Glossary of Terms

In an effort to provide our clients with a better understanding of the more commonly used Internet terminology, we have created this Glossary of Internet Terms, Abbreviations and Acronyms.

A

Acrobat Reader :: Adobe Product, lets you view and print PDF files in your browser window. Adobe Acrobat permits anyone to share business documents across platforms with their original look and feel intact.

ActiveX :: Microsoft's OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) permits Windows programs to communicate with each other, such as changing the numbers in a spreadsheet which updates a chart in a different program. ActiveX is the Internet-workable version of OLE.

Address :: There are two types of addresses in common use within the Internet. They are email and IP or Internet addresses.

Address Book :: With your E-mail Address Book you can create and maintain a customized database of information about your contacts, including each person's phone number, fax number, wireless number and e-mail address. Each e-mailbox comes with a full-featured, Web-based address book that lets you remotely access your contacts from anywhere in the world.

Administration Manager :: Account Manager is a tool that gives you an organized overview of your account and the products and services in it. You may use Account Manager to update your personal and account information or make other changes to your account settings.

Adwords :: A system to advertise on Google & partner sites on a CPC (cost per click) basis.

Agent :: A software program (or command) that performs pre-programmed functions such as keyword searches, monitoring incoming data, etc. An intelligent agent can make decisions about information it discovers and take action such as alerting a user or starting a program.

Agent Name :: Synonymous with "User-Agent". This is the name of a spider or browser as defined by the owner.

Artificial Intelligence :: Software that tries to emulate human thinking, emotions and learning techniques such as a chess program that memorizes your moves, employs a strategy and makes comments about your tactics. Software programs, browsers, search engines, etc. will soon be "learning" about your preferences and methods of utilization, thus simplifying many repetitive processes.

Alert or Alert Box :: An audible and/or on-screen signal from the computer that demands a user's attention. An alert box usually accompanies most alerts requiring a response or acknowledgement.

Algorithm :: The sum of all factors that determine how a web page will rank in the search results pages of a search engine.

Alias :: An e-mail address that is forwarded to another address, or a group of addresses stored under one name, e.g. all_staff@companyname.com. A name, usually short and easy to remember, that is translated into another name, usually long and difficult to remember. Commonly used in the Unix realm to "abbreviate" verbose commands.

Aliasing :: The jagged and stair-stepped appearance of curved and diagonal lines of a graphic image. Filling in adjacent pixels can soften the jagged appearance with intermediate colors between the object and the background. This softening of the edges is called anti-aliasing. Software like PhotoShop can apply anti-aliasing for you automatically. It is often the default setting.

AlltheWeb :: Search Engine.

Alt Tag :: A tag that provides alternative text for the visually impaired.

Alt Text :: The text that appears when you put your mouse on top of an image or a picture.

AltaVista :: One of the first large scale search engines.

Anchor Text :: Also known as "Link Text," the text of a link or hyperlink.

Animated GIF :: Animated GIFs are the simplest form of animation and are supported natively by most browsers. Looping and minimal timing information can be set in an animated GIF, but complex animation is beyond this format's capabilities.

Anonymous FTP :: Allows any user to retrieve files from selected directories. Most anonymous FTP servers implement security measures to prevent users from accessing anything but the designated public information areas. By using the special userID of "anonymous" the network user will bypass local security checks and will have access to publicly accessible files on the remote system.

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) :: Defines the US standards for the information processing industry and represents the US on other international standards-setting bodies such as the ISO. ANSI was responsible for developing ASCII (The American Standard Code for Information Interchange) that encodes characters in seven bit units.

AOL (America Online) :: The default search engine for users of the AOL Internet service provider, currently using Google for search.

Apache :: One of the world's most popular Web server programs, Apache was built by a group of open-source programmers and is often used because of its outstanding performance, strong security features and the fact that it is free.

API (Application Programming Interface) :: A set of functions that can be called from an application program to access features of another program.

Applet :: An applet is a small program designed to run within another application. Java is one of the major languages used for creating Web-based applets.

Application Service Provider :: A third party that manages software applications for servers and networks.

Archive :: Moving a file, or compressing a file for long term storage or to save space.

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) :: A code used by most computers and printers in which letters and numbers are represented as a number from 0 to 127 and translated into a 7-bit binary code.

Ask Jeeves :: A meta search engine which can be asked questions in English. http://www.askjeeves.com.

ASP (Active Server Page) :: Active Server Page is a server-side scripting technology that can be used to create dynamic and interactive Web applications. An ASP page is an HTML page that contains server-side scripts that are processed by a Web server before being sent to the user's browser.

Attachment :: Attachments are separate files that are sent or received along with your e-mail messages. It can be anything from word processing documents to digital photos, from spreadsheets to Web pages. You can save an attachment on your hard disk to work with it as a separate file or view it later using another application.

Audio Streaming :: The ability to play audio as it is being received as opposed to downloading an entire audio file and launching an audio player.

Authentication :: Verification of a person's identity or a process validity.

Authorization :: The process of assessing a particular transaction's risk, confirms that it does not raise the account's debt above its current limit and reserve the specified amount of credit.

Autoresponder :: When a message is sent to the e-mail address with an active autoresponder, the message is automatically replied to with a pre-written message. Such messages are typically used for an Out of Office message.

B

B2B (Business to Business Commerce) :: Commercial transactions between two businesses. Historically, electronic business to business commerce has been handled via Electronic Data Interchange, but recently months have seen eXtensible Markup Language to gain in popularity.

B2C (Business to Consumer Commerce) :: Commercial transactions enacted between a business and an individual.

Backbone :: A high-capacity network that links other networks of lower capacity together.

Backdoor :: Refers to the "private entrance" around the security in a program or network used by programmers or technicians to perform maintenance or gain entry.

Backlinks :: The number of web pages that contain a link or links to a given page. Search engines that locate backlinks to measure the value of webpages include: AllTheWeb (Fast), Google (includes AOL and Yahoo), Altavista, MSN and Hotbot.

Bandwidth :: The amount of data transferred from one server to another. Most hosting providers set limits on the amount of data transferred, or bandwidth. The higher your bandwidth, the larger amount of traffic your site can handle at one time. On the Internet, it is usually expressed in bits per second (bps).

Banner :: An online advertising graphic.

Batch :: A group of transactions made by a Merchant during a specific period of time, usually one business day. Batches may include payment authorization requests, payment capture requests, or credit reversal requests. Transactions in the batch are electronically sent by the merchant to the acquiring bank for action.

Baud :: The speed of a modem, written as the number of transitions in modem signals per second. Each transition can carry more than one bit of information.

Beta :: The testing stage of a commercial software.

Binary file :: Any file that is not plain, ASCII text. For example: executable files, graphic files and compressed (ZIP) files.

Bit (contraction of binary digit) :: A single unit of information that has two values, 0 or, 1.

Bitmap :: A graphic that is defined by specifying the colors of dots or pixels that make up the picture. Also known as raster graphics. Common types of bitmap graphics are GIF, JPEG, Photoshop, PCX, TIFF, Macintosh Paint, Microsoft Paint, BMP & PNG formats, and TGA. See vector graphics for a different type of graphic and metafiles for a combination of the two types.

Blog :: Online journal. The term BLOG comes from Web log. Blog scripting allows someone to automatically post information to a web site.

Bookmark :: Saving the location of an Internet address for future reference creates a bookmark within the browser. A pointer to a particular Web site. Within browsers, you can bookmark interesting pages so you can return to them easily.

Bounce :: The return of a piece of mail because of an error in the delivery process. Mail can be bounced for various reasons. "Bounce" can also refer to the message indicating the error (informal usage).

BPS (Bits per second) :: A measurement of digital transmission speeds.

Broadband :: Any network (or frequency) that multiplexes different independent network carriers into a single cable or channel.

Broadcast :: The simultaneous transmission of like data from one to many destinations, one to all.

Brochureware :: A slang term for Web sites where companies have done little more than scan their companies brochures and mounted them on their Web pages. This is the first step many businesses take while learning to market on the Internet.

Browser :: Software program used to display information on the World Wide Web. The two most popular browsers are Netscape's Navigator (http://www.netscape.com/) and Microsoft's Internet Explorer (http://www.microsoft.com/ie/default.asp).

Browser Issues :: Often called a Web browser, it is simply a software application used to interpret HTML commands and display page content. The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape Navigator.

BTW :: An abbreviation for "By The Way."

Bulk E-mail :: E-mail sent to multiple addresses in one huge mailing. Usually referring to a UCE bombing or SPAM.

Bulletin Board System (BBS) :: A computer, and associated hardware, which typically provides electronic messaging services, archives of files and any other services or activities of interest to the bulletin board system's operator. Many BBS's are currently operated by government, educational and research institutions. Although BBS's have traditionally been the domain of hobbyists, an increasing number of BBS's are connected to the Internet. The majority, however, are still reachable only via a direct modem-to-modem connection over a phone line.

Buyer :: A person or organization that contracts with a Merchant to purchase particular goods or services.

Byte :: Eight bits forming a unit of data. Typically, each byte stores one character (letter or number).

