Glossary
This glossary describes terminology and acronyms used in the PageLines projects and by the PageLines tribe.
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A
AJAX
AJAX (an acronym for asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client side to create interactive web applications.
anonymous
A visitor to a website who is not currently logged in.
Apple Touch Icon
The Apple Touch Icon is visible when your users set your site as a Web Clip in Apple iPhone and Touch Products. It is an image approximately 57px by 57px in either .jpg, .gif or .png format.
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Background Image
A background image is an image used for the background of your website. You can tile your background image or just use it as a static image. Pagelines 2.0 allows you to customize the background for each page on your website. For more information, click on How to Use the Color Control Settings
Banners Section
Banner sections are sections that you can setup banner advertisement rotatation and placement. For more information, click on How to Use the Banners Section
blog layout mode
This is your classical blog layout. Posts span the entire width of the main content column.
Also see magazine layout mode
Banners Section
body
The body element defines the document's body. The body element contains all the contents of an HTML document, such as text, hyperlinks and media elements.
BoF
Birds of a feather. An informal discussion group. Unlike special interest groups or working groups, BoFs are informal and often formed in an ad-hoc manner.
Boxes Section
Boxes are a simple way to display content with an image and text. Boxes are designed te be used to display a grid layout of customizable content sections.
Branding Section
The branding section is the header of your website page where you customize your logo and site information. For more information, click on Custom Header Image
BrandNav refers to the header and navigation sections of your website where your branding is setup. For more information, click on Custom Header Image
breadcrumbs
The section, usually near the top of the page, that shows the path you followed to locate the current page. The term breadcrumbs is borrowed from Hansel and Gretel, who left crumbs of bread along their path so they could find their way back out of the forest.
Browser
A browser is an application that allows you to view websites. Examples are Safari, Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, and Chrome.
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Callout Section
The Callout Section is as a ‘call-to-action’ for whatever action you want your users to take. This could be subscribing to your blog, or purchasing your product. The callout section is set up underneath Template Setup in the administrative panel. Callout has four options: header, text, image, and link. Use the drag and drop interface to place this section throughout the site.
Carousel Section
A drag & drop image carousel which can be used to display pictures from different image galleries.
category
Each post on your website is filed under a category. Thoughtful categorization allows posts to be grouped with others of similar content and aids in the navigation of a site. Please note, the post category should not be confused with the Link Categories used to classify and manage Links.
child
Objects that can have hierarchical relationships, such as menu items, book pages, taxonomy terms and so on. A "child" theme, for example, is intended for extending and customizing the PageLines Framework to meet your needs.
Child Theme
Child Themes are separate themes that you can use within the PageLines 2.0 Framework, for more information click here PageLines Themes
Child Page
Child Pages are pages that fall under a main topic of your navigation heading, creating a sub-navigation. For more information click here, Secondary Navigation
CMS
CMS stands for Content Management System. In the context of a Web site, a CMS is a collection of tools designed to allow the creation, modification, organization and removal of content.
Clone
A clone is used in Callout options to create another Callout section. Read more about enabling these options here, How to Use the Callout Section
Color Control
Color control lets you choose the main colors that will be displayed on your website, for more information click here, How to Use the Color Control Settings
comments
Comments are a feature of blogs which allow readers to respond to posts. Typically readers simply provide their own thoughts regarding the content of the post, but users may also provide links to other resources, generate discussion, or simply compliment the author for a well-written post.
You can control and regulate comments by filters for language and content. Comments can be queued for approval before they are visible on the web site which is useful in dealing with comment spam.
Comments Section
The comments section is a section that allows comments to either be active or inactive on your site. To read more about how to enable this option click here, Editing Page Templates
content
The text, media files, and other information on a web site.
Content Area
The Content Area is part of the Template Area. It is the area on a website that contains your page's blog posts, page text, media files, etc...
You control what else appears in the Content Area through the Template Setup
Content Section
The content section is the main are on your template that will display your main content of your site. For more information click here, Template Setup
core
The basic files and modules included with the PageLines download.
