Web Design & Advertising

Boot - This means to start your computer. So if you re-start your computer you are re-booting your computer. A COLD BOOT is re-starting your computer after you did not turn it off properly. If your computer hangs, freezes-up or just stops working ... you have no choice but to do a cold boot.

Browser - It is used to view web sites or a web page. When you are online a web site appears in the Browser. It lets you view your favorites list and it has a "back button", "forwward button" and a "home button". Microsofts Browser is called Explorer. Also, there is a Netscape browser and a web browser called FireFox.

Default - This is a selection (or choice) made for you, if you do not select from 2 or more choices. For example, if you buy soda from a fast food restarant and you do not mention whether or not you want ice ... the restaurant will "choose" to give you ice automatically. The selection is made for you. With a default selection, it is not always what most people want, but what is most benefical for the company (For example, a company adding an icon to your desktop.

Domain Name - It is the online name used for a web site. The domain name ends with ".com", ".net", ".edu" etc. For example, "Yahoo.com" is the domain name for Yahoo.

Download - To get an item sent to your computer. In other words, the item is being imported to you or delivered to your computer, but NOT to your cache or tempory files. It's important to know the extensions of commonly downloaded items. For example, if a person says he is sending you a photo in an email, but you see an attachment that says "pic.exe" then (just from the extension) the ".exe" lets you know it is NOT a photo.

Ecommerce - The Dynamics of buying and selling your products and services online.

Flash - It's a type of display or web design that shows a graphic in motion. It looks great, but your visitors may need to wait until it uploads to their screen. If the flash display is larger ... it will make your visitors wait even longer.

Form Page - It's a web page that requires people to submit text or information to the page. Visitors type text into a text box, select a radio button or select a drop down menu.

FTP - File Transfer Protocol; Its a program used to upload and download files from a server. Many FTP programs are free. It is much easier to send and receive files from one server to another server.

GB - 1 Billion Bytes. A Gigabyte. For example, a new desktop computer can have a 300 GB Hard Drive.

Header - The beginning of a document or the beginning of an email. Many headers you see with email are summarized or just shortened for your benefit. The header in a web page can include a title, keywords and a header graphic to give the wow effect.

Host - A company that provides storage for your web site. For example, if your web site is located on Acmes Server, Acme is hosting your web site. Some people use "server" instead of host.

Link - It is an item that lets you visit another web page or another web site. Also, the "Link" can let you download an item, upload an item, active a script etc. Many times a link is just a word, but it can also be an image. You do not need to click a link to activate it. Sometimes you just need to hover over the link to activate it.

MPEG - Motion Picture Expert Group; A file that is similar to a mini-movie.

Opt-in - This means to give a web site permission to email you. With some web sites, it all comes down to a box you need to check or un-check.

PIF File - a Program Information File. A file that provides special instructions to Windows on how to run a particular MS-DOS program.

Search Engines - Large Listings of web sites. These are the primary way people can find your web site. Yahoo, Google and MSN appear to be the top search engines.

Search Engine Optimization - This is an optimistic offer/quarantee to get one or more of your web pages to appear high in the ranks when potential clients look for your type of service (or products) on search engines. Each Search Engine has different ways of evaluating your web site and each web page your web designer creates. This service, act or quarantee is useful until other web sites in your market provide a better placement on the search engines.

Server - (1) The computer that stores your web site; (2) The software used to manage web sites online. Some people refer say, "their server" and mean their host.

Spam - messages emailed to you that are unsolicted. You should never respond to spam, unless you "opt-in" or if you recognize the service or product as credible. People are constantly expanding/altering the meaning, but the meaning stays the same.

Trogan Horse - A program that attaches itself to another program. It usually has a harmful action when triggered. It's similar to a virus or a specific type of computer virus.

WAV - A file with sound. Specifically, a non-compressed standard for digital audio. These files tend to be large.

Web Designer - A person that creates web sites. Some web designers are more concerned with creating an impressive looking web site at the expensive of advertising or attracting more clients for you.

Webmaster - The person (male or female) that oversees a specific web site. A web designer and webmaster can be the same person. Some women that web designers prefer to be called web Mistresses.