Glossary
We invite our readers to browse through the glossary terms and definitions to learn more about the many types of service and technology that Artistic Design Service, Inc. has to offer. We look forward to hearing from you with any questions that you may have.
A Record: Part of the zone file that directs the domain name to a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address. A Records are modified routinely when users want to point their domain name to the IP assigned to their hosting account.
AAAA Record (Quad-A Record): AAAA Records store a 128-bit Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address, which does not fit the standard A Record format. For example, 2007:0db6:85a3:0000:0000:6a2e:0371:7234 is a valid 128-bit/IPv6 address. It maps the hostname to an address associated with a domain name and specifies that AAAA Records must be processed.
Acquisition: A process through which one company takes over the controlling interest of another company. Acquisition includes obtaining supplies or services by contract or purchase order with appropriated or non-appropriated funds, for the use of Federal agencies through purchase or lease.
Active Server Pages (ASP): Also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft’s first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated web pages. It has now been superseded by ASP.NET.
Ad Campaign: A series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). Advertising campaigns appear in different media across a specific time frame.
Ad Copy: The main body of an advertisement. It should focus on the three remaining parts of the “Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action” (AIDA) strategy – generating interest, developing desire, and eliciting action.
Admin Contact: Represents the domain name registrant and domain name. This contact is authorized to initiate changes with the domain name registrar.
Admin Email: An email address listed as the administrative contact for a domain name. During the transfer process, the admin email receives information relevant to the completion of the transfer.
Affiliate Program: Gives individuals access to the affiliate’s site to provide their products or services.
A-Frame Signs: A sign with steeply angled sides that meet at the top in the shape of the letter A. Signicades or sandwich board A-frame signs are great for cafes, restaurants, retail stores, gifts shops and other retail businesses that have sidewalk traffic.
Aliased Nameserver: Server owned by a hosting provider but is aliased (or masked) to a name that you specify. (See Name Server.)
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII): A character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text. Most modern character-encoding schemes are based on ASCII, though they support many more characters than did ASCII.
Apache: A popular open source web server. It supports Perl and PHP scripts.
Applet: A Java software application that runs inside a webpage. It is independent of the operating systems where it runs.
Application Service Provider (ASP): A business that provides computer-based services to customers over a network. Software offered using an ASP model is also sometimes called On-Demand Software or Software as a Service (SaaS).
Archives: Displays all of a blogger’s posts on one page organized by date or category.
Art Director: An artist with strong visualization and drawing skills, the person who oversees the work of graphic artists. In some smaller agencies, the Art Director takes the complete responsibility of designing and converting ideas into awe-inspiring visuals within an ad from ad layouts, to storyboarding and compilations.
ASCII: See American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
ASP: See Application Service Provider.
ASP.NET: A web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, web applications, and web services.
Assisted Server: Administrative capabilities managed by the hosting account that generally include additional technical support for the server.
Audio Streaming: Audio content or music that is constantly received by, and normally presented to, an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the medium itself. Audio Streaming significantly increases a website’s bandwidth usage.
Authentication: Identifies an individual, usually with a user name and password.
Author Recognition: Recognition for the author by the principal of the agency of another in the particular instance, or in similar instances, is evidence of the authority of the agent, so that the recognition may be either expressed or implied.
Authorization Code: A code that grants permission to complete a domain name transfer to the customer’s new domain name provider.
Auto Lettering: Vehicle lettering or graphics that can be used to advertise businesses, ideas, or overall appearance of your vehicle. Auto lettering is a great way to promote business or ideas, and acts as a traveling billboard.
Auto Responder: Automatically sends a preprogrammed response to received emails. It provides a brief automatic response. Most Auto Responders let you customize the automatic message.
Backbone: A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway inside a network.
Backorder: When used in relation to purchasing a domain name, it puts a user in line to attempt capture of a domain name before it expires and is released to the market.
Backup: A service offered by most web hosts to preserve data and prevent loss of information.
Bandwidth: The capacity of a site or connection to carry information. Bandwidth plays an important role in how many visitors can efficiently download a site at one time.
Banners: Soft, flexible plastic material that can be painted, screen-printed, or lettered with vinyl lettering or graphics to advertise your business or ideas to the public.
Bar Code: A code required by virtually all retailers, because it allows price and ISBN information to be optically scanned.
Blog: A contraction of the term “web log.” A type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, opinions, thoughts, or other material, such as graphics or video. Entries are updated on a consistent basis for viewing by the general public, and are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Blogcast: A blog and a podcast merged into a single website.
Blogger: The author of a web log.
Blogging: The act of writing and posting to a blog.
Blogosphere: The Internet blogging community.
Blogroll: A list of links to other blogs located in the sidebar of the blog site.
Book Cover Design: To make or create book covers that is eye-catching and attracts attention to your book or publication.
Book Design: The art of incorporating the content, format, design, and sequence of the various components of a book into a coherent whole.
Book Doctoring: An independent editor, sometimes called book doctor, who, for a fee, will undertake to read and edit your manuscript for structure, style, plot, character development, continuity, and so on.
Brand Identification: A mixture of attributes, tangible and intangible, symbolized in a trademark, which, if managed properly, creates value and influence. This brand individuality projects your image to the buying public and becomes your unique or corporate identity.
Brochure: A type of leaflet. The two most common brochure styles are single sheet and booklet (folded leaflets) forms. The most common types of single-sheet brochures are the bi-fold (a single sheet printed on both sides and folded into halves) and the tri-fold (the same, but folded into thirds). A bi-fold brochure results in four panels (two panels on each side), while a tri-fold results in six panels (three panels on each side). A well-designed brochure is the best way to introduce your company to your potential customers.
Browser Report: A detailed breakdown of popular Web browsers each time they visit a user’s website.
Browser: An application used to view and work on the Internet. Popular browsers include Internet Explorer®, Mozilla®, Firefox®, and Safari™.
Business Card: A card bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver’s name, company affiliation (usually with a logo) and contact information such as street addresses, telephone number(s), fax number, email address, and website. Business cards are one of the most important marketing tools for any company.
Business Letter: A letter written in formal language, usually used when writing from one business organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties. The overall style of letter will depend on the relationship between the parties concerned.