CSS
CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a W3C open standards programming language for specifying how a web page is presented. It allows web site designers to create formatting and layout for a web site independently of its content.
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Default Layout Mode
This will set the default layout when you create a new page in WordPress.
domain name
Domain names were created to provide an easier means of accessing internet resources than IP addresses, which are cumbersome to type and difficult to remember. Every domain name has at least one corresponding IP address, but only a small number of IP addresses have a domain name associated with them, since only computers that are web servers require domain names. The Domain Name System (DNS) is what maps Domain names to IP addresses.
draft
The draft post status is for WordPress posts which are saved, but as yet unpublished. A draft post can only be edited through the Administration Panel, Write Post SubPanel by users of equal or greater User Level than the post's author.
Drop Down Navigation is a menu option for your site's navigation. When this feature is enabled you can hover over a menu and additional menu items appear underneath. To read more about this click here, Drop Down Navigation
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EPS Developer Graphics
The PageLines Developer Edition Theme includes EPS Developer Graphics, theme image files that can be edited and saved for use on your website. EPS files come in vector graphics format, a format often used for images that need to be rescaled often (i.e. social media icons or logos). Vector graphics can be opened and edited in a vector graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW.
The vector format does not use pixels, so any graphics you enlarge will not result in loss of quality often seen in photographs and other raster (pixel) images that are scaled larger than their original size.
excerpt
An excerpt is a condensed description of a post and refers to the summary entered in the Excerpt field of the Administration > Posts > Add New panel. The excerpt is used to describe your post in RSS feeds and is typically used in displaying search results.
An excerpt should not be confused with the teaser, which refers to words before the in a post's content. When typing a long post you can insert the Quicktag after a few sentences to act as a cut-off point. When the post is displayed, the teaser, followed by a hyperlink (such as Read the rest of this entry...), is displayed. Your visitor can then click on that link to see the full version of your post. The Template Tag, the_content() should be used to display the teaser.
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Features Section
Dynamic ways to display and feature select content on your website, to read more information click here How to Use the Features Section
feed
A feed is a function of special software that allows "Feedreaders" to access a site automatically looking for new content and then posting the information about new content and updates to another site. This provides a way for users to keep up with the latest and hottest information posted on different blogging sites. Some Feeds include RSS (alternately defined as "Rich Site Summary" or "Really Simple Syndication"), Atom or RDF files. Feeds generally are based on XML technology.
filter
A filter is a tool for stripping out HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and other undesirable elements from content before pages are displayed.
FlickrRSS Plugin
The FlickrRSS Plugin shows pictures from your Flickr account. It is used in conjunction with the Carousel Section when set to flickrRSS Mode. Click on FlickrRSS Plugin for more information.
The Footer is the rectangular shaped area that runs across the bottom of the web page. By default, it will appear on every page.
Footer Column Sidebar allows for you to add columns and control your appearance of your footer section, to read more information on this click here, Number of Footer Columns
FTP
FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is rather predictably, a client-server protocol for transferring files. It is one way to download files, and the most common way to upload files to a server.
An FTP client is a program which can download files from, or upload files to, an FTP server.
Full Width Sidebar
The Full Width Sidebar section allows you to place a widgetized sidebar inside the following Template Areas: Page Templates, Morefoot, & Footer
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gallery
A gallery is specifically an exposition of images attached to a post. In that same vein, an upload is "attached to a post" when you upload it while editing a post.
In the uploader there is a "Gallery" tab that shows all the uploads attached to the post you are editing. When you have more than one attachment in a post, you should see at the bottom of the Gallery tab a button marked "Insert gallery into post".
GUI
Graphical user interface. A program interface that takes advantage of the computer's graphics capabilities to make the program easier to use.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics lets you measure your advertising ROI as well as track your Flash, video, and social networking sites and applications.
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Header
The header is the rectangular shaped area that runs across the top of the web page design on your screen. By default, it will appear on every web page.
