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Feature Article

Why advertise online?

To succeed on the Internet, marketers need to provide relevant and personalised content to attract traffic and encourage repeat visits.

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Glossary of Web Terms

A

absolute paths/URL n. the Internet address of a page or other World Wide Web resource that includes the protocol and complete network location of the page or file. The absolute URL includes a protocol, such as “http,” network location, and optional path and file name. For example, http://www.acme.com/welcome.html is an absolute URL.

ActiveX control n. A component that can be inserted in a page to provide functionality not directly available in HTML, such as animation sequences, credit-card transactions, or spreadsheet calculations. ActiveX controls can be implemented in a variety of programming languages.

access n. a connection to the Internet or other network or computer system.

anonymous FTP n. A file transfer (FTP) service in which any user can copy files by logging on with the name “anonymous.” See also FTP

applet n. See Java applet.

ASCII n. (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) Pronounced: askee. The predominant method for encoding 7-bit characters on a personal computer. HTML tags and URLs must be in ASCII. Developed in 1968 to standardize data transmission between a variety of hardware and software systems.

authentication database n. A database on a server that matches user names to passwords.

autoresponder n. a script that automatically responds with an e-mail message in response to an incoming e-mail message.

B

background sound n. A sound file that you associate with a page. When the page is displayed in a Web browser, the sound file repeats the number of times that you specify.

BMP n. A bitmap resolution-dependent file format for images created by Windows Paint, PaintBrush, and other applications.

bookmark n. A named set of zero or more characters in a paragraph that can be the target of a hyperlink. In a URL, a bookmark is preceded by a number sign character.

broken hyperlink n. A hyperlink that does not correctly point to a page or other Internet file. A broken hyperlink either indicates an incorrect URL or a missing page or file.

browser n. See Web browser.

bulleted list n. A paragraph style that creates a single list element, usually indicated by a bullet character. Also called an unordered list.

bulletin board n. An Internet service that makes multiple discussion groups available.

C

cell n. The smallest component of a table. In a table, a row contains one or more cells.

cell padding n. The space between the contents and inside edges of a table cell.

cell spacing n. The amount of space between cells in a table. Cell spacing is the thickness, in pixels, of the walls of each cell.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) n. A standard mechanism for extending Web server functionality by executing programs or scripts on the Web server in response to Web browser requests. A common use of CGI is in form processing, where the browser sends the form data to a CGI script on the server, and the script integrates the data with a database and sends back a results page as HTML.

check box n. A form field that presents the user with a selection that can be chosen by clicking on a box. When the box is selected, it is usually displayed with a check mark or X. Check boxes can represent a set of non-exclusive choices.

client n. On the Internet, a program that requests files or services from a server.

client-side image map n. An image map that encodes the destination URL of each hotspot directly in the page. Client-side image maps do not require processing from your server to respond to clicks on the image map, so they are more efficient. Not all browsers support client-side image maps but most modern browsers do.

clipboard n. A temporary storage area on the computer for cut or copied items.

comment n. Text that you can view in your html files or editor files but that will not be displayed by a Web browser.

column–In a table, a vertical collection of cells.

confirmation page n. A page that is displayed in the browser after a form has been submitted by a user. The confirmation page usually echoes the user’s name and other data from the form. You specify a form’s confirmation page in the form handler’s dialog box.

D

definition n. The style of the second of a pair of paragraphs composing a definition list entry. The first paragraph in the pair is the term.

definition list n. A list of alternating term and definition paragraphs. See also term and definition.

domain name n. Technically the address for a specific computer on the internet, this term has now come to mean the catchy ".com" or ".com.au" names given to a website.

E

editor n. An interactive program that can create and modify files of a particular type. An HTML editor edits HTML files.

email (electronic mail) n. A service for sending messages electronically, over a computer network.

email list server n. A server set up with a list of email subscribers — all of whom are automatically sent an email message when any subscriber of the list posts a message to the email list. In this way email discussions can be shared with everyone on the list for the mutual benefit of everyone on the list.

emphasis text n. The HTML character style used for mild emphasis. Certain browsers display emphasized text as italic.

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) n. An extension of the PostScript graphics file format developed by Adobe Systems. EPS lets PostScript graphics files be incorporated into other documents.

Ethernet n. A commonly used local area network (LAN) technology.

external hyperlink n. A hyperlink to any file that is outside your site.

