Glossary of Web Design Terms (A-D)
Acrobat
Developed by Adobe, Acrobat is used to create PDF files, while Acrobat Reader is used to read created PDF files.
Aliasing
Aliasing is a common graphic design term which is used when a graphic file, computer monitor or printer has insufficient resolution to properly portray a graphic image or text.
Alignment
Alignment refers to the positioning or aligning of text on a webpage. Alignment of text can be set to ‘left’, ‘right’ or the ‘centre’ of a page. Website designers however tend to favour tables or cascading style sheets to obtain consistent alignment.
Animated GIF
An animated GIF file is a single graphic file created in the GIF format which consists of more than two images which rotate in a timed sequence to give the impression of motion.
Animation
Animation is when a series of graphic images or frames work to give the impression of continuous movement.
Anti Aliasing
Anti-aliasing refers to the smoothing of graphic image edges in order to prevent the edges of an image appearing to be jagged. The image is visually corrected by adding further coloured pixels to give the notion of a continuous line or curve.
Applet
An applet is simply a small program created to function inside another application. The applet begins when the page in which it is contained is downloaded. Java is one of the main computer languages used for creating a web based applet.
Authoring
The process of building a website is known as authoring. Authoring is a term commonly used to focus on programming and coding, but is occasionally extended to content creation of website as well (I.e. Writing text content and creating of graphic images).
Bandwidth
Bandwidth refers to the rate at which digital information or data can travel across the network. The standard measurement for bandwidth is either bits-per second (bps) or kilobits-per-second (kbs).
Banner ad
A banner ad is typically a rectangular advertisement which is located either on the top, sides or bottom on the main content page of a website. The banner ad is generally animated and often uses plug-ins, Flash or Shockwave to attract the customer’s attention. The banner ad is generally linked directly to the advertisers own website, thus making it an extremely popular marketing tool.
Blog
A blog is a contraction of the words ‘web log’ and refers to a website which contain short frequent updates similar to a web journal. The use of a blog as a marketing tool is increasing, with many organisations incorporating a blog within their website to frequently update and communicate with clients.
Browser
A browser is the software program used to access the web and view web pages. Two of the more commonly used browser types are the Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, although there are many other browser programs in circulations. Each time a browser program is updated it is given a version number. A common concern for web designers is to create a website which is compatible with as many browser programs as possible in order to ensure the widest possible audience have access to the website.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Cascading Style Sheets or CSS refers to a web language which enables the layout and style of a webpage to be defined. Thus using Cascading Style Sheets it is possible to define such things as the fonts, colours, alignment, and width of a webpage.
Content
Content of a website generally refers to the information provided in text format. However content can also in certain cases include graphic images, pictures, sand even sounds which combined create the website. Content is not however the design or the layout of the web page.
Content Management System (CMS)
A Content Management System or CMS is a system which enables numerous persons to maintain a website from various locations. This is usually done by using a web browser based interface which consists of a number of templates depending on the various types of information provided.
Database
A database is ideal for data which needs to be easily accessed and retrieved later. Managing accounts, user information, and even guest books are implemented with database.
DNS
DNS stands for ‘Domain Name System’. The DNS uses an internet protocol address system to convert domain names to IP addresses, and identifies each individual computer as a network point on the internet.
Domain Name
Every website is identified by one or more IP addresses and a domain name is the unique text name given to identify a website. I.e. www.netstarter.com.au is a domain name.
Domain Name Extension
The domain name extension is the text in a domain name which appears after the dot. I.e. with regards to www.netstarter.com.au the domain extension is .com.au. Other examples of domain name extensions include .net .edu. .gov .org .com and so on.