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CMS Terminology - 2
I - Z -- this page
A - H -- previous page
IIS
an "IIS server" is a Microsoft server, in general parlance. The standard MS server OS is: MS Windows 2003 Server + IIS 6.0; the IIS part refers to the server management apparatus, and stands for Internet Information Services. IIS therefore is a commercial equivalent to LAMP. An MS server is normally used when applications are based on ASP, .NET, or Coldfusion, since these all depend on a Microsoft OS.
icon
something small that graphically represents something larger or difficult to display visually - a small image that represents a larger entity. On computers, the little picture that you click on to open a folder or file. It's actually a 32 x 32 px .bmp of 256 or 65k colours (translation: 32 pixels square, in bitmap format, either with few or lots of colours). Make your own with an icon editor such as MicroAngelo, then you can ditch those grim Windows XP ones.
iframe
in-line frame, wrapper, or iFrame. A type of frame that is integral to the page rather than being a separate entity; now the most commonly-used type of frame. A block or space that displays information external to the rest of the page, and sourced elsewhere. A common use is to display another page from the site, or a page from another site.
images
a catch-all word for pictures, graphics, photos and so on.
IMAP
web-based transfer as against FTP transfer; therefore specifically, browser transfer. Also applied to webmail (eg Hotmail), since this is accessed via the browser and not a POP3 client. You can of course also get your POP3 mail by webmail.
index (1)
index page - the first page of a website, aka home page or front page.
index (2)
in databases, a feature that allows quick access to the rows in a table.
instance
a discrete occurrence, a separate example. In the case of a program, each existing example of it at any one time. A program that allows several instances, therefore supports several concurrent working examples (or windows if you like). At first, additional windows were placed randomly. Then, it was fashionable to tile them. Now, multiple windows or workspaces are tabbed. What's next, when we get to the stage where we need twenty windows open – tabbed tiles?
Internet
a global network of computers, partly enabled by some Brit at CERN. Previously, there had been some military and university computers linked up ad hoc, in a mode compared to the Net of today something like a comparison between a wax tablet with stylus and a Cray supercomputer.
IP (1)
(Internet protocol) a data-oriented protocol used by source and destination hosts for communicating data across a packet-switched network.
IP (2)
(IP address) the Internet location of an address.
IP (3)
a unique number that devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a network utilising the Internet Protocol standard.
IPN
(instant payment notification) a term in online store management for a method some payment gateways use for notification of a successful payment; e.g. PayPal IPN.
ISAPI
(Internet server application programming interface) the API of IIS qv.
ISO
(international standards organisation) the people who determine the specs for many things in the industrial and digital environment. In the PC world now, though, "an ISO" would probably refer to a CD image file.
ISP
(Internet service provider) a business or organization that offers users access to the Internet and related services.
kb, kB
kb = kilobit, kB = kilobyte, with 8 bits to a byte. A 56k (56kb) dial-up connection therefore has a theoretical maximum speed of 56 over 8 = 7kB.
LAMP
(more correctly LAMPP) the standard production server environment utilising all open-source applications on which the Internet is based: Linux OS, Apache server, MySQL database, PHP scripting, and Perl code/ interpreter (to give the full and correct acronym LAMPP). There are more servers running Apache than all others put together, and most setups use LAMP. Perl is needed as part of the basic setup as a code interpreter; and additional open-source apps are used to provide FTP and email capability, eg FileZilla and MercuryMail.
Note that all these applications are open-source and therefore basically free (there are of course additional costs for customisation and especially implementation/ commissioning/ admin). If anything else, this shows that open-source applications are equal to or better than commercial solutions, at least in some areas, since software costs are not the major element in large implementations.
LAN
(local area network) – your home or office network, with PCs linked by a hub/ switch/ router, cabled or WiFi.
