world wide web

WWW - World Wide Web

The web is a series of technologies that were developed by Tim Berners-Lee. The web is a technology that 'sits' on top of the internet and allows graphical and hypertext-based forms of publishing information over the internet, via a web server and viewable via a web browser. [1]

A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a markup language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.

There are several applications called Web browsers that make it easy to access the World Wide Web; Two of the most popular being Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

World Wide Web is not synonymous with the Internet. [2]

Client-side

Client side means an action which is performed by the browser on the computer being used to access a web page. [4]

Front-end

The front end of a web site is the visual design, look and feel of the web site. It can also, arguably, be applied to the technology that runs directly from the web page itself, such as javascript or HTML, as opposed to back-end technology that runs behind the scenes on the web server. [1]

Authoring

Authoring is the process of creating, typically used to describe the process of designing and, at a technical level, building a website, CD-ROM or DVD.

While authoring may extend to content creation (writing text, creating images, etc.), common usage infers an emphasis on programming/coding.

Web-authoring application/tool

A computer program used to create or maintain websites is often referred to as a 'web-authoring tool'. Examples include: Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe Go-live Cyberstudio, Microsoft FrontPage, and BBEdit. [3]

URL - Uniform Resource Locator

The method of specifying the location of a file, or source of information, on the internet. For example, the URL of this page is http://www.studiowonders.co/learn/world_wide_web [1]

Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.

The first part of the address indicates what protocol to use, and the second part specifies the IP address or the domain name where the resource is located.

For example, http://www.studiowonders.co [2]

Web Site

A site (location) on the World Wide Web. Each Web site contains a home page, which is the first document users see when they enter the site. The site might also contain additional documents and files. Each site is owned and managed by an individual, company or organization. [2]

Web Page

Web pages are documents that have been designed for viewing over the internet, via a web browser. [1]

A document on the World Wide Web. Every Web page is identified by a unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator). [2]

Home Page

The home page of a web site is the root, top-most , or the first page that is generally viewable. [1]

The main or entry page of most web sites. [8]

This term can have a few meanings. Originally it meant the website that your browser went to when you opened it. For example when I open Windows Explorer it, opens up to Google.ca. Google would be my homepage. This is something you can set yourself. Your homepage could be any page you choose. A homepage now, can also mean the homepage of a website. A website homepage is meant to give the user a general idea of what is in the entire website. Generally the homepage is named index.php or index.htm. [6]

Splash Page

An entry page into a web site usually consisting of special design elements or Flash animation. Splash pages are unpopular with users as they make them wait to enter a site until the Splash page has loaded. Because of this their use is limited. [8]

The page of a Web site that the user sees first before being given the option to continue to the main content of the site. Splash pages are used to promote a company, service or product or are used to inform the user of what kind of software or browser is necessary in order to view the rest of the site's pages. Often a splash page will consist of animated graphics and sounds that entice the user into exploring the rest of the Web site. Some splash pages will bring the user to the main Web site automatically, and some require the user to click on a link that will load the main page.

A splash page is sometimes referred to as a splash screen. [2]

Landing Page

'Landing page' is a generic term for the first page a person sees when linking to a website.

The landing page may be the homepage, but due to the use of search engines, it is increasingly likely to be a content page.

From the perspective of search engine marketing, a landing page contains content designed (optimised) to achieve a high search engine relevancy ranking. (A high relevancy ranking means that the webpage will be listed within the first few pages of a search result.) [3]

The specific web page that a visitor ultimately reaches after clicking a search engine listing. Marketers attempt to improve conversion rates by testing various landing page creative, which encompasses the entire user experience including navigation, layout and copy. [6]

Doorway Page

Also called a gateway page. A doorway page exists solely for the purpose of driving traffic to another page. They are usually designed and optimised to target one specific keyphrase. Doorway pages rarely are written for human visitors. They are written for search engines to achieve high rankings and hopefully drive traffic to the main site. Using doorway pages is a violation of the Terms Of Service of most search engines and could be grounds for banning. [6]

Templates - Template Pages, Master-Pages

Template pages are used by a number of desktop publishing applications, such as InDesign and QuarkXpress. They are used as master pages by designers so that a design style can be carried forward throughout a given document.