F

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) n. A common type of document on the Internet that contains a list of questions and answers on a common theme. On the World Wide Web, questions are often hyperlinked to the answers.

file n. A named collection of information that is stored on a computer disk. Also, an Internet protocol that refers to files on the local disk. You can create file hyperlinks (file://) in your HTML editor.

file server n. A program running on a network that stores files and provides access to them. Also called server.

file type n. The format of a file, usually indicated by its filename extension. (such as .html, .jpg, or .doc)

firewall n. A method of protecting one network from another network. A firewall blocks unwanted access to the protected network while giving the protected network access to networks outside of the firewall. A company will typically install a firewall to give users access to the Internet while protecting their internal information.

folder n. In an URL, a single part of the path to a page. A folder is a named storage area on the computer containing files and other folders. In http://my.web.site/sample/test.htm, sample/is a folder. Folders are also commonly referred to as directories.

form n. A set of data entry fields on a page that are processed on the server. The data is sent to the server when the user submits the form by clicking on a button or, in some cases, by clicking on an image.

form field n. A date-entry field on a page. A user supplies information in a field either by typing text or by selecting the field.

formatted text n. A mono-spaced paragraph style in which all white space (such as tabs and spaces) is displayed by the browser. In other text styles, extra white space may be ignored by the browser.

frame n. A named element of a frame set. A frame appears in a Web browser as a scrollable window in which pages can be displayed. You assign a page to a frame when you create a hyperlink to that page.

frame set n. A page that defines a set of named scrollable windows in which other pages can be displayed. Use a frame set when you want the contents of one part of the page to remain unchanged while the contents of other parts of the page change based on hyperlinks that the user selects.

FrontPage n. Microsoft's "WYSYWYG" FrontPage tool for creating, editing, and testing Web pages.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) n. An Internet protocol that allows transfers of files from one computer to another. This is the most common method for uploading your site to your server. Most editors provide FTP directly and there are stand-alone FTP utilities available as well.

G

gateway script n. See CGI.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) n. A commonly used method of encoding images that contain up to 256 colors. This format is most useful for graphics that are not photographic or continuous tones, such as logos or simple line art. For photographic or continuous tone 24-bit images, JPEG is more commonly used because of its smaller file sizes.

Google n. Google is the current reigning champion of search engines. It allows searching of the internet for specific information.

H

heading n. A paragraph type that is displayed in a large, bold typeface. The size of a heading is related to its level: Heading 1 is the largest, Heading 2, the next largest, and so on. Use headings to name pages and parts of pages.

hidden field n. A form field that is invisible to the user but that supplies data to the form handler. Each hidden field is implemented as a name-value pair. When the form is submitted by the user, its hidden fields are passed to the form-handler along with name-value pairs for each visible form field.

home page n. The starting point on a Web site. It is the page that is retrieved and displayed by default when a user visits the Web site. The default home-page name for a server depends on the server’s configuration. On most Web servers, it is index.html or index.htm.

horizontal line n. A horizontal graphic element on a World Wide Web page often used to separate sections of the page.

host n. See server.

host name n. See network location.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) n. The standard language for describing the contents and structure of pages on the World Wide Web.

HTML attribute n. A name-value pair used within an HTML tag to assign additional properties to the object being defined.

HTML tag n. A symbol used in HTML to identify a page element’s type, format, and structure. An HTML tag has an opening tag that is enclosed with angle brackets, and also a closing tag that is also enclosed with angle brackets and includes a forward slash after the first angle bracket. i.e. the following blue fox is an Italic tag — the text “blue fox” is marked up to be formatted in italics.

HTTP n. (HyperText Transport Protocol) n. The Internet protocol that allows World Wide Web browsers to retrieve information from servers.

hyperlink n. A jump from text or from an image map to a page or other type of file on the World Wide Web. In World Wide Web pages, hyperlinks are the primary way to navigate between pages and among Web sites.

hypertext n. Originally, any textual information on a computer containing jumps to other information. The hypertext jumps are called hyperlinks. In World Wide Web pages hypertext is the primary way to navigate between pages and among Web sites. Hypertext on World Wide Web pages has been expanded to include hyperlinks from text and hyperlinks from image maps.

I

IIS (Internet Information Server) n. Microsoft’s Internet server based on Windows NT Server. IIS is most commonly used for web services that use the ASP dynamic web language.

Image n. A graphic in GIF or JPEG file format that can be inserted in a World Wide Web page.

Image form field n. A form field that displays an image in a form. By clicking the image, the user either submits or clears the form.