LATEX
a document preparation system for the TEX typesetting program. Has the distinction of using the most ridiculous text-based logo in existence, presumably to point out its formatting excellence. Unfortunately, few others can display it.
layout
the way a page is laid out / arranged and displayed to the visitor; and in some projects the specific term for the template qv that does this job.
legacy (1)
a component or facility one step ahead of being deprecated; something no longer seen as vital; older, not cutting edge or even new; still maintained for backward compatibility.
legacy (2)
an industry term for something used by many, but not by the well-to-do young city dwellers and early adopters who manufacturer's marketing departments tell them they should be targeting.
Example: a laptop serial port – vital for engineers, and those who use their laptops extensively in non-urban locations such as on a boat; pointless for city teens and therefore marketing departments (USB to serial converters often don't work).
legacy mode
aka compatibility mode: a major function switch in an application that allows it to run in a restricted or less-advanced mode of operation, for compatibility with older plugins. Commonly used in new program versions where plugins for the older series don't work with the new one, unless it is 'reverted' back to a similar operating state to the previous version. Of course, switching this on can defeat the object of using the new version, since many of the advantages will then be unavailable.
Linux
(say: 'linnuxx') an open-source OS. A fork of Unix. Took off like a rocket after being invented by Linus Torvalds, a a Finnish student and Unix coder. More stable than Windows, less security issues and therefore less vulnerable, but a whole lot less software available. Sure, 60,000 apps or more on one database - but compare that to a couple of million or more out there for Windows. Excellent server OS. Something like a PC version of the Mac system, in that it is safer, more secure, more reliable, but limited to about 10% or less of the software available to Windows users. You can get a bootable no-install-required Linux CD if you need it briefly: this is called a LiveCD in the Linux world. We recommend Ubuntu, unless you are a fully-committed server sysadmin, when RedHat may be a better choice.
login
to enter your username & password, for authorised access to a server or resource.
logon
enter your username & password, to start a session on a computer.
hacker
a coder, developer or geek - all of which mean roughly the same thing: a person who spends many hours of their normal day in front of a monitor and can most likely code in at least 4 or 5 languages. They are people who 'hack around' with code. There is no relevance to its use as a media term for an Internet burglar, which is not used within the industry. In fact there is no correct term, except perhaps 'script kiddy', which could be why the word got hijacked in the first place ('cracker', incidentally, means a breaker of software protections).
metadata
data about data: information stored within a page, document, or file that is invisible to the user. This non-viewable data consists of instructions, descriptions, or other components needed for something somewhere to function correctly. Examples are the metadata 'behind' an HTML page, or a Word document; and hard disk metadata that describes file positions and condition.
middleware
applications vital to a process, that sit in a central position in a chain, between others that either form the chain ends or may be structurally more important. Example: Apache Tomcat, an application server that (on occasion) sits between a CMS and Apache itself.
MIME (1)
(multipurpose internet mail extensions) an Internet standard for the format of e-mail. Code that can be used in html email to embed items like images inline (and not hosted remotely). A specialist application is needed to use it; and not all email clients can read it yet.
MIME (2)
MIME classes: code object classes.
MySQL
a multithreaded, multi-user, SQL Database Management System (DBMS). The most commonly used open-source database in web applications.
mySQLi
the improved MySQL client PHP extension.
.NET
A Microsoft proprietary system for (in our field of interest) remote content changes on pages hosted on a server; similar to other systems such as webDAV. It may be used as a component of a CMS on an MS server, and in this case acts as an alternative to FTP or HTTP editing. It is now included in the Windows OS.
network
a group of computers linked by cable or wireless. A small group = a LAN (local area network); a large group = a WAN (wide area network, or Intranet); a huge group = the Internet.
open-source
(OSS = open-source software) free software, with the code published and freely available, like the OS (operating system) Linux. Something in the public domain. The advantage is that many clever minds will contribute to its advancement, and the end result is often better than a commercial rival's. Open-source software is free or very cheap. Go to: www.sourceforge.net ...for resources. qv LAMP
Although the software can be of the highest quality, open-source documentation is, in a word, awful. It's true that this can apply to commercial software, since the universal standard is that the docs and/or help files are an afterthought or taken care of by the office junior; but it applies almost universally in open-source. There are a lot of reasons for this, most of them quite reasonable, but the underlying reason is that geeks write the software for other geeks or aspiring geeks, who presumably know what they are doing by instinct. In addition, geeks can perform miracles with code, but they are utterly incapable of communicating, a trait shared by most engineers and technicians of course. If anything, foreign software authors provide more comprehensible documentation than English-speaking ones.
