We know that it can seem like there’s a lot of web jargon when you’re dealing with your website. Domains, hosting, HTML, Javascript, CSS, CMS, SEO, organic visitors/traffic, DNS…. We’re starting a series of blog posts to help explain what some of these are and what they mean.
This week we’re looking at what domain, hosting, Javascript, PHP and Python mean.
Domain
Your domain is your web address, it’s your www.yourcompanyname.co.uk link. LinkedIn’s domain, for example, is linkedin.com.
If you were renting a house, think of it as your postal address for the property; where your mail gets sent and parcels delivered.
Hosting
In order for your website to exist online, it has to live somewhere. This is what hosting is. It’s a monthly or annual charge you pay so that your website has somewhere to live and is therefore accessible to people online.
If you were renting a house, think of it as the rent you would pay to your landlord/lady.
Much like your utility bills, there are a variety of different providers for both domains and hosting. Each one has different perks and pricing structures; though by now you probably know we’re massive fans of Jolt. Find out more about them in our previous blog posts, or on their website.
Javascript, PHP, Python
Your website is written in code. Like spoken and written languages across the globe (Spanish, English, Arabic, French, Swahili etc., etc.), there are different coding languages online. These different languages all have different rules and ways of being written. Javascript, PHP and Python are all different coding languages.
Global languages such as English and Spanish evolve. New words are cropping up all of the time, and words frequently get redefined too. A similar thing happens to coding languages. So, if you ever see a message saying something like “your PHP is out of date”, then it simply means that PHP has evolved again – and your site isn’t on the latest version. This isn’t necessarily anything to worry about, but if you’re not sure then get in touch with your web developer – or feel free to ask us (our advice is free!).
Is there something confusing you?
If there’s web jargon you keep coming across that you don’t understand, why not drop us a line and we’ll look to include it in one of our next posts in this series.