If you
have ever seen a word and not known what it meant then you will know
our
frustration when it happens to us. To combat this the
Globally
Local team have compiled this glossary of terms to help you get the
most out of your hosting and domain experience.
File
not found. A 404 page can be customized to fit with the theme
of your site. 404 errors in your log can indicate bad links
on your site or on another site.
Affiliate
Program
A partnership whereby
the promoter gets a
return based upon actual results
Affiliate programs
(such as More
Niche) are a great way to monitise otherwise unpaid content.
You should consider, before selection an affiliate program,
what sort of product would best suit your site. For more
information check out the free ebook: "The
Insider's Guide to Affiliate
Marketing"
API
A
method by which
you can access the power of another system. Web service API
allow you to use the power of the service on your site without the code
base or processing associated with running the service.
A
package or system that automatically sends an email in reply to an
email sent to a nominated email address under your control.
With hosting this
is usually an email address on your domain
name.
Bandwidth
Within
the context of hosting this refers to how much data you can transmit in
a given time scale (usually a month).
Bits and Bytes
Space
is measured in bytes but
bandwidth is measured in bits often this is a
number that is 1024 times itself s times (1024^3) called a Gig (Gbit or
Gbyte). This serves only to confuse the issue as the two do not readily
relate to each other. A byte being 8 bits on the whole.
Blog
A
site where articles are added on a regular basis with the newest
articles being at the top of the page. Typically blogs are
written in an informal style and have one or more similarities to a
journal. It is common to find site feeds and commenting
systems on blogs as well as trackbacks and other notification systems.
Blogging
The
act of adding to or maintaining a blog.
Byte
A
small collection of 0s and 1s - this collection is usually 8 of them
but other byte sizes have been used. A byte is the smallest
functional unit of meaningful data on a computer.
Comments
Some
sites choose to enable commenting by visitors. This creates a
more community like expirence but has issues (like spam) that must also
be addressed.
CPM
Advert
pricing method. Cost Per Thousand (banner) Impressions.
Domain
name
Consider www.globallylocal.com the domain name
is globallylocal.com and had to be registered bbefore use. Only
one person can register any given domain name at any given time.
(Help
picking a name)
EULA
End
User License Agreement - like the TOS
this places conditions on the use
of a product or service. Example: the Windows
XP EULA forbids
the making and selling copies of the software.
Forum
a
site where people can leave and reply to messages as well as read
messages others have written. Messages are often arranged as
"posts" with the replies underneath.
FTP
File
Transfer Protocol. Used for putting your files onto the
shared hosting or
other server. You will need a special FTP
program to take advantage of this ability. (Get
one for free)
GB
Gigabyte
- one GB is worth 1024 MB or over
710 floppy disks. This is
the space your files take up. The more images, videos,
scripts and HTML documents you wish to place on your server or hosting
account, the more GB or space you will need.
Gbit
This
is a measure of bandwidth.
It is used to indicate both the
speed of the pipeline (Gb/Sec) and also the amount of data transfered
in a given time period. See also "bits
and bytes"
GHz
This
is the speed of the processor on a server or PC. It is often
quoted as an indication of processing power.
Gig
Short
hand used to refer to GHz
(GigaHertz), GB (Gigabytes) and Gbit
(Gigabits) each is used to measure something different and so the
meaning is dependent on context.
It can also be used to refer to an appointment for
a musical
band to play at a venue.
Google®
AdWords®
A PPC advertising system that
allows website owners to earn money or promote their site on other
people's. Globally Local
currently offer a free advertising
credit for new customers.
Hosting
When
you make a web site it needs to be placed somewhere that people can
access via the Internet. When a company provides you space on
a server they are said to be hosting your site. (hosting types and prices)
IP
Address
A number used to uniquely identify a
computer on a network. Your website may have a dedicated IP
or may share one depending on the hosting plan you choose.
Java
What
is known as a virtual machine. Programs written in Java
should in theory run on any computer based system with the Java Runtime.
Javascript
Nothing
to do with Java. Javascript is used to create
dynamic changes within a web page.
KB
Kilobyte.
There are 1024 KB in a MB.
Used to measure space
taken by files.
Linux
An
operating system that, while not very popular for home users, is very
popular for running web sites. Linux has the greater number
of free scripts, software and languages for website creation when
compared to Windows. See
Also: Hosting.
MySQL
Database
One
of the most popular data base systems for use with PHP. It is
used to store the information as part of a web application such as
Forums, Blogs
or Photo Galleries.
MB
Megabyte.
There are 1024 KB in a GB.
Used to measure space
taken by files.
Number of
Addresses
A limit to the number of email in boxes
you may set up for your domain on your hosting account.
Online
You
are online when connected to the Internet.
Photo
Gallery
A site where photographs and other digital
images are uploaded, stored, manipulated and displayed. Such
software is available with hosting
packages from Globally Local.
Podcast
A
way of adding audio to a site feed such that it can be downloaded to
your MP3 player automatically and listened to later. Think DIY radio
show.
Pay
Per Click - this is an advertising model that unlike PPA
pays for each
click made on the advert without reference to the actions that follow
the click.
Quick Blog
A
Globally Local blogging
package for minimum fuss. (more)
Quick
Podcast
A Globally Local podcasting
package for
minimum fuss. (more)
Reseller
A
method
of earning money that gives you much more control than
an affiliate program
would. You can usually rebrand and format
the product or service you are selling as if you are the provider.
Resale packages can be very profitable.
RSS
A
common format for Site Feeds. RSS comes in a number of
flavors and although most readers can deal with each each version is
quite different.
RSS Aggregator
A
site or program that draws on several feeds and combines them into a
single page for ease of access.
RSS Reader
A
program for reading one or more site feeds from your desktop.
Feeds can be saved offline for later viewing. (Where
can I get one?)
Shared Hosting
Where
the different hosted sites all exist on a single server which they must
share. Most budget hosting
is shared. (prices)
Site
Feed
An XML
version of the content or data
of a site for use off site at other sites or on personal computers.
Common formats are RSS
and ATOM.
Spam
Messages
or content that has nothing to do with the topic at hand - spam is
often added in bulk by automated systems.
TOS
Terms
of Service - the conditions under which the service is offered and the
limits placed on it. See also: EULA
Trackback
An
XML based site to site API that allows one blog (or other
site) to
alert another that it has been linked to.
UI
User
Interface. It is the totality of image and text used by users to
interact with your system. A website is a UI for the
information it contains.
Virtual Private
Server - not as expensive as the real thing but containing all the
features of a real server. (prices)
Website
A
collection of pages of similar content grouped together and accessed
via the world wide web.
Windows
Microsoft's
system that runs a computer (operating system). When it comes
to websites windows is the specialist choice having less freely
available packages. If in doubt choose Linux
for your website.
X-Rated
This
is sometimes used to indicate adult or pornographic content which may
be forbidden under some terms and conditions. You should
check the TOS and any EULA if you wish to host X-Rated
content before
you sign up.
XML
A
standardized
markup language that can be extended with ease to suit any situation.
Site feeds are formatted with XML. Can also act as
the transport layer in in some advanced web service API.
Your
Account
Where you access your information and make
changes to your settings.
Zip
A
compressed file archive used to store files so that they take up less
space. A zip file must be unzipped before it can be used.
2Pricing
displayed in euros or pounds is estimated. The transaction will occur in US
dollars and due to the time delay between purchase and payment
settlement, the actual price charged may fluctuate.
