The Complete Idiot's Guide to WordPress

@reply Pronounced at-reply. A Twitter update that begins with @username, which identifies a tweet as being directed at a specific Twitter user. @username used within a tweet is considered a mention.

above the fold The area on a web page that can be seen by visitors in their browser windows without having to scroll down.

add-on domains New domains added to the primary domain in a web hosting account that enable a user to manage multiple websites from a single hosting account.

affiliate advertising A blog monetization method wherein bloggers sign up through advertising programs agreeing to display ads for advertisers. Those advertisers pay the bloggers each time a visitor to their blogs follows an affiliate ad link and makes a purchase or performs a specified action. Popular affiliate advertising programs include Amazon Associates and Commission Junction.

alt-tag The alternate tag is a piece of HTML code typically used to display relevant text when an image cannot be displayed in a web browser.

Amazon Associates A popular affiliate advertising program for bloggers.

archive The location on a blog where posts that are not current are stored for easy access by visitors.

attribution A citing of the source of a story, quote, or image used within a blog post.

audio blog See podcast.

bandwidth The amount of data, typically measured in bits per second, or bps, that can be transmitted through a network, modem, or online connection.

blog Originally called weblogs for the fusion of the words web and log, blogs began as online diaries with entries listed in reverse chronological order. Today, blogs are written and published by individuals, groups, businesses, and more. Blogs are considered a social media because they provide a two-way conversation between the author and visitors through the comment feature. Blogs are viewed as one of the first methods of bringing user-generated content to the mainstream.

blog contest A blogging promotional event wherein a giveaway is raffled off in order to drive traffic to the hosting blog.

blog host A company that provides space on its servers to store and maintain blogs. Also called host, web host, or third-party host.

blog posts Individual entries written by a blogger and published on a blog.

blog statistics The data used to track the performance of a blog. Also called web analytics.

blogger A person who writes content for a blog.

blogging The act of writing and publishing blog posts or entries.

blogging application The program bloggers use to create and maintain blogs such as WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, MovableType, and LiveJournal. Also called blogging platform or blogging software.

blogosphere The online blogging community made up of bloggers from around the world creating user-generated content as part of the social web.

blogroll A list of links created by a blogger and published on his or her blog. Links in a blogroll are typically related to the blog topic or other sites the blogger enjoys or recommends.

bounce rate The percentage of people who leave a blog immediately after finding it.

browser A program used to surf the Internet. Popular browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, Safari, and more. Also called web browser.

category A division used to separate similar blog posts so it’s easier for readers to find them.

comment An opinion or reaction by a blog reader to a specific post. Comments can be submitted at the end of blog posts, if the blogger has chosen to allow them. Comments are what make a blog interactive.

comment moderation The process of holding comments for review prior to publishing them on a blog. Comment moderation is typically used to ensure spam and offensive comments are not published on a blog.

comment policy A set of rules and restrictions published on a blog to set visitor expectations related to the types of comments allowed on the blog and what types of comments are likely to be deleted.

contextual advertising Ads served based on the content found on the web page where the ads appear. Popular contextual advertising programs include Google AdSense and Kontera.

copyright Legal ownership of intellectual property giving the owner exclusive right to reproduce and share that property.

Creative Commons license A form of copyright license created to give copyright holders more flexibility in allowing reproduction and sharing of their property.

CSS (cascading style sheets) The structured documents WordPress designers use to create blog layouts.

custom field Specific fields in the WordPress database that include customization data for a post, a page, or an entire theme.

dashboard The primary online management page of a WordPress account where users can access the tools and functionality to modify settings, create content, and more.

domain The part of a URL that represents a specific website. Domain names are typically preceded by www. and end with an extension such as .com or .net.

domain registrar A company that registers domain names for users and has the authority to do so by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

fair use An exception to copyright laws that allows limited use of certain copyrighted materials for editorializing, commentary, education, and similar activities.

feed The syndicated content of a blog. See also RSS and feed reader.

feed reader A tool used to collect RSS feeds for viewing. Feed readers receive feeds from blogs and deliver them to subscribers in aggregated format for quick and easy viewing in one place.

flash Streaming animation that appears on web pages.

footer The area spanning the bottom of a blog page, which typically includes copyright information and may include other elements such as a contact link or ads. Some WordPress themes include widgets within the footer.

forum An online message board where participants post messages within predefined categories. Other participants respond, creating an online conversation between a potentially large group of people led by one or more moderators.

FTP (file transfer protocol) The process used to transfer files from one computer to another across the World Wide Web.

Google A California-based company that produces software, programs, tools, and utilities to help people leverage the Internet to accomplish tasks. The Google search engine is the most popular search engine in the world.

