Glossary: N-Z

Open Source

Open source is software that is freely available to the public to download, use, and modify at will. Unlike proprietary applications, open source code is modifiable by anyone.

Paragraph Tag <p>

The Paragraph tag is a HTML tag used to create, format and manage paragraphs of text. It is formed by opening and closing the paragraph tag <p> around paragraphs of content.

Payment Gateway

A payment gateway is a service that interfaces with the credit card companies, your website and the necessary banks to make a successful transaction over the Internet. Some payment gateways charge a monthly fee, while others charge a larger transaction fee or each product sold. Always do your research before selecting a payment gateway. They will be handling your money.

PayPal

PayPal is one of the more prolific payment gateways. They allow any individual to set up a simple account with an e-mail address and make transactions on the Internet.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Pay-Per-Click advertisements are a means of generating traffic to your site. You are charged a fee when a visitor clicks on a link to visit your website. This fee is determined by how much you have bid on a specific keyword or phrase.

PCI/DSS

PCI/DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a set of criteria required for all websites that accept credit card transactions over the Internet. Such criteria include: regularly changing your password, limiting access to sensitive information in your customer database, protecting card numbers, and regularly monitor network traffic.

PHP

PHP is an open source, server-side scripting language. It allows websites to process forms, send e-mails, organize users and pull information from a database.

Portal

A portal is online directory with a specific focus. It can show information about businesses in a particular field (vertical) or it can list businesses and organizations in a particular location.

Property (CSS)

A property is a CSS defined behavior of a selector. Properties can range from styling associated with borders, to color, to backgrounds, to margins.

Relative Linking

Relative linking is the means of linking to another file that's based on the location of the linking file. As a result, relative linking does not include the full path of the file that is being linked.

Search Engine Ranking

A search engine ranking is the location or place in line in which a website sits in relation to all similar websites based on a set of criteria commonly associated with a keyword or phrase. Websites with a high search engine ranking will appear up at the top of the list of a search engine's results. Visitors visit websites with a high search engine ranking over websites with a low search engine ranking.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the means of changing the code, copy, and content of your website to increase your search engine ranking. Modifying certain sections of a website or altering the code can have profound effects on how visible your website is to potential visitors.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate

A Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate provides an extra degree of security of users of an e-commerce website. SSL certificates encrypt sensitive information including credit card and billing information of consumers. They also provide extra information to users proving that you are who you say you are, further increasing the security of your visitors.

Selector (CSS)

A Selector is a HTML element that's styled with a Cascading StyleSheet. The selector can be a predefined tag or a custom element created by the user. Styles are then applied to the selector to make it look and behave a certain way.

Server

A server is a computer that hosts websites. A server can host several websites or can be dedicated to host a single website. This depends entirely on the requirements of the website. Bigger websites with more visitors will require more resources. In some cases, a single server will be composed of multiple computers.

Server-Side Script

Server-side scripts increase the functionality of the website. Aside from simply serving text, websites with server-side scripts are capable of a variety of actions including but not limited to: sending e-mails, storing information for later retrieval, processing forms, organizing online stores, and logging users in and out of a website. Server-side scripts come in a variety of languages including PHP, Perl, ASP, Cold Fusion and C++.

Shopping Cart Script

A shopping cart script is an online application composed of several server-side scripts. The shopping cart script allows website owners to maintain their online stores. It also keeps track of billing, promotions, products and customers.

Site Service

Site service's are companies that provide the means for people with little to no knowledge of websites to quickly and easily upload content to a website. They provide cookie cutter templates and basic functions to easily set up an informational or e-commerce website.

Social Networking

Social networking allows multiple people to connect and interact with each other online. Social networking websites allow users to share content with each other in a controlled environment.

SPAM

Unwanted Email. SPAM is the junk e-mail you find in your e-mail box covering anything from male enhancement pills to money scams.

Template

A template is a prefabricated layout or design for a website. The template is generally a collection of pictures and a Cascading StyleSheet. Templates are normally used with content management systems and site services to provide a certain look and feel to a site.

Text Editor

A text editor is a program used to create, edit or modify text documents. They're excellent for writing HTML and CSS by scratch.

Title Tag <title>

The Title tag is a HTML tag and it enables an author to title a web page. The Title tag appears at the top of the page. Only one Title tag is necessary for each page. This tag tells your visitors as well as the search engine what your page is about.

Traffic

Traffic is the amount of visitors your site receives. A very popular site will receive lots of traffic from visitors. A website that is rarely visited will receive very little to no traffic at all.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

A unique selling proposition (USP) is the core idea that separates you from your competitors. It's your creative twist on the product or services you sell that makes you stand out from your competitors in a favorable light.

Value (CSS)

A value is a specification associated with Cascading StyleSheet properties. Values define the specifics of how an element or select is supposed to appear.

Vertical Portal

A vertical portal is an online directory that supplies a list of websites associated with a particular subject.

Visual Editor

A visual editor is a software application designed to edit HTML documents. Instead of writing HTML by hand, you can use a graphical user interface to create, edit, or modify web pages.

Web Designer/Developer

These individuals or companies make custom websites for businesses and organizations. Depending upon the size of the organization, a company will usually hire different people to design the site as well as to develop it.

WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG stands for "What You See Is What You Get." This term is commonly applied to visual HTML editors, where you can create, edit or modify HTML documents using a graphical user interface instead of writing the HTML from scratch. WYSIWYG editors will not always display a HTML document as a web browser will. Test accordingly.

XML

XML stands for eXtended Markup Language. XML is used for transmitting raw data from a server-side script to either a client-side script or a Flash document.

Yahoo

Yahoo is a popular search engine and Internet portal. It allows users to search the Internet and browse the different directories that Yahoo provides.

Youtube

Youtube is a social networking site. Members can upload their videos for others to view.