Image map n. An image containing one or more invisible regions, called hotspots, which are assigned hyperlinks. Typically, an image map gives users visual cues about the information made available by clicking on each part of the image. For example, a geographical map could be made into an image map by assigning hotspots to each region of interest on the map. Image maps are not used all that often now, though sometimes still are.

Interlaced Image n. A GIF or JPEG image that is displayed full-size at low resolution while it is being loaded, and at increasingly higher resolutions until it is fully loaded and has a normal appearance.

Internal web n. A World Wide Web site created within an organization and accessible only to members of that organization on an internet. More commonly known as an "Intranet".

Internet n. The global computer network, composed of thousands of Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Local Area Networks (LANs), that uses TCP/IP to provide world wide communications to homes, schools, businesses, and governments. The World Wide Web runs on the Internet.

Internet address n. See network location.

IP (Internet Protocol) n. Internet software that divides data into packets for transmission over the Internet. Computers must run IP to communicate across the Internet. See also TCP.

IP address (Internet Protocol address) n. The standard way of identifying a computer that is connected to the Internet, much the way a telephone number identifies a telephone on a telephone network. The IP address is four numbers separated by periods, and each number is less than 256, for example, 192.200.44.69. Your system administrator or Internet service provider will assign your machine an IP address.

IP address mask (Internet Protocol address mask) n. A range of IP addresses defined so that only machines with IP addresses within the range are allowed access to an Internet service. To mask a portion of the Ip address, replace it with the asterisk wild card character (*). For example, 192.44.*.* represents every computer on the Internet with an IP address beginning with 192.44.

J

Java n. A general-purpose programming language created by Sun Microsystems. Java can be used to create Java applets. A Java program is downloaded from the Web server and interpreted by a program running on the machine containing the Web browser.

Java applet n. A short program written in Java that is attached to a World Wide Web page and executed by the browser machine.

JavaScript n. A cross-platform, World Wide Web scripting language developed by Netscape Communications. JavaScript code is inserted directly into the HTML page. Note that Javascript and Java are very different, and the terms should be used with care for correctness.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert group) n. A color image format with excellent compression for most continuous tone or photographic images. JPEG is commonly used on the World Wide Web for 24-bit color images. There is some image quality loss with this compression scheme but this may be acceptable for most situations.

L

LAN (Local Area Network) n. A computer network technology that is designed to connect computers that are separated by a short distance. A LAN can be connected to the Internet and can also be configured as an internet.

line break n. A special character that forces a new line on the HTML page without creating a new paragraph.

link n. See hyperlink.

list n. A group of paragraphs formatted to indicate membership in a set or in a sequence of steps.

M

mailto n. The Internet protocol that is used to send electronic mail. You can create mailto hyperlinks (mailto://) in your HTML.

marquee n. A region on a page that displays a horizontally scrolling message.

menu list n. A list of short paragraph entries formatted with little white space between them.

meta tag n. An HTML tag that must appear in the <head> portion of the page. Meta tags supply information about the page but do not effect its display. Some meta-tags are (or were) used to list on search engines, for example.

MIME type (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions type) n. A method used by Web browsers to associate files of a certain type with helper applications that display files of that type.

multihosting n. The ability of a Web server to support more than one Internet address and more than one home page on a single server. Also called multihoming.

N

name-value pair n. The name of a form field and the value of the field at the time the form is submitted. Each field in a form can have one or more name-value pairs, and the form itself can have one or more name-value pairs.

nested list n. A list that is contained within a member of another list. Nesting is indicated by indentation in most Web browsers.

network location n. In a URL, the unique name that identifies an Internet server. A network location has two or more parts, separated by periods, as in my network location. Also called host name and Internet address.

news n. The Internet protocol for retrieving files from an Internet news service.

numbered list n. The World Wide Web page paragraph style that presents an ordered list of items.

O

one-line text box n. A labeled, single-line form field in which users can type text.

P

page n. A single document in a World Wide Web site written using the HTML language.

page title n. A text string identifying a page. The page title is displayed in the Web browsers title bar at the top of the browser window.

password n. A text string that allows a user access to an Internet service, if the service requires it.

path n. The portion of a URL that identifies the folders containing a file. For example, in the URL http://my.web.site/hello/world/greetings.htm, the path is /hello/world/.

plug-in n. One of a set of software modules that integrate into Web browsers to offer a range of interactive and multimedia capabilities.

port n. One of the network input/output channels of a computer running TCP/IP. In the World Wide Web, port usually refers to the port number a server is running on. A single computer can have many Web servers running on it, but only one server can be running on each port. The default port for World Wide Web servers is 80.

protocol n. A method of accessing a document or service over the Internet, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Also called type.

proxy server n. An internet server that acts as a firewall, mediating traffic between a protected network and the Internet.

push button n. A form field that lets the user submit the form or that resets the form to its initial state.