This is especially useful for magazines and long brochures that need to keep a consistent design style throughout the publication. In most page layout programs, it is also possible to create a number of different templates or masterpages and apply them to different parts of the document. [1]

Template Documents

Template documents are master documents, created by any software application. They are used for publication that are going to be repeated. Often a designer who has been commissioned to design a periodical, for example, will provide a template document in a page layout program. This will be filled with dummy text and images.

More often than not, the designer will also have set up style sheets so that the layout designers working on future editions of the publication can simply apply the agreed look and feel to the documents. [1]

Ready-Made Templates

Ready made website templates are ready-to-use website designs with all of the accompanying objects in place. With these templates, your web designer(s) can help you to personalize them to suit the identity and needs of your own business or personal web folio. Then they are ready for the World Wide Web.

Internet marketing is all about time, after all. If you are pressed for time this could be a perfect option for you. The need for fast, convenient and highly cost-effective websites has increased the demand for ready-made website templates. The range of choice is wide and more and more people are learning their value in the field of online business.

Demo - Design Demonstration

A design demonstration of a website is a prototype version of it, to showcase its forthcoming look and/or functionality. A demo version can also refer either to an early, barely-functional version of a website.

During the development process, designers may provide one or more demos of proposed website to be approved by the client. If the client is not happy with the design, modifications can be made based on client's feedback.

Website Maintenance

Website maintenance refers to on-going changes to a site once it is published on the Internet. As things change in your organisation, your website must be updated to reflect the changes. There is nothing more harmful to your credibility than having out-of-date information on the Internet for all the world to see.

Web Authoring

A category of software that enables the user to develop a Web site in a desktop publishing format. The software will generate the required HTML coding for the layout of the Web pages based on what the user designs. Typically, the user can toggle back and forth between the graphical design and the HTML code and make changes to the Web page in either the design of the accompanying code.

OR To design and create a Web site, from writing the site's underlying code to writing the text to managing the site's upkeep. [2]

Hyperlink

Also called a link, a hyperlink is an electronic connection between a web page and another web page on the same site, or another web page on an entirely different site. Hyperlinks can be text, image or graphic links (such as buttons) and are activated by clicking on them with a mouse. [8]

Hypertext

A hypertext document is a formatted file that contains links to other documents. Obviously an html web pages is a classic type of hypertext document. [1]

HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language

HTML is the basic mark-up language of the web. All the pages that are viewed on web sites use HTML to some degree. HTML is constantly updated and nowadays web sites tend to contain a mixture of a number of languages, including DHTML, javascript, CSS and, increasingly, Flash [1]

XHTML - Extensible Hypertext Markup Language

Short for Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, a hybrid between HTML and XML specifically designed for Net device displays.

XHTML is a markup language written in XML; therefore, it is an XML application.

XHTML uses three XML namespaces (used to qualify element and attributes names by associating them with namespaces identified by URI references. Namespaces prevent identically custom-named tags that may be used in different XML documents from being read the same way), which correspond to three HTML 4.0 DTDs: Strict, Transitional, and Frameset.

XHTML markup must conform to the markup standards defined in a HTML DTD.

When applied to Net devices, XHTML must go through a modularization process. This enables XHTML pages to be read by many different platforms.

A device designer, using standard building blocks, will specify which elements are supported. Content creators will then target these building blocks or modules.