C

C (and/or C+, C++) :: The name of a programming language so called because many features derived from an earlier compiler named ÔB' in commemoration of its parent, BCPL. Before Bjarne Stroustrup settled the question by designing C++, there was a humorous debate over whether C's successor should be named 'D' or 'P'. C is now the dominant language in systems and microcomputer applications programming.

Cache :: A temporary storage bin in memory and on your hard drive. Browsers stash the contents from pages that have been downloaded in the event they may be called upon to be displayed again.

Capture :: A transaction generated after the Merchant has shipped the order. It triggers the movement of funds from the Issuer to the Acquirer and finally to the merchant's account.

Cardholder :: The person to whom a credit card is issued. The cardholder uses a payment card that has been granted by an Issuer.

Certificate :: An electronic document which verifies that the owner has a relationship with parties involved in a transaction, such as a Cardholder that has a relationship with an issuing bank or a Merchant that has a relationship with an acquiring bank. A certificate authorizes its owner to perform certain tasks and authenticates the owner to other parties in the transaction, assuring that the party presenting the certificate is the same party to which it was originally issued.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) :: An accepted standard by which programs interface with Web servers.

CGI-BIN (bin, short for binary) :: The name of a directory on a Web server in which CGI programs are usually stored.

Clear Text :: The unencrypted, readable text of a message.

Click-through :: The process of a visitor clicking on a Web advertizement and going to the advertizer's Web site. Also called ad clicks or requests. The click rate measures the amount of times an ad is clicked versus the amount of times it's viewed.

Clickable Graphic :: An image or graphic with "active" areas to allow a user to click on it. An Image Map can have many different areas that are hyperlinks or "hot". These clickable areas are called links and can take you to different sections of a Web site or to other Web sites. For example, an image of a country might be designed to allow users to click on a city or region which will then bring up information or another Web page about that place.

Client :: A user's software program that interacts with a "server" and displays information based on the query from the user (client). A browser is a desktop client that requests information from servers located on the Internet.

Client/server :: A front-end client and a back-end server allows multiple workstations (client) to access the same server at the same time over the LAN. The Internet is a global client/server network. The goal of such a design is to offload as much processing as possible to the desktop, leaving the shared information at the server.

Clipboard :: A temporary staging area for copied information stored in memory. The clipboard stores information until you copy something else or until you exit Windows.

Co-located hosting :: This hosting option gives webmasters complete control over their server. You are responsible for providing the physical hardware and network administration; the hosting company will provide you with the rack space and Internet connection.

Cold Fusion :: A server-side scripting language from Macromedia/Allaire used in the creation of dynamic Web pages. Used in conjunction with HTML. When a visitor opens the page, the server processes the PHP commands and then sends the results to the visitor's browser, just as with ASP or PHP. This is a proprietary code.

Competitor Rankings Report :: A report that compares one Web site's rankings to another.

Computer Virus Counter :: A Counter shows you how many page views or hits occurred on a certain Web page on your Web site. Viruses are small files that attach to e-mails or downloaded files and infect your computer. They can be harmless (they can place a funny picture on your monitor) or dangerous (they can go through your address book and send everyone within your address book the same virus). More dangerous viruses can wipe out your computer and all your information. Some viruses can take over your machine and send spam from your computer. Without your knowledge, you can become a spammer.

Confidence factor :: The factor by which a search engine rates the relevance or results of a keyword query. See also weight or weighted results.

Connectivity :: The access method through which one is connected to the Internet. Connectivity choices are increasing rapidly.

Consumer to Consumer Commerce :: Commercial transactions enacted between two individuals.

Conversion Rate :: The number of people per hundred visitors that enter a site and do something other than just viewing it and leaving. Depending on the purpose of the site it could be filling out a form, sending you an e-mail, or even purchasing something.

Cookie :: A text file sent to a user's Web browser from a Web server. Cookies are typically exchanged back and forth between the two in order to prepare custom content for users, and to exchange data like registration information. Cookies were introduced by Netscape to preserve state information on the browser. This permits a site to recognize you on subsequent visits.

Counter :: A Counter shows you how many page views or hits occurred on a certain Web page on your Web site.

CPC (Cost Per Click) :: Clients pay for unique traffic generated to their Web site based on clicks generated by their search engine campaign.
CPM :: Advertizing term meaning cost per one thousand sightings or impressions.

Crawlers :: Also called spiders or bots (short for robots), these programs automatically visit Web sites, read pages, and collect information. Used often in search engines, crawlers can artificially inflate the number of page visits for a particular site up to 30 percent. The better traffic-analysis tools filter such visits out when creating traffic reports.

Cross Linking :: This is where the owner of two or more Web sites interlink the sites in order to boost their search engine rankings. If detected, cross linking often results in a search engine penalty.

Cryptography :: The process of protecting information by transforming it into an unreadable format. The information is encrypted using a Key, which makes the data unreadable, and is then decrypted later when the information needs to be used again. See also Public Key Cryptography and Private Key Cryptography.

Cascading Style Sheets :: A World Wide Web Consortium specification for designing layout and style elements of a Web page. It permits you to control the appearance of fonts, colors, sizes, etc. throughout the entire site by referencing one master page. A simple mechanism for adding style to Web documents. Not all browsers implement the full specification of CSS.

CTR (Click Through Rate) :: Advertizing term indicating the percentage of viewers who click on a banner advertisement.

Cybermall :: An online shopping mall such as IBM's World Avenue.

Cyberspace :: A term coined by William Gibson in his SF novel Neuromancer (1984) to describe the interconnected "world" of computers and the society that gathers around them. Today, cyberspace is the Internet and the tens of thousands of computers and networks that make up the Net.

D

DBMS (Database Management System) :: A collection of programs that is used to store, modify, and extract information from a database.

Data Transfer :: Data transfer is the amount of digital data that is moved from one place to another in a given time. Data Transfer is also known as Web Traffic or Bandwidth. When visitors access a Web page, data is sent from our Web servers to your visitor's computer in the form of HTML files, graphics, audio clips, etc. The transfer of these files generates traffic. Your total transfer is the sum of all in- and outbound traffic. The more visitors you have, the higher your data transfer will be.

Dead Link :: A link that produces a 404 error, page not found. An internet link which leads nowhere, probably because the server is down or the page has moved or no longer exists. Most search engines have techniques for removing such pages from their listings automatically, but as the internet continues to increase in size, it becomes more and more difficult for a search engine to check all of the pages in the index regularly.

Deep Linking :: A link to a Web page other than your index page.

Description :: Descriptive text summarizing a Web page and displayed with the page title and URL when the page appears as the result of a user query on a search engine or directory. Some search engines use the description in the description meta tag, others generate their own description from text on the page. Directories often use text provided at registration.

Description tags :: A meta tag that allows the author to control the text of the summary displayed when the page appears in search engine results. Some search engines respond to this information, others ignore it.

Decryption :: Decoding encrypted data to it's original form.

DHTML (Dynamic HTML) :: The next generation of HTML, the language that describes how text and images are displayed on a Web page. Dynamic HTML, developed by Netscape and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), is based entirely on industry-standard HTML and Java. New features in Dynamic HTML, such as absolute positioning and layers, give Web designers and developers much greater control over the look and feel of Web pages.

Dialup :: Connect to another computer by calling it over the telephone network.

Digital Certificate :: The common security standard for on-line transactions (SET), a Digital Certificate is issued by banks to each patron and each merchant to identify them as a valid transactor.

Digital Signature :: A digital code that uniquely identifies the sender and which is usually attached to an electronically transmitted document.

Director :: A Macromedia product used in the production of interactive applications such as games. Director files are compressed and saved as Shockwave files.

Directory :: A database edited manually by Humans. Sites are indexed by category making this feature the main difference to a Search Engine. Users can navigate through the categories to locate documents or information. Most directories offer searching options (which is similar to searching from a Search Engine) within its database.

Disk Space :: Disk space is the allocation of server hard disk drive space where your web site is stored and connected to the Internet. This space is used to store your HTML files, graphics, POP mail messages, etc. Anytime you upload something to your website, then you are consuming a portion of that quota. With our hosting plan , you are allowed 250 Mb and the average web site owner should have more than enough space!

DNS (Domain Name Service) :: The Internet's distributed database system used to map names with the appropriate IP address. The DNS is a general-purpose distributed, replicated, data query service. The principal use is the lookup of host IP addresses based on host names. The style of host names now used in the Internet is called "domain name", because they are the style of names used to look up anything in the DNS. Some important domains are .COM (commercial), .NET (network), .EDU (educational), .GOV (government) and .MIL (military). Most countries also have a domain. For example, .US (United States), .UK (United Kingdom) and .AU (Australia).

DNS Propagation :: Every time a new domain name is registered (or an existing one is transferred to a new DNS), the information about the domain and the DNS that hosts it must make its way around the entire Internet. This process usually takes around 24 hours, during which time the domain will be inaccessible to users.

Domain Name :: The name associated with the numeric Internet Protocol (IP) address of a site on the Internet. Most of the domains that we will frequent are (dot) .com, .org, .edu and .gov (i.e. www.studiodog.com)

Doorway Page :: A Web page submitted to individual search engine spiders to meet specific relevancy algorithms. The doorway page presents information to the spider while obscuring it from human viewers. The purpose of doorway pages is to present the spider with the format it needs for optimum rankings while presenting a more appropriate version to human viewers. Also known as gateway pages, bridge pages, entry pages, portals or portal pages.

