Print

Tuesday, 3 September 2019, 12:29 PM

Site: Makerere University E-Learning Environment
Course: BLS3121: Website Development and Internet Technology (BLS3121:)
Glossary: Basic Web Terminologies
A
Accessibility
Accessibility in web design addresses the question of how users with disabilities access the website or
app information and to enable web pages to work with assistive devices used by users with disabilities.
AJAX
AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Is a method where data is exchanged with a
server allowing parts of a web page to be updated without the need to reload the entire page.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible and clickable text in a hyperlink.
Ideally, it should be a short relevant reference to the target page or location it is pointing to, avoiding
generics such as “Click here” or unnatural keyword references.

Backlink
Backlink is a link in a website that points back to your website or to a particular page in your website.
It is an important SEO ranking factor, as Search Engines understand that others are endorsing your
website and content. However, not all backlinks have the same value. The most desirable backlinks are
from high-authority sites with considerable traffic volume, while external references from obscure
spammy sites will not have the same impact.
Browser (Web Browser)
Web Browser is software with a graphical interface for web pages displaying and web navigation.
Most common browsers are Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Edge and Safari.
Market Share of Leading Internet Browsers

Content Management System (CMS)

Content Management System or CMS for short, is a software that facilitates creating, editing,
organizing, and publishing content.
Cookies
Cookies are small pieces of data that a server sends to your browser when you visit a website. From
your browser, these cookies will collect and store information and send it information back to the

server. Typical use of cookies are: session management (e.g. logged in / out, items in cart),
personalization (e.g. language preference) and tracking (e.g. user behavior analyzes)
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets describes how HTML elements are to be displayed on a screen, paper, or in
other media. CSS saves a lot of work. It can control the layout of multiple web pages all at once.
External stylesheets are stored in CSS files
D
Domain Name
Domain Name is the unique name that will identify your website on web. In other words, it is your
web address – for example, my domain is carolinegabriel.com Typically, domain name registration is
done in an annual basis contract.
It is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within
the Internet. All domain names have a domain suffix, such as .com, .net, or .org. for instance, the
domain name for Makerere University is mak.ac.ug The domain suffix helps identify the type of
website the domain name represents. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the
Domain Name System (DNS). Any name registered in the DNS is a domain name

Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS is the translator between human domain requests typed as text (e.g. carolinegabriel.com) to their
numeric IP counterpart used by the browser (e.g. 192.168.1.1)Because domain names are alphabetic,
they're easier to remember.
DNS maintains a directory of domain names and translate them to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
This is necessary because, although domain names are easy for people to remember, computers or
machines, access websites based on IP addresses.

DTD
DTD stands for Document Type Definition is a set of markup declarations that define a document type
for an SGML-family markup language (SGML, XML, HTML). A DTD specifies, which elements and
attributes are valid in which context in a language. It defines the legal building blocks of an XML
document. It defines the document structure with a list of legal elements and attributes. A DTD can be
declared inline inside an XML document, or as an external reference

E-Commerce
E-Commerce is a commercial transaction conducted online. Commonly people think of e-commerce as
online shopping, but it also encompasses other commercial activities such as internet banking or online
auctions.
Depending on the type of participants involved in the transaction, e-commerce can be classified as
Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C) and Consumer to Consumer (C2C).

Extranet
An extranet is an intranet that is accessible to some people from outside the company, or possibly
shared by more than one organization. An extranet is like an intranet but provides controlled access to
authorized customers, vendors, partners, or others outside the company
F

Favicon
Favicon is a small iconic image that represents your website. Favicons are often found in the address
bar of your web browser, but they can also be used in bookmarks lists and feed aggregators. Its main
function is to identify your website and brand when a user navigates to a new tab or window.
Additionally, it provides an opportunity of reinforcing your brand.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a set of rules that computers in a network use to talk. It is the language
that computers on the internet use to transfer files to and from each other.
An FTP Client is recommended in order to easily log into an FTP server, navigate the server’s folder
structure, and exchange files. Examples of common FTP clients are: Filezilla, Core FTP, Cyberduck
and WinSCP.

Hosting or Web Hosting

Hosting is a server space that you rent from a web hosting company to hold your website’s files.
Hosting companies offer different packages depending on the expected visitor’s traffic, number of files
that make up your website and speed of data transfer. Typically, hosting service is done on an annual
basis contract.

