Web Glossary of 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
Address: The location of an Internet
resource. An email address may take the form of cowboyjo@uwyo.edu. A web address
looks something like http://www.uwyo.edu.
Applet: A program that can be downloaded
over a network and launched on the user's computer (see Java).
Alias: A second name for a web server.
Used to keep web addresses from changing when a server is replaced.
Anchor: Either the starting point or
destination of a hyperlink. The letters at the top of
this page are all anchors - clicking one takes you to another part of this page.
FrontPage calls these bookmarks.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A
set of 128 alphanumeric and special control characters. ASCII files are also known
as plain text files.
ASUWLink: A UNIX Server that houses student personnel
Web pages, renamed to Frontier during the summer of 2005. Its address is http://w3.uwyo.edu.
Bandwidth: A measurement of the volume
of information that can be transmitted over a network at a given time. Think of a
network as a water pipe - the higher the bandwidth (the larger the diameter of the
pipe), the more data (water) can pass over the network (through the pipe).
Bitmap File: A common image format (.bmp)
defined by a rectangular pattern of pixels.
Bookmark: A pointer to a particular Web
site. Within browsers, you can bookmark interesting pages so you can return to
them easily. FrontPage also uses this term for creating Anchors.
Browser: A program run on a client
computer for viewing World Wide Web pages. Examples include Firefox and
Internet Explorer . IT keeps a Software
Standards List of the currently supported versions of each browser that is
acceptable to use on campus.
CGI:
Common Gateway Interface - the
specification for how an HTTP server should communicate with server gateway
applications. (Not supported on University of Wyoming Servers)
Client: A program (like a Web browser)
that connects to and requests information from a server.
Dial-up Connection: A connection to the
Internet via phone and modem.
Direct Connection: A connection made
directly to the Internet - much faster than a dial-up connection.
Domain: The Internet is divided into
smaller sets known as domains, including .com (business), .gov (government), .edu
(educational) and others.
Domain Name: Allows you to reference
Internet sites without knowing the true numerical address (IP
Address).
Download: The process of copying data
file(s) from a remote computer to a local computer. The opposite action is upload where a local file is copied to a server.
E-mail: Electronic mail.
Exchange: Microsoft's integrated fax
and email program that is used at the University of Wyoming.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol - a set of rules
for exchanging files between computers via the Internet.
FrontPage: A Microsoft product that
is used to create web pages and web sites. It is one of the supported standards
for the University of Wyoming.
FrontPage Extensions: A
set of programs installed on the UWacadweb and UWadmnweb web servers that support features such as
discussion groups, hit counters, e-mail form-handling, and editing a web site
directly on a server computer.
GIF: Graphics Interchange Format - a compressed
image format commonly used on the internet.
Home Page: The first page of a Web
Site, sometimes known as the default page. Also, the Web site that automatically
loads each time you launch your browser.
Host: The name of a specific machine within
a larger domain. UWadmnweb is a Host Machine.
HTML: HyperText Markup Language - a collection
of tags typically used in the development of Web pages.
HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol - a set
of instructions for communication between a server and a World Wide Web client.
Hyperlink: A connection between two anchors. Clicking on one anchor will take you to the linked
anchor. Can be within the same document/page or two different documents.
Hypertext: Text that contains links to
other documents, commonly seen in Web pages and help files.
IP Address: Internet Protocol Address - every
computer on the Internet has a unique identifying number, like 172.1.24.2.
Internet: The Internet is simply
millions of computers around the world that are all connected your computer via
single Internet "line" very similar to your phone line.This line allows
computers to send information back and forth. This information is in essence
e-mail, web sites, file downloads, videos, music, etc.
Java: A programming language, similar to C++,
created by Sun Microsystems for developing applets that
are capable of running on any computer regardless of the operating system.
JPEG: Joint Photograhic Experts Group - a compressed image
format commonly used on the internet. Especially suited to art or photographic
imagery.
LAN: Local Area Network - a network of computers
confined within a small area, such as an office building.
Link: Another name for a hyperlink.
Link: Another name for a hyperlink.
Listserv: A brand name of an electronic mailing
list typically used by a broad range of discussion groups. When you subscribe
to a mail list, you will receive periodic email messages
about the topic you have requested. The University of Wyoming uses Majordomo as its mail list
program.
Mailing List: A list of email addresses
to which messages are sent. You can subscribe to a mailing lists typically by
sending an email to the contact address with the following in the body of the
message: the word subscribe, the name of the list, and your email
address. The University of Wyoming uses Majordomo as its mail list
program.
MIDI: Musical Instrument Digital Interface - a
high quality audio file format.
MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, a protocol for
allowing email messages to contain various types of media
(text, audio, video, images, etc.). MIME: Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions, a protocol for allowing email messages to
contain various types of media (text, audio, video, images, etc.).
