Brighton Design Internet Glossary

Glossary . . .

Address: The physical designation of a home page, file, or other location on the Internet (or any other network). On the Internet, an address is known as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). They often take the form: http://www.(name).com

Bandwidth: The volume of data a particular connection to the Internet can transmit.

Browser: A software application that allows you to view text, images, sounds, and video on the World Wide Web or other networks.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI): A higher-level programming language that allows information to be entered into a Web site via a survey or order form.

Cookie: A file on a Web site that gathers info from forms which users enter data into or via tracking what parts of a Web site users visit. This allows a Web site to tailor its content for a particular user.

Database: A grouping of information that can be viewed, entered, sorted, or printed in a number of ways.

Domain Name Server+ (DNS): A database of URLs that correspond to numeric Internet addresses. It allows an Internet address to appear as www.ourcompany.com, as opposed to 205.14.172.2.

Download: The transfer of a file from the Internet to your computer.

E-mail: Software to send messages to people on the Internet.

Encryption: A mechanism for scrambling data as it is transported across the Internet. It is used for security reasons so that credit card numbers, for example, are safe from being intercepted.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP): An application that moves files between two computers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): A set of commonly asked questions and their answers

Graphics Interchange Format (GIF): A computer file format for graphics or pictures. This format is popular on the Internet because it is usually smaller than its counter part, JPEG, and therefore quicker to load on a web page.

Hit: A unit of measurement for how many times a web page has been visited.

Home Page: The first page that is encountered when accessing a web site. From this page, a user is usually able to access all areas of the web site. Is also called the "splash page".

Host: The computer where a Web site is physically stored.

Hyperlink: Either text or an image that, when clicked, will take the user to another part of the web site. These are usually set apart from normal text by being in another color and underlined, and from normal images by a change in the mouse pointer when it is moved over the image.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): A basic language that most web pages utilize to format the text, images, and layout of what is viewed in the browser.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): The structure that allows files to be transferred from one computer to another using a web browser.

Internet: A global network of computers that allow users to share e-mail, files, and data.

Internet Protocol (IP): The structure within which computers on the Internet communicate and share information.

Internet Service Provider (ISP): A business that has computers that are connected to the Internet directly. Users pay a fee, which varies, for dial-up access to the ISP's computers, giving those users access to the Internet from home or work.

Java: A programming language used to create mini-applications that run on a Web site, such as a calculator or stock market ticker.

JavaScript: A scripting language used to create dynamic effects on a Website such as a button changing color when your cursor is placed on it.

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG): Another format for computer graphics. It is preferred over its counterpart, GIF, when high image quality is important.

Kilobyte: One thousand bytes. This is the standard unit of measuring the size of a file.

Login: The procedure to gain access to a computer or network. A login procedure usually involves entering a username and password.

Modem: The piece of equipment that allows a computer to connect to the Internet via phone lines or cable lines.

Navigate: To move through a Web site via hyperlinks.

Netiquette: The code of behavior on the Internet. These standards keep users from using anonymity as an excuse to abuse other users.

Newsgroups: An area of the Internet that is made up of thousands of e-mail messages. These messages are grouped together by subject and allow users with specific interests to share ideas, ask questions, and carry on conversations. There are thousands of different groups in this area, known as Usenet (short for User Network).

Online: Being connected to the Internet.

Page: A document on a Web site, called a page because navigating through a web site is like going from page to page in a book.

Plug-and-Play: A system for efficiently managing hardware in a desktop system. As it applied to computers, plug-and-play means you simply plug in an expansion card or plug in a peripheral and it works.

Point of Presence (POP): The dial-up connection an ISP provides for a user to gain access to the Internet. For many national ISP's, this is a local telephone number.

Resolution: In terms of image data, resolution refers to the number of pixels per inch used to describe the image in digital format. Dots per inch is the measure for the image file as it relates to final output either to an image setter or some other type of printer.

Search Engine: A mechanism that certain Web sites use to help users locate specific content on the World Wide Web. Examples include google.com, altavista.com, yahoo.com, and excite.com.

Server: A computer that stores files on a network. Other computers on the network, clients, access that information.

Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): The structure that computers linked to the Internet use to share information.

WAV: A type of audio file

Webmaster: The person who maintains the files and images for a particular Web site.

World Wide Web (WWW): The area of the Internet that displays text, graphics, hyperlinks, and video via a browser

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