This is probably the main reason O-S software is not popular with the average PC user, since it would be difficult for them to use it at all. The same goes for mainstream enterprise users, since as a whole they first look at the product's image, which is represented 90% by the documentation. Since this is universally awful – although this doesn't represent the quality of the product itself, and in fact there is a strange type of inverse relationship here – these users tend to quickly bypass an OSS product and choose the big names with the flash boxes. Where they have been persuaded otherwise, as in the spreading use of Linux in office environments, the results are later perceived to be entirely satisfactory. Moral: in open-source, ignore the image, feel the quality.
out of the box
from new; immediately after installation; without further modification.
OS
operating system - as in Windows or Linux.
OSS, O-S
open-source software, the definition for free software with published code, commonly available under the GNU licence.
OS/2
an OS popular with a small minority of geeks and coders. Also useful for specific tasks, such as platform-independent bootloaders.
pagefile
paging file, pagefile.sys. The PC's virtual memory: a section of the HD it writes to when the RAM overflows. It is slower to read/write than a chip, so for speed you need as much RAM as is practical. The absolute minimum now on a 2K/ XP /NTFS machine is 512MB; an average figure is 1GB; a useful figure is 2GB. A proper disk manager can optimise the pagefile: change its size, place it in a different position on the disk, and homogenise it. If this is not done, it is one of the many factors that contribute to slowing the PC down. PCs are in fact becoming noticeably slower, and not faster as the advertising suggests (in terms of how users measure speed in everyday use, which is of course for booting up then handling multiple tasks on a machine with a mature software installation, as against processing one discrete task on a new and empty machine).
pathway
aka breadcrumb trail; on dynamic websites it is the filepath or address record of where you are now and where you have been. It allows you to get back there with one click. Look near the top of the page somewhere and you'll see: Home > FAQs > the-page-you're-on (or whatever). You can click on it, on any level back, and jump straight there. It's a fancy thing you get with dynamic sites, if you enable it.
PCRE
(Perl compatible regular expressions) the Perl regular expression functions for PHP.
PEAR
the PHP Extension and Application Repository.
pixel, or px
a Picture Element (pics-el, see?), or one dot on the screen. The old monitors had 800 x 600; smaller flat panels have 1024 x 768; bigger ones have 1268 x 1024; larger panels have as many as you want to pay for.
PHP
(hypertext pre-processor language) an OSS text-based code language, installed by default on LAMP servers; can also be installed on Microsoft servers. Can be used for a script that runs on a server, to operate a function usually requested by an interactive web page. Example: when you fill in a form on a web page, a PHP script sends it to the server and executes it (runs it and deals with it) according to the commands in the code. Universal, runs on any server, unlike ASP. An open-source, reflective programming language. Though primarily used in web applications such as server-side includes and dynamic web content, it is now being used in a broader range of software applications.
phpTriad
a one-click install server package solution for Windows. Does the job, but by no means as well as XAMPP, since some more complex apps such as CMS systems will not subsequently install without extensive script changes. This may perhaps be because it is no longer supported, as many of the components such as the PHP version are now well outdated. Many complex solutions such as this type of package have to be updated on a regular basis or they will not function (antivirus programs self-update by download on a daily basis for instance).