HTML
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language is used to identify the different elements on a page
such as paragraphs, titles, images, and links.
Hypertext Markup Language is a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, colour
graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages. It is a standard mark up language for
creating web pages and web applications. HTML is a text-based approach to describing how content
contained within an HTML file is structured.

"Hypertext" refers to the hyperlinks that an HTML page may contain. "Markup language" refers to the
way tags are used to define the page layout and elements within the page. This markup tells a web
browser how to display the text, images and other forms of multimedia on a webpage. The role of
HTML is to inform a web browser about how the content contained within an HTML file is structured

HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol is used to send and receive webpages and files on the internet. It works by
using a user agent to connect to a server. The user agent could be a web browser or spider. The server
must be located using a URL or URI. This always contains http:// at the start. It normally connects to
port 80 on a computer.

HTTPS
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, which is a more secure version of HTTP. This
version encrypts all the information that is sent and received. It contains https:// at the beginning of the
URL. This version can stop malicious users such as hackers from eavesdropping and hacking the
information. It is often used on payment websites. HTTPS uses port 443 for communication instead of
port 80. 
Hyperlink
A hyperlink is a link that targets another location or file, typically activated by clicking on a
highlighted word or image on the screen.
I
IDE
IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment, which is a software suite that consolidates the
basic tools developers need to write and test software. Typically, an IDE contains a code editor, a
compiler or interpreter and a debugger that the developer accesses through a single graphical user
interface (GUI). An IDE may be a standalone application, or it may be included as part of one or more
existing and compatible applications.

Information Architecture
Information Architecture is the science of organizing and structuring the parts of something to be
understandable. The web design and UX application of Information Architecture relates to the
organization and distribution of content so users can easily find and understand the content and its
relationships.
Internet
Internet is a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities,
consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols. It can also be
defined as a globally connected network system that uses TCP/IP to transmit data via various types of
media.
Intranet
An intranet is a private network, operated by a large company or other organization, which uses
internet technologies, but is insulated from the global internet. Typically, an intranet includes
connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet 
IP
IP stands for Internet Protocol, which is a set of rules governing the format of data sent over the
Internet or other networks. Is the principal communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for
relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking and
essentially establishes the Internet.

IP Address
This is a unique string of numbers separated by full stops that identify each computer using the
Internet Protocol to communicate over a network. An IP address serves two principal functions:
1. host or network interface identification and
2. location addressing - uniquely identify every node in the network
It allows a system to be recognized by other systems connected via the Internet protocol. There are two
primary types of IP address formats used today — IPv4 and IPv6.
N

Network
A computer network is a set of computers connected together for the purpose of sharing resources. The
most common resource shared today is a connection to the Internet. Other shared resources can include
a printer or a file server.

P
Permalink
Permalink is a shortned version of permanent link. It refers to the full URL for any given post, page or
other pieces of content on your site.
Protocol
In computing, a protocol or communication protocol is a set of rules in which computers communicate
with each other. The protocol defines what part of the message comes at which time. Protocol also
defines how to end the communication. There are several types of communication protocols including,
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol
(FTP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Internet Protocol (IP)
S

Search Engine
Search Engine is a software that searches for items in a database based on parameters established by
the user (keywords). On the web, it is used to find particular websites. Most used search engines are
Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask.com, AOL and DuckDuckGo.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is the practice of improving the rankings of your website in a search
engine organic results, increasing quality and quantity of traffic to your site.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
Search Engine Results Page is the page displayed by search engines as a response to a query. The main
component of a SERP is the listing of results related to the keyword entered by the user which is
shown in an order the search engine understands to be of more relevance to the user query. The results
may also contain paid advertising.
SGML
Standard Generalized Markup Language is a standard for how to specify a document markup language
or tag set. Such a specification is itself a document type definition (DTD). SGML is not in itself a
document language, but a description of how to specify one. Is a language for defining markup
languages like HTML and XML SGML is metadata.
Sitemap
A sitemap is a list of pages of a website. Sitemaps can be:
• Graphical: often used during the architecture/planing phase of a project
• HTML / Human readable list: displayed on the website for navigational purposes
• XML Sitemap: a structured listing for web crawlers such as Google

