Glossary
Glossary
A
Absolute path
An absolute path is a complete URL address including the protocol to use. For example:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/dreamweaver/contents.html
This absolute path references the protocol, the World Wide Web, the company site, and then the specific web page for the contents to Dreamweaver 4.0 online support.
B
Background image
An image used as a background for a Web page. These images do not print when you print the screen information. They are used give information to the site visitor, create a consistent style for page design, or simply to improve a Web site's appeal.
Broken links
Broken links are Web site links that no longer function. This may occur because you moved either the originating document link or target document link. Moving the location of a document file to a new folder requires that you update all links. Review the page thoroughly and test each link to be sure the link is not broken.
C
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
The World Wide Web Consortium determines Cascading Style Sheets specifications (CSS1). CSS1 defines the style properties (such as font, color, padding, margin, word spacing) that control the appearance of Web page elements.
Common Gateway Interface (CGI)A Common Gateway interface is a server-side application, or scripting tool. Script languages, like Perl, C, C++, Java, JavaScript, VBScript, and others, allow a user to enter data for processing. You might need to collect information (such as contact information) from a user, but will need to employ a scripting tool that collects this data. CGI is essential if your site uses forms to collect information from users.
D
Document encoding
A document's encoding determines how a browser displays your documents. Choose the Modify>Page Properties command to select an encoding from the Document Encoding pop-up menu.
Document-relative path
A document-relative path is a path relative to your current document. Document-relative paths are most appropriate for local links on your site. When your current document and the linked document are likely to remain in the same folder, use a document-relative path. The core concept is omitting part of the URL, or absolute path, that the two files share in common and using only that portion that differs.
Note: When you move files, document-relative paths maintain their links provided you do not separate the linked files by moving them to new folders. Creating new folders can create broken links.
See: Broken links.
Download
A download, or downloading, refers to the process of retrieving files from an external source, like the WWW or your server, and copying them onto your local computer hard drive.Drag
Drag, or dragging, refers to the technique of left-clicking an onscreen object and "dragging" the object to a new onscreen location. You can drag an object by left-clicking it, continuously holding down the left mouse button, moving the object around the screen to its new location, and then "dropping" the object into its new location by releasing the left mouse button.
EExternal links
External links are links to documents or sites outside your Local Root Folder. Dreamweaver 4.0 compiles a list of these links, but does not verify them. When you check for broken links in the Site window's File menu, Check Links command (Shift+F8), the Link Checker dialog box will appear, showing you how many external links your site has. You will have to visually verify that the links are accurate by testing the links.
See: Local Root Folder.
F
Fireworks®
Fireworks® is a trademark name for a Macromedia software product that permits you to create, edit, and animate Web graphics. This application lets you add advanced interactivity and optimize your images in a professional environment.
Flash®
Flash® is a Macromedia software product that permits you to created animated logos, Web site navigation controls, long-form animations, Flash® Web sites, or Web applications.
Form fields
Form fields are form objects you use to collect information from a user (site visitor). There are three form field types-text fields (user responses), file fields (user designated file paths for uploading files to your server), and hidden fields (where you store user information from another field). Think of form fields as placeholders in a document that require a user response.
Form objects
Form objects are form input types. Users input information into the Web site, such as contact information.
See also: The Objects panel, Figure 9 (on page 9), Figure 39 (on page 48), Figure 45 (on page 52), and Figure 47 (on page 53) for examples.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)FTP is the tool users have relied upon for years to send files and retrieve files from other computers or the Internet. Many remote site service providers (remote hosts) use FTP (such as CSU, Chico). You cannot use a browser to put files on a remote computer, but you can use a browser to retrieve files from a remote computer. There are two types of FTP-Anonymous FTP and Non-Anonymous FTP.
Anonymous FTP lets any user log on without a user account or password. Your browser takes care of the connection. Non-Anonymous FTP requires a user account, a password, and log-in procedure. FTP URLs usually only refer to the host system and directory path, or host system, directory path, and a specific file.
See: Setting Up Your Web Site/Remote Site (p. 40) for specifics on using FTP with CSU, Chico.
Note: Information concerning FTP procedures on CSU, Chico is subject to change. Go to the following CSU, Chico Web page to find current information on setting up a Web account with FTP:
How To Be A Web Contributor
http://www.csuchico.edu/computing/INTERNET/webtrn.html
G
Generator®
Generator® is a Macromedia Web-server production application that permits you to combine text, graphics, and sound for creating rich media content. You can use Generator® authoring extensions to create graphical front-ends for sophisticated server-side applications, such as an interactive weather map.