Download :: Transferring or copying files from one computer to a local computer over the Internet or any other communications link.

DPI :: Dots Per Inch. The spatial resolution of a graphics image, how many dots per inch in a graphic image determine the quality of output. A high-end printer can produce 600 1200+ DPI while a computer monitor is only 72 DPI.

Dreamweaver :: A Macromedia Web-authoring product. Very popular, offering some very advanced capabilities such as automated JavaScript, simplified CSS programming and DHTML.

DSL :: Digital Subscriber Line or Digital Subscriber Loop. Often referred to as xDSL. It refers to several new digital technologies for fast two-way data connections over ordinary telephone lines.

Duplicate Content :: Two or more separate Web pages that contain substantially the same content are said to contain duplicate content. Google and other top search engines have set up filters to detect duplicate content when they crawl the Web. When pages containing duplicate content are detected, they are often assessed a duplicate content penalty which means a lowering of the page's ranking from what it would have received naturally.

Dynamic Content :: Information on Web pages which changes or is changed automatically, e.g. based on database content or user information. Sometimes it's possible to spot that this technique is being used, e.g. if the URL ends with .asp, .cfm, or .aspx. It is possible to serve dynamic content using standard (normally static) .htm or .html type pages, though. Search engines will currently index dynamic content in a similar fashion to static content, although they will not usually index URLs which contain the '?' character.

Dynamic IP Address :: An IP address that changes each time you log onto the Internet. Most dial-up connections.

Dynamic Web Pages :: As opposed to static Web pages. A fusion of HTML code and database information used to create Web pages. For example, a user can request information through a form to access information stored in a database, which will then be created on the fly and presented.

E

E-mail :: An acronym for Electronic Mail. A system whereby a computer user can exchange messages with other computer users (or groups of users) via a communications network. Electronic mail is one of the most popular uses of the Internet. See Snail-Mail.

E-mail Address :: The domain-based or UUCP address that is used to send electronic mail to a specified destination. For example, info@gravityfree.com is the email address for information about GravityFree.

E-mail Forwarding :: E-mail forwarding is a process to redirect your incoming mail to a specific mailbox. For example, if you have a number of email addresses, forwarding all your email to a single mailbox allows you to keep track of them much easier since you only need to check one mailbox.

Emoticon :: A combination of characters that form a facial expression. For example, if you turn your head sideways, the characters :) make a smiley face, and the characters 8) make a four-eyed smiley. Frequently used in email messages to convey a particular tone. If you wanted to jokingly insult somebody you could write, "I think you are a total loser :)".

Encryption :: Scrambling data so that only an authorized recipient can unscramble and view it. Encryption is used in secure Web sites as well as other mediums of data transfer. If a third party were to intercept the information you sent via an encrypted connection, they would not be able to read it.

Entry Page :: An introductory page linked to the home page used to create a first impression.
Ethernet :: The most common LAN transmission network.

Excite :: Regarded as one of the best search engines, with an index of 55 million pages. It can be slow to index new sites.

Exit Page :: The page where a vistor exits your Web site.

Explorer (Internet Explorer) :: Microsoft's Web browser.

Exposures :: The number of times a viewer sees an advertizing banner.

Express Feeds :: A term to describe Fast's express inclusion program, Inktomi's Index Connect service and Alta Vista's Trusted Feed program.

Extensible Markup Language :: A method for creating data formats that can be shared on the World Wide Web.

External Optimization :: Generally used to describe links found on other Web sites to one particular target Web site which increase that Web site's search engine rankings.

Extranet :: A close relative of an Intranet with the difference being that remote company offices not confined to the corporate location can utilise the Intranet via the Internet. An extranet is a network that allows a company to share information with other businesses and customers. It transmits information over the Internet and requires a user to have a password to access data on internal servers.

F

FAQ :: An acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. FAQs are a collection of online documents that list questions and answer on a particular subject.

Fast :: The company that owned AllTheWeb.com

FFA :: Free For All (FFA link pages)
Filter Words :: Words such as is, am, were, was, the, for, do, that search engines deem irrelevant for indexing purposes.

Filtering :: An automatic method of screening e-mail messages as they are downloaded from the Internet. An e-mail client can be instructed to deposit (file or trash) qualifying e-mail messages in various folders as they are received. A filter can look at keywords, addresses, domains, subject matter, size, etc.

Finger :: An Internet tool used to locate people on other Internet sites.

Firewall :: A piece of security software designed to protect Web servers. They are typically used to protect sites from hacker attacks/unauthorized access. A firewall is a combination hardware and software buffer that many companies put in place between their internal networks and the Internet. A firewall allows only specific kinds of messages from the Internet to flow in and out of the internal network. This protects the internal network from intruders and/or prevents hackers from breaking into the systems.

Fireworks :: A web graphics program from Macromedia, designed to be used in conjunction with Dreamweaver.

Flame :: To post an e-mail message intended to insult and provoke.

Flash :: A popular piece of animation software developed by Macromedia. Flash is widely used on the Web because it requires little bandwidth, therefore making it friendly to users with low or high-speed connections.

FrontPage :: A popular site design and management tool developed by Microsoft.

Form :: A formatted document containing blank fields that users can fill in with data. The data is then sent directly to a forms processing application, which enters the information into a database.

Frame Relay :: A communications interface that provides high-speed packet transmission with minimum delay and efficient use of bandwidth. It assumes that all connections are reliable and does not have error detection or control which helps to speed up the protocol.

Frames :: An HTML technique which enable a Web designer to break the main window of the browser into seperate panes or frames that can all be controlled seperately by the web designer. Although frames can be very useful for holding menus and controls, they can also be very confusing for search engines, and may not be indexed correctly.

Freeware :: Software that is available for download and unlimited use without charge. Compare to shareware.

Freshbot :: This is the name for the Google crawlers that are known to add pages to the Google index more promptly than others.

FTP :: File Transfer Protocol. One of the common methods of transferring files over the Internet. A typical method used for uploading files (pages) to a hosting server for viewing on the Internet.

FTP Account :: File Transfer Protocol. FTP is the most popular way of uploading files from one computer to another. With the FTP account you will login to our server and be able to copy files from your local hard drive to our server so you can view those files from the web.

G

Gateway :: Computer hardware and software that allow users to connect from one network to another.

GIF :: Graphics Interchange Format. Graphics Interchange Format - A common image format. Most images seen on web pages are GIF files. Developed by CompuServe. A common graphics format for Web images. GIF and .JPG (JPEG) are the most common Web graphics formats in use today. Animated GIFs are a group of images stored in one GIF file with programmed delays and transitions that created the illusion of animation.

Gigabyte :: 1000 megabytes of data. See also megabyte.

Google :: The most recognized search engine. Powers AOL and several other major search engines.
Google Dance :: An unofficial term coined to refer to the period when Google is performing the update to its index.

Googlebot :: The robot which index pages into Google.

Gopher :: A system allowing users to search for files via menus or directory structures. Uses plain English names and is text based only.

Guestbook :: Guestbook allows your Web site visitors to digitally sign in and make comments about your site.

GUI :: Graphics User Interface . Pronounced "gooey", a navigational command or menu interface designed to be self-explanatory and easy to use by pointing and clicking on text selections and icons. The Windows GUI interface, although originally pioneered in the 1970s by Xerox, is now the de-facto standard for American business.

H

Hacker :: A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular. The term is often misused in a pejorative context, where "cracker" would be the correct term.

Hash Value :: A shortened unique identifier for a string of text, generated by applying a formula to the string in such a way that is extremely unlikely that some other string will produce the same hash value.

Header :: Information that appears at the top of e-mail messages, and newsgroup articles that contains data about the sender and the message. The date and time the message was created, the computer path through which the message travelled and other information.

Header Tag :: An HTML tag which is commonly used for page headers.

Helper Application :: A stand-alone software program that a Browser uses to handle certain incoming files.

Hex Code :: The binary code name for a color used in HTML.

Hidden Text :: Text which is invisible to the human eye because it is the same color as the background.

Hit :: A single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server. Thus in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 'hits' would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics.

Home Page :: This technically is the index page or default page of your directory.

Host :: A computer that allows users to communicate with other host computers on a network. Individual users communicate by using client programs, such as electronic mail, Telnet and FTP. Every computer on the Internet with its own IP address is designated as a host.

Hosting :: Usually refers to a computer (or a network of servers) that stores the files of a web site which has web server software running on it, connected to the Internet. Your site is then said to be Hosted.

Hotbot :: One of the top 15 search engines.

Hotspot :: Areas in a Web document or graphic that are hyperlinks to other pages or URLs. E.g. banners, adverts, menus

HTML :: HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the language by which Web servers and client browsers communicate. All server-side functions (such as database processing), although they may be performed in another language, must eventually be output back to the user in HTML.

HTML Link :: A link from one page to another.

HTTP :: HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the protocol by which HTML files move across the Internet. HTTP requires a client browser and an HTTP server (typically a Web server).

HTTPS :: HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure. The secure version of HTTP.

Hyperlink :: A means of "jumping" from one information site to another on the same or a different network server.

