A must-know about computer and internet glossary

Things related to computing tend to have their own language. While you don't need to know everything, there are many confusing words and phrases that you will come across sooner or later.

Broadband. Bandwidth is the amount of data your website can send each second, as well as the amount of data your website visitor can receive. If any of them do not have enough bandwidth, the website will appear slowly.

For this reason, you should choose a host with a lot of bandwidth, as well as test that your site doesn't take too long to download on slow connections.

Browser. 

A browser is the software (see below) that visitors to your site use to view your site. The most popular browser is Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which comes with Windows.

Cookie. 

Cookies are data files that your site can save on the computer of someone who visits that site, to allow them to remember who they are if they return.

FTP. File Transfer Protocol.

 This is a common method of uploading files (see below) to your website.

JavaScript. A common language for writing website 'scripts', which are small programs that make the site more interactive. Another common cause of problems for visitors.

JPEG. Joint Photographic Experts Group.

This is the name of the most popular image format on the web, named after the group, that created it. If you want to place images on your website, you must save them as JPEG files.

Hardware. Hardware is computer equipment that exists physically. It is the opposite of software.

Accommodation. If you have a website on the Internet, then you will pay someone for hosting. It is the service of making your site available for people to see.

HTML.

Hypertext markup language. A type of code that is used to indicate how web pages should be displayed, through a system of small 'tags'. The 'b' tag, for example, makes text appear bold and the 'img' tag displays an image.

Hyperlink.

 A hyperlink is when a piece of text on a website can be clicked to take it to another site or another page on the same site. For example, if clicking on your email address on your website allows someone to send you an email, then your email address is a hyperlink.

Programming. 

This is when the computer receives instructions to tell it what to do, using one of many "programming languages." Programming languages for the web include PHP and Perl.

Server.

The server is where your website is stored and is the server that people connect to when they visit the site. Please note that server refers to both the hardware and software of this system.

Software. Programs that run on your computer or make your website work.

Increase. Uploading is when you transfer data from your own computer to your website. For example, you can upload your logo or an article you wrote. The opposite of downloading.

URL. 

Uniform Resource Locator. This is just a short way of saying "web address", meaning what you have to type to access your website.