Business Letterhead: The heading at the top of a sheet of letter paper, usually consisting of a name, address, and logo design.
Captcha: An image that contains a numerical or alphabetic code. Webpages use Captcha to identify active user access to specific pages rather than spiders or programs.
Carbon Copy: An email option that sends a second copy of each sent email to the specified address.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): A style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics (i.e., the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language. It’s most common application is to style webpages written in HTML and XHTML, but the language can also be applied to any kind of XML document, including SVG and XUL.
Cash Parking®: An online monetization system for domain names. It uses parked pages with commercial listings. Each time a visitor clicks a displayed pay-per-click ad, the domain name owner receives revenue credit.
Catalog: A book that represents products and services to the general public. A catalog usually has pictures of the products with a brief description to help market the goods and services.
Catch-all: In the context of email, a Catch-all usually refers to a mailbox on a domain that will “catch all” of the emails addressed to the domain that do not exist in the mail server. Configuring a catch-all address can help avoid losing emails due to misspelling. However many email hosts no longer permit catch-alls, since many spammers abuse the feature, spamming random email addresses.
Certified Domain: A domain origination verification process that validates domain control and contact information of the domain registrant.
CGI: See Computer-generated Imagery.
Click-through: Describes the ratio of clicks on a specific advertisement or banner ad.
Clustered Hosting: A type of web hosting that spreads the load of hosting across multiple physical machines (“nodes”), increasing availability and decreasing the chances of one service (for example FTP or email) affecting another.
CNAME Record (or Canonical Name Record): A type of resource record in the DNS that specifies that the domain name is an alias of another, canonical domain name.
Co-location Center: A type of data center where multiple customers share networking facilities.
Co-location: Renting a secure space with reliable network connectivity in a data center while maintaining personal user equipment.
Commentator: A person who leaves remarks regarding a blog entry.
Comments: Reader feedback to blog posts.
Computer Network: A collection of computers and devices connected by communications channels that facilitates communications among users and allows users to share resources with other users. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. Often simply referred to as a network.
Computer Software: A general term primarily used for digitally stored data such as computer programs and other kinds of information read and written by computers. Today, this includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers, such as film, tapes and records. The term was coined in order to contrast to the old term hardware (meaning physical devices); in contrast to hardware, software is intangible, meaning it “cannot be touched.” Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only.
Computer-generated Imagery (CGI): The application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media.
Consultation: The act of consulting or conferring; deliberation of two or more persons on some matter, with a view to a decision.
Cookie: A message that a web server sends to a web browser. The browser stores the messages in text files. The browser sends these messages to the server each time it requests a page to identify users and prepare their customized logins.
Copy: Written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication.
Copyediting (also copy-editing): The work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy (but not necessarily content) of a manuscript.
Copyright Registration: The purpose of copyright registration is to place on record a verifiable account of the date and content of the work in question, so that in the event of a legal claim, or case of infringement or plagiarism, the copyright owner can produce a copy of the work from an official government source.
Copyright: The set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. These rights can be licensed, transferred and/or assigned. Copyright lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain.
Copywriter: A writer of copy, especially for books, advertisements, or publicity releases.
Copywriting: The use of words to promote a person, business, opinion or idea. Copywriting can appear in direct mail pieces, taglines, jingle lyrics, webpage content (although if the purpose is not ultimately promotional, its author might prefer to be called a content writer), online ads, email and other Internet content, television or radio commercial scripts, press releases, white papers, catalogs, billboards, brochures, postcards, sales letters, and other marketing communications media.
Corporate Gift Design: Gifts that are designed to give employee appreciation or recognition.
Country Code: A two-letter abbreviation for a country. In this context, it is used after the dot in a domain name. This is often called the domain name extension.
CRE Loaded™: A downloadable e-commerce system that makes your on-line store completely compliant with all Payment Card Industry (PCI) security rules. This system allows you to easily add, change, and administer the items that you sell, upload product images, text descriptions, and graphics, process credit card payments, set up special pricing and more.
Cron: A time-based job scheduler in Unix-like computer operating systems. The name cron comes from the word “chronos”, Greek for “time.” Cron enables users to schedule jobs (commands or shell scripts) to run periodically at certain times or dates. It is commonly used to automate system maintenance or administration, though its general-purpose nature means that it can be used for other purposes, such as connecting to the Internet and downloading email. CSS is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content (written in HTML or a similar markup language) from document presentation, including elements such as the layout, colors, and fonts. This separation can improve content accessibility, provide more flexibility and control in the specification of presentation characteristics, enable multiple pages to share formatting, and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content (such as by allowing for tableless web design). CSS can also allow the same markup page to be presented in different styles for different rendering methods, such as on-screen, in print, by voice (when read out by a speech-based browser or screen reader) and on Braille-based, tactile devices.
CSS: See Cascading Style Sheets.
Curriculum Vitae: A written description of a person’s work experience, educational background, and skills. Also called a CV, or simply a vitae, it is more detailed than a résumé and is commonly used by those looking for work outside the U.S. and Australia. A curriculum vitae is also used by someone looking for an academic job, i.e., in a college or university.
Custom Frame: A customized border or case for enclosing a picture, mirror, etc.
Data Transfer: The amount of data transferred from a hosting server when a site viewer visits a page on the website.
Database Administrator (DBA): A person responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance, and repair of an organization’s database.
DBA: See Database Administrator.
Decal: A specially prepared vinyl that is die-cut into letters or bearing a picture design for transfer to wood, metal, glass, automobiles, and banners, etc.
Dedicated Hosting: A type of Internet hosting in which the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone.
Dedicated IP: A host interface identification used for location addressing. It is commonly used to access a website or location directly without benefit of a domain name.
Design: To create or execute in an artistic or highly skilled manner.
Digital Signature: A mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender and that it was not altered in transit. Digital signatures are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery and tampering.
Directional Signs: Signs that are used to direct people to a chosen location or destination.
Distribution: The delivery or giving out of an item or items to the intended recipients, as mail, newspapers, or books.
DNS: See Domain Name System.
Domain: The portion of a URL that locates a group or entity on the Internet.
Domain Locking: A security feature that prevents unauthorized transfers of a domain name to another registrar or host.
