A

Adminitration Area - A separate section of a website which allows users to perform various tasks on a website. This section is usually protected by requiring a username and password to log in.

B

Blog - This is short for a weblog. A website which entries can be displayed in reverse chronological order.

Browser - Also known as a web browser. This is what you use to view websites with. Common web browsers are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Netscape.

C

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) - Coding which is used to more accurately define the look of a website. Many times the CSS is stored in a separate file, so if the website designer wanted to change the color of all of the text on their or their client's website, they could just modify the CSS file. If there wasn't a separate CSS file which controlled the look of a website, and say for instance, the web designer needed to change the color of the website links, he or she would have to change the color of the links in every single webpage file.

Content Management System (CMS) - A website which has an administrative interface which allows an administrator or administrators to update the content on the website. Popular open source content management systems are Joomla, Mambo, and PHP Nuke.

D

Domain Name - This is your .com, .net, and .org name. There are other extensions, but these are the most common.

O

Online Shopping Cart - Whenever you go to an online store and click the Add to Cart button, you'll see a page which shows your order total with shipping and handling or you'll see your order total on the same page in a small section. An online shopping cart keeps track of what you want to buy.

S

Server Side Coding - Code written in languages such as ASP.net, PHP, and Perl to name just a few.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate - This is used on website which ask for sensitive information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, bank account information, etc. A SSL certificate will protect your information online from being read by a third party. If a site is protected with a SSL certificate, you'll see a small lockbox somewhere on your browser.

Example of a website protected with a SSL Certificate

W

Web Host - A computer which stores a particular website's files in it for all of the world to see on the web. A web hosting company offers this service to anyone who has a website. Think of a web hosting company as a virtual landlord who has apartments or public storage units for rent. Your website files are like your items to be stored.

What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) Editor - An editor which allows formatting of website content without the need of knowledge of HTML.

Example of a WYSIWYG Editor