Back End 
The part of a website or software program which handles the setup of the ‘front end.’ This is usually a very user-friendly interface which assists general users to edit parts of the program normally only editable by technical users. 

Bandwidth 
A measure of total amount of data transferred over a period of time, often used to measure how busy a website is. A web host will usually base its charges on the bandwidth a website uses, i.e. how much data per month is requested from it. 

Bmp, Bitmap (BitMaP) 
A standard type of graphics file. An uncompressed format, so the files tend to be fairly big. 

bps (Bits Per Second) 
A measure of how quickly information is being transferred, usually via a modem or network. Divide by ten to get an approximation of the number of characters per second (cps).

Broadband 
Internet access over a connection much faster than an ordinary modem, such as ADSL or cable. 

Browser 
A program used for viewing World Wide Web pages on the Internet. The most widely used are Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Bulletin Board/ Forum
A public or semi-public area on a website where you can read and post messages on a particular topic, allowing public debate. 

CMS (Content Management System) 
A software program usually built in to a website’s ‘back end’ which allows easy updating of web content copy and images. 

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Keystone black) 
The standard four colours used by most printers - almost any colour can be created out of these. See also RGB. 

Compression 
A way of making files smaller, either to fit into restricted storage space or to speed up transmission over the Internet. Popular compression standards include JPEG and GIF for pictures, MP3 for music files, and zip for just about everything else. 

Domain Name
An Internet address owned by a company, organisation or individual, such as www.magicdust.com.au.

dpi (Dots Per Inch) 
A measure of picture quality, often used to measure printer capabilities. The higher the number, the better the quality. 

eCommerce 
Conducting business over the Internet, the World Wide Web. 

Ethernet 
The most popular system used to connect a computer to a network, including most broadband Internet connections. The computer needs to be fitted with a suitable expansion card, usually called an Ethernet card. Commonly called a network card and network cable, or blue cable.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
A document on a website or in a newsgroup which gives answers to common problems and questions. Look for an FAQ if you have a problem with something, before you email or phone support. 

File Server 
A type of computer used on networks to provide files and other services to other computers. Often just called a server. 

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) 
A way of transferring files to or from an Internet server. Often how you upload web pages to the Internet.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) 
A popular type of compressed graphics (picture) file, widely used on the Internet. Best for pictures with 16 or fewer colours, digital line drawings and logos. See also jpg, compression. 

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) 
The system used for creating World Wide Web pages, ordinary text with commands for special effects like pictures, colour and links enclosed between < > symbols. 

ISP (Internet Service Provider) 

A company which provides a connection to the Internet, or Internet services. 

JPEG, jpg (Joint Picture [Experts] Group; pr. “jay-peg”) 
A standard type of compressed graphics file, widely used on the Internet. Particularly good for photographs. See also compression. 

MP3 (MPeg-1 audio layer 3)
A very popular standard for compressing audio and particularly music files down to a reasonable size with little or no perceptible loss of quality, and the files created using it - “an MP3″ is an audio file. See MPEG, Compression. 

Pixel (Picture cell) 
All computer screen or printed images are made up of pixels, small square dots - the more the pixels, the higher the image quality. 

POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3; pr. “pop 3″) 
A protocol for transmitting and receiving email, but mostly used just for receiving. (Its less powerful predecessor, SMTP still mostly handles transmitting.) 

Resolution 
Loosely speaking, the quality of an image. When printing or working with images, the resolution is usually measured in Dots Per Inch (dpi) - the more dots per inch, the higher the quality of the image but the larger the file needed to store it. 

RGB (Red, Green, Blue) 
The three colours used by a computer screen - all the other colours can be made up by mixing red, blue and green. A few printers use this system as well, though most use the alternative CMYK system instead. 

Server 
A computer at the centre of most networks which provides files and other services to other computers. Also known as a file server. 

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
The original method of transmitting and receiving email on the Internet. Still often used for transmitting, but has been widely replaced by POP3 for receiving. 

URL (Universal Resource Locator) 
An address used to locate something on the Internet, most often a web page. All web addresses are URLs. E.g. www.magicdust.com.au.  

Web Host 
A company which makes web pages available on the World Wide Web, usually as a commercial venture. 

Web Server 
A computer which fetches or stores World Wide Web pages and provides them over the Internet on request. 

Web Space 
The storage on an Internet server where websites are kept. Web space can be hired from a commercial provider, or is sometimes provided free with an Internet dialup account, though usually with constraints on what you can use it for.