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Glossary of Web and Print Design Terms
In order to search for a term, simply use your browser's 'Find'
function. For more information, see the FAQ page.
- A
- alt text
- a hidden description of an image on a web site - helps visitors
who are blind and search engines know what them images represent
- B
- banner ads
- rectangular ads on web pages, which when clicked lead the visitor
to the advertiser's site. A 'banner' is usually a horizontal
ad found at the top of a page, as opposed to a 'skyscraper',
which is a vertical ad found in a column
- blog
- short for 'web log'. An easily updated online journal.
- breadcrumbs
- context-sensitive file paths which appear on each page to help
you know where you are in a site
- browser
- the program on a computer that presents the Internet. For example,
Explorer and Safari are popular browsers. Each browser interprets
the code of a web page slightly differently.
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- C
- change format styles button
- A button which allows the user to change web page format, such
as font size or background colour
- comma-delimited file
- a spreadsheet or database file that contains data only, in
which the contents of the different fields in a record are separated
by commas, and the records are separated by paragraph marks.
Less common than a tab-delimited file. This type of file is an
easy way to move data from one program to another.
- contact-us form
- a form encouraging the visitor to write an email message to
the site owner. A form is more reliable than a 'mailto' link.
- control panel
- Your web host may offer what is called a control panel. This
would be a password-protected web page which would give access
to many available features, include traffic analysis, email set-up
and more.
- CMYK colour
- colour scheme which is used for document to be produced by
offset printing. Stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow K (black). Graphics
for computer monitors are usually in RGB (Red Green Blue) format.
- CSS
- Cascading Style Sheet. This is a document that sets the presentation
styles for a web document, such as font colour and size, border
and margins, line-spacing and many other features. By having
all the formatting information in a central place, the actual
web pages can be more quickly updated site wide, among many other
benefits. Many web sites still have 'embedded formatting', which
makes web sites larger in file size and harder to update.
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- D
- description meta tag
- a description of a page hidden in the source code - the text
people will see in a search engine listing
- DNS setting
- Domain Name Server. The DNS setting, maintained by your domain
registrar, points people browsing for 'yoursite.com' to the specific
web host where your web site resides. They do this by redirecting
the request to the IP address of your host.
- domain
- a unique address in the form of a name, such as 'this.com'
or 'that.ca'. Related to but not the same as an IP address.
- domain registrar
- the company that licenses your domain for you Your domain registrar
and web host can be two different companies. Once you register
your .com with one, we go to the registrar's settings to connect
the domain to your web host, wherever it may be.
- drop-down navigation
- a list of related links that pops into view only when the cursor
rolls over a main link button. This is a useful way to limit
the basic navigation to about ten buttons, which unfold into
more options at the visitors' whim.
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- E
- element
- any part of a web site or graphic image can be an element.
Photos, text and forms are elements of a site, for example. Logos,
photos, drawings and text can be components of a graphic design.
- email link
- also known as a 'mailto' link. When clicked, it opens the visitor's
email program and allows them to send a message to the site owner.
May not work if the person is on a machine they don't own.
- escape characters
- some characters are interpreted differently from computer to
computer. Special characters must be referred to by an international
number if they are to be displayed consistently. Also called
'special characters'
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- F
- favicon
- the tiny logo that appears to the left of web addresses in
the address field of web browsers. They stick to links as well,
so users can see them in their browsers' bookmark list.
- Flash
- software for creating and viewing interactive animation. Visitors
require a plug-in reader in their browser, which nine out of
ten people already have.
- fly-out navigation; fly-u menu
- extra navigation links that appear only when a category but
is touched by the cursor. Similar to a drop-down menu, but usually
appear to the side of a vertical menu, rather than dropping down
from a horizontal menu.
- font
- a typeface as used in computer software, such as web browsers
and graphics programs
- font-switcher
- a small program that lets the visitor change the typeface of
a web page by clicking a button
- form
- a series of one or more windows (called 'fields' allowing the
visitor to enter text and send it to the site owner. The various
entries ('data') can be received by email, be processed automatically
by software or added directly to a database.