The primary purpose of the header is to promote your website's brand and make it instantly recognisable to your audience. If your audience is already familiar with your site, they should instantly know they have arrived at the correct place.
Hexadecimal Code
Hexadecimal Code is a numeral system that uses 16 characters.
They are 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F
With 0 being the lowest value and F being the highest. For our purposes, we use Hexadecimal code when referring to colors. When choosing a color for an element, we use a combination of the three primary colors, in the order of Red, Green, Blue which would look like #RRGGBB in our Hexadecimal Code format. Each of those colors use two characters, and the value of those characters determines your color output. For example, #000000=Black, #FF0000=Red, #FF00FF=Magenta, etc...
header scripts
The header scripts are scripts inserted directly before the end of the HTML </head> tag.
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Highlight Section
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hook
A PHP function. Each hook has a defined set of parameters and a specified result type.
hosting provider
A hosting provider is a company or organization which provides, usually for a fee, infrastructure for making information accessible via the web. This involves the use of a web server (including web server software such as Apache), and may involve one or more related technologies, such as FTP, PHP, MySQL, and operating system software such as Linux or Unix.
HTML
HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, is the W3C standard language with which all web pages are built. It is the predecessor to XHTML, but HTML is often still used to describe either one. It is often used in conjunction with CSS and/or JavaScript.
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Inactive On Template
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IP address
An IP address is a unique number (e.g. 70.84.29.148) assigned to a computer to enable it to communicate with other devices using the Internet Protocol. It is a computer's identity on the internet, and every computer connected to the internet is assigned at least one — although the methods of assigning these addresses, and the permanence and duration of their assignment, differ according to the use of the computer and the circumstances of its internet use.
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JavaScript
Developed by Netscape and Sun, JavaScript is a client-side programming or scripting language. It is used to create interactive and dymanic effects on a web page, as well as handle and manipulate form data. JavaScript is a separate language from Java. All modern browsers support JavaScript, with the exception of most text-based browsers (e.g., w3m). Some excellent JavaScript references and tutorials can be found at JavaScript Kit.
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LaunchPad
PageLines products are delivered via PageLines LaunchPad. Once you select a product to purchase you can register as a PageLines LaunchPad member. After sign-up you will be redirected to PayPal to purchase the item and can then return to your LaunchPad account to download the product. This is also where you can view the products purchased in the PageLines Store, purchase other products, and view payment records at any time.
Layout Dimensions Editor
This editor allows you to control the width of the different layout options. You can choose which layout type to edit and change the width of the main content and sidebars.
Layout Editor
This panel includes all the setting to change the layout options on your site.
Layout Handling
You can choose between three different options for controlling the layout of your site. Responsive by pixel width and responsive by percent width will both resize the web site as the size of your browser window changes. The static with pixel width will keep your site the same size regardless of the size of the browser window.
log
A list of recorded events. A log may contain usage data, performance data, errors, warnings and operational information.
(the) loop
The Loop is used by WordPress to display each of your posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each of the posts to be displayed on the current page and formats them according to how they match specified criteria within The Loop tags.
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magazine layout mode
The magazine layout mode makes use of post "clips". These are summarized excerpts shown at half the width of the main content column. Note: There is an option for showing "full-width" posts on your main "posts" page.
A menu refers to a clickable navigational element on a page.
meta
Meta has several meanings, but generally means information about. In WordPress, meta usually refers to administrative type information. As described in Meta Tags in WordPress, meta is the HTML tag used to describe and define a web page to the outside world (search engines). In the article Post Meta Data, meta refers to information associated with each post, such as the author's name and the date posted.
Several PageLines features have their own meta fields that can be used to add specific information (e.g. feature background image etc.)
MetaPanel
This is where page specific options for sections, plug-ins and page control are handled.
There are many different MetaPanels within PageLines. Each one of them controls different types of information about the page you are on, the sections you are using or functionalities of plug-ins you have activated.
module
Software (usually PHP and CSS) that extends PageLines features and functionality.
