Glossary

Common terms and definitions

Over time we will add to and expand the follow brief list of industry-related terms, titles and technical labels. For information about the UIKit or Vue.js, which we use for all front-end design on websites and applications, please see the Get UIKit website and documentation.

UIKit

Job Titles

Web Designer

Creative role usually related to Front-End design for websites and web systems. Does not typically involve coding, programming, engineering or IT.
UI/UX Designer

Creative role. A UI/UX Designer is a Designer who's work is specific to user interaction and/or the user's experience. How buttons, fonts, boxes and navigation are styled is the primary focus of user design.
Interaction Designer

Typically refers to applications or interfaces with human interaction. Usually includes creative design, programming, and animation.

Front-End Design

Often interchangeable with UI/UX Designer, this title refers to web designers whose primary focus is style and the look of the front-end.
Web Developer

Technical role usually related to coding, back-end or front-end development of websites. Can include all of the responsibilities of a Web Designer, though many roles do not require design or creative skills.
App Developer

Generally refers to developers who program or produce mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.
CTO

Executive overseeing all technical, software and web departments.

Chief Technical Officer

Web Terms

HTML

HTML is the universal markup language for the Web. HTML lets you format text, add graphics, create links, input forms, frames and tables, etc., and save it all in a text file that any browser can read and display.
CSS

Cascading style sheet. CSS is a language that describes the style of an HTML document. CSS describes how HTML elements should be displayed.
Javascript (js)

JavaScript is the programming language of HTML and the Web.
Database

A collection of tables and data stored for your website. Everything from usernames and passwords to the dates and text of an article is saved and organized in a database.
AJAX

Used to request data from a server after a page has already loaded, or before loading a new page.
Back-End

Refers to the CMS or administration-side of a website or web application for owners or IT personnel.
Front-End

The website or web system as seen and experienced by visitors, clients or customers.
Bootstrap

Bootstrap is the most popular HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework for developing responsive, mobile-first websites.

php

PHP is a server scripting language, and a powerful tool for making dynamic and interactive Web pages. PHP is a widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's ASP.
UIKit

A lightweight and modular front-end framework for developing fast and powerful web interfaces.
jQuery

jQuery is a JavaScript Library.
AngularJS

AngularJS extends HTML with new attributes.
XML

XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. XML was designed to store and transport data and to be both human- and machine-readable.
CSV

Comma-separated-values. A spreadsheet of data that uses commans, semicolons or special characters to separate values.
JSON

Syntax for storing and exchanging data. JSON is text, like a CSV, but written with JavaScript object notation.
SQL

SQL is a standard language for storing, manipulating and retrieving data in databases. MySQL and MySQLi are the most common database types with CMS platforms like Joomla and WordPress.

Design Terms

Web Design

Layout

Your layout is how and where content is placed on any given page or section of your website or application. Multi-column, 2-column, single-column formats for sections, what content to put where, etc. Before Responsive Design and our modern framework, we designed templates that had locked/fixed-place positions for content. Terms like "subpage" would classically refer to a set layout with the same positions on every page.

Websites & Applications

Content

Content is your text, images, video or item data. For simple business websites, this is usually just the copy for your pages or images and videos for sections and widgets throughout your website. For applications, item data might be your product SKUs, model numbers and categories--or the map coordinates for a location. Generally, applications like product catalogs or location directories, events or downloads can be updated with JSON or csv spreadsheet import.

"this is how I always envisioned our website. fantastic job!"

Dave Shapiro, CEO, Cartelligent

Read about the custom system we developed for The Oakland Athletics

Case Study

CMS Web Design

Custom Joomla & Wordpress

Since 2008