Get
Get is a command for retrieving files and folders from a remote site. You would use the Get command if you need to retrieve files from your remote site for editing purposes.
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
A Graphical User Interface is an interface that is visually interactive. Using a mouse, a user can move the pointer over onscreen objects and click on them. The objects respond with a pre-determined behavior. This combination of onscreen objects, a mouse, and user interactivity creates the graphical user interface.
HHandle
A handle is an object control device. For example, the little boxes on layout cells, layout tables, or in images permit you to "handle" the object. The handles let you resize the object to a specific, desired size.
Horizontal rule
A horizontal rule is a line inserted into a Web page as a divider, separating page design elements.
Hotspot
A hotspot is an area on a Web page (other than text) that links to a document, portion of a document, file, folder, external document, or other Web site. A hotspot is a modified hypertext link adapted to objects (like images).
See also: Image Link, Image Map, and Rollover Image.
HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
Hypertext Markup Language is a pseudo-computer language that combines plain text with formatting instructions that makes the document independent of the hardware that displays that document. The language derives from GML (Generalized Markup Language), originally a concept of IBM (International Business Machines). The ISO (International Standards Organization) produced a publication (ISO 8879) to standardize IBM's concept, calling the new language SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language). HTML is a subset of this language that defines hypertext documents. Hypertext documents use markup codes, or tags, to format a document's text.
HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) address
The http:// in an URL describes the protocol to use in accessing online documents and sets the rules that a browser will follow to request that document. It also sets the rules for the remote server to follow in supplying that document.
Hypertext
Any electronic data link from an anchor to a target. Anchor links originate in the source document and link to the target, or destination, document.
I
Image map
An image map is a collection of hotspots (links) centered on a single image, but having links to several different pages or documents.
Image tracing
Use a tracing image as a guide in re-creating a page design you mocked up in a graphics application. A tracing image is a JPEG, GIF, or PNG image you place in the background of a Document window. You can hide the image, reposition it, or set its opacity.
Image transparency
Image transparency refers to the opacity of an image. You may find that a background image makes the text in a document too difficult to read. Increasing the image transparency reduces image color saturation. This increases the contrast between the background image and the text. The text becomes far more readable. You can also do this with multiple layers of images to create an image montage with various layers. Changing the image transparency emphasizes one image over that of another.
Interactive
Interactive refers to any condition that gives the user options for response. Inputting information into an online form is interactive. The user may respond to conditions that require clicking the mouse buttons on objects or entering text to receive information.
Invisibles
Invisibles are Web page elements (like line breaks, named anchors, scripts, and comments) that do not appear in the browser.
J
Jump menu
A jump menu is a form object that creates a list menu of hypertext links. This jump list let you "jump" to various links; jump to other documents, pages, external documents, or even other Web sites.
LLayout view
The Layout view is a page design option (versus Standard view) that lets a Dreamweaver 4.0 user insert Layout Tables and Layout Cells in a Web page.
Link
A link is a connection between an anchor and a target. The link can connect between different documents, different images, or even different websites. Most links are hypertext links. Below are types of links.
o Blank (for new, unnamed browser windows)
o Parent (links the file into the parent frameset or window of the
frame that contains the link)
o Self (links the file into the same frame or window as the link
-your Dreamweaver 4.0 default setting so you do not need to specify this action)
o Top (links the file into the full browser window
-it removes all frames)Local Root Folder
The Local Root Folder is the folder you specify to hold all of your site's documents, files, folders, templates, and libraries. When Dreamweaver 4.0 resolves root-relative links, it will do so relative to this site folder. You may have to create this folder in the Site window.
N
Navigation buttons
Navigation buttons are onscreen buttons you click on with links to other pages in your Web site. Use the navigation buttons to quickly access major document pages in another part of your site. When you finish with a document and want to return to your home page, click on the home page navigation button.
Nested frames
Nested frames are frames in a Layout Table you have inserted into other frames. They lie within the top-level frame and actions you perform to the top-level frame affect lower level frames. Links are relative to the frames they reside within.
O
Objects panel
The Objects panel is a floating panel with icons that allow you to insert objects into your Web site pages.
See: Figure 9 (on page 9), Figure 39 (on page 48), Figure 45 (on page 52), and Figure 47 (on page 53) for examples.