Google AdSense A contextual advertising program offering text, display, and video ads, popular with bloggers and online publishers.

guest blogging The process of writing free posts to appear on another person’s blog or accepting free posts from another blogger to publish on your blog, with the purpose of networking and driving blog traffic.

hashtag An informal categorization system for Twitter that helps users identify tweets related to topics of interest. Hashtags include the # symbol followed by a keyword such as #worldcup.

header The area spanning the top of a blog page where the blog title, graphics, and possibly navigational links or ads appear.

hit A statistic counted each time a file is downloaded from your blog. Each page in a blog or website typically contains multiple files.

home page The first page a visitor sees when he or she enters a root domain name.

HTML (hypertext markup language) A programming language made up of tags used to create websites and blogs.

HTML editor The area within a WordPress dashboard where users can enter the content for a blog post or page using HTML code.

impression-based advertising An ad model wherein bloggers publish ads for advertisers and get paid based on the number of times those ads are displayed to visitors. Popular impression-based advertising programs include ValueClick and TribalFusion.

keyword A word or phrase used to help index a web page, allowing it to be found by search engines.

link A connection between two websites. When selected, a link takes the user to another webpage. Also called hyperlink.

link bait A post written for the primary purpose of attracting traffic and links. Link bait posts are typically related to hot and current topics.

microblogging The process of publishing short updates (typically 140 characters or less) through sites such as Twitter and Plurk.

multiuser blog A blog authored by more than one person and accessible to multiple users through the blogging software.

navigation bar A set of links arranged across all or a portion of a web page to make it easier for visitors to find content.

niche A specific and highly targeted segment of an audience or market. A niche blog is written about a focused topic and appeals to a very specific group of people.

Nofollow An HTML tag that makes links invisible to web browsers.

open source Computer applications and technologies for which the original developer code is freely available.

page Content on a WordPress blog that’s completely separate from the chronological blog post archive.

page rank A ranking some search engines and advertisers use to determine a blog’s popularity typically based on traffic and incoming links.

page view A statistic that tracks each time a web page is viewed by anyone at anytime.

paid post A blog post written and published in exchange for some form of compensation.

parked domain An Internet domain address that’s been registered but is either not in use and leads to a static page with no information, or leads to a page filled with ads.

pay-per-action (PPA) An online advertising payment model that pays the publisher each time a visitor clicks an ad and a corresponding, predefined action is performed (e.g., a sale is made or a lead form is submitted).

pay-per-click (PCC) An online advertising payment model that pays the publisher each time a visitor clicks an ad.

pay-per-impression (PPM) An online advertising payment model that pays the publisher each time an ad is displayed.

permalink A link to a specific page in a blog that remains unchanged over time. Formed by a fusion of the words permanent and link.

php Hypertext preprocessor (php) is a scripting language web developers use to produce web pages.

ping A signal sent from one website to another to ensure the other site exists. Pings are used to notify sites that receive notice from ping servers of updates to a blog or website.

plug-in A tool created by web developers that enhance the functionality of WordPress. org.

podcast An audio file that’s recorded digitally for online playback. Bloggers use podcasts to create audio blog posts. Also called audio blogging.

post An entry on a blog, typically published in reverse chronological order and accessible until deleted through the blog’s archives.

post editor The section of the WordPress dashboard where a user can enter the content for a blog post in a manner similar to using a traditional word processing application or using HTML code. See also HTML editor and visual editor.

professional blogger A person who writes blogs as a career.

profile A blogger’s About Me page, which usually describes who the blogger is and why he or she is qualified to write the blog.

referrer Any website, blog, or search engine that leads visitors to your blog through a link.

retweet A Twitter term used to identify updates copied from another user’s Twitter stream and republished. Retweets are preceded by RT.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) The format used to create web feeds, which allows users to subscribe to syndicated websites and blogs and view new content from those websites and blogs in aggregated format within a feed reader. See also feed and feed reader.

search engine A website used to find online content related to specific keywords or keyword phrases. Search engines use proprietary algorithms to spider the Internet, index content, and return relevant results, which are typically presented in a ranked order. Google, Bing, and Yahoo! are popular search engines.

search engine optimization (SEO) The process of writing online content, designing web pages, and promoting both to boost rankings within search engine keyword searches and generate an increase in traffic to a specific site.

server A computer program that provides services to other computer programs; can also be the computer or equipment a server program runs on. A web server is the computer program that serves requested web pages or files.

sidebar A column on a blog to the right, left, or flanking the largest, main column on a blog. Sidebars typically include a blogroll, archives, ads, and more.

social bookmarking A method of saving, storing, and sharing web pages for future reference. Popular social bookmarking sites include Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and Delicious.

social networking The process of communicating with, connecting with, and building relationships with people online using specific tools and websites. Popular social networking sites include Facebook and LinkedIn.

social web The second generation of the World Wide Web, which focuses on interaction, user-generated content, communities, and building relationships. Also called web 2.0.

spam Comments submitted on your blog for no reason other than to drive traffic to another website. Spam can also come in other forms such as e-mail spam.