Morefoot
The Morefoot is the rectangular shaped area that is positioned just above the Footer towards the bottom of the web page. By default, it will appear on every page.
Morefoot Sidebars Section
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Navigation is the term used to describe text on a page that, when selected, redirects you to a corresponding page elsewhere on the website. Navigation may sometimes be referred to as the menu, links and hyperlinks.
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NextGEN Gallery Plugin
The NextGEN Gallery Plugin] is a full integrated image gallery plugin for WordPress with a slideshow option. It is used in conjunction with the Carousel Section when set to NextGEN Gallery Mode. Click on NextGEN Gallery Plugin for more information.
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open source
Open source is simply programming code that can be read, viewed, modified, and distributed, by anyone who desires. WordPress is distributed under an open source GNU General Public License (GPL).
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Page
A Page is often used to present "static" information about yourself or your site. A good example of a Page is information you would place on an About Page. A Page should not be confused with the time-oriented objects called posts. Pages are typically "timeless" in nature and live "outside" your website.
The word "page" has long been used to describe any HTML document on the web. In WordPress, however, "Page" refers to a very specific feature first introduced in WordPress version 1.5.
Page Content Layout
The Page Content Layout controls how your Sidebars are positioned in relation to your page's content. You can choose to have one or two sidebars, and position them on either side of your content. For more information, click on How to Use the Individual Page Content Layout
Page Setup Meta Settings
These are the settings that apply to a single page. You can control the following:
You can access a page's Page Setup Meta Settings by editing the page. For Special Pages (Blog Page, Archive Page, Category Page, Search Results, Tag Listing, Author Posts, & 404 Page), access via PageLines => Special.
For more info information, click How to Use the Page Setup Meta Settings
Page Template
When you create a page, you must specify the Page Template. This allows PageLines 2.0 to determine the content that will appear on that page based on the configuration of the Template Setup There are several Page Templates to choose from:
- Default Template
- Banner Page
- Box Page
- Carousel Page
- Custom Page
- Feature Page
- Highlight Page
Page Type
WordPress is designed to support a number of different page types. These include:
- Blog Page
- Archive Page
- Category Page
- Search Results
- Tag Listing
- Author Posts
- 404 Page
PageLines calls these different types Special Pages
PageLines Customize Plugin
The PageLines Customize Plugin is a free plugin available in the PageLines Store. It creates a new style.css and functions.php file that can be edited to customize your site, just like a child theme. For more information, click on How to Use the PageLines Customize Plugin
partner link
Enter your PageLines affiliate link here and the footer link will become a partner or affiliate link.
patch
A small piece of software designed to update or fix problems with a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing bugs, replacing graphics and improving the usability or performance.
permissions
Permissions are security settings restricting or allowing users to perform certain functions. In the case of files on Unix or Linux systems, there are three types of permissions: read, write, and execute.
PHP
PHP is a recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a popular server-side scripting language designed specifically for integration with HTML, and is used (often in conjunction with MySQL) in Content Management Systems and other web applications. It is available on many platforms, including Windows, Unix/Linux and Mac OS X, and is open source software.
The PageLines products and the WordPress CMS are written using PHP and requires it for operation.
Plugin
A Plugin is a group of PHP functions that can extend the functionality present in a standard WordPress weblog. These functions may all be defined in one PHP file or may be spread among more than one file. Usually, a plugin is a php file that can be uploaded to the "wp-content/plugins" directory on your hosting account, where you have installed PageLines. Once you have uploaded the plugin file, you should be able to enable it from the "Plugins" page in the administration interface of your website.
post
Also known as articles and sometimes incorrectly referred to as blogs. In Wordpress, posts are articles that you write to populate your website.
post slug
A word or two describing an entry, for use in permalinks (replaces the %posttitle% field therein), especially useful if titles tend to be long or they change frequently.
post types
Post type refers to the various structured data that is maintained in the WordPress posts table. Native (or built-in) registered post types are post, page, attachment, revision, and nav-menu-item. Custom post types are also supported in WordPress and can be defined with register_post_type(). Custom post types allow users to easily create and manage such things as portfolios, projects, video libraries, podcasts, quotes, chats, and whatever a user or developer can imagine.