Domain Monitoring: The service offered by a domain name registrar that tracks domain names of interest and alerts users to domain name changes.
Domain Name: A common network name under which a collection of network devices are organized (e.g., example.com).
Domain Name Registrar: An organization that manages the reservation of Internet domain names in one or more domains.
Domain Name System (DNS): A hierarchical naming system for computers or any resource connected to the Internet.
Domain Privacy: A service that replaces the user’s information in the Whois directory with the information of a forwarding service.
Domain Registry: A database of all domain names registered in a top-level domain.
Domain Transfer: The process of changing the designated registrar of a domain name.
Drupal: A free and open source content management system (CMS) written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License that enables its users to create and organize website content, edit the layout, and automate some administrative functions. It is used as a back-end system for many different types of websites, ranging from small personal blogs to large corporate and political sites. It is also used for knowledge management and business collaboration.
Dynamic Flash: A flash-based template which consists of 4 to 6 pages. The text of dynamic flash templates can be edited with any text editor. Special software that allows editing of FLA files is needed to edit the graphics or animation effects.
Dynamic Flash Photo Gallery: An easy and powerful tool for setting up and running a gallery of images on your Flash Website without having to get into code. It is ideal for photography portfolio sites, picture galleries, and photo albums.
Dynamic SWiSH: Technology that allows the user to edit text and change the pictures on a site by eliminating the need to modify and recompile any .SWI source file. It is a multimedia combination of live action with a pleasant sound accompaniment for your website.
Dynamic Webpage: A hypertext document rendered to a World Wide Web user presenting content that has been customized or actualized for each individual viewing or rendition or that continually updates information as the page is displayed to the user.
E-book (short for electronic book): An e-text that forms the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book, sometimes restricted with a digital rights management system. An E-book, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English, is “an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a personal computer or hand-held device designed specifically for this purpose.” E-books are usually read on dedicated hardware devices known as E-readers or e-book devices. Personal computers and some cell phones can also be used to read E-books. Also known as a digital book.
Editing: The process of selecting and preparing language, images, sound, video, or film through processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications in various media. In a sense, the editing process originates with the idea for the work itself and continues in the relationship between the author and the editor. Editing is, therefore, also a practice that includes creative skills, human relations, and a precise set of methods.
Editor: A person who edits.
Electronic Commerce: Commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce. It consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.
Email: A method of exchanging digital messages. Originally a text-only communications medium, email was extended to carry multi-media content attachments.
Email Forwarding: The operation of re-sending an email message delivered to one email address on to a possibly different email address.
Email Marketing: The promotion of products or services via email.
Employee Manuals: A compilation of the policies, procedures, working conditions, and behavioral expectations that guide employee actions in a particular workplace. Employee handbooks generally also include information about the company, employee compensation and benefits, and additional terms and conditions of employment.
Encrypted Password: A password that has been camouflaged to prevent hacking.
Encryption: A process that converts data from its original form to a form that can only be used by authorized users.
Engraving: The art of forming designs by cutting, corrosion by acids, a photographic process, etc., on the surface of a metal plate, block of wood, or the like, for the purpose of taking off impressions or prints of the design so formed.
E-PDF Books: An electronic or digital book in portable document format (PDF) that can be downloaded to your personal computer or hand-held device.
E-PUB (short for electronic publication): A free and open e-book standard by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). Files have the extension .epub. E-PUB is designed for reflowable content, meaning that the text display can be optimized for the particular display device. The format is meant to function as a single format that publishers and conversion houses can use in-house, as well as for distribution and sale.
Establish Your Identity: See Brand Identification
Expandable Post Summaries: Includes short portions, or teasers, of a blog post on an index page. They link users to the full entry.
Extensible Markup Language (XML): A set of rules or development language for encoding documents electronically to create unique markup tags. All XML tags are defined by the programmer and may be interpreted differently in different applications.
Family Tree: A genealogical diagram of a family’s ancestry. The ancestors and descendants of a family considered as a group.
Favicon: A small graphic that appears to the left of the web address in a browser’s address bar.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP): A standard network protocol used to copy a file from one host to another over a TCP/IP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server applications which solve the problem of different end host configurations (i.e. Operating System, file names). FTP is used with user-based password authentication or with anonymous user access.
File Transfer Protocol Backup: Backup of data to a remote computer using FTP connection.
File Transfer Protocol Client: Software that assists users in uploading files to their sites using file transfer protocol.
File Transfer Protocol User: The user account name referenced when uploading files to a website using FTP.
Firewall: A technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between sections of a computer network.
Fireworks: An Adobe tool that just helps the user design and visualize their website. The site will then need to be converted to HTML.
Flash: A plug-in and web development application from Macromedia (now Adobe). Files created in Flash can combine animation, sound, and interaction and take advantage of a vector-based format to minimize file size.
Flash Intro Header: A short animation that can be used in an existing HTML website.
Footer: The bottom portion of a blog or webpage that lists navigation and copyright information.
Forum: A webpage where users post messages and replies on topics of interest.
Forwarding: A technique that sends webpage visitors to another page.
FQDN: See Fully Qualified Domain.
Freelance Writer: A writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them.
FrontPage: A widely-known HTML editor created by Microsoft for building websites. FrontPage has since been replaced by Microsoft Expression Web and Sharepoint Designer, which were first released in December 2006.
FTP: See File Transfer Protocol.
Full Site Website Template: An extended version of the standard Web Template. This type of template includes the full set of sub pages you may need with appropriate layouts and pictures.
Fully Qualified Domain (FQDN): A domain name that specifies its exact location in the tree hierarchy of the DNS. Sometimes referred to as an absolute domain name.
Fundraising: The organized activity or an instance of soliciting money or pledges, as for charitable organizations or political campaigns.
Genealogy: A record or table of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors; a family tree. Direct descent from an ancestor, lineage or pedigree.
Genealogy Research: The study or investigation of ancestry and family histories.
Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD): One of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The core group of generic top-level domains consists of the com, info, net, and org domains. In addition, the domains biz, name, and pro are also considered generic; however, these are designated as restricted, because registrations within them require proof of eligibility within the guidelines set for each.
