Glossary of Internet Terms

The following is a glossary of Internet terms that you will find on this website or that you may encounter when trying to learn about HTML or the Internet.

This glossary also contains references to other glossaries that might be useful to you and links to pages with tutorials from W3Schools.com where you can start learning certain coding languages yourself. (You should know however that only the HTML tutorial is suitable for those who are just starting out. The other tutorials are meant for those who are already familiar with HTML.)

If you have any comments about this glossary or have suggestions for adding definitions, please contact us.

ASP
A scripting (coding) language developed by Microsoft, that is widely used on servers that operate on Windows. It can do similar things as PHP. See PHP in this glossary.
To start learning ASP yourself, click here.

Blog
Short for "web log," a specialized site that allows an individual or group of individuals to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. People who own a blog post regular articles, videos, photos, etc on it and Internet users can normally leave comments on those articles etc to create interactivity with the blog owner and with other Internet users. Thus a sort of "club" of users often develops around a blog.

Browser
A browser or "web browser" is a piece of software that is used to view data on the Internet. Examples of browsers are Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and Mozilla Firefox.
(Ref: http://www.internetsimplicity.net/glossary.php)

Cascading Style Sheets
A coding language developed to be able to easily specify and change the style (colors, layout, fonts, etc) of a website without having to change the coding of the text content of the website. A "style sheet" is essentially a piece of code describing the style (colors, fonts, etc) of a website. This information can be placed in three specific locations in or around a web page document, and one piece of style information takes precedence over other similar pieces of style information depending on which of those three locations it has been placed in. That is why they are said to be "cascading". For examples and more information on Cascading Style Sheets, click here.

Client
A program (like a web browser) that connects to and requests information from a server.
(Ref: http://www.geeksnet.com/faq/glossary.htm)
See also E-mail client and FTP client in this glossary.

CSS
See Cascading Style Sheets

Domain (name)
A domain name is a unique name for your web site. When locating a specific web page on the Internet, the domain name is part of the URL for that web page.
(Ref: http://www.w3schools.com/hosting/host_domains.asp)

Domain name registration
See (http://www.w3schools.com/hosting/host_domains.asp)

Download
To copy a file from another computer to one's own, over a network or from the Internet.
(Ref: http://www.micro2000.co.uk/network_glossary.htm)

E-mail
Electronic mail, electronic files that are transferred quickly from an outbox on one computer, to the inbox of another.
(Ref: http://www.100best.com/articles40.html)

E-mail client
A program used to send, receive, and organize e-mail, such as Microsoft Outlook.

File Manager
A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. They are very useful for speeding up interaction with files. The most common operations on files are create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, attributes, properties, search/find, and permissions (such as to access the file).
(Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_manager)

Flash
A multimedia graphics program and accompanying technology created especially for use on the Internet. It allows webdesigners to add interaction to pages and make elements of the page seem animated.

FTP
File Transfer Protocol. One of the most common methods for transferring (copying) files between two computers and saving them on the recipient computer. It is used when uploading files of a newly created website to a server. It could reversely also be used to download files from a server to a personal computer.

FTP client
A software program that lets you use the File Transfer Protocol, for example to upload newly created webpages on a personal computer to the server where your website is located. Examples of FTP clients are Smart FTP and Cute FTP.

GIF
Graphical Interface Format, a widely used compressed format for images on the Internet. Using certain software programs, GIF files can be created which contain a "rotating" image (the image rotates a number of pictures contained within the file). GIFs contain "transparent colors" that display the color of the background the GIF image is placed on. A disadvantage is that in GIF only 256 colors can be displayed, it is therefore not always as good in quality compared to the JPEG or PNG formats.

HTML
Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is a coding language used to make websites. It can be viewed by clicking "Source code" in the "View" menu of your browser.
For more about HTML, what it consists of and to start learning it yourself, click here.

HTML Editor
A software program with features that make it easier to create and edit HTML documents. You can download a free HTML editor here.

HTML Element
An element in a web page, that is described in an HTML document through the use of HTML tags.
For more about HTML elements click here.

HTML Tag
A tag used in an HTML document to assign certain characteristics to an HTML element (element in a web document). Tags are surrounded by the signs < and >. For example, the <p> tag is used to indicate that a piece of text is a paragraph.
For more on HTML tags, and to learn how to use them yourself click here.

HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the set of rules for transferring files on the World Wide Web so those files can be viewed on the recipient computer. It includes the set of rules that is used to follow links from one web page to another.

The Internet
A worldwide network of millions of computers connected to each other, from which you can retrieve data.

Javascript
Javascipt is a widely used scripting (coding) language that makes your browser execute certain pre-instructed actions on your screen when it displays web pages you are reading or when you perform a certain action, such as when you click on something on your screen with your mouse or move over something on your screen with your mouse. In this way webdesigners can add interaction with the user to webpages.
For more about Javascript and to start learning it yourself, click here.

JPEG
Stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is a file format used for good quality photographic reproduction of images on the Web. JPEG images are capable of reproducing a full range of color while still remaining small enough for Web use.

Keyword
A word that a search engine user might use to find relevant web page(s).
(Ref: http://www.onlinemedia.co.in/glossary)

Link
A connection between two HTML documents.
(Ref:http://www.greyfoxwebworks.com/webterms.html)

PHP
A scripting (coding) language or pieces of code written in this language that tell the server where your website is located to execute certain pre-prescribed actions when an Internet user performs certain actions on your website. For example, a user fills out a form on your website and clicks on a button. The data is sent to a file in the server containing PHP codes. Depending on what the codes are, the file then executes a series of commands, such as sending the data in the form to your email address and sending a "thank you" page to the Internet user's computer. These actions take place within seconds. PHP is a coding language with similar functions as ASP, but can be used also on servers that use a different operating system than Windows.
For more on PHP and to start learning it yourself, click here.

PNG
Portable Network Graphic PNG is a relatively new and advanced format designed as a replacement for the older GIF file format. PNG graphics can contain millions of colors and can be transparent. They are compressed without degradation of the image (loss of image quality). However, many of the current Web browsers are not yet capable of displaying them.

Public HTML folder
The folder on the server where your website is located, that contains the files that are available for public view by Internet users

Rotating GIF
See GIF in this glossary.

Script
A script is a piece of programming code that makes something happen on a screen.
(Ref: http://www.umuc.edu/ade/glossary.html)

Search engine
A piece of software that searches for information and returns sites which provide that information. Examples of search engines are Google and Yahoo.
(Ref: http://www.dreamweaverresources.com/seo/glossary.htm)

Search engine optimization
Techniques that enable your site to appear higher in a list of search engine results.
(Ref: http://www.llamawerx.com/webterms.html)

Server
A computer used primarily to store data and providing access to shared resources.
(Ref: http://www.datarecoverydoctor.co.uk/data-recovery-dictionary.html

SQL
Stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is a computer language for accessing and manipulating databases (retrieving and storing data, etc).
For more information on SQL and to learn it yourself click here.

Style Sheets
See Cascading Style Sheets

Transitional
This is a version of HTML coding where older forms of style coding are allowed to be used, in addition to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), the new standard language for specifying the style (fonts, colors, etc) of web pages.
For more information on Transtitional HTML and other types of HTML coding click here.

Upload
Sending data from a user's computer to a different computer via the Internet. In contrast to "Download."
(Ref: http://www.digicert.com/secure-server-resources/u.htm

URL
Stands for Universal Resource Locator. It is an Internet address and is used to locate a specific web page you might want to look up.
For more information on URLs and what the different parts of one are click here.

XHTML
It is a stricter version of earlier HTML versions, design to replace the current HTML standard, called HTML 4.01. XHTML was formulated to enable simpler computer devices such as cell phones and i-pods to also be able to view and display web pages, in addition to more complicated computer devices such as desktops and laptops.
For more information on XHTML and to start learning it yourself click here.

Webhosting
Webhosting is a service provided by companies who have one or more large computers, called servers, where you can rent a space to place your website files so they can be downloaded and looked at by Internet users.

Webmail
Webmail is a way of accessing your email online, as opposed to downloading it onto your computer into a programme such as Outlook Express.
(Ref: http://www.diditmyself.net/help/glossary.html)

Webpage
A collection of files (usually one HTML file, several image files and a CSS file) that are read together by your browser and combined into a single page available on your screen, usually linked with other web pages to form a website.

Website
A collection of web pages that are located at a common address on the Internet

W3C
Short for World Wide Web Consortium. It is an international body of organizations and computer companies that decide on common standards that are to be applied by the computer industry to make interoperability on the Internet possible.
For more information on W3C click here.