When you use computers and
the Internet in your business,
it's all too easy to start
feeling like you're drowning
in a sea of nonsense. Computer-related
things tend to have a language
all their own, and while you
don't need to know all of
it, there are many confusing
words and phrases that you're
going to come across sooner
or later. Here's a quick primer.
Bandwidth. Bandwidth is the
amount of data that your website
can send each second, as well
as the amount of data that
the visitor to your website
can receive. If either one
doesn't have enough bandwidth,
then the website will appear
slowly. For this reason, you
should choose a host with
plenty of bandwidth, as well
as testing that your site
doesn't take too long to download
on slow connections.
Browser. A browser is the
software (see below) that
visitors to your site use
to view it. The most popular
browser is Microsoft's Internet
Explorer, which comes with
Windows.
Cookie. Cookies are data
files that your site can save
on the computer of someone
who visits that site, to allow
it to remember who they are
if they return. You will find
that problems people have
in ordering from you will
almost inevitably be related
to cookies -- they will need
to have them turned on.
Download. Transferring data
from a website to a computer.
Favourite. A favourite is
a website that a user has
stored to look at again, by
choosing 'Add to Favourites'
in their browser's menu.
FTP. File Transfer Protocol.
This is a common method of
uploading (see below) files
to your website.
Javascript. A common language
for writing 'scripts' on websites,
which are small programs that
make the site more interactive.
Another common cause of problems
for visitors.
JPEG. Joint Photographic
Experts Group. This is the
name of the most popular format
for pictures on the web, named
after the group that came
up with it. If you want to
put pictures on your website,
you should save them as JPEGs.
Hardware. Hardware is computer
equipment that physically
exists. It is the opposite
of software.
Hosting. If you've got a
website out there on the Internet,
then you'll be paying someone
for hosting. It is the service
of making your site available
for people to see.
HTML. HyperText Markup Language.
A kind of code used to indicate
how web pages should be displayed,
using a system of small 'tags'.
The 'b' tag, for example,
causes text to appear in bold,
and the 'img' tag displays
a picture.
Hyperlink. A hyperlink is
when a piece of text on a
website can be clicked to
take you to another site,
or another page on the same
site. For example, if clicking
your email address on your
website allows someone to
email you, then your email
address is a hyperlink.
Programming. This is when
the computer is given instructions
to tell it what to do, using
one of many 'programming languages'.
Programming languages for
the web include PHP and Perl.
Server. The server is where
your website is stored, and
it is the server that people
are connecting to when they
visit the site. If someone
tells you, for example, that
your server is 'down', it
means that your website is
inaccessible. Note that server
refers both to the hardware
and software of this system.
Software. Programs that run
on the computer, or that make
your website work. Microsoft
Word is software, for example,
as is Apache (the most popular
web server software). Opposite
of hardware.
Spider. Don't be scared if
a spider visits your website!
Spiders are simply programs
used by search engines to
scan your site and help them
decide where it should appear
when people search. It is
good to be visited by spiders,
as it means you should start
appearing in search engines
soon.
Upload. Uploading is when
you transfer data from your
own computer to your website.
For example, you might upload
your logo, or an article you've
written. Opposite of download.
URL. Uniform Resource Locator.
This is just a short way of
saying 'web address', meaning
what you have to type in to
get to your website. Sometimes
pronounced as 'Earl'.
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