Browser - a client program such as Firefox or Internet Explorer that is designed to accept and display web pages.

dns - 'Domain Name Server.' A computer dedicated to providing browsers with translations between URLs such as domain names and IP numbers that correspond to physical computers on the internet. The function is similar to a telephone book providing translation of names into phone numbers that can actually be dialed to connect to a physical telephone.

Domain - the name assigned for use in accessing a web site, for example http://www.moxie.com. The domain name is usually used as the address for the site as a whole, directing visitors to the homepage of the website. Also known as Domain Name.

Download - the process of transferring information from a remote computer to your computer. See also upload.

Homepage - the initial entry page of a web site, providing visitors with information including links to other locations and files on the Internet. Also known as 'home page'.

Host - This may be used to refer to a computer that acts as a server for a domain or it may refer to a 'hosting service' which rents space on such computers. Also used as a verb as in 'to host a site.'

html - 'hypertext markup language.' A language used to write web pages which has commands that are interpreted by browsers to indicate formatting, positioning, and linking of text and other elements of the page.

http - 'Hypertext Transfer Protocol.' The method used on the internet for transfer of the kind of formatted documents used as pages in web sites. Also may refer to the internet service that uses this protocol to carry linked pages of text and graphics. See also protocol

https - A secure but slower form of http used for credit card and other sensitive information. Also may refer to the internet service which establishes encrypted connections between two computers for secure transmission of information using the secure socket layer protocol. For example, in e-commerce to transfer credit card numbers.See also protocol

Internet - the global "network of networks" that potentially interconnects every computer on the planet. It carries information from point to point in "bucket brigade" fashion. To do this it divides up the information stream into small "packets" which are handed from one machine to the next until they arrive at the destination where they are reassembled. The 'Web' is a subset of the internet.

IP Number - A routing number identifying a specific computer on the internet. In cases of virtual hosting a computer may have more than one IP number assigned to it.

Link - As a noun this refers to a URL coded into a part of a web page, that can be activated in a browser by clicking it with a mouse. When activated the link causes the browser to load the page at the URL given. Text or images on a web page can be made into links by html code. As a verb it is used to mean the process of causing an item on a web page to be a link to something else.

e-mail - the internet service that carries messages addressable to a specific user at any machine.

POP - 'Post Office Protocol.' Often in combination with box as in 'POP box' to designate a mail repository using the POP protocol to handle mail delivery. Also the protocol itself.

Registrar - A business that leases you the right to exclusive use of a domain name. Registrars are approved by ICANN, an international regulatory body, and have the responsibility of ensuring that no two domain owners get the same name. They also provide the dns network with information about the IP number to which you domain is pointed.

Server - a computer making information available over the internet to other computers. Also, the programs on these computers which handles this function.

Service - Information transfer systems using any of the several kinds of information transfer protocols which the internet offers for data communications. Each has a specific format in which it encodes packets of information and a specific way in which it makes a connection to a computer on the internet. See also protocol

Upload - the process of transferring information from your computer to a remote computer. See also download.

URL - 'Uniform Resource Locator' a specification for the location of a specific item on the internet. Depending on the number of elements in the URL it may specify a web site, a particular page, or a specific point on a particular page. Example URL's are: http://www.moxie.com and http://www.moxie.com/estore/index.php.

Web - (also called world-wide-web or www) that sub-set of computers on the internet which are at any given time using the http service to offer formatted text and graphics sent from machines that have such information arranged in "web pages" to client machines that have browser programs that can display them.

Web Hosting - a service provided by a company (known as a "Web Hosting Service Provider" or "Web Host") from whom storage space for one or more web pages and associated files are leased, and whereby the web pages are published on the Internet. Web hosts do not necessarily provide domain name registration services, nor do domain name registrars necessarily provide web hosting services.

Web Page - A file on a web server containing information that can be transmitted in the http protocol. Usually designed to be viewed with a browser on the client machine. Also known as 'webpage' or 'page'. Web pages require physical storage space, typically on a hard drive, from which they can be accessed at any time.

Web Site - An informal name given to the collection of web pages at a specific domain. Also known as 'website' or 'site'.

WWW - "World Wide Web' an informal name for the subset of the internet that operates using the http protocol. It is often popularly confused with the internet as a whole, and many people believe that 'www' is a necessary prefix to a domain name. See here for the story of how this belief came about.