Ghostwriter: One who writes for and gives credit of authorship to another. Ghostwriting is done by a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written material. In music, ghostwriters are used in film score composition, as well as for writing songs and lyrics for popular music styles ranging from country to hip-hop.
Gift Wrapping: The use of decorative paper for wrapping presents.
Grant Writing: The practice of completing formal and or informal application processes by one party, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution or business – but also by individuals to another party such as a Government department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust. Such application processes are often referred to as either grant “proposals” or “submissions.”
Graphs: Diagrams that exhibit a relationship, often functional, between two sets of numbers as a set of points having coordinates determined by the relationship. Also called a plot. A pictorial device, such as a pie chart or bar graph, used to illustrate quantitative relationships, also called a chart.
gTLD: See Generic Top-Level Domain.
Guest Book: An area on a website where site visitors leave their name and information or feedback related to the site content.
Half-tone Scanning: In printing, the simulation of a continuous-tone image (shaded drawing, photograph) with dots. All printing processes, except for Cycolor, print dots. In photographically generated halftones, a camera shoots the image through a half-tone screen, creating smaller dots for lighter areas and larger dots for darker areas. Digitally composed prints only have one size of dot.
Header: The top portion of a blog that lists the blog title.
Hit Counter: A computer software program that indicates the number of visitors, or hits, a particular webpage has received. Once set up, these counters will be incremented by one every time the web page is accessed in a web browser.
Hostname: A label that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network and that is used to identify the device in various forms of electronic communication such as the World Wide Web, email or Usenet. Hostnames may be simple names consisting of a single word or phrase, or they may include the name of a Domain Name System (DNS) domain at the end, that is separated from the host specific label by a full stop (dot). In the latter form, a hostname is also called a domain name.
Hosting Service: See Web Hosting Service.
HTML: See HyperText Markup Language.
HTTP: See HyperText Transfer Protocol.
Hypertext: Text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or key press sequence.
HyperText Markup Language (HTML): A simple markup language used in writing website documents.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): A set of regulations used to transfer files on the Internet.
IANA: See Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
ICANN: See Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
Icon: A small pictogram illustrating something and simplifying the user’s connection with the content.
Icon Set Template: A set of 10 icons all designed with the same theme. Icons from an Icon Set can be used not only with your website but with any other project (media and print presentations, etc.).
IIS: See Internet Information Services.
Illustrations: A visualization such as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that stresses subject more than form. The aim of an illustration is to elucidate or decorate textual information (such as a story, poem or newspaper article) by providing a visual representation.
IMAP: See Internet Message Access Protocol.
Index Page: A page that displays automatically when the user processes the top level of a website. The default page automatically displays if it is named correctly. Correct naming is dependent upon the type of hosting account and development tools available.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN): A set of communications standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network.
International Marketing: The application of marketing principles across national boundaries. There is a crossover between what is commonly expressed as international marketing and global marketing, which is a similar term.
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966.
The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO 2108. Since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with the EAN-13 barcode system.
Internationalized Domains: An Internet domain name that contains at least one label that is displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in a language-specific script or alphabet, such as Chinese, Russian, or the Latin-based languages with diacritics, such as French.
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA): Oversees registration for different Internet Protocol parameters, including port numbers, protocol and enterprise numbers, options, codes, and types.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN): A nonprofit corporation given responsibility from the United States Government to manage the Internet domain name system.
Internet Information Services (IIS): Formerly called Internet Information Server. A web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows.
Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP): One of the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for email retrieval, the other being the Post Office Protocol (POP). Virtually all modern email clients and mail servers support both protocols as a means of transferring email messages from a server.
Internet Protocol (IP) Address (IP Address): A numerical label that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing.
Internet Protocol (IP) Banning or Blocking: Effectively bans undesired connections from a computer to a website, mail server, or other Internet server.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC): A real-time service that enables people from all over the world to communicate through a chat system on the Internet.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): A company that offers its customers access to the Internet. The ISP connects to its customers using a data transmission technology appropriate for delivering Internet Protocol datagrams, such as dial-up, DSL, cable modem, wireless or dedicated high-speed interconnects.
Intranet: A large internal network usually established by companies to improve communication efficiency. The access to Intranets is restricted to authorized users.
IP Address: See Internet Protocol Address.
IP Banning or Blocking: See Internet Protocol Banning or Blocking.
iPod: A portable media player designed and marketed by Apple and launched on October 23, 2001.
IRC: See Internet Relay Chat.
ISP: See Internet Service Provider.
ISBN: See International Standard Book Number.
Java: A number of proprietary computer software products and specifications from Sun Microsystems, a subsidiary of Oracle Corporation, that together provide a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform environment. Java is used in a wide variety of computing platforms from embedded devices and mobile phones on the low end, to enterprise servers and supercomputers on the high end. Java is used in mobile phones, web servers and enterprise applications, and while less common on desktop computers, Java applets are often used to provide improved and secure functionalities while browsing the World Wide Web.
Java Server Pages (JSP): A Java technology that helps software developers serve dynamically generated webpages based on HTML, XML, or other document types.
Java Servlets: A program running on a network service, usually an HTTP server that responds to client requests.
Job Description: A list of the general tasks, or functions, and responsibilities of a position. Typically, the list also includes to whom the position reports, specifications such as the qualifications needed by the person in the job, salary range for the position, etc. A job description is usually developed by conducting a job analysis, which includes examining the tasks and sequences of tasks necessary to perform the job. The analysis looks at the areas of knowledge and skills needed by the job. Note that a role is the set of responsibilities or expected results associated with a job. A job usually includes several roles. The job description might be broadened to form a person specification. An alternate terminology used under the UN system is Terms of Reference (TOR).
Joomla: A powerful content management system. Joomla websites are ideal for managing a website’s content through a simple and functional interface, which needs no coding skills.
JSP: See Java Server Pages.
Kindle: A software and hardware platform developed by Amazon.com for the rendering and displaying of e-books and other digital media. Three hardware devices, known as “Kindle,” “Kindle 2,” and “Kindle DX” support this platform.
Label: A slip of paper, sticker, or other material, marked or inscribed, for attachment to something to indicate its manufacturer, nature, ownership, destination, etc.
