Glossary of Common Internet Terms

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
.AU

An audio sound format developed for Sun workstations which is often used to distribute sound clips via the Web. See also: .WAV, RealPlayer.

absolute URL

A URL (Universal Resource Locator) is the Internet equivalent of addresses. Like other types of addresses, they move from the general to the specific (from zip code to recipient, so to speak).

Take this URL, for example:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/adm/index.html

First you have the protocol: http:/

then the server address or domain: /www.mtholyoke.edu

and finally the directory: /adm/

in which the file index.html resides.

See also: Relative URL and URL.

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)

Mount Holyoke College Web sites should be ADA accessible to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the same access to MHC Web site information that is provided to all students, faculty, and staff. Accessibility involves page design that is navigable using adaptive technology, such as graphics and links should be labeled with text that makes sense when read by a screen reader. Another example: Javascript (i.e.: rollover navigational images) are not accessible to screen readers.

alt tags

Alternative text tags appear in place of images when the browser preferences are set for text only (image viewing option is turned off). Including them on your site enables visually impaired user reader programs (speech synthesizers) to read the alt tag aloud.

anonymous FTP

An FTP connection established using the username "anonymous" and the email address of the person making the request as the password. This is the type of connection established by a Web browser by default. See also: FTP.

architecture

Flow chart of Web site information; i.e., list of site navigation.

B
bps

Bits per second. A measure of the speed at which modems and other forms of communication hardware talk to each other.

browser

Short for Web Browser; it's the tool (program) that allows you to surf the Web. You probably used your Web Browser to locate this page. Popular Web Browsers include Mozilla's Fire Fox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

C
C, C++

Two flavors of a very popular and flexible programming language.

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS)

Cascading Style Sheets are a mechanism for adding specific styles, such as fonts, colors, spacing, etc. to Web documents. The College Web design uses CSS for navigation links.

CGI Script (Common Gateway Interface script)

The Common Gateway Interface specification, which governs how browsers can request services from Web servers; a format and syntax for passing information via HTML forms and queries. The CGI script resides in the server. See also: Perl.

chat

A service available on computer bulletin boards, on-line services and the Internet that lets users type messages to each other. The messages appear almost instantly on the screens of others participating in the chat session.

Content Management System (CMS)

HTML editor; used for creating Web pages. The College uses RedDot's CMS.

cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies enable other Web sites to track users.

D
DNS

Domain Name Server. A database of Internet names and addresses which translates the names to the official Internet Protocol numbers and vice-versa.

download

The transfer of information from the Internet to your computer. Every time you check your mail, you are downloading your mail to your computer. You may also download other kinds of files to your computer.

E

F
file extension

In filenames, the group of letters after the period is called the file extension. For example, if the filename is glossary.shtml, the extension is .shtml.

finger

A Unix command that retrieves user information remotely.

frames

A Web browser feature that enables a Web page to be displayed in a separate scrollable part of a browser window. Some framed site designs are almost invisible to the user; others display noticeable frame separators. Older browsers do not support the frames feature, and many Web sites have a frames and non-frames version of the site to accommodate them. MHC does not endorse creating Web sites in frames.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

File Transfer Protocol allows the transfer of files from one computer to another. For instance, to transfer files from an office campus computer to a MHC Web server. FTP is available within the latest version of Dreamweaver. See more about off-campus access and Webspace & Network Spaces on the LITS Web site.

Fugu

A Mac OS X SFTP, SCP and SSH Frontend. Fugu is a graphical frontend to the commandline Secure File Transfer application (SFTP). SFTP is similar to FTP, but unlike FTP, the entire session is encrypted, meaning no passwords are sent in cleartext form, and is thus much less vulnerable to third-party interception. LITS support Fugu; see more about using Fugu on the LITS Web site.

G
.GIF (Graphic Interchange File)

Graphic Interchange File format created by CompuServe. A .GIF file can contain at most 256 unique colors and the compression is not as great as .JPG. This format includes many extensions, such as the ability to have a Web browser's background show through parts of the image ("transparency"), and animation. According to official documentation, the proper pronunciation is "jiff".

Gopher

A menu-oriented tool used to locate online resources, Gopher was the precursor to the World Wide Web. Many locations, including MHC, no longer support Gopher.