Because these modules conform to certain standards, XHTML's extensibility ensures that layout and presentation stay true-to-form over any platform. [2]

CSS - Cascading Style Sheet

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. This is a document format which provides a set of style rules which can then be incorporated in an XHTML or HTML document. It is a means to separate web content from formatting and presentation information. [4]

Style sheets, as used in page layout software, are used to mark up the appearance of a section of type, or even just one character. For example a style sheet can be set up so that, at the click of a mouse, a paragraph can appear in bold type and in blue. Customized keyboard shortcuts can also be applied to style sheets to make the formatting process even faster. [1]

Cascading Style Sheets are a a (HTML) specification that allows the web developer to use codes to describe how a pages contents should look. In particular it is used for styling and laying out text, paragraphs and headings.

One useful feature of CSS is that the styles themselves can be defined in an external document and simply referred to in the actual HTML page. This allows for a faster download and display of formatted text. [1]

Short for Cascading Style Sheets, a new feature being added to HTML that gives both Web site developers and users more control over how pages are displayed. With CSS, designers and users can create style sheets that define how different elements, such as headers and links, appear. These style sheets can then be applied to any Web page.

The term cascading derives from the fact that multiple style sheets can be applied to the same Web page. CSS was developed by the W3C. [2]

JavaScript

Other than the name, there is little similarity between Javascript and Java. Rather than a programming language, javascript is a scripting language, in much the same way that VB Script is.

Javascripts are used to add numerous interactive functions to web pages. Javascript can be utilised for a wide range of design activity from rollovers; to drop-down menus; to checking the contents of a submitted web form. [1]

A type of programming which can add interactivity and function to a web site. Some examples include drop down menus navigation button effects, interactive forms, slide shows, and pop open windows. There are many applications available to enrich a web site. [8]

A scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web authors to design interactive sites. Although it shares many of the features and structures of the full Java language, it was developed independently. Javascript can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web authors to spice up their sites with dynamic content. JavaScript is endorsed by a number of software companies and is an open language that anyone can use without purchasing a license. It is supported by recent browsers from Netscape and Microsoft, though Internet Explorer supports only a subset, which Microsoft calls Jscript. [2]

JavaScript is a client-side scripting language. It is often used to supplement the standard web browser GUI elements (such as pulldown menus, check boxes and buttons) to create more sophisticated interfaces, for example:

  • Navigation roll-overs
  • Drop-down and fly-out menus
  • Customising and controlling (new) browser windows (pop-up windows)
  • Checking content before allowing a user to submit a form (validation)
DOM - Document Object Model

Short for Document Object Model, the specification for how objects in a Web page (text, images, headers, links, etc.) are represented. The DOM defines what attributes are associated with each object, and how the objects and attributes can be manipulated. Dynamic HTML (DHTML) relies on the DOM to dynamically change the appearance of Web pages after they have been downloaded to a user's browser.

Unfortunately, the two leading browsers Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer use different DOMs. This is one reason why their respective implementations of DHTML are so different. Both companies have submitted their DOMs to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for standardization, which now has the daunting task of specifying a standard DOM without alienating either of the browser giants. The W3C's DOM specification will support both HTML and XML. [2]

AJAX, Ajax - Asynchronous Javascript and XML

Short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, it is a term that describes a new approach to using a number of existing technologies together, including the following: HTML or XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript, the Document Object Model, XML, XSLT, and the XMLHttpRequest object. When these technologies are combined in the Ajax model, Web applications are able to make quick, incremental updates to the user interface without reloading the entire browser page. [Source: mozilla developer center] [2]

AJAX is a method to utilize the abilities of Javascript, the Document Object Model, and XML to create interactivity on the web. [4]

Ajax is a web development technique used for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is intended to increase the web page's interactivity, speed, functionality, and usability.

Ajax is asynchronous in that loading does not interfere with normal page loading. JavaScript is the programming language that Ajax function calls are made in. Data retrieved using the technique is commonly formatted using XML, as reflected in the naming of the XMLHTTPRequest object from which Ajax is derived.