Hypertext :: A document that contains links to other documents, commonly seen in Web pages and help files.

I

Image Map :: A graphic image (picture, map, etc.) in HTML that maps the pixels or an area of an image to a Web resource via a hyperlink. Clicking on a section of the image is the same as selecting a hyper-linked word or phrase.

IMHO :: In my humble opinion.

Inbound Link :: A link from another Web site to your Web site. Used to measure link popularity.

Index :: The component of a search engine or directory used for data storage, update and retrieval (i.e., the database).

Indexing :: The process of converting a collection of data into a database suitable for easy search and retrieval.

Infobot :: An automatic response to an e-mail or Web inquiry used to provide additional information about a product or service. (See autoresponder and mailbot)

Instant Messenger™ :: Web-based instant messaging software that allows users connected to your site to have real-time conversations and send files between them.

Inktomi :: A database of search results used to power multiple search engines.

Interactive - A Web page is interactive when it prompts a response from the user or in some way can interact with the user dynamically (eg; filling out a form or a poll etc).

Interface :: A mechanism through which outside components interact with software.
Interlaced Graphics :: GIF files that are interlaced permit the graphic to load gradually in the browser window, progressively increasing the clarity.

Internal Optimization :: A classic form of search engine optimization in which adjustments are made to a Web site to improve search engine results.

Internet :: A collection of co-operative networks and gateways that functions as a single, virtual network using the TCP/IP protocol.

Internet Access Provider :: A company which provides access to the Internet, whether through dial-up, cable modem or wireless. Internet access providers are often considered to be a subset of Internet Service Providers.
Internet Address :: An IP address that uniquely identifies a node on the Internet.

Interpreneurs :: A new breed of entrepreneur who develops Internet/Intranet businesses or applications.

Intranet :: A private, internal network that operates within the walls of a company and is usually insulated from the outside world via an electronic or hardware impedance called a firewall. The main difference between the Internet and an Intranet is that access to intranets are restricted to authorized members only.

IP :: Internet Protocol. The method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet.

IP Address :: Internet Protocol Address. The 32-bit address is the basic unit of information assigned to all participants in a TCP/IP network. The four-part number uniquely identifies a client, network or domain. The standard way of identifying a computer that is connected to the Internet, much the way a telephone number identifies a telephone on a telephone network.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) :: A world-wide "party line" network that allows one to converse with others in real time. popular text-base multi-user chat network.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) :: Short for Integrated Services Digital Network, a high-speed solution to moving data over phone lines. It can transfer data at approximately 128,000 bits per second over a standard land line.

ISP :: Internet Service Provider. A commercial provider of Internet access to the public.

Issuer :: The financial institution that establishes an account for a Cardholder and issues the payment card. The issuer guarantees payment for authorized transactions using the payment card in accordance with payment card brand regulations and local legislation.

J

J-mail :: Electronic junk mail.

Java :: A new object-oriented programming language for creating distributed executable applications. Hot Java is a browser capable of carrying out applet commands written in the Java programming language. Javascript and Java are unrelated programming languages.

JavaScript :: JavaScript is an object-based, client-side scripting language developed by Netscape. Embedded in the head section of a web document, It can produce interactivity to a web page dynamically.

JPG, JPEG :: Abbreviation for Joint Photographic Group. A compression and decompression standard for Web graphics. Unlike .gif, the .jpg format supports up to 16 million colors which makes it a superior method of presenting color photographs. JPG files cannot be animated or made transparent.

K

Kbps :: (Kilobits per second 1 kilobit = 1,000 bits) is a measurement of digital transmission speeds.

Key :: A password or table needed to decipher encoded data.

Keyword :: A word used to search for or describe information on the Web.

Keyword Density :: A measure of the number of times keywords occur within a web page's text divided by the total number of words on a web page.

Keyword Phrase :: A phrase which forms (part of) a search engine query.

Keyword Stuffing :: Stuffing a page with a large number of keywords or repeating the same keyword over and over again.

Keyword(s) :: The descriptive text included in HTML programming which is indexed by search engines. E.g. keywords such as motor, engine, tires, etc. would be included in a site geared to automobiles.

Keywords tag :: A meta tag that allows the author to emphasize the importance of strategic words and phrases used within a Web page. Some search engines respond to this information, others ignore it.

L

LAN :: An acronym for Local Area Network, LAN refers to a local network that connects computers located on the same floor or in the same building or nearby buildings.

Lead :: A word used to describe a customer's contact information. Many affiliate programs reward their affiliates for their leads instead of their sales.

Legacy System :: The existing system in use by a financial institution for processing payment card transactions.

Link [Hyperlink] :: An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link. Hyperlinks are the most essential ingredient of all hypertext systems, including the World Wide Web.

Link Popularity :: A measure of how "popular" a web page is on the Internet as measured by the number of inbound links pointing to your web page. Link popularity

Linking :: Placing a link to another Web page (usually on another Web site) on one of your own Web pages.

Links :: URLs placed within a Web page so that when they're clicked on the browser is served with a different Web page, often on a completely different Web site.

Listservers (Listserv) :: A software program used to manage e-mail discussion groups.

Load Balancing :: Distributing data across a network of servers in order to ensure that a single Web server does not get overloaded with work, thereby affecting performance.

Log File :: A file maintained on a server showing where all files accessed are stored. Log file analysis reveals the visitors to your site, where they came from, and which queries were used to access your site. WebTrends is an example of log file analysis software.

Logfile Access :: This allows you to view the log files for performance as well as for the number of visitors to your site. Log files can be used for reporting purposes.

Login Name :: A login name is the account name used to access a computer system. Also called user ID or user name, it is a way people identify themselves to their online service or Internet access provider. See also ' User ID .'

Looksmart :: Often confused as a search engine, Looksmart is actually considered a directory. Looksmart changed from directory submission to a pay per click model.

Lossy :: A term coined by graphics programmers to refer to a technique of shrinking file sizes by giving away some precision of detail. JPEG is the most common of these. By reducing the so-called quality of a picture when you save it, you can make the file size smaller. Many pictures can take a lot of loss of fine detail before it becomes noticeable on a Web page.

Lurk :: To hang around a Newsgroup without participating. A person who is lurking is just listening to the discussion. Lurking is encouraged for beginning users who wish to become acquainted with a particular discussion before joining in.

Lycos :: One of the top 15 search engines.
Mail Server :: A software program that distributes files or information in response to requests sent via e-mail. Internet examples include Almanac and netlib. Mail servers have also been used in BITNet to provide FTP-like services.

M

Mailbot :: A program that automatically responds to incoming e-mail requests. See Infobot or Autoresponder.

Mailing List :: An e-mail address that expands to multiple e-mail addresses. A mailing list is very much like a conference, except that the conversation comes to you in your e-mailbox. Each time you or any member of the list posts a reply to the conversation, it is distributed to the e-mailbox of every member of the list.

Manual Submission :: The process of submitting Web sites or Web pages to search engines and directories for inclusion in their databases using specific guidelines unique to each index.

MAPI :: Messaging Application Programming Interface. Is Microsoft's standard for the interface to e-mail.

Mbps (Megabits per second) :: 1 megabit = 1,000 kilobits) is a measurement of digital transmission speeds.

Megabyte (MB) :: Approximately one million bytes of data. A measure of data storage and/or data transfer on your Web site. One Megabyte = 1,000 Kilobytes. 1,000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte. For data storage and data transfer 10MB is roughly 330 Web pages viewed.

Message Board :: Enables you to create your own message boards so that the users of your Web site can interact with each other.

Merchant :: The party which offers goods for sale or provides services in exchange for payment. A merchant that accepts payment cards must have a relationship with an Acquirer.

Meta :: A prefix meaning "information about". Information about data, or more specifically, the descriptive information provided in Meta tags in an HTML or XML document header about that document. Active efforts are ongoing to propose standards for machine and human readable metadata to be used with web resources to aid in resource discovery.

Meta Search :: Searching multiple databases and combining results.

Meta Tag :: Information placed in the HTML header of a Web page, providing information that is not visible to browsers. Commands that instruct the browser or search engines to perform specific tasks, identify keywords, site definitions, page authors, plug-in requirements, etc. that are invisible to the user. The most common meta tags relevant to search engines are keyword and description tags.

Metafile :: A graphics format that combines the features of bitmap and vector graphics. Common types of metafile formats are CGM, Corel Draw CDR files, encapsulated Postscript EPS files, Adobe Illustrator, Word Perfect Graphics WPG files, PICT, and RTF.

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) :: A protocol that permits sounds from musical instruments to be converted to a program and read by a computer.

MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) :: A specification in multimedia documents.

Mirror Sites :: Multiple copies of Web sites or Web pages, often on different servers.

Misspellings :: People quite often spell words incorrectly when using search engines. Pages which use common misspellings will quite often receive extra hits, so it is a useful technique to include common misspellings of words in alt tags, keywords, page names and titles.

Modem :: Modulator Demodulator. A hardware device that connects to the phone lines that permits computers to exchange information. Modems convert binary data into analogue for the purpose of passing that data over copper phone lines.

Moderator :: A person, or small group of people, who manage moderated mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups. Moderators are responsible for determining which e-mail submissions are passed onto a list.

