This is a short list of often encountered terms in the area of web site publishing.


HTML
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. All web sites are created using some variant of this language. HTML allows linking one page to another, specifying different font styles, including images in your pages and so on.


Server / Web Server
A Server is a computer that provides some kind of service or information to other computers. A Web Server stores the various files that make up a web site. When you surf the web, you are connecting to Web Servers, and viewing the files stored on them.


Protocol
A language that computers use when communicating with each other.


TCP/IP
This is the fundamental low-level protocol that all computers communicating on the Internet use. All other protocols such as HTTP, FTP etc. build on top of this protocol.


Host
This is a generally just another way of saying "computer".


IP Address
This is the unique address of a Host on the Internet. For one Host to communicate with another, it must know the other's IP Address. An IP address is usually represented as four numbers separated by periods, for example "192.168.1.1"


Host Name
This is the human-readable name of a Host on the Internet. Examples of hostnames include "www.v-com.com", "ftp.myisp.com" etc. These names are automagically mapped to IP Addresses by your web browser when you surf the web.


URL
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It specifies the location of an actual "resource" - typically a file. URLs consist of three parts - the Protocol, the Host Name and the path or file name. Consider for example the URL " http://www.v-com.com/products ". Here, the Protocol is "http", the Host Name is "www.v-com.com" and the path is "products". Generally, when using a web browser to surf the web, you can get away with just typing in the Host Name and Path - for example "www.v-com.com/products" - and your web browser will work out what the Protocol is. However, when creating a web page, if you want to include a link from one site to another, you must always specify the Protocol part.


HTTP
HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. This is the protocol that web browsers and servers use when communicating i.e.: when you are surfing the web.


FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is a protocol that allows you to transfer files from one host to another. This protocol is used when you publish a web site.


ISP
ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. This is the company that provides you with your connection to the Internet, and may provide you with some space on their servers in which you can publish a web site.


Hosting Provider
This is a company that specializes in providing servers on which you can publish a web site. Hosting Providers generally do not provide connections to the Internet.


Visit the Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing at the following page:

http://foldoc.org/

This is a searchable dictionary with over 13,000 definitions of words, acronyms, jargon, and other computer terms.