SSL
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It is a technology that protects internet connections, safeguarding
data that is being transfered between two systems. A common example applies to e-commerce
websites, where this secure connection protects the data sent and received (e.g. user’s email and credit
card information) between the website server and the user’s browser.
T

TCP/IP Protocol Suite

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is a suite of communication protocols used to
interconnect network devices on the internet. TCP/IP can also be used as a communications protocol in
a private network (an intranet or an extranet). Whereas the IP protocol deals only with packets, TCP
enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of
data and also guarantees that packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent
U
URI
a string of characters used to identify a resource on a computer network, of which the best-known type is the
web address or URL.
Relationship between URI, URL and URN

URL
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is the file address of a resource on the Internet. A URL can
represent a web page, an image, a video, a style sheet, and much more. A URL typically consists of
several components, including but not limited to:
URN
A Uniform Resource Name ( URN ) is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that uses the URN scheme
and does not imply the availability of the identified resource. Both URNs (names) and URLs (locators)
are URIs, and a particular URI may be both a name and a locator at the same time.

Web Server
Web Servers are used to store, process and deliver web pages to clients (e.g. web browsers like Google
Chrome). Although you could purchase a server to run your website, most businesses use cloud storage
services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host websites due to the cost savings and added
security.
Webpage
A Webpage is a hypertext document connected to the World Wide Web. Webpages are written in
HTML and are translated by the Web browser. They can either be static or dynamic. Static pages show
the same content each time they are viewed. Dynamic pages have content that can change each time
they are accessed. 

These pages are typically written in scripting languages such as PHP, Perl, ASP, or JSP. The scripts in
the pages run functions on the server that return things like the date and time, and database
information. Please note that a Web page is not the same thing as a Web site.
Website
A Web site is a collection of related web pages including multimedia content, typically identified with
a common domain name, and published on at least one web server. A website may be accessible via a
public Internet Protocol (IP) network, such as the Internet, or a private local area network (LAN), by
referencing a uniform resource locator (URL) that identifies the site.
WWW
WWW stands for World Wide Web (WWW), which is a network of online content that is formatted in
HTML and accessed via HTTP. The term refers to all the interlinked HTML pages that can be accessed
over the Internet. WWW is an information space where documents and other web resources are
identified by Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), interlinked by hypertext links, and accessible via the
Internet. The World Wide Web was originally designed in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee while he was a
contractor at CERN.
X
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents
in a XML
Extensible Markup Language is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding
documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. Is a metalanguage
which allows users to define their own customized markup languages, especially in order to
display documents on the Internet. XML was designed to store and transport data. It was designed
to be self-descriptive