Mouseover :: A JavaScript element that triggers a change on an item (typically a graphic change, such as making an image or hyperlink appear) in a Web page when the mouse pointer passes over it.

MPEG :: Motion Picture Experts Group - A video file format offering excellent quality in a relatively small file. Video files found on the Internet are frequently stored in the MPEG format. Full length movies (like Top Gun) are available on CD and are stored in the MPEG format.

MSN :: One of the top 5 search engines.

Multi-tasking :: The simultaneous execution of two or more assignments by one program or the co-ordinated use of one program that performs many functions at the same time.

MySQL Database :: An advanced server-side relational database system, designed for corporate users or those with intensive transactions. MySQL is a relational database management system. A relational database stores data in separate tables rather than putting all the data in one big storeroom. This adds speed and flexibility. The tables are linked by defined relations making it possible to combine data from several tables on request. The SQL part of MySQL stands for "Structured Query Language" - the most common standardized language used to access databases.

 N

Name Server :: A server responsible for translating domain names and IP addresses.

Navigation :: The act of moving from location to location within a web site, or between web sites. Navigation is accomplished by clicking on text links or navigation buttons.

Net Abuse :: Net abuse can be either abuse of network services, or violations of netiquette. E.g. Attempting to "hack", or break into accounts, using an account for any illegal activity, sending unsolicited e-mail, spamming.

Netiquette :: The conventions of politeness recognized on USENET, such as avoidance of cross-posting to inappropriate groups and refraining from "commercial pluggery" outside the biz (business) newsgroups.

Netscape :: A Web browser (Navigator) and by default, the name of the authoring company. The Netscape browser was based on the Mosaic program developed at NCSA.

Network Solutions :: AT&T provides directory and database services for registered Internet hosts, while NSI administers the registration process.

Newbie :: A new Internet user.

Newsgroup :: A series of articles (postings) typically dedicated to a particular subject of interest. Also known as discussion groups. Usenet groups can be un-moderated (anyone can post) or 'moderated' (submissions are automatically directed to a moderator, who edits or filters and then posts the results).

NIC (Network Information Centre) :: A NIC provides information, assistance and services to network users. The Internet Network Information Centre (InterNIC) is a project administered by AT&T.

NIC Handle :: Each database record has a single field (its "handle"), which uniquely identifies it. To gather information on a particular handle, you can look it up by its handle with a handle-only search by using a leading "!" or by using the handle keyword.

Nickname :: A name that you select when you connect to an IRC server. Many users choose descriptive nicknames that have no relevance to their real identity.

Node :: A device on a network that requests or provides services. A node is also used to describe a network workstation.

NT (New Technology) :: Windows NT is Microsoft's 32-bit version of Windows. It is a stand-alone operating system (OS) that is also a network ready system.

O

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) :: Software that converts scanned images of text documents into files, which can then be imported into a word processor.

ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) :: A standard database access method developed by Microsoft Corporation. The goal of ODBC is to make it possible to access any data from any application, regardless of which Database Management System (DBMS) is handling the data.

ODP (Open Directory Project) :: A web directory owned by AOL, and staffed by volunteers.
Offline: When you are not connected to the Internet, you are offline

OLR: (Offline Reader) An OLR is a program that enables you to connect to an online system, download your e-mails, read and reply to them offline and then send back your replies.

Online :: Being connected to the Internet via an ISP or OSP. Used as an adjective to describe a variety of activities that you can do on the Internet, for example: online chat, online shopping, and online games.

Online Marketing :: A general term referring to all types of marketing online, including use of search engines, banner ads, e-mail campaigns and other online media buys to drive visitors to your Web site.

Optimization :: Changes made to a Web page to improve the positioning of that page with one or more search engines. A means of helping potential customers or visitors to find a Web site. Optimization may involve design and layout changes, new text for the title-tags, meta-tags, alt- attributes, headings, and changes to the first 200-250 words of the main text.

OS (Operating System) :: DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 98, UNIX, OS2, etc. are basic operating systems for computers. Also known as an "OS," this is the software that communicates with computer hardware on the most basic level. Without an operating system, no software programs can run.

The OS is what allocates memory, processes tasks, accesses disks and peripherials, and serves as the user interface. With an operating system, like Windows, the Mac OS, or Linux, developers can write code using a standard programming interface (known as an API).

Without an operating system, programmers would have to write about ten times as much code to get the same results.

Outbound Link :: A link from a page of your site to another site.

Overture :: A pay per click search engine.

P

Packet :: A set of data (a collection of bits, including the address, data and control elements) that is processed as a unit in data transmission. When the data reaches its destination, the protocol makes sure that all packets have arrived without error.

Packet Switching :: A method of transferring data in a network where individual packets are accepted by the network and delivered to the prescribed destination. Packets can be distributed in any order because the control data sent at the beginning of the transmission ensures they are interpreted in the correct sequence once received. Because each packet carries its own instructions, it can use any route to reach its destination.

Page :: An HTML document, or Web site.

Page Views :: The number of times distinct pages of a Web site are served.

PageRank :: PageRank is Google's patent pending technology that rates the "importance" of a given web page. PageRank is used by Google to determine a page's rank on a query results page.

Paid Inclusion :: Many search engines offer a PFI program to assure frequent spidering or indexing of a site (or Web page). PFI does not guarantee that a site will be ranked highly (or at all) for a given search term. It just offers webmasters the opportunity to quickly incorporate changes to a site into a search engine's index.

Parking :: All domain names have to be stored on a server in order to be purchased. Most domain registration services will therefore temporarily place a newly purchased name on their servers until a hosting plan is purchased or the owner points the DNS to a different site. This is known as parking.

Paths :: The navigation routes visitors take on a site--a particularly useful measurement of how difficult a site is to maneuver and the popularity of specific pages.

Password Protection :: Ability to protect any web pages you do not want the general public to view. It is used for private pages, member-only sites and for security reasons. Password protection tools are available with a STUDIODOG hosting account.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Engines :: This is a traffic generating method where a search engine or directory places your link in their searchable database and charges you a fee every time your URL comes up in a search and it gets clicked on. The amount of the fee that you pay is usually determined by bidding on keywords or keyphrases.

Payment Gateway :: A party which provides an interface between Merchant POS systems, Acquirer payment systems, and Issuer payment systems.

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) :: Handheld computing and communication devices.

PDF :: A file format exclusive to the Adobe Acrobat Reader that can be downloaded and viewed off-line.

Penalty :: A punishment levied against a Web page by a search engine as a result of using an SEO tactic that it doesn't approve of.

Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting Language) :: Perl is a server-side, interpreted language that provides much of the web's interactivity.

PFI ( Pay for Inclusion) :: PFI involves paying to have your Web site visited and indexed by a search engine or directory within a specific period of time.

PHP [Hypertext Preprocessor] :: A server-side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. Designed for Windows and Unix type platforms. When a visitor opens the page, the server processes the PHP commands and then sends the results to the visitor's browser, just as with ASP or ColdFusion. Unlike ASP or ColdFusion, however, PHP is Open Source and cross platform.

PIN (Personal Identification Number) :: A number, usually related to a unique payment card or debit card, which must be entered along with the payment card number to make any transaction. The PIN is equivalent in function to a password in that a user cannot use the card without providing the PIN. The SET 1.0 specification does not address cards that require PINs; the SET 2.0 standard will address this issue.

Ping :: The TCP/IP service that lets you check to verify that you can reach another network node from your local host. Ping is usually a quick test to ensure that your connection is valid. The command will return the time in milliseconds that a packet takes to make the round trip from your local host to the remote host.

Pixel :: Refers to how monitors divide the display screen into thousands or millions of individual dots to display an image. A pixel is one dot.

Plug-ins :: A software application that allows you to view different information formats in your browser window. Examples include Macromedia's Shockwave, providing animation, and RealAudio, offering streamed sound files over the Internet. Compared to helpers, the multimedia files do not need to be downloaded before shown or played.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) :: A graphics format designed as the successor to GIF. It features compression, transparency, and progressive loading, like GIF, but it is free of patent restrictions. Current versions of Netscape and MSIE support it.

POP Email Accounts :: Post Office Protocol. An e-mail protocol that mail software uses to communicate with mail servers. A method of storing and returning email. POP accounts can be assigned unique id's and passwords to ensure privacy.

POP2 or POP3 (Post Office Protocol) :: A protocol designed to allow single user hosts to read e-mail from a server. There are three versions: POP, POP2 and POP3. Later versions are not compatible with earlier versions.

Portal :: Similar to a launch pad or a default home page on the Web, a portal is a starting point for Web users.

POS (Point of Sale) :: A server that provides an interface between Cardholder software and Acquirer payment systems. It communicates with both cardholder and payment systems using messages that adhere to a specific payment protocol such as SET or SSL. See also Server POS.

Positioning :: The process of ordering Web sites or Web pages by a search engine or a directory so that the most relevant sites appear first in the search results for a particular query.

Positioning Technique :: A method of modifying a Web page so that search engines (or a particular search engine) treat the page as more relevant to a particular query (or a set of queries).

Post :: To send a message to a mailing list or newsgroup.

