Glossary of Webdesign Terms

Canonical Name Record or Alias Record. A type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS), that specifies that one domain name is an alias of another canonical domain name. … A machine can have an unlimited number of CNAME aliases, but a separate CNAME record must be in the database for each alias.

a file extension for a text file, used by a variety of text editors. There is no standard definition of a text file, though there are several common formats, including ASCII (a cross-platform format), and ANSI (used on DOS and Windows platforms). TXT stands for TeXT.

a specification of data in the Domain Name System defining the location, i.e., the hostname and port number, of servers for specified services. It is defined in RFC 2782, and its type code is 33.

A mail exchanger record (MX record) specifies the mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of a domain name. It is a resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS). It is possible to configure several MX records, typically pointing to an array of mail servers for load balancing and redundancy.

The Internet’s system for converting alphabetic names into numeric IP addresses. For example, when a Web address (URL) is typed into a browser, DNS servers return the IP address of the Web server associated with that name.

is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). In HTTPS, the communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or, formerly, its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

a networking protocol designed for securing connections between web clients and web servers over an insecure network, such as the internet.

PHP or hypertext preprocessor is defined as an HTML-embedded scripting language that is used to write web pages. An example of PHP is a script that displays the date in a website.

WordPress is a free content management system used to build and maintain websites. Its ease of use and unique blogging features have helped it become the most popular blogging tool on the web. WordPress provides a web-based user interface for designing, publishing, and updating websites.

Short for Post Office Protocol, POP or POP mail is one of the most commonly used protocols used to receive e-mail on many e-mail clients.

Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between servers. Most e-mail systems that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the messages can then be retrieved with an e-mail client using either POP or IMAP.

a standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network. FTP is built on a client-server model architecture using separate control and data connections between the client and the server.

a web based hosting control panel provided by many hosting providers to website owners allowing them to manage their websites from a web based interface. This program gives users a graphical interface from which they can control their portion of the Unix server.

Stands for “Cascading Style Sheet.” Cascading style sheets are used to format the layout of Web pages. They can be used to define text styles, table sizes, and other aspects of Web pages that previously could only be defined in a page’s HTML.

an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers.

Hypertext Markup Language, a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages.

Semantic HTML is the use of HTML markup to reinforce the semantics, or meaning, of the information in webpages and web applications rather than merely to define its presentation or look. Semantic HTML is processed by traditional web browsers as well as by many other user agents.

is a software add-on that is installed on a program, enhancing its capabilities. For example, if you wanted to watch a video on a website, you may need a plugin to do so. If the plugin is not installed, your browser will not understand how to play the video.

Introduced in 1998, MySQL is an open source RDBMS (relational database management system). MySQL is widely used and a popular alternative to other SQL solutions because it is open source and can be downloaded for free.

Memory cache is a portion of the high-speed SRAM (static random access memory) and is effective because most programs access the same data or instructions repeatedly. By keeping as much of this information as possible in SRAM, the computer avoids accessing the slower DRAM, making the computer perform faster and more efficiently.