TCP/IP Protocol Suite

Network Layer
• A network layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP model.
• A network layer is the combination of the Physical layer and Data Link layer defined in the
OSI reference model.
• It defines how the data should be sent physically through the network.
• This layer is mainly responsible for the transmission of the data between two devices on the
same network.
• The functions carried out by this layer are encapsulating the IP datagram into frames
transmitted by the network and mapping of IP addresses into physical addresses.
• The protocols used by this layer are ethernet, token ring, FDDI, X.25, frame relay.
Internet Layer
• An internet layer is the second layer of the TCP/IP model.
• An internet layer is also known as the network layer.
• The main responsibility of the internet layer is to send the packets from any network, and
they arrive at the destination irrespective of the route they take.
Following are the protocols used in this layer are:
IP Protocol: IP protocol is used in this layer, and it is the most significant part of the entire TCP/IP
suite.
Following are the responsibilities of this protocol:
• IP Addressing: This protocol implements logical host addresses known as IP addresses.
The IP addresses are used by the internet and higher layers to identify the device and to
provide internetwork routing.
• host-to-host communication: It determines the path through which the data is to be
 transmitted.
• Data Encapsulation and Formatting: An IP protocol accepts the data from the transport
layer protocol. An IP protocol ensures that the data is sent and received securely, it
encapsulates the data into message known as IP datagram.
• Fragmentation and Reassembly: The limit imposed on the size of the IP datagram by data
link layer protocol is known as Maximum Transmission unit (MTU). If the size of IP
datagram is greater than the MTU unit, then the IP protocol splits the datagram into smaller
units so that they can travel over the local network. Fragmentation can be done by the
sender or intermediate router. At the receiver side, all the fragments are reassembled to
form an original message.
• Routing: When IP datagram is sent over the same local network such as LAN, MAN,
WAN, it is known as direct delivery. When source and destination are on the distant
network, then the IP datagram is sent indirectly. This can be accomplished by routing the IP
datagram through various devices such as routers.
ARP Protocol
• ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol.
• ARP is a network layer protocol which is used to find the physical address from the IP
address.
• The two terms are mainly associated with the ARP Protocol:
• ARP request: When a sender wants to know the physical address of the device, it
broadcasts the ARP request to the network.
• ARP reply: Every device attached to the network will accept the ARP request and
process the request, but only recipient recognize the IP address and sends back its
physical address in the form of ARP reply. The recipient adds the physical address
both to its cache memory and to the datagram header
ICMP Protocol
• ICMP stands for Internet Control Message Protocol.
• It is a mechanism used by the hosts or routers to send notifications regarding datagram
problems back to the sender.
• A datagram travels from router-to-router until it reaches its destination. If a router is unable
to route the data because of some unusual conditions such as disabled links, a device is on
fire or network congestion, then the ICMP protocol is used to inform the sender that the
datagram is undeliverable.
• An ICMP protocol mainly uses two terms:
 • ICMP Test: ICMP Test is used to test whether the destination is reachable or not.
• ICMP Reply: ICMP Reply is used to check whether the destination device is
responding or not.
• The core responsibility of the ICMP protocol is to report the problems, not correct them.
The responsibility of the correction lies with the sender.
• ICMP can send the messages only to the source, but not to the intermediate routers because
the IP datagram carries the addresses of the source and destination but not of the router that
it is passed to.

TCP/IP Protocol Suite

Data Link Layer
• In the OSI model, the data link layer is a 4th layer from the top and 2nd layer from the
bottom.
• The communication channel that connects the adjacent nodes is known as links, and in
order to move the datagram from source to the destination, the datagram must be moved
across an individual link.
• The main responsibility of the Data Link Layer is to transfer the datagram across an
individual link.
• The Data link layer protocol defines the format of the packet exchanged across the nodes as
well as the actions such as Error detection, retransmission, flow control, and random
access.
• The Data Link Layer protocols are Ethernet, token ring, FDDI and PPP.
• An important characteristic of a Data Link Layer is that datagram can be handled by
different link layer protocols on different links in a path. For example, the datagram is
handled by Ethernet on the first link, PPP on the second link.
Services Provided by the Data Link Layer:
• Framing & Link access: Data Link Layer protocols encapsulate each network frame
within a Link layer frame before the transmission across the link. A frame consists of a data
field in which network layer datagram is inserted and a number of data fields. It specifies
the structure of the frame as well as a channel access protocol by which frame is to be
transmitted over the link.
• Reliable delivery: Data Link Layer provides a reliable delivery service, i.e., transmits the
S network layer datagram without any error. A reliable delivery service is accomplished with
k transmissions and acknowledgements. A data link layer mainly provides the reliable
i delivery service over the links as they have higher error rates and they can be corrected
p locally, link at which an error occurs rather than forcing to retransmit the data.
• Flow control: A receiving node can receive the frames at a faster rate than it can process
t
the frame. Without flow control, the receiver's buffer can overflow, and frames can get lost.
o
To overcome this problem, the data link layer uses the flow control to prevent the sending
node on one side of the link from overwhelming the receiving node on another side of the
m
link.
a
i • Error detection: Errors can be introduced by signal attenuation and noise. Data Link Layer
n protocol provides a mechanism to detect one or more errors. This is achieved by adding
error detection bits in the frame and then receiving node can perform an error check.
c
• Error correction: Error correction is similar to the Error detection, except that receiving
o
node not only detect the errors but also determine where the errors have occurred in the
n
t
frame.
e • Half-Duplex & Full-Duplex: In a Full-Duplex mode, both the nodes can transmit the data
n at the same time. In a Half-Duplex mode, only one node can transmit the data at the same
t time