Links and Glossary of Web Terms

Including links in your content

Drop the “https://” from the beginning of links.

In electronic documents and web pages, it is better to apply a link to the text than to provide the actual link.

Visit the Nova Scotia Health Authority website for more information not "Visit http://www.nshealth.ca for more information."

Web Term Glossary

cloud – A global network of linked servers that operate as a single computer ecosystem. Increasingly, software that would once have typically run from a desktop, or a local network, can be run from cloud-based services, and theoretically can be more efficiently managed.

form – A web page with fillable fields that, when completed, sends the results to a specific email address(es) and/or a database.

home page (two words) – This is the first page people see when they go to your website. It usually introduces the viewer to the institution and gives them an overall view of what it does.

hyperlink/link– A link from a hypertext file or document to another location or file, typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or image at a particular location on the screen.

internet – A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols. The web is a part of the internet.

Jpeg, jpg, gif, png, Webp – Image file types used on web pages.  Jpegs are typically used for photographic images, gifs for non-photographic images (icons, illustrations), PNGs are used for more complex non-photographic images that have significant colour gradation. Webp is a new, very flexible file format, but with limited, but quickly growing support in browsers.

landing page – A web page for a section of the site that briefly describes that section and introduces and links to the topics covered.

microsite – Typically a small site that is concerned with a very specific topic, often as an offshoot of a larger main site. A microsite is occasionally preferable to a section of a larger site if users’ tasks would be more easily accomplished on a separate site.

PDF – Also known as Portable Document Format. It is a file format that provides an electronic image of text or text and graphics that looks like a printed document and can be viewed, printed, and electronically transmitted. PDFs should generally not be considered a substitute for a web page, but rather an appropriate way to share a long or very formal document or any content that is intended to be printed.

pop-up – A small browser window that appears above a larger window. The smaller window typically contains explanatory information.

section – A part of a site that serves as a holder for content related to a specific topic. Many sections would have related subsections (much like a folder on a pc).

URL – The address of a World Wide Web page.

webcam – A video camera connected to a computer connected to the Internet, so that its images can be seen by Internet users.

webinar – A seminar conducted over the internet.

web page – A hypertext document that is available that is accessible via the World Wide Web (WWW).

web server – A computer system on which websites (web pages and documents) and services run.

website (one word) – a hypertext document or a set of linked documents, usually associated with a particular person, organization or topic, that is held on a computer system and can be accessed via the World Wide Web (WWW).  A computer system that holds hypertext document(s).