- forum
- online system that allows anyone in a public or private group
to leave messages for all, and respond to existing messages.
Responses to a message are organized together in 'threads'.
- FTP
- File Transfer Protocol - something like email, it allows one
to upload files of any size to a remote computer. This is the
method used to put web pages on your site. It can also be used
to allow visitors to upload large files to a folder on your site
for your use.
- full bleed
- a graphic design with elements that go to the very edge of
the printed document
- future-compatible
- web pages built with code using XHTML, which designed to be
extensible and thus not abandoned by site designers in future.
Already, trying to support Explorer or Netscape versions below
5 takes unnecessary time. Worse, it embeds code that may fail
in future as new standards take hold.
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- G
- 'guess what?' notice
- a message that appear to folks using non-compliant browser
on how to upgrade, as they can’t see all the features of a standards-compliant
site
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- H
- head elements
- information hidden in the code which gives the browser information
such as a description of the site, international character set
used, links to CSS and Javascript files, etc.
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- I
- interactive animation
- animation that changes according to visitor actions such as
mouse-clicking, dragging or entering text in form fields
- internet service provider (ISP)
- the company that lets you view the Internet
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- J
- javascript
- a computer scripting language for providing interactivity on
the Internet
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- K
- keywords
- words embedded in the code of the page to help search engines
classify the content. Research and choice of keywords is a critical
component of search engine optimization (SEO).
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- L
- layout
- an arrangement of all the elements of a web page or print document.
A project may have several layouts: for example, a web site could
have a general navigation and columnar layout, a thumbnail page
for reduced images, a page with forms, etc. One layout can be
repeated over many pages. In this case, the layout may be built
into a template which can serve as a master document to make
all resulting documents updatable from a single source.
- layout, fixed
- a site layout that is always the same width on the monitor,
usually centered or left-aligned on the visitor’s screen
- layout, liquid
- more expansive: a browser layout that automatically stretches
to fill the visitor’s screen
- link button page
- this is a place to make your preferred link code available.
It is placed in such a way as to allow the code to be visible,
so that it can be grabbed by people linking to you to insert
on their links pages. Having links to your site from other people
helps you place higher in search engine listings.
- link buttons
- if at all possible, you want to get people to link to you.
Search engines care deeply about how many links are pointed to
your site. A link button is a small graphic, usually your logo,
attached to html code that provides a text link for the visitor
and hidden search terms for the engines. You ask online registries
and people with related sites to link to you, hopefully using
a small graphic and the code you provide.
- links page
- A page on a web site linking to different web sites which will
benefit your target audience. This may include directories, resources,
software, professional in related fields, and sites which provide
a link back to your site as well.
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- M
- meta tags
- portions of the hidden code in a web page that tell the world
how to view and classify the page. They also convey information
such as copyright, title, description and keywords; vital elements
for search engines.
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- N
- navigation art
- artwork that accompanies the navigation links. Often found
at the top or left side of a web page, usually consistently found
on every page of a site, it will include the logo and site title.
- navigation links
- buttons that take the visitor to the main sections of the site
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- O, P
- page title
- a name for a web page that appears in the top of the browser
window, which clarifies the subject of a page and helps search
engines index your site
- Paypal
- Paypal.com - a fee-based service that can process credit card
transactions from any web site. It relieves the site owner of
needing to open a merchant account with Visa or Mastercard.
- PDF files
- Portable Document Format - a 'universal' format for presenting
pages that can be read and printed by most computers
- permission marketing
- by compiling a contact list of people who have given their
permission for you to send email or other communications you
broaden your ability to send up-to-date information and new offers
to a targeted audience. Gather such a list using an 'opt-in'
newsletter form on your web site, and by providing a sign-up
list at events.
- PHP
- Hypertext preprocessor. It allows web pages to change depending
on input from code embedded in the source code of a page or data
entered by a visitor.