On the other hand the security settings are tighter than on XAMPP for instance, as no dire warnings are given in this case about production use. Inevitably, this means subsequent application installs are made more difficult. More security = less functionality.
plugin
a generic term for any kind of extension that is added on to a CMS at a later stage, after installation. Ideally, it will be designed to integrate seamlessly with the base application, and provide an additional feature. In fact this is the best way to build a CMS, as building-in a large number of core features has not been found successful; many will find such features or functions to be sub-optimal for their own particular use, and require alteration. A choice of various plugins is a better alternative. qv extension
POP3
(post office protocol, or point of presence protocol) the email auto-download system. Used by your email client qv.
port
a connection address at a computer, from 1 to 65,535, through which data is sent and received. A port does not physically exist – it is a communication resource, an address. The most essential information in a TCP and UDP packet is the source and destination port. The IP address identifies a computer in the Internet, and a port identifies an application running on the computer. Ports 1-1,023 are reserved for standard services and the operating system, whereas ports 1,024-65,535 can be used by any application. In a typical client to server connection, usually the destination port is known (connection is standardised for this port, or a UDP datagram is sent to it to confirm). The source port is then assigned by the operating system automatically.
portfolio (site)
a reference site given by a supplier to demonstrate their capabilities.
program
application or app – the software tool that does your work.
production
working properly, working publicly, as against being trialled - an Internet-facing server for instance. A production environment is that which exists in a public-facing webserver. The most popular solution here is a LAMP server environment. cf development
protocol
here, a set of rules for communication: a way for machines to communicate.
proxy server
an alternative application or remote server that handles Internet tasks for another application or computer. Two common uses are as a software tool that resides on a PC, such as the AV-to-email interface that checks incoming mail for viruses; or as a remote server used to mask another's IP, for privacy. IP masking is also useful as another layer to prevent hacking, especially for those who feel vulnerable. Two fields of Net activity that seem to have strong impetus at the moment are proxy servers and CMS.
project
all software development is a project, if two or more people are involved. However, the term is often specifically used to describe distributed teams working on open-source software. The term may also be correctly used to describe the application itself, and it is in no way a derogatory term: the best and most mature applications are still thus termed.
qwerty
the standard western keyboard layout is referred to as a 'qwerty' keyboard, after the first letter keys at the top left. This was the first typewriter keyboard layout designed for speed, the idea being that the most often used letters were most accessible, and the fingers could handle the workload quickest with this layout. No doubt it was true at the time, but now it has been found that the Dvorak layout (say: 'devor-jak') is faster. However, no one's going to change now, so that's tough. Many of us are two-finger typists anyway, so it hardly makes a difference. Plus, what keys would you use for playing Unreal Tournament then?
reference sites
aka portfolio websites: those that suppliers provide as a demonstration of their capabilities.
roles
an ACL feature that describes group or individual access or privileges that do not line up with the standard levels of user rights.
section
a major division of content on a CMS. A section normally contains multiple categories. Many use a 3-layer basic system: Section, Category, (Content) Item. These may have alternative names as for instance Book, Story, Page (Drupal). In addition there are other content containers and associated ways of publishing material.
SEO
(search engine optimising) The primary requirement for a commercial website is to earn money. For this you need good traffic and a site that performs. Traffic sources are many but a solid percentage comes from search engines, who will not send visitors in any number unless the site complies with their requirements. Therefore, search optimising the website is a fundamental requirement for a commercial site, and refers to maximising traffic and conversion potential.
When the website is based on a CMS, there are all sorts of additional issues. As ever, a major impact on this situation is the fact that a proportion of developers and website designers have never heard of accessibilty issues and/or SEO. It used to be around 99%, but is now down to around 75% - so things are definitely improving. Nevertheless, you must choose your applications and implementers very carefully indeed.
Service Pack
these are (usually) Windows upgrades. SP4 is the final version of W2K; SP3 is the current final for XP. There was a long gap between XP SP2 in 2004, and SP3 in April '08.
skin
the user interface of an application; its appearance; or a template qv that provides the principal layout arrangement.