Ajax is a cross-platform technology usable on many different operating systems, computer architectures, and Web browsers as it is based on open standards such as JavaScript and XML, together with open source implementations of other required technologies. [5]

DHTML - Dynamic HTML

Refers to Web content that changes each time it is viewed. For example, the same URL could result in a different page depending on any number of parameters, such as:

  • Geographic location of the reader
  • Time of day
  • Previous pages viewed by the reader
  • Profile of the reader

There are many technologies for producing dynamic HTML, including CGI scripts, Server-Side Includes (SSI), cookies, Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX.

OR When capitalized, Dynamic HTML refers to new HTML extensions that will enable a Web page to react to user input without sending requests to the Web server. Microsoft and Netscape have submitted competing Dynamic HTML proposals to W3C, which is producing the final specification. [2]

Dynamic HTML adds more elegance to basic HTML. With DHTML, you can make changes without causing the whole screen to redraw. So, for example, in a DHTML site, users can roll over a menu and see the choices change color, or they see one graphic to turn into another graphic. A good DHTML programmer can write code that will be 'friendly' to all browsers and types of computers. [6]

ActionScript

Adobe Flash uses a type of scripting language to control its interactive events. ActionScript has similar sytax to javascript, but functions only within Flash SWF files. [1]

VBScript - Visual Basic Scripting

Short for Visual Basic Scripting Edition, a scripting language developed by Microsoft and supported by Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. VBScript is based on the Visual Basic programming language, but is much simpler. In many ways, it is similar to JavaScript. It enables Web authors to include interactive controls, such as buttons and scrollbars, on their Web pages. [2]

XML - Extensible Markup Language

A method of creating markup languages that describe the structure of data. It allows web developers to create custom tags to represent published html data. XML has been developed to help large scale, data driven, web publishing projects. [1]

Short for Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations. [2]

XSL - Extensible Style Language

Short for Extensible Style Language, a specification for separating style from content when creating HTML or XML pages. The specifications work much like templates, allowing designers to apply single style documents to multiple pages. XSL is the second style specification to be offered by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C. The first, called Cascading Style Sheets, is similar to XSL but does not include two major XSL's innovations allowing developers to dictate the way web pages are printed, and specifications allowing one to transfer XML documents across different applications. W3C released the first draft of XSL in August 1998, and promotes the specifications as helpful to the web's speed, accessibility, and maintenance. [6]

Ontology Web Language

The Ontology Web Language (OWL) is a set of markup languages which are designed for use by applications that need to process the content of information instead of just presenting information to humans. OWL ontologies describe the hierarchical organization of ideas in a domain, in a way that can be parsed and understood by software. OWL has more facilities for expressing meaning and semantics than XML, RDF, and RDF-S, and thus OWL goes beyond these languages in its ability to represent machine interpretable content on the Web. OWL is part of the W3C recommendations related to the Semantic Web. [2]

WCM - Web Content Management

Web content management (WCM) is a bundled or stand-alone application used to create, manage, store and deploy content on Web pages. Web content types can include text, graphics and photos, video or audio, and application code that renders other content or interacts with the visitor. WCM may also catalog or index content, select or assemble content at runtime, or deliver content to specific visitors in a personalized way or in different languages. [2]

CMS - Content Management System

CMS stands for Content Management System. A CMS is a software application designed to store, manage, and format web information. Common CMS applications include blog software like WordPress, forum software like PhpBB, or site management tools like DruPal. [4]

Software that enables one to add and/or manipulate content on a Web site. [2]

Web Portal

Commonly referred to as simply a portal, a Web site or service that offers a broad array of resources and services, such as e-mail, forums, search engines, and on-line shopping malls. The first Web portals were online services, such as AOL, that provided access to the Web, but by now most of the traditional search engines have transformed themselves into Web portals to attract and keep a larger audience. [2]

Directory

A directory uses people to create an index or directory of web sites rather than using a spider. Some of the most common directories are Yahoo, The Open Directory Project (on AOL), and Overture. Directories are often divided into categories and subcategories. [8]

Brochure Ware Website

A website that is merely information placed on a page and is not commerce enabled. Similar to a brochure, these websites are simply electronic marketing pieces with no ability to perform transactions. These websites provide no interactivity except displaying the information on the web page for users to view. ref6:www.beseenwebdesign.com

Web Folio, Webfolio

A webfolio is an online or web-based ePortfolio. A webfolio can be as simple as a website made of static web pages, or it can be a fully functional, database-driven, dynamic website where students organize their work with the given tools.

