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nameless glossary

A/B testing: or AB testing

This refers to where you test two different versions of design elements or complete web pages/adverts on a live site. Visitors will be randomly sent to one version or the other (known as "live split testing") and you can look at the statistics (from conversion ratios, click through ratios, or other desired outcomes) to see how successful each version is. Obviously, if you have several different interaction elements on a page and you want to know how each is contributing to the user's choices, you should consider multivariate testing.

anchor text:

This is the text that is visible in a hyperlink like this. It's particularly relevant to search engine optimisation because they provide context to the use of that word on the page.

antibrand: antibrand

The definition of an antibrand according to nameless is heavily linked to the issues discussed by Naomi Klein in her book, No Logo. Certain brands have negative things associated with them - globalisation (specifically putting profit ahead of people), faceless organisations with large legal departments, crisp corporate colours and no soul, paying for perceived greater value rather than actual value based on brand alone...

We wanted to go for an antibrand because we wanted to promote our people above and beyond our desire for a fat profit margin, and we felt that the quality of our work should speak for itself, without the power of a clever brand endorsing it. Most importantly we wanted to show that small companies can be just as powerful as the big ones, and quite often in ways that the big boys can't be.

We're not against brands - there are some brilliant companies out there doing outstanding work and their brand works hard for them - and rightly so. But we are against the use of brands to mislead their dependents - their employees, their customers, their suppliers and their planet.

BDI: Brand Definition Index

Brand Development Index (BDI) relates the percent of a brand's sales in a market to the percent of a specific population (e.g. UK or US) in that same market.

BIMA: British Interactive Media Association

Find out more: The BIMA website.

brand: brand

A brand is defined by some as "a name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors." This may have been the case at the beginning, but things have changed...

Some define a brand as "a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer." which is rather clever because it separates brand from products and services and instead speaks in terms of perceived values.

We think of our brand as our promise to the world - to all those we affect as we do what we do. It embodies our expectations of ourselves in our work and in the contact we have with the outside world on a daily basis.

CDI: Category Development Index

Category Development Index (CDI) relates the percent of a category's sales in a market to the percent of the U.S. population in that same market.

CEO: Chief Executive Officer

The highest-ranking corporate officer or executive officer of a corporation, company, or agency.

Find out more: Wikipedia definition of CEO.

CGI: Common Gateway Interface

A standard for passing request data between a web server and the program used to serve that request (usually the user's browser)

CMS: Content Management System

A collection of tools designed to allow the creation, modification organisation and removal of information from a web site. It is common for a CMS to require users to have no knowledge of HTML in order to create new web pages.

Find out more: Our CMS.

CRM: Customer Relationship Management
CSS: Cascading Style Sheets

Language used to describe how an HTML document should be rendered.

Find out more: W3C's CSS Documentation.

digital project manager: a project manager of binary digits

A digital project manager consists of a sequence ones and zeros. The longer the sequence, the more experienced it is. Ok - just kidding. A digital project manager is a project manager who manages digital (i.e. web) projects. They understand all about deadlines, processes and all the ingredients that go into a perfect web project. Everything from usability, user testing, accessibility, web standards, design, interactive copywriting and even how to bake a carrot cake. The chances are that the best digital project managers are the ones that have, in a past life, been either a web developer or a web designer. They may have PRINCE2 or another methodology under their belts, and will know how to keep clients happy.

DMZ: Demilitarised Zone

A part of the network that is neither part of the internal network nor directly part of the Internet. Basically a network sitting between two networks.

e-GIF: e-Government Interoperability Framework

e-GIF enables the exchange of information between different computer systems. This also includes the security guidelines for eGovernment.

Find out more: eGIF standards.

extracareericular: extracareericular

Extracareericular is a much needed term we think we invented back in 2003 to refer to stuff we do outside of work. Life being as short as it is, we think its a word well worth considering when working out how to live life to the full.

FOI: Freedom of Information

Find out more: Wikipedia definition of FOI.

FreeBSD: An open source, UNIX®-like operating system

An advanced operating system derived from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), the version of UNIX® developed at the University of California, Berkeley. Basically it's like Linux but more suited to web hosting than being a desktop OS.

Find out more: The FreeBSD site.

GRP: Gross Rating Points

The aggregate total (the sum) of the ratings is called Gross Rating Points or GRPs. The sum of the ratings of a specific demographic segment may be called Target Audience GRPs or more simply TRPs. The term GRPs is generic and may refer to household GRPs or to specific target segment GRPs.

HREF: Hypertext reference

The address of the destination of a hypertext link.

