Glossary

Common terms that you may encounter on this site.

C

CCK

Content Construction Kit - a Drupal module that allows you to create new content types

CSS

Cascading Style Sheet - a hierarchical means of specifying how to format HTML elements on the page

D

Database

A collection of data related to an application.See also: MySQL

Dreamweaver

An application set that is designed to produce web sites and edit code. For some uses, it constitutes an IDE, in others it is inadequate for that.See also: IDE

Drupal

Drupal

An open-source content management system that is used on this site and is taking over the world.See also: Module

E

Eclipse

An Open Source application that provides the framework for an IDE.See also: IDE

F

FAQ

Frequently Asked Question - most web sites get questions; the owner may collect the frequent ones to be easily asnwered.

H

HTML

HyperText Markup Language - the coding standard for a web page.See also: link, PHP

I

IDE

Interactive Deveopment Environment - a collection of tools or applications that allow a developer to produce, test, and document code.See also: Dreamweaver, Eclipse

L

link

The technique which points to another page, anywhere on the Internet, from the current page.See also: HTML

Linux

A Unix variant that has become very popular. It has itself spawned numerous variants, although not all of those enjoy open-source status.See also: Unix

M

Module

An add-on, or extension, to Drupal to provide additional functionality; written in PHP.See also: Drupal, PHP

MySQL

An implementation of a relational database using the standardized SQL.See also: Database, relational database, SQL

N

Nancy Wichmann

The beautiful, intelligent woman who runs this site.

P

PHP

Recursive acronym for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor" - is a widely-used Open Source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.See also: HTML, Module

PMP

Project Management Professional is a certification issued by the Project Management Institute and is sort of like a CPA for project managers. The certification requires a certain amount of base and continuing education, experience, and passing a monstrous test. Some employers require it for project managers.

R

relational database

A type of database that more closely resembles a flat file, yet is accessible by a full-featured query specification.See also: MySQL, SQL

S

site

A logically grouped set of content - also web site.

Site Documentation

A Drupal contributed module by Nancy Wichmann for gathering information about the installation.

Site Notes

A Drupal contributed module by Nancy Wichmann for hidden design or how-to notes.

Spam

Unsolicited email or web site postings that are undesirable, usually containing links to other sites.

SQL

Structured Query Language - a language for accessing a database.See also: MySQL, relational database

T

Theme

For web sites, this refers to the "look and feel" of the site. It is also used to describe the code to produce that look.

U

Unix

A (largely) open-source computer operating system. It is the basis for other OS's such as Linux and even provided some inspiration for Windows.See also: Linux