A non-web-based or offline ePortfolio that was created in other electronic formats such as PowerPoint, PDF, and Flash is not considered a webfolio. [1]

Mirror Site

A duplicate of a web or FTP site, used the balance the load of a very busy site. Often used by web sites that provide software downloads, due to the amount of bandwidth that can be used at any one time. [1]

E-zine

Short for electronic magazine, the name for a web site that is modeled after a print magazine. Some e-zines are simply electronic versions of existing print magazines, whereas others exist only in their digital format. Most e-zines are advertiser-supported but a few charge a subscription. [2]

E-zine Stands for electronic magazine. It is a type of magazine that is available by e-mail only. For example we have a e-zine. [6]

E-learning

Education via the Internet, network, or standalone computer. e-learning is essentially the network-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge. e-learning refers to using electronic applications and processes to learn. e-learning applications and processes include Web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classrooms and digital collaboration. Content is delivered via the Internet, intranet/extranet, audio or video tape, satellite TV, and CD-ROM.

E-learning was first called "Internet-Based training" then "Web-Based Training" Today you will still find these terms being used, along with variations of e-learning such as elearning, Elearning, and eLearning. [2]

Site Map

A hierarchical visual model of the pages of a Web site. Site maps help users navigate through a Web site that has more than one page by showing the user a diagram of the entire site's contents. Similar to a book's table of contents, the site map makes it easier for a user to find information on a site without having to navigate through the site's many pages. Also, in SEO, a site map can make it easier for a search engine spider to find all a site's pages.

Not all Web sites will have a site map. The less intricate a site is the less need there is for a site map to guide users. [2]

A hierarchical visual model of the pages of a Web site. Site maps help users navigate through a Web site that has more than one page by showing the user a diagram of the entire site's contents. Similar to a book's table of contents, the site map makes it easier for a user to find information on a site without having to navigate through the site's many pages. Also, in SEO, a site map can make it easier for a search engine spider to find all a site's pages. A relatively new feature of some search engines including Google and Yahoo! is the ability to submit a site map to them with not only a site's linking structure but with other information such as how often they should re-index your site. [8]

Navigation Structure

The relationship between pages in a website, mapped out in a site diagram , which is then used to determine the links that will appear in each page's navigation bar. [6]

Cookie

A cookie is a small text file sent to a web user's computer by a website. A cookie can be used to identify that user to the website on their next visit. Common uses include remembering login data, user preferences, and providing favorites lists. [4]

Image Map

A single graphic image containing more than one hot spot. For example, imagine a graphic of a bowl of fruit. When you click on a banana, the system displays the number of calories in a banana and when you click on an apple, it displays the number of calories in an apple.

Image maps are used extensively on the World Wide Web. Each hot spot in a Web image map takes you to a different Web page.

Image map is sometimes spelled as one word: imagemap [2]

Form

A formatted document containing blank fields that users can fill in with data. With paper forms, it is usually necessary for someone to transfer the data from the paper to a computer database, where the results can then be statistically analyzed. Some OCR systems can do this automatically, but they're generally limited to forms containing just check boxes. They can't handle handwritten text.

Electronic forms solve this problem by entirely skipping the paper stage. Instead, the form appears on the user's display screen and the user fills it in by selecting options with a pointing device or typing in text from the computer keyboard. The data is then sent directly to a forms processing application, which enters the information into a database.