HTML: HyperText Markup Language

The authoring software language used on the Internet's World Wide Web. HTML is used for creating World Wide Web pages.

Find out more: W3C's HTML Documentation.

HUT: homes using television

HUT or homes using television at a particular time, is expressed as a percent of all TV homes. HUT differs from rating because it combines all viewing, rather than identifying specific program viewing.

IBM: International Business Machines Corporation

Find out more: The IBM site.

IMAP: Internet Message Access Protocol

Internet protocol used for accessing e-mail on a remote server from a local client

LPG: Liquefied Petroleum Gas

A mixture of propane and butane. When used as a vehicle fuel it is often referred to as autogas.

Find out more: Greenfuel's explanation.

MySQL: The world's most popular open source database.

MySQL (pronounced "my ess cue el") is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS) that uses Structured Query Language (SQL), the most popular language for adding, accessing, and processing data in a database.

Find out more: The MySQL website.

PDA: Personal Digital Assistant

Handheld devices that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. A basic PDA usually includes date book, address book, task list, memo pad, clock, and calculator software. Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones, web browsers or media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs).

Pelican Crossing: PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled Crossing

A standard set of traffic lights, plus a push button and a further two coloured lamps for pedestrians using the crossing.

Find out more: Wikipedia's page of Pelican Crossings.

PERL: Practical Extraction and Report Language

A general-purpose programming language originally developed for text manipulation and now used for a wide range of tasks including system administration, web development, network programming, GUI development, and more.

Find out more: The O'Reilly Network's PERL website.

PHP: PHP Hypertext Processor

An open-source programming language primarily used to develop server-side applications.

Find out more: The offical PHP website.

POP3: Post Office Protocol

A standard internet protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a remote server.

PPC: Pay Per Click

An advertising technique used on websites, advertising networks, and search engines.

PRINCE 2: Projects in Controlled Environments

A project management method covering the organisation, management and control of projects.

Find out more: About Prince2.

PUT: persons using television

PUT or persons using television at a particular time, is expressed as a percent of all persons in TV homes. PUT combines all persons viewing, rather than reporting specific program viewing. Note that PUT and PVT (Persons viewing television) are interchangeable terms in common usage.

RNIB: Royal National Institute of the Blind

Find out more: RNIB Accessibilty Guidelines.

RSS: RDF Site Summary / Rich Site Summary / Really Simple Syndication

A family of XML file formats for web syndication used by news websites and weblogs.

Find out more: RSS 1.0 Specification.

SEO: Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving the content and way a site is built in order to make it more visible and more highly ranked in search engines. This involves elements of copy writing, HTML, and a good knowledge of search engines.
We alway use ethical techniques, but there are some very un-ethical methods that can be employed as well as some fairly dodgy ones. The problems with the un-ethical methods is that they are frequently killed off by updates in search engine technology often resulting in the site using them being dropped from search engine results!

SWRDA: South West Regional Development Agency

Find out more: The SWRDA site.

TRP: Target audience GRP

See GRP

W3C: World Wide Web Consortium

An international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.

Find out more: The W3C's website.

WAI: Web Accessibility Initiative

The international portion of the W3C with the goal of making the web usable by all.

Find out more: The WAI's website.

webtwoification: adding web 2.0 elements to something

Web 2.0 has now been around for so long that everyone is talking about web 3.0 and above these days. Webtwoification is a word we made up to embody the art of weaving web 2.0 (and above) features into an online experience either usefully or gratuitously, depending on what is required.

Usage:

It can be seen here that Jo Bloggs has webtwoified his website nicely with a dash of cinnamon.

white-hat SEO: white hat search engine optimisation

Also referred to as ethical search engine optimisation, this is the approach to SEO that remains within ethical practices by remaining within a search engine's terms of service. It is the most sustainable form of SEO and enables you to climb up the ranks organically if it's done correctly.

XHTML: eXtensible HyperText Markup Language

An extention of HTML as an application of the XML language.

Find out more: The W3C's XHTML Documentation.

XML: eXtensible Markup Language

A general-purpose markup language for creating special-purpose markup languages, capable of describing many different kinds of data.

Find out more: The W3C's XML Documentation.

XSL: eXtensible Stylesheet Language

A family of recommendations for defining XML document transformation and presentation. It consists of XSLT, XPath and XSL-FO.

Find out more: The W3C's XSL Documentation.

Zebra Crossing: A type of pedestrian crossing

A type of pedestrian crossing characterised by longitudinal stripes like what a zebra are have.

Find out more: Wikipedia's definition of Zebra Crossing.