H
.hqx

File converted from extended characters to a standard ASCII format that can be understood by most computers. Commonly used on the Macintosh platform. See also: .sit

heading

The heading of your Web page is used to identify what page your visitor is currently viewing.

home page

A home page serves as the site's introduction, starting point, and guide. Generally it is the first or main page of a site and commonly has the file name "index". For instance, the home page for MHC is http://www.mtholyoke.edu/index.shtml, however, when entering the address on a Web browser, it is not necessary to type "index.shtml" as the index page will appear by default.

host

The computer on which a Web site is physically located.

HTML

An acronym for HyperText Markup Language, HTML is the language used to tag various parts of a Web document so browsing software will know how to display its links, text, and graphics. See also: SHTML.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol. HTTP is used to link and transfer hypertext documents.

hyperlink

Hyperlinks are the easy-to-spot underlined words or phrases you click in World Wide Web documents to jump to another screen or page. Hyperlinks contain HTML-coded references that point to other Web pages, which your browser then jumps to.

hyper linked images

Images that linked so that when a user clicks on a hyper linked image, the browser jumps to another screen or page.

I
IMAP

Internet MAil Protocol. A system that allows a user to download email from a host computer. See also: SMTP and POP.

image map

A text file which describes what regions of a graphical image are different hypertext links. The term is often used to refer to the graphical image as well. The image is divided into regions that when (the "hotspot") clicked on a new file opens. For information on how to create image maps, go to Dreamweaver's help menu.

ISP

Internet Service Provider. A company which provides its subscribers access to the Internet.

J
.JPEG or .JPG

Graphics file format created by the Joint Photographers Expert Group. To conserve disk space and transfer time, a JPEG image can be compressed to varying degrees using a "lossy" method (meaning the resulting image is not of the same quality as the original).

Java

A programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Its major advantage is that it is cross-platform, meaning a program only needs to be written once to run on a number of different computers.

JavaScript

A programming language in which the code is included in the HTML document.

K

L

M
.MOV

File in Quicktime format. Developed by Apple Computer for viewing moving images. See also: .MPG.

.MPG

File created in the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) format. This format is related to .JPG. See also: .JPG.

multiple email recipients

A multiple link can be set up so more than one (MHC) person will receive a copy of an email. That email can then be used on any of your Web pages, so if a visitor has a question, they will not have to wait for someone to return from vacation for a response.

To set up multiple email recipients:

1. Request a mailing list - Send your request to maillist@mtholyoke.edu. Include an explanation of
   a) what it the list will be used for
   b) who should be on the list (include usernames)
   c) who should own the list (indicate username)
   
2. You will receive an email confirmation when the list is created.
   
3. Once the list is is established, the owner will be able to make changes to the list. Instructions on how to modify the list will be sent to the list owner (with the confirmation).

N

O

P
page title

The title of a Web page document is displayed at the left top of the browser window. When a visitor adds your page to their bookmark list, the title is what is displayed on their list. If no title is assigned to a Web page, the bookmark will reflect "Untitled Document".

Perl

A programming language geared toward handling text data. It is often used to create CGI programs for the Web. See also: CGI.

PDF

Portable Document Format. Adobe Acrobat's format for complex documents, which allows you to create one file which can be viewed on a variety of different computers (even without a web browser) by simply "printing" in a special way. To create a PDF file, you must have the full version of Acrobat. If you do not have the full version, contact the LITS Help Desk (x2600). For assistance with creating PDF files, write to ris-d@mtholyoke.edu.

POP

Post Office Protocol. A system that allows a user to download email from a host computer. See also: IMAP and SMTP.

popup browser window

A popup window (or popup) is a Web browser window that is often smaller than standard windows and is without some of the standard features such as tool bars or status bars.

Q
.QT

See: .MOV.

R
RealPlayer

A commercial product for playing compressed audio and video via the Internet. The audio portion used to be called RealAudio. See also: .AU, .MOV, .MPG, .WAV.

redirect

A redirect page is when you arrive on a Web page and the page automatically "redirects" you to another page. This occurs by manually inserting a JavaScript into the header of a Web page.

relative URL

A relative URL (Universal Resource Locator) refers to a document by using a shortened form of its path, relative to the document containing the URL. See also: absolute URL and URL.

