Glossary

Here is a laymen’s list of common terms you might encounter in setting up your blog.  Arm yourself with a basic blogcabulary so you’re not cast upon the sea when looking for answers on threads.

PARTS OF A BLOG

Header/Footer  The horizontal band reserved for top and bottom functions.  Some themes use these zones in specific ways.

Banner  In some themes, an image of a predetermined size may be inserted in the Header section.  Create banners using photos, images and text.  72dpi.

Widget vs. Plug-in A widget is an element of WordPress that allows you to quickly add popular functionality to your WordPress site.  A plug-in is an element created by a third party that adds unique functionality to your site.

Posts vs. Pages A “Post” is a fleeting element like an announcement for an upcoming event.  A “Page” is a fixed page that will be called upon repeatedly through linking, like “contact page.”  Pages can be associated with Menus/Tabs.

Menu A set of grouped pages that can be automatically displayed as tabs in some themes.

Categories vs. Tags  A category is a grouping of popular topics core to the theme of your blog.  Tags are popular words or phrases that are relvant to a particular post.

THINGS YOU MAY HEAR

HTML  A web language that can be viewed and edited in pages and posts.

CSS  A system of organizing design elements that allows font, color & style to be changed globally.

Host  A third party service that holds your website content, the WordPress app and MySql database.   $60+

MySql Database  This is where vital parts of your website are stored and carefully organized.  The hosting company you select should be capable of providing MySql services.

URL This is a unique address for your website.  The default site is in the format http://www.[yoursite].worpress.[com or org].   A unique site URL like http://www.[yoursite].com can usually be provided by the hosting company at little or no extra charge. $10-$50

SEO  The abbreviated term for making your site excptionally favored by search engines like Google to increase ranking.

Visual Editor  A developed theme (usually paid) that allows you to make visual changes, inclding drag-and-drop.  This is handy if you want more control over visual layout, but have limited HTML and/or CSS experience.

Theme  A prefabricated design that gives you a starting point for your website.  Some are free, some are $.

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