A thorough review of the most important web design terms will help you better understand the web design industry
A thorough review of the most important website design terms will help you better understand the web design industry and the terminology used by web designers. There are specialized terms in website design, and for anyone who is just starting out in website design or is looking for a web designer, these specialized terms can be very important from a technical perspective, especially the abbreviations.
Below is a complete list of the most important web design terminology that should help you better understand what web designers are talking about. So, with Itroz Digital Agency, I will review the alphabet of web design.
Essentially, this capability is for websites used by people with disabilities, including visually impaired visitors using screen readers, hearing impaired visitors without the use of audio, blind people, or people with other disabilities.
A website with poor accessibility is essentially impossible for people with disabilities to use.
Accessibility is particularly important for sites that provide information for people with disabilities (healthcare sites, government sites, etc.), although it is an important aspect to consider when designing any site.
An acronym for JavaScript and Asynchronous XML. AJAX is typically used to create dynamic web applications and allows for asynchronous data retrieval without reloading the page the visitor is on.
JavaScript on a given page handles many of the core functions of the application, making it more like a desktop application rather than a web-based application.
Text that uses a link to refer to your site. This can make a big difference in your site's search engine results.
The so-called backend of a website is the part that is not visible to users, but they can use its output.
The backend generally includes the information structure, applications, and CMSs that control its content.
Backlinks are links from other sites to your site.
They are also sometimes referred to as "trackbacks" (especially on blogs).
Backlinks have a huge impact on your sites search rankings.
Getting lots of backlinks from high-ranking sites can significantly improve search engine results, especially if these links use keywords in their anchor text.
A "bad neighborhood" refers to the server where your site is hosted. A site that is hosted on a server that hosts other sites that use spam or do not use SEO practices can be penalized by search engines for being close to those sites. In other words, be very careful about what web host you choose, what their terms of service are, and how much they enforce those terms if you want to avoid being penalized for what their neighbors are doing.
Linking to sites in bad neighborhoods can also negatively impact your search rankings.
Bandwidth can refer to two different things: the amount of data transferred or the total amount of data allowed to be transferred from a web host during a given month (or other hosting service duration) before additional charges are applied.
Generally referred to in terms of bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), or other metric measurements, broadband Internet bandwidth (such as dial-up) means slower data loads than high-bandwidth connections (such as cable or fiber).
This is a carry-over term from newspaper publishing. In newspaper terms, "below the fold" means that content is placed in the bottom half of the page.
In web design terminology, "below the fold" refers to content that is generally below the point visible to website visitors in their browser (in other words, viewers have to scroll down the page to see the content).
A website's BOUNCE rate is the percentage of people who leave the site from the same page they entered the site from, without going to any other pages.
This can be a good indicator of website navigation as well as the quality of the site's content (a very high BOUNCE rate is not good for either of these).
Breadcrumbs are like navigation elements that are generally displayed near the top of a site that show you pages and appearances prior to the page you are on.
For example, on a blog, categories might look something like Home > Category > Year > Month > Post (or they might be much simpler than that).
A browser refers to the program that a website visitor uses to view a website.
Examples include Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Internet Explorer.
CACHE/CACHING are those that are stored or copied (downloaded) by a web browser so that the page loads faster the next time the user visits the site.
CASCADING STYLE SHEETS stands for CSS, Cascading Style Sheets are used to define the look and feel of a website outside of the site's HTML file(s).
In recent years, CSS has replaced tables and other HTML-based methods for formatting and arranging websites.
The benefits of using CSS are many, but some of the most important are the simplification of a site's HTML files (which can actually boost search engine rankings) and the ability to completely change the style of a site by changing just one file, without having to make changes to the content.
CLIENT-SIDE refers to scripts that run in the viewer's browser instead of on a web server (such as server-side scripts). Client-side scripts are generally faster to interact with, although they can take longer to load initially.
Also known as a CMS, a content management system is a tool for managing website content that separates said content from the design and functionality of the site. Using a CMS usually makes it easier to change the design or functionality of a site independent of the site's content. It also (usually) makes it easier for people who are not designers to add content to the site.
In web design terms, a comment is a piece of information in a site's HTML or XHTML files that is ignored by the browser.
Comments are used to identify different parts of the file and as reference notes.
Good commenting makes it much easier for a designer (whether the lead designer or someone else) to make changes to the site, because it makes it clear which parts of the code perform which functions.
There are different comment formats for different programming and markup languages.
A CSS framework is a collection of CSS files used as a starting point for quickly and effortlessly creating XHTML and CSS websites.
They usually contain CSS styles for typography and layout.
Deprecated codes are obsolete codes that are no longer useful and have been replaced by new codes.
DHTML stands for Dynamic HyperText Markup Language, a dynamic markup language for creating interactive relationships between code and JavaScript, known as the DOM. A combination of JavaScript and HTML.
In GIFs and some other image formats, there is a limited color palette that is used for each image.
For this reason, not all colors are represented in an image.
Dither is used to approximate these colors by combining pixels of different colors together.
Abbreviation for Domain Name Service (alternately Domain Name System or Domain Name Server).
Essentially, this is what converts IP addresses into domain names.
DNS servers are provided with the IP address of your web server when you assign your domain name to those servers.
In turn, when someone types your domain name into their web browser, those DNS servers translate the domain name into an IP address and point the browser to the correct web server.
The doctype tag specifies the version of HTML used in a document. This has a direct impact on whether your HTML is validated or not.
Abbreviation for Document Object Model. It is a cross-language convention for representing objects in XML, XHTML, and HTML documents. The rules for DOM interaction and programming are specified in the DOM API.
A domain is a name by which a website is identified. A domain is associated with an IP address.
Domains can be purchased with any combination of letters, hyphens (-), and numbers.
