Web technologies have been so simplified today that anyone, including technophobes, can build their own websites without knowledge of any web technology. If you can manipulate word processing documents, you can build a good looking website. However, things start becoming mixed up when you need technical support. Tech support workers speak tech jargons that require some knowledge of web technology to understand. Here are a few tech terms you should know.
1. Browser and Version
Most people do not know the functions of browsers even though they use them every day. A browser is simply a computer program that interprets website codes and converts them into an easily readable form. There are many browsers today; some of the most popular include Microsoft Explorer for Windows 8.1 and below and Microsoft Edge for Windows 10, Apple Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
Web technical experts will always require your browser version to determine the cause of a technical problem and fix them. Browser versions are a few strings of numbers that can be easily check up on your browser, however, the process varies with the browser you are using.
– In Microsoft Edge, Click the “three dot icons” in the browser and then settings. Locate the browser version at the bottom of the settings.
– In Apple Safari, from the Safari icon on your browser, navigate to “About”. You will find your information there.
– Google Chrome, from the menu button, navigate to “Help and About”.
– Mozilla Firefox, from the menu icon, navigate to the help icon and then to “About”.
2. Cookies, Temp Files and Cache.
It is common for tech staff to suggest deleting cookies, temp files, and cache but you would be probably wondering what these jargons mean.
The three of them are files stored in your system from a website programmed to do so. Cookies are used by a website to improve your user experiences. They get personal information about you, helping the company which owns the website to tailor their services to your taste. Most affiliate marketing websites use it to ensure that credit is given to a buyer on getting a referral.
Temp files, also known as temporary files, are created to make data recovery easy or to make previously viewed items accessible.
Cache are website information stored on your computer to help in loading a website faster, provided you have accessed it before. However, with the old version of a website cache stored in your system, you may not be able to access the website’s new version when updated. To access such version, you might require you to clear the cache.
The cookies, cache and temp files can all be cleared but the processes depend on the browser in use.
– In Microsoft Edge, click on Menu and then Settings. Select “Clear Browsing Data” and choose the data you want to clear.
– In Apple Safari, navigate to “Clear History and Website Data” from the Safari icon. Select what to delete and click “Clear History”.
– In Google Chrome, choose the menu button, “More Tools” and then “Clear Browsing Data”. Choose files to delete and the time range in the new box and click “Clear Browsing Data”.
– In Mozilla Firefox, choose the menu icon, then “Options” and then click “Advanced” and navigate to the “Network” tab. Locate “Cached Web Content” and click “Clear Now”.
3. HTML
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is codes interpreted by the browser to display nice interface to the user. Although you do not really need to know HTML and computer programming to create websites, you might still need a bit of knowledge in this aspect to fix some issues when they occur on your website. You will realize that some issues that heavily mar a website are caused by a few missing codes. Website owners should, therefore, know a handful of HTML to adequately manage their websites.
4. FTP
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a protocol used in transferring or uploading files from your personal computer to the web server. To make your files and websites show online, you need an FTP to upload them to your hosting server. File Transfer Protocol has a client-server model at the core of its function and utilizes distinct control and data connection among the server and the client. In the early days of web technology, FTP programs such as FileZilla must be used for such an upload, however, today web hosts have FTP built into the server to enable and easy transference of files and graphics without FileZilla.
Sometimes, files may be uploaded to the wrong location from the location referenced in the website code. When an image file is wrongly referenced it shows a sign of a missing image file which depends on the browser in use. In such a case, you can either upload the image to the right location or reference the code to the actual image location.
5. Templates and Themes
Templates and themes make it possible to create a website without any knowledge of HTML and CSS. WordPress and other content management systems (CMS) have tons of templates that allow for fine-tuning colors, fonts and making the website look visually appealing. However, sometimes the templates and themes may not work perfectly with every browser, add-ons, and plugins.
6. PlugIns and Add-ons
With add-ons and plugins, you can have program codes execute in your website without knowing how to code. Add-ons are used to improve your user experience in a browser. Although add-ons and plugins are super-great for robust user experience, they can conflict with each other; thus, it is important to choose add-ons, plugins, and themes that work well with each other to make your website robust.
Conclusion
The world is going techy every day and you cannot afford to be too technophobic. You may not be a tech expert but you need to know some important terms to have good online experience, own and operate a website and do some things online. Terms like browsers and their versions, cache, cookies and temporary files, HTML, FTP, templates, themes, plugins, and add-ons are some of the most relevant terms you need to be familiar with but if you want to go a little bit techy you can learn a bit of how to use a few of these technologies.
[Image via: Google Images]