LCCN: See Library of Congress Control Number.
Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN): A unique identification number that the Library of Congress assigns to titles most likely to be acquired by the Library of Congress. Librarians also use the LCCN to obtain information on book titles.
Linux: A generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed, both commercially and non-commercially, by anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public License.
Literary Agent: One who acts on behalf of an author to find a publisher for a written or proposed manuscript and who handles the subsequent subsidiary rights not acquired by the publisher; sometimes called an author’s agent or author’s representative.
Load Balancing: A feature that distributes processing and communications activity across components to minimize resource usage and wait time on any individual component.
Log file: A text file maintained on a server that displays accessed file locations.
Logo: A graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition. Logos are either purely graphic (symbols/icons) or are composed of the name of the organization (a logotype or wordmark).
Logo Reproduction: To reproduce an existing logo or idea into a useable logo for the purpose of printing or signs. In order to print, or die-cut your logo, it needs to be digitized, vectorized or turned into line art.
Logo Set: A collection of 10 logos, available to web developers with an unlimited time use license.
Magento: An open source ecommerce web application developed for today’s global economy with multi-lingual, multi-currency support; one-page to multiple currency checkout; marketing, SEO, and promotion tools; multi-store retailing functionality; international support, analytics and reporting, site management, mobile commerce, shipping and customer service features.
Magnetic Signs: Removable magnetic sheeting that can be lettered to advertise your business or ideas.
Mail Exchanger: A type of resource record in the DNS that specifies a mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of a recipient’s domain and a preference value used to prioritize mail delivery if multiple mail servers are available.
Mail Exchanger Record (MX Record): A type of resource record in the Domain Name System that specifies a mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of a recipient’s domain and a preference value used to prioritize mail delivery if multiple mail servers are available. The set of MX records of a domain name specifies how email should be routed with the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
Mailing List Software: Software that distributes newsletters and updates to customers as a marketing tool.
Marketing: The process by which companies determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. Marketing is an integrated process through which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.
Marquee: An HTML tag that makes text scroll across the page as if on a marquee. It is used to draw viewer attention.
Masking: When referring to domain names, it keeps the original domain name in the address bar after the domain name is directed or forwarded to a different URL.
Meta Tag: An HTML tag containing information for search engines about a specific website. Meta tags contain key words or phrases alerting search engines of a website’s content to be included in search results for users requesting related information. As this was widely spammed, many search engines have stopped considering them.
Meta Title: The title for a website that is inserted with meta coding. Meta Titles help search engines compile appropriate search results.
MIME: See Multipurpose Internet Email Extensions.
Mirror Site: An exact copy of another Internet site. Mirror sites are most commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information, and are of particular value as a way of providing reliable access to large downloads. Mirroring is a type of file synchronization.
Multihoming: A technique to increase the reliability of the Internet connection for an IP network. As an adjective, it is typically used to describe a customer, rather than an ISP network.
Multipurpose Internet Email Extensions (MIMES): An Internet standard that extends the format of email to support text in character sets other than ASCII, non-text attachments, message bodies with multiple parts, and header information in non-ASCII character sets. MIME’s use, however, has grown beyond describing the content of email to describing content type in general, including for the Web.
MX Records: See Mail Exchanger.
Name server (also spelled Nameserver): A program or computer server that implements a name-service protocol. It maps a human-recognizable identifier to a system-internal, often numeric, identification or addressing component. The most prominent types of name servers in operation today are the name servers of the Domain Name System (DNS), one of the two principal name spaces of the Internet.
Network: See Computer Network.
Newsgroup: A repository usually within the Usenet system for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on the World Wide Web. Newsreader software is used to read newsgroups.
Newsletter: A written report, usually issued periodically, prepared by or for a group or institution, such as a business firm, charitable organization, or government agency, to present information to employees, contributors, stockholders, or the like, and often to the press and public.
Non-primary Hosted Domain: Any hosted domain name other than the primary. It can point to either the hosting root directory or a sub-directory.
Nook: An electronic book reader developed by Barnes & Noble based on the Android platform.
ODBC: See Open Database Connectivity.
Off-Site DNS Server: A DNS Server that contains backup data that is used if the first server goes down.
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC): A standard software API method for using database management systems (DBMS). The designers of ODBC aimed to make it independent of programming languages, database systems, and operating systems.
Operating System: Software (programs and data) that provides an interface between the hardware and other software. The operating system (OS) is responsible for management and coordination of processes and allocation and sharing of hardware resources such as RAM and disk space, and acts as a host for computing applications running on the OS. An operating system may also provide orderly accesses to the hardware by competing software routines. This relieves the application programmers from having to manage these details.
osCommerce (open source Commerce): An e-commerce and online store-management software program. It is an ideal solution for those who want to start an on-line business of their own without spending lots of time and money on developing and designing an online store.
Packet Switching: A digital networking communications method that groups all transmitted data – irrespective of content, type, or structure – into suitably-sized blocks, called packets. It is then reassembled at the final destination.
Pagination: The system by which pages are numbered; the arrangement and number of pages in a book, as noted in a catalog or bibliography.
Parked Page: A temporary webpage used before the domain name’s website or hosting is active.
PDF: See Portable Document Files.
Perl: See Practical Extraction and Reporting Language.
Permalink: A URL that points to a specific blog or forum entry after it has passed from the front page to the archives.
Phishing: The criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. To avoid Phishing, be sure a webpage is secure before making a payment or submitting valuable information to a website. A secured site’s address begins with https. Secured sites encrypt exchanged data to prevent unauthorized data capture.
Photograph Enhancing: The making of any sort of alteration to a photograph or image that was not there originally.
Ping: A computer network administration utility used to test whether a particular host is reachable across an IP network and to measure the round-trip time for packets sent from the local host to a destination computer, including the local host’s own interfaces.
Podcast: An audio or video production posted to a webpage. Podcasts allow users to subscribe to a feed and receive new files automatically.
Podcast Production: A series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through Web syndication. The mode of delivery differentiates podcasting from other means of accessing media files over the Internet, such as direct download, or streamed webcasting. A list of all the audio or video files currently associated with a given series is maintained centrally on the distributor’s server as a web feed, and the listener or viewer employs special client application software known as a podcatcher that can access this web feed, check it for updates, and download any new files in the series. This process can be automated so that new files are downloaded automatically. Files are stored locally on the user’s computer or other device ready for offline use, giving simple and convenient access to episodic content. Commonly used audio file formats are Ogg Vorbis and MP3.