- placeholder page
- When you have registered your domain and set up your web host,
you have a web site with no content. A placeholder page is a
single page with a bit of information to look at while your site
is being developed. It usually provides your business name and
contact info. You can display a message about what you do as
well. The simpler, the better, as you generally want to put your
development budget into the site itself. You can promise the
arrival of the site which is under development, but only if you're
pretty sure you can meet your own deadline.
- privacy statement
- a policy document to let visitors know what the site owners
plan to do with information visitors enter into forms
- proof
- a version of a graphic or other project element made available
to a client for approval
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- Q
- Quicktime movie
- a widely-used video format developed by Apple for use on the
Internet an CD-ROM
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- R
- RGB colour
- Graphics for computer monitors and digital printing often use
the RGB (Red Green Blue) scheme for colour rendition, but not
for offset printing, which uses CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow K [black]).
- rich media
- graphics which blend several formats, such as still, video,
animation and interaction
- rotating content
- web page content which changes automatically on a regular basis
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- S
- search engine
- an online service which catalogues web pages and presents listings
of site relevant to keywords submitted by the user
- search engine optimization
- a collection of processes with the goal of making a web page
or site understandable to search engine spiders, ideally to place
high on results pages
- send-to-a-friend button
- a button which when clicked goes to a page that allows the
visitor to put in an email address of a friend and send them
a prepared message describing the site and it's URL
- shopping cart system
- A database system allowing purchase of items from an online
catalogue
- site description
- a description of a page hidden in a 'meta tag' in the source
code - the text people will see in a search engine listing
- site map
- A text list of all the pages on a site, to help people and
search engines find their way around
- special characters
- some characters are interpreted differently from computer to
computer. Special characters must be referred to by an international
number if they are to be displayed consistently. Also called
'escape characters'
- site statistics
- information provided by the web host about visitors to your
web site. See 'traffic analysis'.
- 'stickiness'
- the subjective quality of how compelling a web page is, and
how likely it is that the visitor will stay longer, explore deeper,
and ultimately fulfill the objectives of the web site. Factors
that increase 'stickiness' include ease of navigation; fast loading
speed; clear and possibly unique content of use to the visitor;
and attractive (but not distracting) graphics.
- style sheet
- a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) document with centralized formatting
instructions for your site text and layout
- subnavigation
- links to various pages within a certain section of a web site
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- T
- tab-deliminated file
- When you want to move tabular data such as contact information,
you can export it from the program you created it in as a tab-deliminated
file. A tab-deliminated file puts tab characters in between each
piece of information in a record, and a paragraph character between
each record. This will make it readable in both spreadsheets
and word processors. Another option is the comma-deliminated
file.
- template
- a central document that establishes the page layout for a number
of 'slave pages'. This allows easy and consistent creation of
new pages, as well as site-wide corrections and updates.
- thumbnail
- a small version of an image which serves as a button linking
to a larger version of the same image.
- traffic analysis
- the process of deciphering site statistics. The main thing
would be to see how many people are looking at your site. Then
when you do a mail out or other advertising, you can see exactly
how big an increase in the traffic you get. The other big thing
is to see how many pages each person views ( a way to figure
out if the site is ‘sticky’ or not) and whether they come back
again later. If they keep coming back to one or two pages in
particular that will help you know their priorities. I’d give
this one hour to access the panel, look at the figures and give
you a bit of a breakdown on what’s there now.
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- U
- user-updatable page content
- portions of a page which can be updated by the site owner with
minimal knowledge of web development. Can be as simple as a text
file or as sophisticated as an online form-based system using
a database.
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- V
- virtual tour
- a graphic presentation of a space, such as a building, using
anything from slideshows to video to 360-degree animated panoramas
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- W, X, Y, Z
- web directory
- an online database of web pages organized by type. Some directories
are free to join, others charge for listings. By listing your
site in a web directory, you use the popularity of that site
to help build the popularity of yours.
- web host
- The company that maintains the computers where your files reside,
making them available to the Internet. This may or may not also
be your Internet service provider and/or domain registrar.
- web server
- the computer where your web site files are held and are accessible
to the Internet
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