Glossary of Terms

• Internet - A worldwide network of computer networks on which users of any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer. World Wide Web (WWW) - Technically, all the resources and users on the Internet that are using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). More broadly, it's the collection of information files (pages of text and pictures) made available on the Internet by individuals, organizations, companies and institutions.

• Web Site - An individual's or institution's collection of web pages. The web site has a main address (sometimes called a "URL," universal or uniform resource locator). The main address of the web site of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is: http://www.disciples.org. Once a visitor gets to that "home page" of the web site, the visitor can follow "links" to other web pages on the web site.

• Web Browser - A computer program that displays WWW page text and the pictures and sounds that go with them. "Behind the scenes" the browser receives and interprets Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files and displays them as the text and pictures a web author intends for a visitor to see. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are the most widely-used web browsers.

• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) - The system of computer rules for exchanging files (text, graphics, sound, video and other files) on the World Wide Web. The files are created using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).

• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) - The most common web page composition language. Web composers use HTML's various combinations of symbols and letters to position text, graphics, tables and other features on a web page, and to create links that allow a visitor to move from one page to another. Web visitors don't see the HTML code. But they can use their browsers to inspect the code for ideas for their own web sites.

• Internet Service Provider (ISP) - A company that provides its customers with the means to connect to the Internet. Common ISP services include the ability to send and receive electronic mail (e-mail), and the Internet connection to allow a web browser to view sites on the WWW. Internet Service Providers also "host" web sites for individuals, organizations and institutions. Your web pages are stored on the ISP's server (a computer that "serves" files to other computers). The ISP provides the technical links that allow web authors to transmit web pages to the server, and for WWW users to "call up" those files for display in their browsers.