Point of Sale Sign: A sign that attracts attention to products or services designed to boost profitability and draw awareness.
Portable Document Files (PDF): A file format created by Adobe Systems, Inc. PDF uses the PostScript printer description language and is highly portable across computer platforms. PDF documents have a .pdf file extension (myfile.pdf).
Post: An entry posted to a blog. It includes an individual article or an audio or video file.
Postscript Files: A trademark used for an object-oriented computer language for describing the appearance and layout of documents, used to print high-resolution text and graphics.
PowerPoint: A presentation program developed by Microsoft that is used for producing slide shows that can incorporate text, graphics, video, animations, and more.
Practical Extraction and Reporting Language (Perl): A high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language.
Press Release: A written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. Typically, they are mailed, faxed, or emailed to assignment editors at newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television stations, and/or television networks. Also called a news release, media release, or press statement.
Primary Hosted Domain: The main domain name on a hosting plan. It points to the hosting content root by default.
Production Management: The management of those resources and activities of a business required to produce goods for sale to consumers or to other organizations. Production management is concerned with the manufacturing industry. The growing interest in the production management task in service industries has led to the use of operations management as a more general term.
Professional Résumé: A brief account of one’s professional or work experience and qualifications, often submitted with an employment application.
Promotion: A plan devised to publicize or advertise a product, cause, institution, etc., such as a brochure, free sample, poster, television or radio commercial, or personal appearance.
Proof: To check a written text for errors in spelling and grammar.
Property Site Signs: Signs that cater to the construction, real estate or property management field.
Publicity: Information, articles, or advertisements issued to secure public notice or attention.
Publish: To issue (printed or otherwise reproduced textual or graphic material, computer software, etc.) for sale or distribution to the public.
Query Letter: A business letter requesting information. These are letters also sent to agents/agencies for presentation.
Radio Promotion: The division of a record company which is charged with placing songs on the radio. They maintain relationships with program directors at radio stations and attempt to persuade them to play singles to promote the sale of recordings, such as CDs, sold by the record company. They may also pay a fee to a third party, known as an independent promoter, who has a financial relationship with the radio station or its parent company.
RAID: See Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives.
RAM: See Random Access of Memory.
Random-Access Memory (RAM): A form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order (i.e., at random). “Random” refers to the idea that any piece of data can be returned in a constant time, regardless of its physical location and whether or not it is related to the previous piece of data.
Real Time: The reporting or recording of events that occur at the time of the event.
Redemption Fee: A fee that is paid to retain an expired domain name.
Redemption Period: The time frame after a domain expiration and before the domain name is returned to the registry for re-registration. During the period the domain name can be renewed, usually by paying a redemption fee.
Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives (RAID): The simultaneous use of two or more hard disk drives to achieve higher levels of performance, dependability, and larger data volume sizes.
Registrant: An individual or organization that registers a domain name and holds the right to use it. The Registrant is the legal owner of a domain name.
Registrar: See Domain Name Registrar.
Registry: A database associating DNS information with an individual, a legal entity or operational entity for a specific domain name extension.
Remote Connection: Links a modem and a network through a dial-up connection.
Research Paper: Part of one of the following venues, published or otherwise: Academic journal a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published; scientific journal contributions written by researchers working in or related to the physical science disciplines, often intended to report new research results; or term paper written by high school or college students.
Reseller: A company or person with hosting and domain name capabilities provided by an ICANN-approved registrar.
Restricted Top Level Domain (RTLD): A domain name extension like .edu, .name, and .gov that limits registration to persons or organizations meeting specific criteria.
Résumé: A document that contains a summary of relevant job experience and education for specific employment search. The résumé is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, when seeking employment.
Rich Site Summary (RSS): A format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs, and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.
Rich Site Summary Feed: Provides short descriptions of web content or articles and a link to the full version of the content.
Robot: See Search Engine Robot.
Root: The top of the DNS hierarchy. It is commonly known as the “dot.”
Root Server: The portion of the hosting account or server that has access privileges for all locations and documents on that computer.
RSS: See Rich Site Summary.
RSS Feed: See Rich Site Summary Feed.
RTLD: See Restricted Top Level Domain.
Ruby on Rails: An open source web application framework for the Ruby programming language and is used by web developers. Often shortened to Rails or RoR.
Saved Skins: Design layouts stored for later or repeated use.
Scalability: A desirable property of a system, a network, or a process, which indicates its ability to either handle growing amounts of work in a graceful manner or to be readily enlarged.
Screenshot: An image taken by the computer to record the visible items displayed on the monitor or another visual output device. Also called screen capture or screen dump.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site or a web page (such as a blog) from search engines.
Search Engine Robot: A computer program that browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner. Other terms for Web robots are ants, automatic indexers, bots, and worms or Web spider or Web crawler.
Second-Level Domain (SLD): A domain that is directly below a TLD. For example in example.com, “example” is the second-level domain of the .com TLD. Second-level domains commonly refer to the organization that registered the domain name with a domain name registrar.
Secure Shell (SSH): A network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices. It is a common network protocol for remote administration of Unix computers.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): A security management protocol used for message transmission on the Internet.
Security Code: A code provided by the gaining registrar to a domain name’s administrative contact email address. It verifies to the gaining registrar that the domain name’s owner requested the transfer of the domain name.
Self-Publishing: The publishing of books and other media by the authors of those works, rather than by established, third-party publishers, or vanity presses. Although it represents a small percentage of the publishing industry in terms of sales, it has been present in one form or another since the beginning of publishing and has seen an increase in activity with the advancement of publishing technology, including xerography, desktop publishing systems, print on demand, and the World Wide Web. Cultural phenomena such as the punk/do it yourself (DIY) movement, the proliferation of media channels, and blogging have contributed to the advancement of self-publishing.
Sell: To exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) Record: An information record that validates legitimate email sources for a domain name.
Server: See Web Server.
