Computer-related things tend to have a language all their own.
While you do not need to know all of it, there are many
confusing words and phrases that you are going to come across
sooner or later.
Bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of data that your website can
send each second, as well as the amount of data that the visitor
to your website can receive. If either one does not have enough
bandwidth, then the website will appear slowly.
For this reason, you should choose a host with plenty of
bandwidth, as well as testing that your site doesn't take too
long to download on slow connections.
Browser. A browser is the software (see below) that visitors to
your site use to view it. The most popular browser is
Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which comes with Windows.
Cookie. Cookies are data files that your site can save on the
computer of someone who visits that site, to allow it to
remember who they are if they return.
FTP. File Transfer Protocol. This is a common method of
uploading (see below) files to your website. Javascript. A
common language for writing 'scripts' on websites, which are
small programs that make the site more interactive. Another
common cause of problems for visitors.
JPEG. Joint Photographic Experts Group. This is the name of the
most popular format for pictures on the web, named after the
group that came up with it. If you want to put pictures on your
website, you should save them as JPEGs.
Hardware. Hardware is computer equipment that physically exists.
It is the opposite of software. Hosting. If you've got a website
out there on the Internet, then you'll be paying someone for
hosting. It is the service of making your site available for
people to see.
HTML. HyperText Markup Language. A kind of code used to indicate
how web pages should be displayed, using a system of small
'tags'. The 'b' tag, for example, causes text to appear in bold,
and the 'img' tag displays a picture.
Hyperlink. A hyperlink is when a piece of text on a website can
be clicked to take you to another site, or another page on the
same site. For example, if clicking your email address on your
website allows someone to email you, then your email address is
a hyperlink.
Programming. This is when the computer is given instructions to
tell it what to do, using one of many 'programming languages'.
Programming languages for the web include PHP and Perl.
Server. The server is where your website is stored, and it is
the server that people are connecting to when they visit the
site. Note that server refers both to the hardware and software
of this system. Software. Programs that run on the computer, or
that make your website work. Microsoft Word is software, for
example, as is Apache (the most popular web server software).
Opposite of hardware.
Spider. Do not be scared if a spider visits your website!
Spiders are simply programs used by search engines to scan your
site and help them decide where it should appear when people
search. It is good to be visited by spiders, as it means you
should start appearing in search engines soon.
Upload. Uploading is when you transfer data from your own
computer to your website. For example, you might upload your
logo, or an article you've written. Opposite of download.
URL. Uniform Resource Locator. This is just a short way of
saying 'web address', meaning what you have to type in to get to
your website.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit
http://www.webplacements.com
About the author:
Florie Lyn Masarate got the flair for reading and writing when
she got her first subscription of the school newsletter in
kindergarten. She had her first article published on that same
newsletter in the third grade.