Posting :: The method of sending e-mail message to a Newsgroup or electronic bulletin board.

Postmaster :: The e-mail contact and maintenance person at a site connected to the Internet. Often, but not always, the same as the admin.

PPP (Point to Point Protocol) :: A communications protocol that allows dial-up access to Internet over telephone lines.

Private Registration :: When you register a domain name, your address, e-mail and phone number are published in the public WHOIS database. ICANN requires this personal information to be available for anybody to view on the Web. Private registration allows you to use alternate contact information rather than your own personal information for the "WHOIS" database when registering a domain name.

Program (Programming) :: An organized list of instructions that, when executed, causes the computer to behave in a predetermined manner. Without programs, computers are useless. A program is like a recipe. It contains a list of ingredients (called variables) and directions that tell the computer what to do. The variables can represent numeric data, text, or graphical images.

Propagation :: The process where name servers throughout the Internet add new domains and remove expired ones from their records. This can be a lengthy process, which is why connecting to a new domain name can often take three or four days.

Protocol :: Message formats (rules) that two or more machines must observe to exchange information. To print a document on a network printer, strict protocols must be adhered to or the operation can not proceed.

Provider :: An Internet Service Provider, or ISP.

PUSH Technology :: Information is delivered to a desktop or other receiving device in real time as new information becomes available. This is as a result of a user defining areas of interest, industries, and keywords via a personal profile with the PUSH service provider.

Q

Query :: A word or a phrase used to pass instructions to a search engine or a directory in order to locate web pages.

Query String :: A word, a phrase or a group of words, possibly combined with other syntax used to pass instructions to a search engine or a directory in order to locate Web pages.

Queue :: A list of email messages that will be distributed next time you log onto the Internet.

QuickTime (QT) :: A common video file format created by Apple Computers. Video files found on the Internet are often stored in the QuickTime format - they require a special viewer program for playback.

A QuickTime file is indicated by a ".mov" (movie) filename. http://www.apple.com
Radio button :: A round selection (check box) field in software programs and Web forms that when checked, looks like a knob from an old radio.

R

RAID :: Short for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, a method of data protection/backup. Data is stored over a number of servers so that information will still be accessible if a piece of hardware/software crashes.

RAM (Random Access Memory) :: Temporary memory that your computer uses to store information. Text copied to the "clipboard" is stored in RAM until it is replaced by new information or the computer is turned off.

Ranking :: The order that a web site is listed for a specific search term in a specific search engine. Search Engines utilize a ranking algorithm (mathematical formulas, variables, and set of weights) to determine a site's ranking for a particular keyword or keyword phrase.

Real Audio/Video Stream :: RealMedia streams allow for real-time transmission of audio and video files from your Web site. Network Solutions offers RealMedia streams. One stream is equivalent to one current online listener. See also ' Media Streaming ' or ' Streaming Media ' for more information.

Reciprocal Links :: A return link on your site to a site that has linked to yours. This is a proven way to build link popularity which is instrumental in getting high search engine rankings.

Recurring Payments :: A type of transaction which allows the Merchant to process multiple authorizations for the same Buyer. The two kinds of recurring payments include multiple payments for a fixed amount and repeated billings.

Referrer :: The URL of the Web page from which a unique visitor came.

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.

Register Domain :: To establish an Internet identity you need to have a domain name. In order to do this, you'll need to register a domain name. To do so, you can go to www.networksolutions.com and type your desired name in the search box and purchase an available domain.

Renew Services (Domain Name) :: To protect your domain name registration, it's best to renew your services before the expiration date with a multi-year term. Domain Registrars waive all liability in the loss of domain name registrations due to failure to renew services.

Relevancy Algorithm :: The method a search engine or directory uses to match the keywords in a query with the content of each Web page, so that the Web pages found can be ordered suitably in the query results. Each search engine or directory is likely to use a different algorithm, and to change or improve its algorithm from time to time.

Relevant Content :: Content or copy that is relevant to the users search request. If you want to rank high for a particular keyword, you need to have relevant content for that keyword on the actually Web page targeting that keyword.

Remote Login :: Operating on a remote computer, using a protocol over a computer network, as though locally attached.

Reseller :: A reseller operates components of a Web hosting operation using services, infrastructure and equipment provided by another Web hosting service. Some resellers operate full-fledged businesses using the hardware, software, network and logistical support of another Web hosting firm, while others simply operate as sales agents for other Web hosting companies, offering discounts and providing low-level technical support.

Resolution :: The resolution of an image describes how fine the dots are that make up that image. The more dots, the higher the resolution. When displayed on a monitor, the dots are called pixels. A 640 x 480 screen (resolution) is capable of displaying 640 distinct dots on each of its 480 lines, or about 300,000 pixels.

Retention :: The measurement of unique users who return to the same site or page over a given time. PC Data Online, for example, measures it as "the percentage of a site's traffic during the previous month that also came back during the current month."

Robot :: A computer program (also known as a spider, bot or crawler) that travels the Internet to locate web pages. It indexes the documents in a database, which is then searched using a search engine. Each search engine uses a spider to build its database.

Robots.txt :: A text file stored in the top level directory of a Web site to deny access by robots to certain pages or sub-directories of the site. Only robots which comply with the Robots Exclusion Standard will read and obey the commands in this file.

ROI :: Return on Investment.

Routing :: The process used on the Internet to deliver data packets to their intended destination. A router processes the data packet and reads the destination address included in the IP header then determines the next (router) stop that will take the packet closer to its destination. The process is repeated until the packet arrives at its final target.

S

Scooter :: The name of the Altavista search engine's spider.

Screen Capture :: A method of "capturing" a snapshot of your computer screen. Pressing the "Print Scrn" key on your keyboard will place an image of your computer screen in memory. Pasting (Ctrl V) that image into any graphics program will permit you to crop and edit that scene.

Script :: A script is an executable list of commands created by a scripting language. Scripts that are executed on a web server (eg; Perl, PHP) are said to be server-side scripts. Scripts that execute on your own home PC (eg; JavaScript) are said to be client-side scripts. Scripts can be embed within HTML to produce a web page with dynamic actions.

Scripting Language :: A scripting language is a simple programming language used to write an executable list of commands, called a script. JavaScript, Perl, VBscript are scripting languages rather than general-purpose programming languages.

SDK (Software Development Kit) :: The vendor-provided software API and tools which allow easy integration of software into an existing infrastructure.

Search Directory (Yahoo!, DMOZ, LookSmart) :: Search directory's utilize human editors to determine whether a site is worthy of addition into their large categorized indexes. Improved positioning is not obtained through internal Web site optimization.

Search Engine :: A tool for searching information on the Internet by topic. A server or a collection of servers dedicated to indexing internet Web pages, storing the results and returning lists of pages which match particular queries. The indexes are normally generated using spiders. Some of the major search engines are AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, Northern Light and WebCrawler. Note that Yahoo is a directory, not a search engine. The term Search Engine is also often used to describe both directories and search engines.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) :: Using search engines to let people know about your site and drive traffic to your site. When a person searches on a term that is related to your Web site, a brief description of your site with a link to it will appear in their search results. There are a number of different ways to approach Search Engine Marketing. You can also pay to be listed on search results (in a different area from natural, non-paid search results) when a key word you designate is searched on. This is called 'paid placement' or 'paid search results.' Yahoo!® Sponsored Search and Google AdWords™ are two programs that allow you to pay for placement.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) :: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes your site more appealing to search engines and gives them a better understanding of who they should send to your site. Optimizing your Web site should result in a high placement in 'natural search results,' or in the area where companies aren't paying to be listed.

Search Engine Placement :: Used to describe a Web site's search engine position in the listings of search engine queries.

Search Engine Positioning :: Search engine positioning describes attempting to improve a Web site's specific search engine position in the search engine listings.

Search Engine Ranking :: The position of a Web site listing on a search engine.

Search Engine Submission :: Registering a Web site with a search engine.

Search Query :: The keyword, keyphrase, or list of words that you type into a search engine to find Web pages on a topic that you're interested in.

Search Term :: A list of keywords or a keyphrase that a user types into a search engine to find a list of Web pages related to topic that he/she is interested in.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) :: SEM encompasses SEO, Web promotion, online media buying, basically any advertising designed for the search engines.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) :: The process of optimizing a Web page for high search engine rankings for a particular search term or set of search terms.

SEP (Search Engine Promotion) :: Also used to describe the services offered by most search engine marketing companies, Search Engine Promotion is the act of improving Web site traffic, brand awareness and rankings with search engines.

SERPs :: Search Engine Results Pages

Server :: One half of the client-server protocol, runs on a networked computer and responds to requests submitted by the client. Your World Wide Web browser is a client of a World Wide Web server.

SGML (Standard Generalised Mark-Up Language) :: Is an international standard for defining special document types and controlling presentation of pages. HTML is an instance of SGML. See also XML.

Shared hosting :: The most basic of Web hosting types. With shared hosting, numerous Web sites are shared on one server. While an economic solution, they typically cannot handle large amounts of storage or traffic.

Shared SSL :: Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a protocol that provides encrypted communications on the Internet. This is used primarily for financial transactions that take place over the Internet. Shared SSL provides secure Web server access without requiring you to purchase a digital key. This means you will avoid additional cost, but you will be required to access your secure content in a form similar to the following: https://secure.networksolutions.com/username

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.