Post Types Order Plugin
The Post Types Order plugin allow you drag and drop control over Post Types Objects, which in our case is Features, Banners, Boxes, and other sections in the PageLines Store that may use Post Types Objects. This plugin uses a Drag and Drop Sortable javascript to rearrange the order for these custom post types. Click on Post Types Order Plugin for more information.
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quicktag
A Quicktag is a shortcut, or one-click button, that inserts HTML code into your posts. The (emphasis) and (stop emphasis) HTML tags are example of Quicktags. Some Quicktags, such as , insert HTML comment code that is used by plugins to replace text or perform certain actions. Back to Top
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Reader Section
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roles
Roles are sets of permissions that can be applied to individual users. Users can belong to more than one role.
RSS
Really Simple Syndication: a format for syndicating many types of content, including blog entries, torrent files, video clips on news-like sites; specifically frequently updated content on a Web site, and is also known as a type of "feed" or "aggregator". An RSS feed can contain a summary of content or the full text, and makes it easier for people to keep up to date with sites they like in an automated manner (much like e-mail).
The content of the feed can be read by using software called an RSS or Feed reader. Feed readers display hyperlinks, and include other metadata (information about information) that helps you decide whether they want to read more, follow a link, or move on.
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Sections
Sections are drag and drop pieces of web design that can be moved around your site. They are a lot like widgets, only they handle more complex tasks like Javascript, CSS loading, options, etc…
You globally control which sections are enabled where via the Template Setup.
PageLines comes pre-installed with many sections, you can also add and market your own using the PageLines Store.
Section Control
Section Control is a tool for hiding and showing individual sections on a page to page basis.
This allows you to show and hide individual widget areas on each page, giving you complete control of sections and where they are viewed.
Sidebar
The sidebar is a narrow vertical column often jam-packed with lots of information about a website. Found on most WordPress sites, the sidebar is usually placed on the right or left-hand side of the web page, though in some cases, a site will feature two sidebars, one on each side of the main content where your posts are found. A sidebar is also referred to as a Theme Template file and is typically called sidebar.php.
Sidebar Area
The Sidebar Area is part of the Template Area. It consists of the following:
- Sidebar 1
- Sidebar 2
- Sidebar Wrap
You control which Sidebars appear in the Sidebar Area using the Template Setup. You can configure the dimensions and location of the Sidebar Areas using the Layout Editor.
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Site Branding
Your company logo, personal emblem, family crest or coat of arms. The graphic that distinguishes your website as your website.
smileys
Smileys (also called Smilies or Emoticons) are stylized representations of a human face, usually displayed as yellow buttons with two dots for the eyes, and a half mouth. Smileys are often used in WordPress Plugins. By default, WordPress automatically converts text smileys to graphic images. When you type ;-) in your post you see File:Icon wink.gif when you preview or publish your post.
Slug
A slug is a few words that describe a post or a page. Slugs are usually a URL friendly version of the post title (which has been automatically generated by WordPress), but a slug can be anything you like. Slugs are meant to be used with permalinks as they help describe what the content at the URL is.
social media icons
On websites powered by PageLines software, the social media icons are vector graphics that are used to link to the major social media websites.
Special Page
There are certain pages in WordPress that don't handle meta information. These include the following type of page:
- Blog Page
- Archive Page
- Category Page
- Search Results
- Tag Listing
- Author Posts
- 404 Page
That's why PageLines invented our own system for handling these Special Pages. For more information, click How to Use Special Pages
Store
The PageLines Store is the first-ever marketplace for drag-and-drop web design (think of it like an “app store” for drag-and-drop sections, plugins and themes). The Store makes it incredibly simple to buy and sell sections, plugins and themes designed that work seamlessly within the PageLines framework (which as you know runs on WordPress).