For instance, if the file http://www.mtholyoke.edu/marylyon/index.html
is to contain a link to http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/index.html,
it might be made using the relative URL ../cic/index.html.

rollovers

A rollover is an image that is replaced with another image when you cursor over it. There are two images and when the mouse rolls over the first image, it moves to the background and the image in the background moves to the front. For assistance in creating rollovers in Photoshop or Dreamweaver, use the Help tools available within those applications.

S
.sit

File compressed in the StuffIt format commonly used on Macintosh computers. See also: .hqx.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet. SSL used mostly (but not exclusively) in communications between web browsers and web servers. URL's that begin with "https" indicate that an SSL connection will be used.

In an SSL connection each side of the connection must have a Security Certificate, which each side's software sends to the other. Each side then encrypts what it sends using information from both its own and the other side's Certificate, ensuring that only the intended recipient can de-crypt it, and that the other side can be sure the data came from the place it claims to have come from, and that the message has not been tampered with.

Server Side Include (SSI)

An HTML command used to place data into a Web page before sending it to the user.

SMTP

Simply Mail Transfer. A protocol for transferring email to a remote computer. See also: IMAP and POP.

SPAM

Unsolicited email or newsgroup postings, often consisting of commercial advertising, which is sent to a large number of individuals or newsgroups. The name is a reference to a sketch by the British comedy troupe Monty Python.

style sheet

A master page layout used in document creation systems such as word processing, desktop publishing and the Web. The style sheet is a file that is used to store margins, tabs, fonts, headers, footers and other layout settings for a particular category of document. When a style sheet is selected, its format settings are applied to all the documents created under it, saving the page designer or programmer from redefining the same settings over and over again for each page. See also: Cascading Style Sheet (CSS).

SHTML

Scripted Hypertext Markup Language. This is a modified version of HTML which includes special commands for performing certain tasks. MHC's Document Interface uses this. See also: HTML.

T
target audience

The primary visitors that your Web site addresses. It is important to know your who your primary visitor are, so that you build a Web site to meet their needs. See more about this is the Target Audience section of this guide.

TCP-IP

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The basic protocols programs use when communicating on the Internet.

Telnet

The program used to login from one Internet site to another. Telnet is a way of accessing a text-based environment, and is frequently used on MHC for email access via Pine.

thumbnails

A small version of a larger or more detailed image which, when clicked on, displays the full sized image. The larger image is reduced in Photoshop and saved with a different file name. The thumbnail is inserted into the Web page and linked to the larger image on another page. Creating a thumbnail saves the user time downloading a large image every time they go to your page. If you are concerned that an image may take up too much real estate on your Web page, it is a good idea to use a thumbnail image.

The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum Web site has thumbnails throughout the site, most of which link to a larger image. You will notice that the museum also includes navigation links to their main categories as well as contact information on the page with the larger image. See example of a thumbnail which links to a larger image on the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum Web site.

titles

A Web page title should be a brief description of the information contained on the Web page. If there is no title is assigned, when a user adds that page to their browser bookmark list, the bookmark will reflect "Untitled document". The MHC Search tool uses the page title to search, and for results lists. The title feature also helps bring visitors to your site, as many search engines search for key words in titles.

U
upload

The process of transferring information from your computer to another computer through the Internet. Every time you send email to someone you are uploading it.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator or Web address. The addressing system used in the World Wide Web and other Internet resources. The URL contains information about the method of access, the server to be accessed and the path of any file to be accessed. For instance, the URL for Mount Holyoke College's Web site is http://www.mtholyoke.edu/. See also: absolute URL and relative URL.

V
virtual reality

Computer Generated technology which allows the user to interact with data that gives the appearance of a 3D environment. The user can navigate around a 3D world and interact with objects in that world. See also: VRML.

VRML

Virtual Reality Markup Language. The formatting language used to bring interactive 3D animations to the Web. See also: Virtual Reality.

W
.WAV

File containing an audio sound in Microsoft format. Most commonly used on Windows-based PCs. See also: .AU, RealPlayer.

Web safe colors

In the 1990's, we were restricted to 216 "Web safe colors" for Web designs. With modern technology today, we no longer need to worry about "Web safe colors". If you want to read more about Web safe colors, an excellent Resource is lynda.com/hex.html.

WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get (pronounced "whizzy-wig") refers to any technology that enables you to see images on screen exactly as they will appear when printed out.

X

Y

Z
.ZIP

File compressed in the ZIP format commonly used on PCs.