Shelfware :: Software purchased on a whim (by an individual user) or in accordance with policy (by a corporation or government agency), but not actually required for any particular use. Therefore, it often ends up on some shelf.

Shell :: The user interface to an operating environment. Unix has several, including the Bourne shell (sh), the C shell (csh), and the Korn shell (ksh).

Shockwave™ :: A plug-in from Macromedia that permits you to view animated multimedia presentations on the Web.

Shopping cart :: A program designed to handle the e-commerce section of a Web site. Shopping cart software lets users browse for and purchase products online.

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 file section of a computer on which files reside; for example, a Web site, a Gopher site, an FTP site.

Site Analysis :: A system for search engine optimization specialists to assess a Web site's likely rank in search engine results.
Slurp :: The name of Inktomi's crawler.

Smart Card :: A smart card allows electronic money to be stored in a secure, but portable medium. It is a credit card with a built-in microprocessor and memory used for identification and financial transactions. When inserted into a reader, it transfers data to and from a central computer. It is more secure than a magnetic stripe card and can be programmed to self-destruct if the wrong password is entered too many times. As a financial transaction card, it can store transactions and maintain a bank balance. See Contact Card, Contactless Card, and Medallion.

SMTP :: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A protocol dictating how email messages are exchanged over the Internet. The set of rules that the Internet uses for exchanging e-mail messages. SMTP is a server to server protocol, so other protocols are used to access the messages. See also, Post Office Protocol.

Snail Mail :: Paper mail. The traditional mail service offered by the postal service and other postal carriers.

SPAM :: The act of flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Spam also can be the act of using any words, HTML code, scripting, or programming on a web page that is not meant to benefit the end user. Sending multiple, sometimes thousands, of unwelcome messages to a newsgroup or mailing list to promote a commercial product or Web site.

Spamdexing :: The alteration or creation of a document with intent to deceive an electronic catalog or filing system. Any technique that increases the potential positioning of a site at the expense of the quality of the search engine's database is regarded as spamdexing, also referred to as spamming or spoofing.

Spider :: An automated software program that traverses the Web to collect information about resources for later queries by users seeking to find resources; major species of active spiders include search engines such as Lycos and WebCrawler. Each search engine uses a spider to build its database.

Spidering :: The process of crawling the web, storing URLs' and indexing keywords, links and text.

Splash Page :: Splash pages are introduction pages to a Web site that are heavy on graphics (or flash video) with no textual content. They are designed to either impress a visitor or complement some corporate branding.

Sponsored Links :: Pay Per Click ads displayed at the top and on the right side of search engine results.

SQL (Structured Query Language) :: A standardized query language used for querying databases in client/server applications.

SSI :: Server Side Includes. Tells a server to include information (source from a separate file) in a document before sending it to the browser. A very effective method of producing the same information over many pages as one file can be altered to produce the changes over the many the pages that includes the SSI file.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) :: A protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. Many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers.

Static IP Address :: An IP address that does not change each time the user logs onto the Internet. An example would be an AT & T Broadband IP. See Dynamic IP Address.

Stop Word :: A word which is ignored in a query because the word is so commonly used that it makes no contribution to relevancy. Examples are common net words such as computer and Web, and general words like get, I, me, the and you.

Streaming audio, streaming video :: Technologies, which permit listening, and watching continuously as the signal is transferred to your system from a remote Web site.

Sub-Domain :: A sub-domain is a domain that is part of a larger domain name. DNS hierarchy consists of the root-level domain at the top, underneath which are the top-level domains, followed by second-level domains and finally sub-domains.

Subject Line :: The line in e-mail messages where you insert the subject being discussed. This is an important place to add "spin" to a marketing message.

Submission :: The process of notifying search engines or directories about a website. Every search engine or directory has a form to enable the submission of websites, varying from a simple URL address (for a search engine), to more detailed information (for a directory). Submissions may be made manually or by using automated software, although the manual submission is more effective for search engine placement.

Surfing :: Informal term for exploring the Internet (i.e., "surfing the net."). Most often used in reference to accessing sites on the World Wide Web.

T

T1 :: A category of leased telephone line service, allowing transfer rates of 1.5 Mbps (megabytes per second) over the Internet. A data communication line capable of transmitting at speeds of 1.54 Mbps. This is a US and Japanese standard for high-speed data transmission.

T3 :: A US standard data communication line capable of transmitting at speeds of 45 Mbps. Also referred to as a DS3, a T-3 provides the equivalent bandwidth of 28 T-1 circuits.

Tag :: An HTML tag is a formatting command written into a document that specifies how it should be formatted. A web browser interprets these tags and outputs the intended command (action).

Task Manager :: Powerful Web-based task manager lets you enter tasks each day and provides alerts to keep your projects on time.

TCP/IP :: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The protocol used to connect two or more computers, and it is the foundation of the Internet communication protocol. The Internet is TCP/IP, and usually it is implemented on top of UNIX, except at the final desktop destination, where it might be on a Windows, NT, DOS PC, or Mac. Also, three main protocols sit above TCP/IP: Telnet, FTP and SMTP.

Telnet :: A protocol for logging onto remote computers from anywhere on the Internet.

Terabyte :: 1000 gigabytes.

Text Link :: A word (or a string of words) in hypertext that is not accompanied by a graphical image. Connects one area of a web page with another area or with another web page.

Threads :: An ongoing message based conversation on a single subject. In a discussion group or mailing list, a message thread is a series of e-mail responses to a particular subject strung together as in "following the thread".

TIFF :: Target Image File Format - a popular graphic image file format.

Title tag :: An HTML tag with text describing a specific Web page. The title tag should contain strategic keywords for the page and be constructed following specific guidelines. The title tag is important because it usually becomes the text link to the page found in search engine listings, and because search engines pay special attention to the title text when indexing pages. Having keywords in the Title tag of a page can significantly increase the search engine ranking of the page for those keywords.

Traffic :: Amount of information being transferred. The number of visitors to a Web page or site. The number of visitors, hits, page accesses, etc., over a given time period. As a general term, it describes data traveling around the Internet.

Transaction :: Taking orders (usually via a secure procedure) and processing credit card transactions.

Transfer Domain Names :: Network Solutions can accommodate all types of domain name transfers, but it is important to note that the term transfer is often defined differently by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), registrars, and customers. The three most frequent types of transfers are: 1) Transferring your Network Solutions registered domain name to another provider's Domain

Transfer Name Server (DNS). 2) Transferring your domain name registration within Network Solutions. 3) Transferring your domain name registration to Network Solutions.

Transparent GIF :: A type of GIF image where one color, usually the background of the image, has been selected to appear as transparent.

Trojan Horse :: A computer program which carries within itself a means to allow the program's creator access to the system using it.

TRUSTe :: Organization which provides branded symbols of trust on the Internet.

Trusted Feeds :: This express indexing service offered by Altavista enables database driven and other types of Web sites to target multiple, pertinent keyword phrases.

U

UCE :: Unsolicited Commercial e-mail, or another term for SPAM.

Unicode :: Is a multilingual encoding mechanism. It that includes every single character for all languages, thus making it easier to process and display characters from more than one language (e.g. English and Japanese).

Unique Users :: Individuals, often identified through the use of cookies, IP addresses, or passwords, who visit a site. Compare with "Visitors".

Unique Visitor :: The number of visitors who access a Web site within a given time period (usually 24 hours) from a single IP address. If you visit the same Web site three times within a 24 hour period, your visits only count as one unique visit for that day.

UNIX :: A powerful operating system used on the backbone machines of the Internet. World Wide Web servers frequently run on UNIX. Pronounced yoo-niks, a popular multi-user, multitasking operating system developed at Bell Labs in the early 1970s. Created by just a handful of programmers, UNIX was designed to be a small, flexible system used exclusively by programmers.

Upload :: Act of copying a file from a local computer to another remote computer (server) for wider distribution. Programs such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) are designed to help users upload and download materials.

UPP (Universal Payment Preamble) :: Internet payment negotiation protocol that is an extension to HTT.

URL :: Abbreviation for Universal Resource Locator. URL gives a standard address for web resources. Every individual web page, for example, has its own unique URL which permits the browser to find that page. The browser reads the URL and goes to the page, wherever in the world it is located. The beginning of the address indicates the type of resource e.g. http: for Web pages, ftp: for file transfers, or mailto: for e-mail addresses. (ie http://studiodog.com)

Usenet :: Short for User's Network. The collection of the thousands of bulletin boards residing on the Internet. Each bulletin board contains discussion groups, or newsgroups, dedicated to a myriad of topics. Messages are posted and responded to by readers either as public or private emails.

User :: See Visitor.

User ID/User Name :: A User ID is the account name used to access a computer system. Also called login name or user name, it is a way people identify themselves to their online service or Internet access provider.

UUCP (UNIX-to-UNIX Command Protocol) :: This was initially a program run under the Unix operating system that allowed one Unix system to send files to another Unix system via dialup phone lines. Today, the term is more commonly used to describe the large international network, which uses the UUCP protocol to pass news and electronic mail.

UUdecoding :: The restoration of uuencoded data to its original form.