Server Log: A log file (or several files) automatically created and maintained by a server of activity performed by it.
Server Side Includes (SSI): Commands processed by the web server only when a user requests a file.
Service Record (SRV): A category of data in the Internet Domain Name System (INDS) specifying information on available services.
Shared Hosting: Also called shared web hosting servicem, virtual hosting service, or derive host refers to a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. Each site “sits” on its own partition, or section/place on the server to keep it separate from other sites. This is generally the most economical option for hosting, as many people share the overall cost of server maintenance.
SharePoint: A content management system with integrated search functionality developed by Microsoft that allows users to work in a web-based collaborative environment. Microsoft provides certain built-in functionality, and third party developers can also develop custom modifications to extend functionality.
Shell Account: Traditionally, a user account on a remote server which gave access to a unix shell via a command-line interface protocol such as telnet or ssh. They were originally provided by ISPs (such as Netcom (USA) and Digex) and were used for file storage, web space, email accounts, newsgroup access and software development.
In more recent times, shell providers are often found to offer shell accounts at low-cost or for free. These shell accounts generally provide users with access to various software and services including compilers, IRC clients, background processes, FTP, text editor (such as nano) and email client (such as pine).
Shell accounts have been involved in illegal activity, such as denial of service attacks or illegal software distribution.
Sidebar: One or more columns along one or both sides of blogger’s homepage. The Sidebar is generally used for links, calendars, or lists.
Sign: A notice bearing a name, direction, warning, or advertisement that is displayed or posted for public view. Signs are used to boost customer awareness and name recognition. A business without a sign is a sign of no business.
Signicade: A durable, lightweight A-frame sign. These signs are great for cafes, restaurants, retail stores, gifts shops and other retail businesses that have sidewalk traffic.
Simple Control Panel: A basic control panel available with most Linux-based servers.
Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP): An Internet standard for electronic mail (email) transmission across IP networks.
Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) Relay: An SMTP server configured in such a way that it allows anyone on the Internet to send email through it, not just mail destined to or originating from known users.
Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) Server: A computer that forwards email messages using SMTP protocol.
Sitemap: A protocol that allows a webmaster to inform search engines about URLs on a website that are available for crawling. A Sitemap is an XML file that lists the URLs for a site.
Slide Presentation: A computer software package used to display information, normally in the form of a slide show. It typically includes three major functions: an editor that allows text to be inserted and formatted, a method for inserting and manipulating graphic images, and a slide-show system to display the content.
SMTP: See Simple Mail Transport Protocol.
SMTP Relay: See Simple Mail Transport Protocol Relay.
SMTP Server: See Simple Mail Transport Protocol Server.
Social Bookmark: A method for Internet users to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources. Users can add to their own personal “bookmarks” or “favorites” collections. Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren’t shared, merely bookmarks that reference them.
Social Networking: The practice by which Internet users build relationships and bookmark important sites with like-minded people.
Software: See Computer Software.
Sony Reader: An e-book reader manufactured by Sony.
Spam: Any junk or unsolicited email.
Spam Filter: A filter that allows users to block messages from suspected spammers.
SPF Record: See Sender Policy Framework Record.
Spiders: Software robots that crawl websites to gather web content and link information for search engine databases.
Spreadsheet: A computer application that simulates a paper, accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells that together make up a grid consisting of rows and columns, each cell containing either alphanumeric text or numeric values. A spreadsheet cell may alternatively contain a formula that defines how the content of that cell is to be calculated from the contents of any other cell (or combination of cells) each time any cell is updated. Spreadsheets are frequently used for financial information because of their ability to re-calculate the entire sheet automatically after a change to a single cell is made.
SRV Record: See Service Record.
SSH: See Secure Shell.
SSI: See Server Side Includes.
SSL: See Secure Sockets Layer.
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML): A standard for how to specify a document markup language or tag set. Such a specification is itself a document type definition (DTD). SGML is not in itself a document language, but a description of how to specify one. It is metadata.
Static IP: A fixed IP address, meaning that the IP remains unchanged with each user login.
Statistics: Website usage information compiled into user-friendly format. Statistics often include the number of visitors to a site, which pages receive the most requests, and how much time is spent browsing the site.
Stretched Website: A website design template that is resizable. It fills the browser window as it expands or contracts (stretched).
Support: Technical support provided to customers via telephone or email to resolve technical difficulties or site issues.
T1 Connection: Phone or data connection supporting the transfer of up to 1.544Mbits of data per second. T1 Connections are commonly used by businesses and ISPs.
Tape Backup: A common and cost-effective method to back up webpages. The device looks similar to a cassette. Some cassettes can store several gigabytes of data.
TCL: See Tool Command Language.
TCP/IP: See Transmission Control Protocol.
Technical Contact: Typically the individual or company managing the primary domain name nameserver.
TELNET (TErminaL NETwork): A network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility via a virtual terminal connection. User data is interspersed in-band with TELNET control information in an 8-bit byte oriented data connection over the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).
Text Records (TXT): A type of DNS record. Originally for arbitrary human-readable text. Since the early 1990s, however, this record more often carries machine-readable data.
Third-Level Domains (TLD): Next highest level of the hierarchy, below second-level domain names. Third-Level Domain, if present, falls to the left of the “dot” and to the right of the second-level domain. In coolexample.co.uk, the Third-Level Domain is .co.
3-Color Website: A website designed with 3-color schemes. A three-color layout is very common in web design.
3D Flash: The use of Adobe’s Flash player to display simulated three-dimensional environments using 2D computer graphics. Flash is primarily a two-dimensional environment, so typically a library is used to display and manage the three dimensional graphics.
3D-Style Website: A design that is wholly based on Flash technology. (For further explanation, see Flash Animated Website.) Flash enlivens your page with movement and special visual effects.
Time to Live (TTL): A limit on the period of time or number of iterations or transmissions in computer and computer network technology that a unit of data (e.g. a packet) can experience before it should be discarded.
Tom Cat: An open-source application of Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies developed under Apache Software’s Jakarta project.
Tool Command Language (TCL): A scripting language and interpreter designed to embed in other applications.
Traceroute: A computer network tool used to show the route taken by packets across an IP network. The traceroute tool is available on practically all Unix-like operating systems.