Electronic forms are especially common on the World Wide Web because the HTML language has built-in codes for displaying form elements such as text fields and check boxes. Typically, the data entered into a Web-based form is processed by a CGI program. [2]

Dreamweaver

From Macromedia, Dreamweaver is the most popular WYSIWYG web page design and HTML development tool. It allows the creation of whole web sites, without the need to have an in-depth knowledge of coding or scripting and has close integration with Macromedia's other products, such as Flash and Fireworks. [1]

Frontpage

A Microsoft HTML web page editing program. Not really a professional product and also very limited in functionality. Professional web designers will generally avoid using Frontpage, because it locks the developer into using the application, by producing proprietary code that is messy to edit by hand. [1]

Browser, Web Browser

A web browser is a computer program that is used to access the web (to view webpages).

A browser may also be used to download files, send and receive email or short messages across the internet.

Commonly-used browsers include:

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)
  • Netscape Navigator (NN)
  • Firefox (Mozilla)
  • Opera
  • Safari
Cross Browser Compatibility

A browser is a program for viewing web pages on the World Wide Web (like the one you are using now). The default browser for Windows operating systems is Micrisoft's Internet Explorer, on an Apple Mac - running OS X - it is Safari. Other popular browsers include Firefox, Opera, Mozilla and Netscape.

Cross-browser compatibility is the aim of most web developers. The aim is to ensue that the look and functionality of the web site is as similar as possible across as many web browsers as possible.

This is often an easier concept to aim for than it is to achieve as the number of browsers grows across different operating systems. In practice, many web designers will agree with the client beforehand as to which browsers the web site must be compatible with. [1]

Optimisation/Optimization, Optimise/Optimize

The aim of optimisation is to reduce the time it takes to access a website (or run a program). Images, application and (X)HTML code can all be optimised.

Image optimisation

For imagery, optimisation involves choosing a suitable graphic compression format. Compression reduces the image filesize and consequently the time it takes to download and display in a browser. Common compression types include GIF, JPEG and PNG. Many compression formats reduce filesize by removing information from the image (downsampling). For example, the JPEG format reduces overall tonal range to reduce filesize - reducing the tonal range means that highlights and shadows become less pronounced.

Reducing the number, and filesize of the images can be a significant issue for websites with large subscriber bases such as news sites. Site owners are charged for the amount of information (data) downloaded from their sites (traffic). The more popular the site and larger the images the greater the traffic costs.

(X)HTML optimisation

Using CSS significantly improves the speed of a website - a single stylesheet can be used for all pages but is downloaded only once.

The time it takes for a webpage to display is affected by a number of factors:

  • the number (and filesize) of images used in the webpage
  • the structure of the underlying XHTML code, for example; setting height and width attributes enables the browser to reserve the correct amount of space for an image (before it has downloaded) avoiding the browser redrawing the webpage
  • the browser's rendering engine (how the program used to access the web loads each webpage)
  • browser caching: if the webpage, images, stylesheets, etc. are stored locally they do not need to be downloaded
  • the user's connection speed (i.e. dial-up modem will take longer to download a webpage than a cable modem)
  • the speed of the server hosting the website
  • Internet traffic

Search engine optimisation

Webpages can also be optimised for to improve ranking on search results pages (search engine optimisation). [3]

References: [1]www.designtalkboard.com [2]www.webopedia.com [3]www.motive.co.nz [4]www.joedolson.com [5]www.wikipedia.org [6]www.beseenwebdesign.com [7]www.launchmark.com [8]www.101webbuilders.com [9]www.answers.com [10]www.usabilityfirst.com [11]www.designer-info.com

Content(s) on this page is provided for informational purposes only, and is copyrighted by and belong to the respected owner(s) as referenced. If you own the rights to any of the content(s) and wish they be removed, please contact us and we will remove them immediately or at your choice, provide a credit and a link.