Glossary

absolute link (absolute path name): Tells the browser to start at the top of the directory tree and work its way down until it locates the file in question. For example, http://www.wpi.edu/Devel/Guidelines/ is an absolute path name. (contrast with relative path name)
banner: A graphic displayed at the top of a page, usually containing the title of the department or institution. University Pages are required to have the official WPI banner at the top, while Department Pages are not (but it is highly recommended).
browser: A piece of software, such as Netscape, Internet Explorer, or Mosaic, that allows one to access information on the web. There are two types of browsers, graphical (e.g., those mentioned above) and text-only (e.g., Lynx).
CGI (Common Gateway Interface): The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard for interfacing external applications with information servers, such as HTTP or web servers. (See also mailform, an example of a CGI script.) Essentially, the web server runs a program, given some amount of input, and offers the output to the client's browser. Due to security concerns, individuals at WPI cannot install personal CGI programs.
client (also web client): The computer running browser software (e.g., your personal computer) which queries a web server, using HTTP protocol. Having received a response to the query, which is an HTML document, the web client composes the screen representation of the document. The web client issues HTTP queries to satisfy hyperlink clicks on behalf of the person browsing the web.
CMS: The Content Management System (CMS) allows users to edit Web pages without knowing HTML or other details of how a webpage works in WYSIWYG environment.
form (also web form): Web forms permit a user to return information to a web server for some action. The forms are handled by a CGI program. For example, the webform form offers spaces for you to enter the subject and content of the message, and the CGI processing consists of mailing the message.
homepage (also home page): The page returned from a URL consisting of only the HTTP protocol and an Internet address is called the home page of a web site. (e.g., http://www.wpi.edu/ is the home page of the WPI web server.)
HTML (HyperText Markup Language): A publishing language, not a programming language, that allows us to determine the structure, not the layout, of a hypertext document. HTML focuses on the content of the document, not the appearance.
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol): The Internet protocol defining the interchange between web clients and web servers. The client issues an HTTP query to which a server replies with an HTML document. Another example of a protocol is FTP, for file transfer, in which a web client issues a query to an FTP server which returns a file which need not to be in HTML form.
hyperlink: An area of a document, such as a phrase or a graphic, that is linked to another document or to another area of the same document, allowing the user to bring up that information by clicking on it.
hypertext: The linking of information between documents, hypertext allows us to jump immediately to areas of interest.
image map: A clickable graphic in which different parts of the image activate different links. An example of this can be found on the WPI Homepage.
mailto: An attribute of the anchor tag used with HREF, allowing the user to send mail to the address provided:
<A HREF="mailto:webmaster@wpi.edu">webmaster@wpi.edu</A>
mailform: A CGI script used in forms, specifying the address to which the data from the form is to be mailed.
relative link (relative path name): Tells the browser to find the document in relation to the current document. For example, ../Images/seal.gif is a relative path name. (contrast with absolute path name).
UDC (Unified Digital Campus) Governance Committee: The UDC Governance Committee is composed of the President and the Administrative Group.and makes final decisions on any exceptions to WPI’s Web Policies and Procedures.
URL (Universal Resource Locator): Effectively, the URL of a document on the World Wide Web is that document's "street address." A URL is one of several proposed methods of locating and identifying bits of information on the Web. HTTP URLs are the most frequently found URLs on the Web.
web page: Any HTML document utilizing the HTTP protocol that is accessible via World Wide Web. A home page is a special kind of web page.
web server: A computer running software which responds to HTTP protocol queries.
web site: A group of web pages stored on a web server which deal with a particular topic (in this case, WPI), comprise a web site. The home page is the "entrance" to that web site.
World Wide Web: A part of the Internet, the Web is an interconnected network of information resources which uses hypertext and hyperlinks to associate documents.
WYSIWYG: A "What You See Is What You Get" editor is an editor much like Word where as you are editing the content you can see what it will look like.

Maintained by webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: Jun 26, 2008, 10:41 EDT