Hope Floats Website Design

A list of definitions used on this website:

Membership website

Visitors are required to register and login with a username and password in order to have access to the whole website or certain pages thereof.

eCommerce website

Electronic commerce is the buying and selling of products or services over the Internet.

HTML

The language used to create a web page. This language code is then read by a web browser such as Internet Explorer. (To see this page's HTML code go to View/Source in your browser).

PHP

A server-side scripting language for creating interactive websites, e.g. a Membership Website where visitors log in using a username and password. The PHP script is embedded in the HTML page.

Difference between HTML and PHP

HTML is a client side scripting language and PHP is a server side scripting language.

Header

The header of a web page refers to the image at the top of the page bearing the website's name.

Navigation system

Website navigation helps visitors move from one page to another within a website. It is usually called a menu.

Visitor counter

This counter indicates the number of people who have visited a particular website.

Website content

Content is the things we use to create a website (text, images, sounds). When we talk about web content, we are in a sense referring to the information a website provides.

Website Validation

Ensures that the XHTML and CSS codes used in the design of the website comply with the standards set by the W3 Consortium - W3Schools.

Browser Compatibility Test

Ensures that the website will be viewable on the latest browsers (such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera) - Browsershots.

Search Engine

A tool for finding information on the Internet. The most popular are Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The process of having a website listed on the search engines by using keywords and key phrases relevant to the particular website in order to attract visitors .

Domain Name (URL)

The address of your website on the Internet, i.e. http://www.mywebsite.co.za. This domain name needs to be registered and renewed annually.

Hosting

The virtual space where your website is stored and accessed. For this space you pay a hosting company rent every month.

Website Designer

This person designs and creates the files needed to create a website and then transfers these files to the hosting company's server.

404-page

A page that is displayed if a "File Not Found" error occurs on a website. This happens when a visitor accidentally mistypes a website's address.

Inbound links

An inbound link means another website is linking to yours. The number of inbound links is an indication of the popularity of your website and can influence your search engine position since each inbound link counts as a vote of support.

Outbound links

An outbound link means your website is linking to another website. You should link to websites with a similar theme as yours.

Layout

A website layout consists of a header at the top of the page, a menu, one or more content boxes and a footer at the bottom of the page. It is sometimes also called a template.

Email Form

This is a form that a visitor completes and sends to you (through email) by clicking on a button. See an example.

Screen Resolution

Refers to the horizontal and vertical size of your monitor's display area. Right-click anywhere on your Desktop and go to Properties/Settings to see your screen resolution (Windows XP).