SMTP
(simple mail transport protocol) the standard protocol used on the Internet to send mail to and between mail servers and clients.
socket
a form of inter-process communication, or its endpoint.
software
aka applications, apps: the programs that do your work.
SP
see Service Pack.
spam (1)
junk email. Shame it's associated with the fine spiced-ham product that's sooo good for fritters..
spam (2)
anything unwanted on the Net now, eg search engine spam - junk pages in the search results, inserted by BH devs.
static (1)
fixed, allocated permanently, not mobile. Antonym: dynamic.
static (2)
aka flat; standard web pages rather than dynamic ones; or standard but slightly dynamic ones as against pure dynamic sites. Usually with an .html or.htm file extension.
static (3)
a static local IP is a permanent address on your LAN. This is generally the best arrangement (especially on a WiFi LAN), since it assists security, and enables port-forwarding.
static (4)
a static IP is the address your ISP allocates to you when connecting via SDSL, symmetric (business) DSL. It doesn't change unless you change ISPs.
statistics
(aka web analytics, web metrics, stats) website statistics applications allow recording, measurement, analysis and improvement of webserver and website operation. Applications are used to determine these measurements, and they may be server-resident or hosted solutions. Server applications normally use the server logs; hosted solutions are those that reside on another server, and these normally use script tags on the website's pages in order to function. Examples: server type - AWstats; hosted type - Google Analytics. There is a third class, the hybrid type, which uses both types of data source and may exhibit the advantages of both the other types.
storage engines
in databases, handlers for different table types.
.swf
(say: 'swiff') the Flash file format for producing and reading animated graphic files.
table
a set of data elements (cells) that is organized, defined and stored as horizontal rows and vertical columns, where each item can be uniquely identified by a label or key, or by its position in relation to other items.
taxonomy
the organisation and classification (and therefore naming) of objects, or a system for doing so; a heirarchy. In webapps it refers to the structure of content organisation.
template
aka theme, skin, layout. Many CMS base their page layouts on a user-specified template: a pre-built layout framework and design that defines the text areas, graphics, and module positions of the generated page. All pages are then based on this framework, though colours can be changed in the CSS, and modules can be published or unpublished to show or hide additional features. Templates are normally of two kinds: developer-supplied template file packages, and user-created ones that are derived from a standard HTML page. The most competent CM systems allow the use of different templates on different pages, thus providing extended flexibility. This may be required on the index page as against content pages; or product pages; and certainly for pages featuring different content models such as forums.
theme
qv template
transparency
& transparently – when an action takes place to facilitate a further action or series of actions, that is invisible to the user. A good example is the DNS service: a website cannot be located by its 'friendly name' such as my-lovely-roses.com, so your browser first goes to a server that provides a DNS lookup service. This provides the numerical IP address to which the friendly name corresponds, by which your browser can then locate the website. This happens very quickly, is invisible to the user, and is therefore transparent.
tute, tut
short for tutorial, and therefore pronounced 'tewt'. These short instruction run-throughs are very popular on the Net.
UDP
(user datagram protocol) a protocol without a connection. This signifies that it does not create any connection, and data is transmitted in individual messages (so called datagrams). UDP does not warrant reliable data delivery as datagrams can be lost during transmission. However, unlike transmission through TCP protocol, it provides faster data transmission as it is not necessary to establish connections or provide reliability control, confirmation is not demanded, etc. UDP protocol is used especially for initial connection and port confirmation, transmission of DNS queries, audio files, video files, or other types of streaming media which promote speed over reliability.
UNIX
the original computer operating system that has spawned innumerable offspring such as Linux and MacOS. Very popular for servers because it is (basically) stable and secure. Derivatives, which all have similar kernels, are called *NIX operating systems.
UoM
(unit of measure) the base unit of weight (kilo or pound usually) used for shipping cost calcs in online stores.