For developers, PageLines will put your products in front of hundreds of thousands of eager users. We also give you a 70% cut of each and every sale and you get to set the price.
Before the PageLines Store when you purchased a WordPress theme or framework you were stuck with what it gives you. If it didn’t have the type of feature slider you want, or a carousel, guess what you’d have to do?
That’s right: custom code some good ol’ PHP, HTML, CSS etc.. Fun huh?
Thankfully, the PageLines Store solves that problem for good. If you want to add new type of widget, sidebar, slider, etc… you’ll be able to find it on the Store then simply drag and drop it into your site – Presto! And you’re done.
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tag
A tag is a keyword which describes all or part of a post. Think of it like a Category, but smaller in scope. A post may have several tags, many of which relate to it only peripherally. Like Categories, Tags are usually linked to a page which shows all posts having the same tag. Unlike Categories, Tags can be created on-the-fly, by simply typing them into the tag field.
Tags can also be displayed in "clouds" which show large numbers of Tags in various sizes, colors, etc. This allows for a sort of total perspective on the blog, allowing people to see the sort of things your blog is about most.
Many people confuse tags and categories, but the difference is easy: Categories generally don't change often, while your Tags usually change with every post.
Template Area
Template Areas behave differently depending on which one you’re using. Here is a summary:
- These are Global Template Areas. They are present on all pages of your site. Only place sections here that you want on all or most pages
- The Sidebar areas are dependent on the Layout Editor
Page Templates
- These are the templates that will show up (between you header and footer elements) depending on which page template you choose. Or if a user is viewing a blog post or your posts pages.
Content Area
- This is the area where your content is placed, inside the main column of your content section.
Template Setup
The Template setup is probably the most important part of your site’s design and you’ll probably have to experiment with some of the options before you find the look you want.
It allows you to control the total look and feel of your sites templates, e.g. your post pages, page templates, etc… Not only that, it allows you to do this using drag & drop AND best web development practices! How about that?
That said, this is really easy, but you need to understand a couple key concepts first. Namely:
- Page Template The different templates you select when creating pages
- Page Type – i.e. your blog (posts) page, 404 page, etc...
- Template Area – The different areas in each template, i.e. the header area, or the content area…
- Drag and Drop Sections – Pieces of web design you can place in your template areas.
Once you understand what sections and template areas are, the rest is pretty easy. Click How to Use the Template Setup for more information.
text editor
A text editor is a program which edits files in plain text format, as compared to binary format. Using a non-text based word processing program (e.g. using Microsoft Word to edit PHP scripts) can cause major problems in your code. This is because non-text based word processing programs insert extra formatting into text files, and can corrupt the files when they need to be interpreted by the interpreter. An editor like Notepad does not insert any extra formatting.
Edit PageLines and WordPress Files with a text only editor.
theme
A file or collection of files (PHP, INFO, CSS, JPG, GIF, PNG) which together determine the look and feel of a site. A theme contains elements such as the header, icons, block layout, etc.
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Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type. The PageLines Framework Typography settings control the primary font elements that are displayed on your website.
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uid
uid refers to User ID which is the unique identifier for each user.
Universal Sidebar Section
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URL
URL stands for uniform resource locator. The address that defines the route to locate an object on an Internet server.
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Web Clip
A Web Clip is a shortcut to a specific website or web page that can be created in the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch web browser and stored on the device's home screen. When a user taps the web clip on the home screen, the web browser automatically launches and takes the user to that website.
web server
A web server is a computer containing software for, and connected to infrastructure for, hosting, or serving, web sites written in HTML. The most common web server software on the internet is Apache, which is frequently used in conjunction with PHP, Perl, and other scripting languages.
It is possible to create one's own web server, hosted on any speed of internet connection, but many people choose to purchase packages from Glossary#hosting_provider, who have the capacity and facilities to provide adequate bandwidth, uptime, hardware, and maintenance for frequently-visited web sites.
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