
relatively simple.
JAVA
Java is a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. A
Java program is written once and runs on may different computer
platforms. Java programs can add huge interactive capability to a
web site. However unlike HTML, programming in Java requires
considerable effort.
Javascript
This has nothing to do with Java programming language. Javascript
is a simpler programming language. It is designed to add
functionalitiy to web pages and is included as part of a standard
HTML document instead of a separate file like CGI scripts or Java
applets.
JPG/JPEG
The format to use for photographic images. It stands for Joint
Photographic Expert Group (the group that developed the format).
JPEG does not support transparency so all JPEG images are
rectangular.
PDF
It stands for Portable Document Format. It was developed by Adobe
to enable a document to be viewed with the original formatting
intact without having to have the original program on your
computer. With a free Adobe Acrobat Reader a pdf document can be
viewed on any computer platform. In addition to preserving the
formatting the pdf document is also substantially smaller than the
original file. These qualities make pdf a very popular choice for
documents on the internet.
PNG
Another web graphic format. PNG supports millions of colors as
well as transparency. This should make it an ideal format for web
graphics. However uneven support of the format by major browsers
has severely limited its application. PNG stands for Portable
Network Graphics.
Rollover
No, it is not a command you give to your dog!. It is the most
popular dynamic effect used on the web. Rollovers involves images
being changed as the user places his or her mouse over the image.
It requires a Javascript to do the trick.
Search Engines
Search engines use specialized softwares that take the search term
you ask for and deliver a list of web pages that are deemed most
relevant to what you search for. Each search engine maintains a
huge database of millions of web pages
SEO
Search Engine Optimization is the method of preparing the web
pages to boost the ranking by the search engines. The words on
each page are carefully prepared to ensure that the search engines
will associate the page with the desired keywords.
Splash Page
Splash page is like a cover of a book. It is designed as the first
page you see at a site. The "wow" factor is a key goal
of the splash page; allowing the designer much more creative
freedom than with the rest of the site.
URL
It stands for Uniform Resource Locator. The format of an URL is http://www.mysite.com/mainpage.html .
Think of it as the address of a web page.
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