A

Advertorials

Advertisements that look like news stories. 

Anchor 

The word, phrase or image you connect to with an internal link, one within the Web page. 

Animated gifs 

Images with motion. 


Anti-aliasing  

Low resolution of computer monitors causes some images to have jagged edges called "aliased" images.  Anti-aliasing is a process that smooths the jagged edges by blending tints in the colors.

ASCII 

Officially stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a worldwide standard system for code numbers that computers use to represent letters and numbers. For writing purposes, when you save or write a document in ASCII format, it is plain text that can be read by any word processing program or browser for coding in  HTML. It does not retain any formatting, such as boldface type, sizes or special fonts. 

B

Banner ads  
Advertisements stripped across the top or bottom of a Web page like a billboard. Banner ads may also be half-size.  
Bits and bytes  
A bit is the smallest unit of data transmitted on computers.  A byte is a string of eight bits, the unit of data needed to store one character, such as a letter or number.  
Blink  
An HTML code that causes text or images to blink like a neon sign.  
Bookmark  
A function in a browser that saves addresses of Internet sites.  
Browser  
A software program that allows you to explore documents on the Internet. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are the two most popular browsers, but there are many others offered by Internet providers.  
Brower-safe colors  
The 216 colors that are recognized by Macintosh and Windows in their color palettes.  Each browser reserves another 40 of its own custom colors (in a 256-color palette) that are not common to both platforms.  For a list of browser-safe color formulas, check Web designer Lynda Weinman's site at http://www.lynda.com/hex.html  
Bulletin boards  
Discussion groups to which you subscribe, most without charge, and post or reply to messages.  
Back to top  

C

Cache


A place in the browser that stores the locations of sites recently accessed by the user.  

CGI 

Common Gateway Interface: a program that takes data from the Web and allows interaction by interpreting the data and responding to it. Forms are often written in cgi scripts.

Chat 

A discussion via e-mail among people who are online at the same time in a specified location on a site, usually called a "chat room." These simultaneous e-mail discussions are often called "real time" chats.

Click-throughs

Clicking on an advertisement that links to the advertiser's site.

Client

An application on a computer that requests information from another computer that has software to "serve" the information you that you requested.  The computer that delivers the information is the "server."

Community 

Online communities are groups of people who share a common interest. Discussion groups, chats and other interactive forums help build online communities. 

Cookies 

A coded piece of information that tracks where users click in Web sites. A Web site with a cookie sends the code to your computer, and the next time you call up the site, it can identify you by the code it has assigned to your computer. Because of privacy concerns, browsers like Internet Explorer and Netscape issue warnings when cookies are installed in a Web site and allow users to turn off the cookie mechanism in the browser. Cookies are helpful to managers of Web sites, particularly in the media and advertising, to determine readers' preferences.

CPM 

Cost per thousand of page impressions, the number of times a Web page is accessed.

Crawler 

An indexing progam that scans documents on the Internet.

Cyberspace 

A term coined by William Gibson in his book "Neuromancer." It describes a simulated realm on a computer where people experience virtual reality by interacting with technology that makes their actions seem real.

Back to top

D

Dithering

The process of adjusting colors that are not in the main color palette of the browser to approximate the colors you choose.  Dithering makes files larger, and the colors that result may not be exactly the same as you wished.

Domain 

The unique name given to an Internet address, including the type of site, such as "edu" for "educational," "com" for "commercial," "org" for "organization," gov or government, and so on. 

DNS 

Domain Name Server (or Domain Name System) the system of addressing World Wide Web sites; also a synonym for an Internet address.

Downloading

Retrieving a document from the Internet.

Dynamic HTML

A form of HTML that enhances design possibiities by allowing text or images on a Web page to change colors or movements.  For example, with dynamic HTML a headline could move across the screen or text could change color when you move your mouse over it.  It allows design in layers.

Back to top

E

Encryption 

Codes that scramble data so that only authorized people can see it. If you are sending your credit card to an online source, you would want an encrypted site. 

External links 

Links to other Web pages. 

Eyeballs

An expression used in advertising to mean counting the way people view Web sites as "measuring eyeballs." 

Back to top

F

FAQ

An acronym for Frequently Asked Questions.  
Flame  
Responding to another person's message with an abusive or sarcastic reply.  
Font  
The name of a typeface.  Originally it meant the family of different size letters in a particular typeface, but these days "fonts" and "typefaces" are used interchangeably.  
Forums  
Another term for discussion groups on a particular topic. 