Newsgroup: A particular section within the
USENET system typically, though not always, dedicated to
a particular subject of interest. Also known as discussion
groups.
Newsreader: A program designed for
organizing the threads received from a mailing list or newsgroup.
Network: A system of connected computers
exchanging information with each other. A LAN is a
relatively smaller form of a network in comparison to the Internet,
a world wide network of computers.
Online: When you connect to the Internet, you
are online.
Page: An HTML document on a Web site.
Pixel: Short for picture element - the
smallest unit of resolution on a monitor. Commonly used as a unit of measurement.
Plug-In: A small application which extends
the built in capabilities of your Web browser. Examples
include Macromedia's Shockwave, providing animation, and RealAudio, offering
streamed sound files over the Internet.
POP: Post Office Protocol - a method of storing
and returning email.
Protocol: An agreed upon set of rules by
which computers exchange information.
Quicktime: A common multimedia file format
created by Apple Computer. Multimedia files found on the Internet are often stored
in the QuickTime format - they require a special viewer program for playback.
Real Audio/Video: A common multimedia file format created
by RealNetworks. Multimedia content on the web is often delivered in this format
via the RealPlayer playback program.
Register: With shareware,
when you contact the vendor and pay for the product, you are registering.
In return, you will receive either a password to turn off the nag notices
or a copy of the full commercial version.
Redirect: An autoforward. University of
Wyoming Servers use redirects to simplify web addresses. For example, entering www.uwyo.edu/infotech will redirect you to
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/infotech.
Search Engine: A tool for searching
information on the Internet by topic. Popular engines include Lycos, Yahoo!,
AltaVista, Excite and GoTo.com.
Server: One half of the client-server protocol, runs on a
networked computer and responds to requests submitted by the client. The majority
of the University of Wyoming Servers are Windows NT. Your World Wide Web brower is
a client of a World Wide Web server. Server: One half of the
client-server protocol, runs on a networked computer and responds to requests
submitted by the client. The majority of the University of Wyoming Servers are
Windows NT. Your World Wide Web brower is a client of a World Wide Web server.
Shareware: Software that is available
on a free limited trial basis. Sometimes this is a fully featured product, other
times it lacks some of the features of the commerical version. If you find the
product useful, you are expected to register the software,
for which in return you will receive the full featured commercial version.
Signature: A personal tag
automatically appended to an email message. May be short, such as the author's
name, or quite long, such as a favorite quote.
Site: A collection of related Web pages.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - a
protocol dictating how email messages are exchanged over the
Internet.
SPAM: Non-Internet: Delicious "meat"
in a can! Internet: Sending multiple, sometimes thousands, of unwelcome messages
to a newsgroup or mailing list
to promote a commercial product or Web site.
Subscribe: To become of a member of.
One can subscribe to a mailing list.
T1: A category of leased telephone line
service, allowing high speed transfer rates over the Internet.
TCP/IP: Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol - this protocol is the foundation of the Internet, an
agreed upon set of rules directing computers on how to exchange information with
each other.
Telnet: A protocol for logging onto
remote computers from anywhere on the Internet.
UNIX: A powerful operating system used on
the backbone machines of the Internet. UW's Frontier server is a Sun
UNIX Box running Solaris OS
Upload: To copy a file from a local
computer connected to the Internet to a remote computer. Opposite is download.
URL: Uniform Resource Locator - the method
by which Internet sites are addressed. An example would be
"http://www.uwyo.edu", the URL of the University of Wyoming Home page.
UWAdmnWeb.uwyo.edu:
administrative web server (formerly Marshal) that supports FrontPage extensions.
UWAcadWeb.uwyo.edu:
the academic web server (formerly August) that supports FrontPage extensions.
Visit: Synonymous with viewing a World
Wide Web site.
WAV: Waveform Audio (.wav) WAV: Waveform
Audio (.wav) - a common audio file format for DOS/Windows computers.
WWW: World Wide Web, or simply Web. A subset
of the Internet which uses a combination of text, graphics, audio and video
(multimedia) to provide information on most every subject imaginable.
WEB BROWSER: A program run on a client computer for viewing
World Wide Web pages. Examples include Firefox and Internet Explorer.
UW IT keeps a Software Standards List of the
currently supported versions of each browser that is acceptable to use on campus.
Wrangler: The main web server for the University of Wyoming.
Its address is www.uwyo.edu.
ZIP: A compressed file format (.zip). Many
files available on the Internet are compressed or zipped in order to
reduce storage space and transfer times. To uncompress the file, you need a
utility like WinZip (Windows).
Also a large capacity disk, known as a Zip Disk, which can be read by a Zip
Drive, developed by Iomega.