R

radio button n. A form field that presents the user with a selection that can be chosen by clicking on a button. Radio buttons are presented in a list, one of which is selected by default. Selecting a new member of the list deselects the currently selected item.

relative URL n. The Internet address of a page or other World Wide Web resource with respect to the internet address of the current page. A relative URl gives the path from the current location of the page to the location of the destination page or resource. A relative URL can optionally include a protocol. For example, the relative URL doc/sample.htm refers to the page sample.htm in the directory doc, below the current directory.

row n. In a table, a horizontal collection of cells.

RTF (Rich Text Format) n. A method of encoding text formatting and document structure using the ASCII character set. By convention, RTF files have an RTF filename extension.

S

script n. A type of computer code than can be directly executed by a program that understands the language in which the script is written. Scripts do not need to be compiled into object code to be executed.

scrolling text box n. A labeled, multiple-line form field in which users can type one of more lines of text. More commonly called a "Textarea".

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) n. A low-level protocol that enables secure communications between a server and a browser.

server n. A computer that offers services on a network. On the World Wide Web, the server is the computer that runs the Web server program that responds to HTTP protocol requests by providing Web pages. Also called host.

server name n. See network location.

server-side image map n. An image map that passes the coordinates of the cursor to a CGI handler routine on the server. Server-side maps require your server to compute the target URL of the hyperlink based on the cursor coordinates.

server-side include n. A feature provided by some Web servers that automatically inserts text onto pages when they are given to the browser.

special character n. A character not in the standard 7-bit ASCII character set, such as the copyright (©).

strong text n. The HTML character style used for strong emphasis. Certain browsers display this style as bold.

T

table n. One or more rows of cells on a page used to organize the layout of a page or arrange data systematically.

table cell n. See cell.

tag n. See HTML tag.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) n. Internet networking software that controls the transmission of packets of data over the Internet. Among its tasks, TCP checks for lost packets, puts the data from multiple packets into the correct order, and requests that missing or damaged packets be resent. Computers must run TCP to communicate with World Wide Web servers.

term n. The first of a pair of paragraphs formatted as a definition list entry. The second paragraph is the definition.

thumbnail n. A small version of an image on a World Wide Web page, often containing a hyperlink to a full-size version of the image.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) n. A tag-based image format. TIFF is designed to promote universal interchanges of digital images. It is rarely used on the internet, as it makes files of flawless quality, but MASSIVE size. Used by graphics professions.

type n. See protocol.

typewriter font n. The text style that emulates fixed pitch typewritten text. Every character in this font is the same width. Typewriter font is useful for computer code examples and for presenting sample input from the user.

U

UNIX n. A common operating system typically used on workstations and computers. UNIX is a common platform for World Wide Web servers to run on. Many versions of Unix exist, and many are free.

unordered list n. See bulleted list.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) n. A string that supplies the Internet address of a resource on the World Wide Web, along with the protocol by which the resource is accessed. The most common URL type is “http,” which gives the Internet address of a World Wide Web page.

V

video clip n. A short video sequence that can be embedded into a World Wide Web page. Video can be “broadcast” from a streaming server (usually badly) or physically downloaded to users computers and then viewed.

visited hyperlink n. A hyperlink on a page that has been activated. Visited hyperlinks are usually displayed in a unique color by the browser.

W

WAN (Wide Area Network) n. A computer network that spans a long distance and that uses specialized computers to connect smaller networks.

watermark n. An image that appears on the backgrounds of pages in a Web site to decorate and identify the pages, but which does not scroll as the page scrolls.

Web browser n. A client program that retrieves World Wide Web pages, interprets the HTML code and then displays the pages to the user.

World Wide Web n. The graphical Internet hypertext service that uses the HTTP protocol to retrieve World Wide Web pages and other data from World Wide Web servers. Pages on the World Wide Web usually contain hyperlinks to other pages or to multimedia files.

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) n. An editing interface in which the file being created is displayed as it will appear to the end-user.

News

Spam Act now in force
Australia now has a spam act to protect citizens from unsolicited email sent from within Australia.

To see how this affects your e-business click here to read.

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