Frames

Like picture frames that enclose paintings, Web frames are containers for Web documents.  A site with frames can have two or more documents on the same screen, each within a frame that can have its own scrollbar.  However, borderless frames without scrollbars are also popular.  Although frames are useful for navigation, they divide screens, making the viewing area smaller.

Freeware 

Software you can download or receive without charge. 

FTP

File transfer protocol, a system that allows you to transfer files from one Internet site to your own computer.  Many computer servers at universities and Internet software providers have repositories that allow you to log in with the passowrd "anonymous" or "guest" so you can transfer files that you want without requiring an account and personal password for their sites. 

Back to top

G

Gifs 

Images for Web documents in a format called Graphic Interchange Format, which compresses image files. Images in this format can be read by all browsers. Pronounced jifs or gifs with a hard-g.

Gigabyte

One billion bytes of data (see bits and bytes).

Back to top

H

Hits 

When a user accesses a Web page, every text and graphic item on the page is called a "hit." For example, a page with text and five images would count as six hits. The term is misleading if used for advertising because one page can contain many hits. The preferred measurement term is "page impressions" or "page views," meaning each page accessed is counted as one page impression. 

Home page 

The entry page of an online site, like a front door to a home. 

Host

The computer that provides the service that connects you to other computers.

HTML 

An acronym for a language coding system, HyperText Markup Language, the coding used to create documents on the World Wide Web. 

HTTP 

An acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, rules used to transfer documents on the Web. 

Hue

The color gradation as defined by its names, such as red or yellow.

Hyperleap 

A word the author made up (a journalistic taboo!) to speed your progress through the book. It's meant to be the print equivalent of a hyperlink. 

Hyperlink 

A link connecting documents on the World Wide Web by HTML codes. 

Back to top

I

Interactive 

Active participation in a Web site.

Interface

By dictionary definition it is an interconnection between systems or the way different and sometimes incompatible elements communicate. In Web page design, it is the way that users  react or communicate with the computer.  As a result, a user-friendly interface is a good design goal.

Internal Targeted Links 

Links within a Web document. 

Internet 

A collection of computer networks that are interconnected through cables, phone lines or satellites to share information. 

Internet Explorer

A browser made by Microsoft Corporation. 

Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

Software that sets up a chat area in a server connected to networks of servers that feature the same software around the world, like a global conference call.  IRCs feature channels in which people can log in and communicate with each other simultaneously by typing messages.

Interstitials

Sometimes referred to as "in-your-face" ads, interstitials pop up in a window on a Web site for about five seconds while the rest of the site is downloading. 

ISP 

An acronym for Internet Service Provider. 

Back to top 

J

Java

A programming language that can feature animation, interaction and moving text.

JPEGS 

Images for Web documents in a format (pronounced jay-pegs) developed by the Joint Photographic Experts. This format is good for photographs. Like gifs, jpegs compress images so they don't take so long to load.

Back to top

K

L

Linear  
Information offered in a preordained sequential order, such as a newspaper story printed in lines of text from beginning to end or a television news broadcast.  
Listervs 
Discussion groups that are "served" to your e-mail. You must subscribe to this type of discussion list before you can post messages. 
Lurker 
Someone who reads messages in discussion groups but does not actively participate by posting replies or new messages; he or she "lurks" behind the scenes.

Back to top

M

Mailing list  
Same as a listserv, a discussion group sent to your e-mail account.  
Majordomo  
An automated softare program that manages subscriptions to listserv-type discussion groups.  
Megabyte  
One million bytes of data storage.  

Back to top

N

Narrowcasting

Catering to a niche or small group with similar interests.

Netiquette

Etiquette on a network, particularly when sending messages to discussion groups.

Netscape Navigator 

A browser made by the Netscape Communications Corp. 

Newsgroups

Electronic bulletin boards where users may read and post messages on various topics.  The most common are "Usenet" newsgroups, open to anyone if the server carries these groups.

Niche

A segment or group of people with similar interests.  In advertising, catering to a niche would mean marketing to a specific population targeted for its similarities, such as age, gender or special interests.

Nonlinear 

Information that can be read or viewed in any order, such as hyperlinks on a Web document. 

Back to top

 

O 

P

Page impressions

A Web page accessed by a viewer with all the elements on the page counted as one page impression instead of counting each item separately as in "hits."

Page Views

Same as page impressions - counting each page downloaded by a user as one "view," instead of "hits" which count each item on the page.

Partner/partnering 

A collaborative arrangement, often used by media in partnerships with database companies. 