URL
(universal resource locator) an Internet address such as http://www. yoursite.com/ a-page.html. An URL is a type of URI – universal resource indicator. Or, to be precise, a sequence of characters, conforming to a standardized format, that is used for referring to resources, such as documents and images on the Internet, by their location.
utility
a small (usually) software workhorse tool that is often useful far beyond its size and cost might indicate. File zippers, defraggers, graphic viewers, text editors, and so on qualify.
versioning
a facility provided in the core of a sophisticated CMS, or via a plugin, to keep older versions of a content item secure for reverting to. This is obviously a core requirement of a wiki, but not commonly seen in CMS until at enterprise-level WCMS. It is one of the most useful features, although implementation is critical: the last three versions for instance would not be a complete solution - versions need to be date-separated for security.
visual editor
a web page editor that works in visual mode as against code-view mode (though it may provide this as well). In theory this is a WYSIWYG editor, though implementation problems make it most unlikely that results are anywhere near a precise representation of the true result, except in the case of the advanced one-way CSS and layer-based editors that cannot handle HTML (or do so incompletely).
VPN (1)
(virtual private network) nodes on a public network such as the Internet that communicate among themselves using encryption technology, so that their messages are as safe from being intercepted and understood by unauthorized users as if the nodes were connected by private lines.
VPN (2)
a WAN (wide area network) formed of permanent virtual circuits (PVCs) on another network, especially a network using technologies such as ATM or frame relay.
WCMS
website content management systems, as against those for other purposes such as intra-enterprise document storage.
webapps
web applications, software that is designed specifically for an Internet job; commonly a server-side program. A CMS is a webapp.
web analytics
qv statistics
webmail
IMAP (browser) email as against POP3 client email. Just go to the web page with Internet Explorer etc., and pick up the mail. You need the username & password to login.
webserver
a computer on the Internet that hosts a program that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from clients and serving them web pages or other files requested.
web team
the term used in corporate environments to describe the group of people who specify, install and manage a website.
wiki
a popular CMS plugin that provides a user-edited information resource; often an encyclopaedia-style list of entries, or a user manual. The most often-used approach seems to be to create a new mini-application that blends seamlessly with the core app, rather than using a well-known alternative. A wiki needs to use the main site membership list, so bridging is not normally going to be a simple task.
wrapper
qv iframe
WYSIWYG
'what you see is what you get', normally associated in this field with visual editors that can be integrated with a CMS, as a plugin, in order to originate or edit text and other content. The editor takes care of formatting, though the final result is usually controlled mainly by a CSS stylesheet. This approach avoids the need for HTML coding by the user, and is also a more complete solution than other rich-text editing approaches used by some wikis and forums.
Such visual editors provide one of the most important features of a CMS: web-based user content editing. Because there are a range of such plugins available in the open-source world, a CMS does not normally include such a device as a core feature (except that one is normally provided as a plugin with the initial install). The advantage of the plugin approach, as always, is that plugins can be added or exchanged in order to find the right tool for the job. It is interesting to note that there is no single plugin editor that might be considered as an all-round capable tool: some are better at text formatting, some for links and anchors, some for image management. All have notable bugs of one form or another, and as yet no one has produced the 'killer' universal WYSIWYG plugin editor.
Plugin editors ideally need a relative power facility, whereby the editor can be provided with restricted features for frontend authors, but extended capability for a backend admin who may want to override the CSS.
XAMPP
probably the best Windows server package solution for a private LANserver. This open-source package is a one-click install that gives you a full-service server setup including Apache, mySQL databases, PHP, Perl, FTP and email. Complex dynamic applications such as CMS systems usually install faultlessly on top – which is more than can be said for some of the competition. This form of install is a WAMP installation, which replicates the LAMP environment. So: L or W = (X)AMPP.
There are no security measures or settings on a default XAMPP install, since it is not designed for a production environment. To a certain extent these issues can be resolved, at least as far as LAN service is conerned; but production use is better taken care of on a Linux box anyway.
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Numbers - #
3PD
qv third-party
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CMS Terms - 2 