Some domain extensions include (.com, .net, .org, etc.), the domain can be anywhere from 26 to 63 characters long.
The abbreviation for Document Type Definition is one of several SGML and XML schema languages.
It provides a list of properties, comments, elements, entities, and notes in a document along with their relationships to each other.
In general, e-commerce means buying and selling goods online through websites.
Products sold through e-commerce can be physical goods that require shipping or digital products delivered electronically.
In XML, an element is the basic building block of any document. Individual elements can contain text, other elements, or both.
IN
Em is a unit of measurement for the size of fonts and other elements on a web page relative to its parent element.
A 1em font is equal to the point size for the font already defined in the parent element (2em would be double the size; .5em is half the current size).
It is a CSS style written at the head of an XHTML document.
It only affects the elements on that page, rather than the entire site like a separate CSS file. The style in an embedded stylesheet overrides the styles from the linked CSS file.
The former is a measurement of the height and size of a font relative to the height of a lowercase "x" in that family.
XML is a markup language used to write custom markup languages.
In other words, XML describes how to write new languages (it is sometimes called "meta" because of this).
It also serves as a basic term that allows different types of computers and applications to share information without the need for different conversion layers.
Customizable icons are displayed next to the web address in the web address bar in most browsers.
They have 8-bit or 24-bit color depth and are saved in .ico, .gif, or .png file formats.
The front-end is essentially the opposite of the back-end.
This is all the components of a website that a site visitor can view (pages, images, content, etc.). Specifically, it is the interface that visitors use to access the site's content.
It is sometimes also referred to as the user interface.
Hexadecimal, also known as Hex, is a base 16 number system that uses 16 symbols to represent it. The numbers 0 to 9 are represented as normal (i.e., the same numbers as 0 to 9), and the numbers 10 to 15 are represented by the letters A (ten), B (eleven), C (twelve), D (thirteen), E (fourteen), and F (fifteen).
You see them most often used in CSS documents and color palettes.
Contrary to popular belief, a HIT does not mean a visitor to a website. A HIT is actually a request for a single file from your web server.
This means that a page can actually generate multiple hits, because each page generally has more than one file (an html or other main file, a css file, multiple images, etc.) and each is requested from the server each time the page is loaded.
The .htaccess file is a default directory-level configuration file on Apache servers. They are also known as "distributed configuration files". The configuration information contained in the file
.htaccess applies to the directory the file is located in, as well as all of its subdirectories.
In the .htaccess file, things like authorization and authentication, URL rewriting, cache control, and custom error responses can all be specified.
Abbreviation for HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTP is a set of rules for transferring hypertext requests between a web browser and a web server.
Similar to HTTP, HTTPS stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol over SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or alternatively, Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol. Like HTTP, it is a set of rules for transferring hypertext requests between browsers and servers, but this time over a secure, encrypted connection.
A hyperlink is a link from one web page to another, either on the same site or connecting to another page.
These are generally text or images and are highlighted in some way (the text is usually underlined or given a different color and weight). The inclusion of hyperlinks is part of "hypertext".
Hypertext is any computer-based text that contains communication links.
In addition to simple text and links, hypertext can also include presentation devices such as tables or images.
A meta tag is an HTML tag used to include meta data in the header of your web page.
NAVIGATION refers to the system that allows website visitors to navigate around that site.
Navigation is often thought of in terms of menus, but intra-page links, related links, pagination, and other links that allow a visitor to move from one page to another are also included in navigation.
OPEN SOURCE refers to the source code of a computer program that is publicly available. Open source software includes web-based and desktop applications.
Open source programs are generally free or very low-cost and are developed by teams of people, often consisting of volunteers.
PAGEVIEW is a request for the entire web page document from a server by the visitor's browser.
In other words, for every page view your site has had, someone (or search engine spider) has looked at that page.
PERMALINK
Short for "permalink," generally only used on blogs, a permalink is a link that is the permanent web address of a given blog post.
Since most blogs are constantly changing content, it again provides a way to read bookmarks or link to specific posts even after those posts have been removed from the main page or category page.
A plugin is a bit of third-party code that extends the capabilities of a website.
This is often used in conjunction with a CMS or blogging platform. Plugins are a way to extend the functionality of a website without having to refactor the original coding of the site.
Plugins can also refer to bits of third-party software installed into a computer program to enhance its functionality.
A property is a CSS term and is roughly equivalent to an HTML tag. Properties are how a style appears on a given web page.
It refers to the physical number of pixels displayed on the screen (such as 1280x1024). Unlike print, screen resolution does not refer to the number of pixels or dots per inch on a computer screen, as this can be changed by changing the screen resolution (which, of course, does not change the physical size of the screen). However, it is often referred to as the resolution of an image in terms of pixels per inch, although this has very little effect on how the image is displayed on the screen.
It generally refers to a section of code in an HTML page that makes the page more dynamic and interactive.
Scripts can be written in various languages, including JavaScript.
TEMPLATE is a file used to create a consistent design on a website.
Templates are usually used in conjunction with CMS and contain structural information about how a site is set up, but also information about how the site should look.
Valid web pages are those that do not return any errors based on the HTML/XHTML type specified in the doctype declaration at the beginning of the file. In other words, the code used on the page complies with the specifications for its version of HTML/XHTML.
This can be checked through various validation services, usually the W3C service.
A web page is a single document, generally written in HTML/XHTML, intended for viewing in a web browser.
In many cases, web pages include programming and other programming languages (such as PHP, Ruby on Rails, or ASP).
Websites are usually made up of multiple interconnected web pages.
A web server is a computer with installed software and a network that allows it to host websites and pages and make them available to Internet users located elsewhere.
There are a few different setups that can be used for a web server, including the LAMP setup mentioned earlier.
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