P
Path
A path describes the route a computer uses to locate, retrieve, and store data files. An Internet path looks like the following:
http://www.csuchico.edu/computing/INTERNET/webtrn.html
In this example, the first part of the path (http://www.csuchico.edu)
sets the protocol (http://) and the Internet address (www.csuchico.edu ).
The remainder of the path (/computing/INTERNET/webtrn.html) routes the user to the specific file (/webtrn.html) within host computer's folders (/computing/INTERNET).Your Local Root Folder might look like the following:
C:\001\Chico Society for Technical Communication\Chico STC Home Page.htm
In this example, the first part of the path (C:\) sets the drive (C:) as the root folder (\) using the back slash. The remainder of the path (001\Chico Society for Technical Communication\Chico STC Home Page.htm) routes the user to the specific file (\Chico STC Home Page.htm) within your computer's folders (001\Chico Society for Technical Communication). The back slash establishes the "path" direction to the file.
See also: Absolute path, Document-relative path, and Root-relative path.
Plug-in detection
Plug-ins are extensions of a software application added to improve an application's performance, or to provide additional features to the application. Plug-in detection is an automatic feature of Dreamweaver 4.0 that determines what plug-ins your Web site visitors may be using. You may want certain visitors to go to specific pages that are compatible with your Web site visitor's hardware. For example, your Web site visitor may be able to access one type of audio file, or one type of video file, much better than another type of file.
Put
The Put command uploads files (files you got from your remote host's site using the Get command) back to your remote site after you finish your editing.
R
Remote host
A remote host is your Internet service provider's computer. You upload your Web site's files onto this computer so your Web site visitors can take advantage of the host computer's greater speed and data storage capabilities.
Remote site
A remote site is the location of your active Web site on your remote host's computer server. The file location on your remote host's computer is your FTP or URL address.
Rollover image
A Rollover image is an image comprised of two images. When a mouse pointer rolls over the primary image, a secondary image replaces the primary onscreen image in the same onscreen location.
Root-relative path
A root-relative path is a document file path that is specific to the Local Root Folder. It begins with a forward slash (/), a referent to the root folder. These path types are the best technique to use when specifying links on certain Web sites. Certain Web sites need to frequently move HTML files from one folder to another and should use root-relative paths to accommodate this activity.
S
Select
The Select command selects an item. Sometimes, in Dreamweaver 4.0, the Select button will, in certain dialog boxes, also execute as a command and close the dialog box.
Server-Side Include
A Server-Side Include instructs the server to include a specific file in your current document before it sends the document to you. A Server-Side Include is like a library loan that the server includes with your document while it remains your current document.
Shockwave®
Shockwave® is a Macromedia application for creating interactive multimedia.
Site window
The Site window is Dreamweaver 4.0's central, site management tool for managing your Web site's files and folders. You can visually create, name, rename, edit, and delete all your files and folders in the Site window. The Site Map visually displays of your Web site's links and your file link relationships.
Standard view
The Standard view is the Web page development window that launches by default when you start Dreamweaver 4.0. This window is where you create your page designs and enter Web site content.
Society for Technical Communication (STC)
The Society for Technical Communication is a nationally recognized organization of dedicated professionals committed to the betterment of technical writing skills and career development for professional communicators. This book is for the local Chico Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.
Synchronizing
"Synchronizing" means keeping your local and remote sites up-to-date with each other. You can use the Synchronize command to transfer the latest version of your Web site files from your local site to your remote site. Dreamweaver 4.0 lets you verify which files you want to put onto, or get from, your remote site.T
Target browsers
Target browsers are the browsers you believe your Web site visitors will use. Since browsers (and versions of browsers) behave differently, you should preview your site in multiple browsers to determine which browsers are suitable for your visitors and to help you correct problems with your web site.
Timelines
Timelines represent the properties of layers and images over time. Use timelines to create movies, animation, or behaviors in Dreamweaver 4.0.
U
Upload
To upload is to transfer electronic data files from a local computer onto a server or the Internet.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
The URL is the HTTP address that allows Internet users on the WWW to locate data files and Web sites.
W
World Wide Web (WWW)
The global network of telecommunication electronic pathways, the hardware that provides those electronic pathways, and the other infrastructure elements that make the Internet work.
Go To: Getting Started | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4 | Lesson 5 | Lesson 6 | Home Page | About | Administrative | Activities | Constitution | Program | Professional | Treasurer's | How to Join | How to Contribute | .
Copyright © 2001 Chico STC Chapter. Send comments to (jjayj@mail.csuchico.edu). Last Updated: 15 May 2001.