Trackback: One of three types of linkbacks, methods for web authors to request notification when somebody links to one of their documents. This enables authors to keep track of who is linking, and so referring, to their articles. Some weblog software programs, such as Serendipity, WordPress, Movable Type, Typo, Telligent Community, Kentico CMS and Drupal (via contrib modules), support automatic pingbacks where all the links in a published article can be pinged when the article is published. The term is used colloquially for any kind of linkback.
Trade Show Signs: Signs that are designed to be used at trade shows to increase customer awareness and name recognition.
Transfer Concierge: A department specializing in resolving domain transfer issues.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP/IP): One of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. TCP is one of the two original components of the suite (the other being Internet Protocol, or IP), so the entire suite is commonly referred to as TCP/IP. Whereas IP handles lower-level transmissions from computer to computer as a message makes its way across the Internet, TCP operates at a higher level, concerned only with the two end systems, for example a Web browser and a Web server. In particular, TCP provides reliable, ordered delivery of a stream of bytes from a program on one computer to another program on another computer.
TTL: See Time To Live.
TXT Records: See Text Records.
Typography: The art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning). Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, comic book artists, graffiti artists, and clerical workers. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitizarion opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users.
UCC: See Unified Communications Certificate.
Unified Communications Certificate (UCC): An SSL that can be used to secure multiple domain names.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL): The address defining the route to an Internet file or facility. It is the best-known example of the “address” of a webpage on the World Wide Web.
Unique IP Address: Also known as a Dedicated IP address.
Unix: A computer operating system with built-in TCP/IP that is designed to be used by multiple users simultaneously. It is the most widely-known server operating system on the Internet.
URL: See Uniform Resource Locator.
USENET: A worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. Also called a network of thousands of News Groups on the Internet.
UUENCODE: A form of binary-to-text encoding that originated in the Unix program uuencode, for encoding binary data for transmission over the uucp (Unix-to-Unix Copy) mail system.
Vehicle Graphics: Vehicle lettering or graphics that can be used to advertise businesses, ideas, or overall appearance of your vehicle. Auto lettering is a great way to promote business or ideas and acts as a traveling billboard.
Video Blogging: See Vlogging.
Video Production: The art and service of videotaping, editing, and distributing a finished video product. This production can include television production, commercial video production, and corporate and event videos.
Video Streaming: Provides video data or content on a webpage while it is being played on a remote client. This feature is used for live updates on websites.
Virtual Private Server (VPS): A server that allows a hosting service provider to multiplex a single dedicated server into multiple, virtual-server machines. It provides private and protected web services operating as an independent server.
Virtual Server: A web server that shares its facilities with multiple users or sites.
Virtualization: A process or software to reduce server management cost through automation and provide more control over service levels.
Vlogging (Video Blogging): A form of blogging for which the medium is video, and is a form of Internet television. Entries often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one take or cut into multiple parts.
VPS: See Virtual Private Server.
WAN: See Wide Area Network.
Web: Short for World Wide Web.
Web Host: A company that provides space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called collocation.
Web Feed: A data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it. Making a collection of web feeds accessible in one spot is known as aggregation, which is performed by an aggregator. A web feed is also sometimes referred to as a news feed or a syndicated feed.
Web Page (or webpage): A document or resource of information that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other webpages via hypertext links.
Web Server: A computer program that delivers (serves) content, such as webpages, using the HTTP, over the World Wide Web. The term Web server can also refer to the computer or virtual machine running the program. In large commercial deployments, a server computer running a web server can be rack-mounted in a server rack or cabinet with other servers to operate a web farm.
Web 2.0: A term commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.
Web-based Email: An email service intended to be primarily accessed via a web browser, as opposed to through a desktop email client (such as Microsoft Outlook, Pegasus Mail, Mozilla’s Thunderbird, or Apple Inc.’s Mail). Very popular web mail providers include Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, and AOL Mail.
Webcast Production: The production of a broadcast, event, or recording of an event over the World Wide Web.
Weblog: A type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or videos. Entries or posts are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Also known as a blog.
Website (or web site): A collection of related web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed relative to a common URL, often consisting of only the domain name, or the IP address, and the root path (‘/’) in an Internet Protocol-based network. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network.
Website Design: The skill of creating presentations of content (usually hypertext or hypermedia) that is delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, by way of a web browser or other Web-enabled software like Internet television clients, microblogging clients, and RSS readers. The intent of web design is to create a website—a collection of electronic files that reside on a web server/servers and present content and interactive features/interfaces to the end user in form of webpages once requested. Such elements as text, bit-mapped images (GIFs, JPEGs) and forms can be placed on the page using HTML/XHTML/XML tags. Displaying more complex media (vector graphics, animations, videos, sounds) requires plug-ins such as Flash, QuickTime, Java run-time environment, etc. Plug-ins are also embedded into webpage by using HTML/XHTML tags.
Website Submissions: The service whereby a website is added to the proper category in a searchable online directory which enhances the site’s visibility and creates relevant inbound links to the website.
Whois: A central database that tracks domain names and IP registrations. It lists owners and other contacts along with their email, phone number, and address.
Wide Area Network (WAN): A large communication network that services a geographic area larger than a local area network.
Window Lettering: Lettering or graphics that are applied directly to glass, windows or windshields to enhance the overall look of your business or vehicle. Window lettering is a great way to advertise and maximize your name recognition and attract your customers attention.
Word Processing: The creation of text documents. Except for labels and envelopes, it has replaced the electric typewriter in most offices, because of the ease in which documents can be edited, searched and reprinted. Advanced word processors function as elementary desktop publishing systems. Although there are still machines dedicated only to word processing, most word processing is performed on general-purpose computers using word processing software such as Microsoft Word and WordPerfect.
WordPress: The most popular blog software in use today. WordPress is an open source blog publishing application powered by PHP and MySQL, which can also be used for content management.
XML: See Extensible Markup Language.
XML Flash: A system that allows editing without using flash software (you only work with the XML file).
Zen Cart: An online store management system. Zen Cart branched from osCommerce as a separate project. Beyond some aesthetic changes, the major differences between the two systems come from Zen Cart’s architectural changes (e.g. a template system) and additional included features in the core.