UUencode (Unix to Unix Encoding) :: A process used to convert binary files (graphics) to ASCII (text) so that they can be transmitted across the Internet via an e-mail attachment. The new WinZip utility features built-in support Uuencode.

V

Vector Graphics Ý:: Ý In mathematics and physics, a vector is a line, which has a defined starting point, a designated direction and a specified distance. Vector graphics are line-based graphics. Veronica A service that maintains an index of titles of items on gopher servers, and provides keyword searches of those titles.

Venue Ý:: Ý A word used to describe different Pay Per Click providers. For example Overture is a provider that sends its listings to Yahoo! and MSN among others.

Virtual Domain (or virtual server) Ý:: Ý A site on the Internet that exists virtually with other domains on the same network server that has its own IP address.

Virtual host Ý:: Ý A shared hosting solution, the most basic of hosting types. Numerous Web sites are shared on one server.

Virtualization Ý:: Ý A process/software designed to reduce server management costs through automation, while providing more control over service levels.

Virtual LAN Ý:: Ý A logical vs. a physical (wired) LAN made up of workgroups and individuals brought together for a particular project with most member's location being apart from the others.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Ý:: Ý A virtual private server provides the features of a dedicated server on a machine that is shared by other Web hosting customers. Customers therefore get hosting services that are similar to that of dedicated Web hosting without sacrificing privacy or performance.

Virus Ý:: Ý A program that when loaded infects, alters or destroys other programs. Some virus programs cause major trouble and some are nothing more than annoying pranks. Viruses are small files that attach to e-mails or download and infect your computer. They can be harmless (they place a funny picture on your monitor) or dangerous (they can go through your address book and send everyone within your address book the same virus). More dangerous viruses can wipe out your computer and all your information. Some viruses can take over your machine and send spam from your computer. Without your knowledge, you can become a spammer.

Virus Scanning Ý:: Ý PC viruses can cripple your computer or wipe out your files, and e-mail is now a common method of computer virus transmission. E-mail from Network Solutions is set up to detect and clean viruses from all incoming messages and file attachments (including those that are compressed) before they get to your computer.

Visitor Ý:: Ý A person who visits your Web site. Also known as a User. An individual who visits a site three times in one day is typically counted as three visitors.

VR (Virtual Reality) Ý:: Ý A place or event that exists only in cyberspace but is programmed to have the appearance of a real experience.

VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) Ý:: Ý A language similar to HTML in that it uses tags and elements to create web pages which support 3D graphics allowing you to navigate within a virtual 3D world.

W

W3C :: World Wide Web Consortium. http://www.w3.org/ Established in October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.

An international industry consortium committed to developing public protocols for the World Wide Web. Currently, the W3C is contemplating HTML 4.0 specs including XML, digital signatures and they are the developers of the Joint Electronic Payment Initiative (JEPI).

WAIS :: Wide Area Information Servers - A system of searchable text databases.

WAN :: Wide Area Network - A system of connected computers spanning a large geographical area.
WAV :: Waveform Audio (.wav) - A common audio file format for DOS/Windows computers.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) :: A protocol used to deliver Web pages to suitably equipped mobile phones and Personal Data Assistants.

wav :: Pronounced "wave", an audio file used extensively on the Internet and in computer software programs i.e.: filename.wav

Web :: A set of hypertext pages that is considered a single work; typically, a single Web is created by one or more authors and deployed on a network server with links to other servers; a subset of the Web.

Web Copywriting :: The writing of text especially for a Web page. Similar to the writing of copy for any other type of publication, good Web copywriting can have a great effect on search engine positioning, so it forms a major part of optimization.

Web Design :: The aesthetic and navigational architecture of a Web site. Web Design is the art and process of creating a single Web page or entire Web sites and may involve both the aesthetics and the mechanics of a Web site's operation although primarily it focuses on the look and feel of the Web site.

Some of the aspects that may be included in Web design or Web production are graphics and animation creation, color selection, font selection, navigation design, content creation, HTML/XML authoring, JavaScript programming, and ecommerce development. Web design is a form of electronic publishing.

Web Hosting :: Web hosting is an online storage service for information, images, video, or any content accessible through the Web.

Web Mail :: Web Mail allows you to access your e-mail account from anywhere using a Web browser. You should use Web Mail when you cannot access the computer that you have set up with POP access.

Web Page :: A Web page is a document created with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) that is part of a group of hypertext documents or resources available on the World Wide Web. Collectively, these documents and resources form what is known as a Web site.

Web pages can contain hypertext links to other places within the same document, to other documents at the same Web site, or to documents at other Web sites. They can also contain fill-in forms, photos, large clickable images, sounds, and videos for downloading.

Web Services :: Web services are self-contained business functions that operate over the Internet.

Web Site :: Collection of web pages that are linked together and that exist on the Web at a particular Web server. Exploring a Web site usually begins with a home page, which then leads you to the other resources on the Web site, but also to resources on other Web sites. Each web site has an unique Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

Web Statistics :: This is graphical information tracking visitors to your site, including the amount of hits your web site is receiving, where the visitors are coming from, what platform they are using, what browser they are using, how long they spent on a page, and usually it rates your most popular pages.

WebBots :: See robots.

WebCrawler :: One of the largest search engines.

Whois :: WHOIS is a directory of domain name information. When you register a domain name, your postal address, e-mail address and phone number are automatically published in the public WHOIS database.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit body responsible for accrediting domain name registrars, requires that this personal information be accurate and available for anybody to view on the Internet.

Windows :: Windows is short for Microsoft Windows.

Windows NT/2000 :: These are graphic-based, multitasking Operating Systems developed over the past few years by Microsoft. Both can act as standalone OS for personal computers/workstations, or can serve as an OS for a Web site/network. Most Web hosting companies and resellers offer Windows-based hosting in some capacity or other.

Winsock :: Winsock is a TCP/IP stack that allows you to use your modem to send data to/from the Internet. A Winsock interface is required for Windows Internet applications like Netscape, Eudora, Free Agent, and many others. Winsock allows true Internet networking via modem.

Winzip :: A software utility used for compressing and uncompressing files.

Wizards :: Software "question and answer applications" that perform a function after presenting the user with selectable options. A set-up wizard may ask, "Do you want white or black text," or "Do you want fries with your order?"

Worm :: A computer program, which replicates itself and is self-propagating. Worms, as opposed to viruses, are meant to spawn in network environments. See also Trojan Horse, Virus.

WS-FTP :: A file transfer program that is used to upload/download files and text to your Web site. Designed for non-programmers but sophisticated enough for power users, WS_FTP Pro is widely recognised as the fastest, most powerful Windows file transfer client application available.

WWW (World Wide Web) :: A subset of the Internet which uses a combination of text, graphics, audio and video (multimedia) to provide information on almost every subject imaginable. A hypertext information and communication system popularly used on the Internet computer network with data communications operating according to a client/server model.

Web clients (browsers) can access multi-protocol and hypermedia information (in some instances multimedia helper applications or plug-ins are required for the browser) using an addressing scheme. A Home Page or a Web Page is part of this World Wide Web.

WYSIWYG :: An acronym for What You See is What You Get. Pronounced "whizzy-wig".

X

X-BITMAP :: An uncompressed black and white image file format (.xbm).

XHTML :: Extensible Hypertext Markup Language - A reformulation of HTML 4.0 in XML 1.0. XHTML is a new language for building web pages that has recently been proposed as a W3C Recommendation.

XML :: Short for Extensible Markup Language, a new specification being developed by the W3C World Wide Web Consortium. XML is a language allowing developers to create their own markup tags.

All XML tags are defined by the programmer, and can be interpreted differently in different applications. For example, the "" tag in HTML means Italics, but could mean anything in XML, depending on the function the developer assigns to it.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) :: Like HTML, is an outgrowth of SGML that permits developers to control and display data in the same way they control text and graphics today. XML is not a replacement for HTML.

X-PIXELMAP :: An uncompressed color image file format (.xpm).

Y

YAHOO :: An acronym for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle, and Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/ was one of the first and remains as one of the best Internet search engines. This Web directory created by a couple of guys from Stanford and is the world's most used directory of Web sites.

YAHOO Directory :: The world's most used directory of web sites organized by subject. There are two ways you can submit a site to the Yahoo! Directory , Yahoo! Express and Free submission.

If you choose Yahoo! Express ($299.00 non-refundable, recurring annual fee), your site will be considered by Yahoo! editors within 7 business days. Free submission is available for non-commercial sites only.

Yellow Pages (YP) :: Internet Yellow Pages are online directories that let you list your business. A service used by Unix administrators to manage databases distributed across a network. Now known as NIS (Network Information Services).

Z

Zeal :: A Web directory which allows users to contribute non-commercial sites for free. Also allows plenty of deeplinks.

Zeitgeist :: Search patterns and trends according to Google.

Zine :: As in magazine, a (usually) free Internet publication.

Zip (zipped) :: A method of compressing files used often on the Internet are compressed or zipped in order to reduce storage space and transfer times. A zipped file will have a name that looks like "filename.zip". To uncompress the file, you need a utility like PKZip (DOS) or WinZip (Windows). The most popular Windows zip program is WinZip.

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