Photobubble

A 360-degree angle camera that takes pictures by scanning the site and patching two 180-degree shots for a full view as though you were standing in the middle of the site being photographed.

Picas

A unit of measurement used in print media.  

Pixels

A derivative of the words, "picture element," pixels are dots that make up images or characters on computer screens. They are units of measurement for computers; in print they are called picas.  It takes 10 pixels to equal one pica. The most common design for screen size of a Web page is 640 by 480 pixels. 

Posting

Sending a message to a discussion group.

Protocols 

Rules that govern the way information is conveyed on the Internet. 

Pull 

An expresssion for browsing, where the user seeks the information by typing Internet addresses or searching. 

Push 

Technology that delivers information the user chooses to his or her computer via headlines scrolling across the screen like a screensaver or by sending documents to the user's e-mail. It is akin to an electronic clipping service or home delivery of a newspaper.

Q

Back to top

R

Real-time

A software program that allows computer users to simultaneously converse via typed or audio/video messages to each other while they are connected to the Internet, as though they were communicating face to face or on the telephone.

Repurposing

Re-using information online from another medium, such as print.  It is the same information used for a different purpose - online distribution.

RGB

Red, blue, green, the main colors in Web palettes that can be combined to form other colors.

Robot 

A program or tool that scans documents on the Web in search of information for indexing, errors or keywords. 

Back to top

S

Sans serif

These are typefaces with straight letters that have no serifs, the extra curvy strokes on the ends of letters.  Helvetica and Geneva are examples of sans serif typefaces. They are often used in headlines to contrast with serif typefaces, which are common for body type.

Saturation

The intensity of a color.  The purer or brighter a color is, the more saturated it is.

Search engine 

A computer program that finds documents on the Internet. 

Serif

Fonts are created in serif and sans serif typefaces.  Serif typefaces, such as Times Roman, have curves or extra strokes called "serifs" at their tips and endings.

Server 

A computer that connects with other computers and delivers or "serves" information through a network. 

Shareware 

Software you can download from the Internet without charge initially, but you are expected to pay a fee to the developer after a trial period.

Shovelware 

A pejorative term for dumping information online without changing the format or content. A newspaper story presented online exactly as it appeared in print is "shovelware."

Smileys

Symbols that describe a person's mood when sending e-mail messages, such as happy, sad, or jesting.

Snail mail 

Mail sent the old-fashioned way by the Postal Service. 

Spam

Electronic junk mail.

Spider 

A program that scan documents on the Internet for keywords or indexing.

Sponsorships

A business or organization that sponsors an ad agrees to pay for the cost and maintenance of aWeb site in return for placing its advertisements on the site.

Storyboard

A diagram for the layout of pages in the order they will appear.  In Web site design, a storyboard is an outline of your site.  A storyboard of the individual pages would show the content and page layout. In a cartoon, a storyboard is a layout showing each frame that will follow in a sequence.

Surf/surfing

A slang term for browing the Internet.

Sysop

An acronym for system operator.

Back to top

T

Tags 

HTML codes enclosed in brackets; they must precede and follow text and images. While other languages require an alphabet, HTML requires tags with codes. 

Target 

Same as an anchor; the word, phrase or image you connect to with an internal link. 

Telnet

Stands for "Terminal Emulation Protocol," which means the rules or programming that allow one computer to connect to another one in a remote location.  The telnet protocol allows you to log into the remote computer system.

Threads

A discussion of messages on a specific topic.

Back to top

U

UNIX

A common operating system for computers on the Internet.  Many university e-mail accounts reside on UNIX operating systems.

Uploading

Putting a document onto the Web.

URL 

An acronym for an Internet addressing system, Uniform Resource Locator. 

Usenet

A worldwide group of electronic discussion lists, part of a network named for "users' network." There are about 25,000 Usenet groups on a huge range of topics from scientific subjects to sex.

Back to top

V

Values  
The degree of lightness or darkness of colors.  
Visit  
In advertising and marketing terms, a user must interact with a Web site in some way by clicking an ad or a link to count as a "visit."  

W

 

World Wide Web

A worldwide system for storing and accessing documents created in coded language (HTML) that features hyperlinks and can support graphics and multimedia. It is one part of the Internet and has become the most popular part of it, other than e-mail.  
Worm  

A program that scans documents on the Internet

WYSIWYG 

An acronym for "What you see is what you get," used to describe Web authoring tools that allow you to create a Web document that will look the same way when you view it in a browser. 

X,Y,Z

Back to top