Frequently Asked Questions
In general, when embarking on developing a website, there are many things to consider and know. Below is a list of terms that are most useful for you to be at least familiar with when you think about developing a website. But don't worry too much about the details! This is what we here at White Wave Designs handle for you.
ASP One of the programming languages used by White Wave Designs to make your website dynamic, such as creating a private login area or an online calendar.
Bulletin Board See Forums.
Color scheme The two to three colors that are used to design your website. Generally, we work around your logo or with the colors you request. There are "good" color mixes and "bad" color mixes for the web, and we will advise you if necessary.
Content The actual words, sentences, and paragraphs used on your website pages. Most businesses prefer to provide their own content; this is also advised, as you know best what your customer needs! At White Wave Designs, we will help you edit your copy, and even suggest that sort of content works best for the web. Keyword-rich content is one way to generate higher placement rankings in search engines. Your content can be provided to White Wave Designs in any electronic format.
Content Management System Also referred to as CMS. A content management system is a secure, private area that enables the owners of the website to enter and modify their own data rather than send content to a webmaster for updating. This system is perfect for pages that have frequent content changes, or for building a page with dynamic content.
Description A sentence or short paragraph describing your site. The description is placed in the meta tags of your pages, when your site is submitted to search engines, or when your site is linked from another site. Generally, you provide the description, and White Wave Designs assists with editing, if necessary.
Domain name Your unique registered website name, generally ending in .com or .net. It can be a combination of letters, numbers, dashes or the underline character, but is best when it is easy to remember and appropriate for your site. The domain name is also referred to as the URL or web address. If you do not have a domain name selected, we will work with you to determine what will work best for your site.
Domain Registrar The company that registers your domain name. We recommend Web.com and GoDaddy.com, although you can register your site through any number of companies.
eCommerce Electronic Commerce is the selling and purchasing of products on the internet. Shopping carts refer to the application that processes the sale, such as PayPal, osCommerce or Miva.
Flash A browser add-on that creates and displays high-impact animation, innovative interfaces and sound effects on web pages. While Flash is great for index pages, it is important to remember that Flash is best when used sparingly and with an alternate means of entering your site.
Fonts The type of text used for the content (words) on your site. White Waved Designs recommends Verdana, Arial, Trebuchet, or Tahoma (sans-serif fonts) for the actual text of your pages. The font of the title, tag line, and even navigation for your site can be fancier. Ask to see some samples of fonts! We have hundreds to select from.
Forums An online area for people to post messages and respond to other messages, such as the forum we created for Corn Allergens. Also referred to as "bulletin boards," forums are also places to discuss politics or seek assistance from others, such as forums for allergies, programming, just about anything. Ask White Wave Designs about creating a forum for your site!
Guestbook A type of form enabling a user to enter comments on one of your pages which are then appended to that page on your website, such as the one at 1-Image.com. Ask White Wave Designs about creating a guestbook for your site!
Hosting The service that physically holds your internet files on their server and downloads them through an http request. While we do not physically host sites, White Wave Designs manages hosting through Surf Speedy (Unix) and WebHost4Life.com (Windows). We recommend either for all your hosting needs.
Javascript One of the scripting (programming) languages used by White Wave Designs to perform actions on your website, such as hide your email address from spammers or display photo albums.
Keywords Words which pertain to your website and are placed in the content of your pages. Keywords are one way to generate higher placement rankings in search engines.
Layout The way your page is designed. The most common layouts are with navigation on the left side with 1 or 2 more columns (center and right), or with navigation on the top and/or bottom with one center column. We will review your preferences with the number of pages, topics and subsections you have.
Link/Hyperlink Phrases, titles, words or images that direct visitors to another page on your site or to another website. Many sites have a "Links" page. Also, having your site listed as a non-reciprocal link on other sites can generate higher placement rankings in search engines.
Logo A logo for a website can be your company's actual logo, if you have one, or simply a specific way of identifying your business name. Most existing logos need to be modified, as the web page is a different medium than the printed page. Graphic logo creations and modification are an additional charge.
Maintenance The updating of content, pages, images or information that is displayed on your website. For a small fee (1 hour minimum per month), White Wave Designs will maintain your website. This includes updating content and photos. Ask us about our Content Management Systems! Perfect for businesses where the content and photos needs to changed frequently.
Pages/Sections The pages on your website are those that are listed in navigation. Often, areas of a website are separated into sections to facilitate organization as well as the user's experience. The number of pages included varies per package, but you can add on as may as you need.
Photos Photos can add a lot to your site, but too many can bog down the speed of your pages and detract from your business presence. Photos may also need some retouching, resizing, and, in some cases, cutting. The number of photos included varies per package, but more photos can be added to your site for an additional fee.
Photo Album White Wave Designs has written a dynamically generated photo album. Photos are displayed on a page as thumbnails, and when clicked on, open up at that photo into an album with "previous" and "next" links.
PHP One of the programming languages used by White Wave Designs to make your website dynamic, such as creating a forum or online forms.
Site Map A site map is single page that layouts, in a hierarchical manner, all of the sections and pages on a website. A site map is important for sites that use fly-out menus or that do not list every page in the main navigation.
Splash Page An optional main menu page, or opening graphic to your website. A splash page is not necessarily a flash page, nor is it necessarily the homepage. Often the splash page contains a large logo, which is then displayed in the upper left corner of the remaining pages on your site.
Thumbnail A small image that is usually the link to the larger image to show detail. Thumbnails facilitate download time when there are more than a few images on a page. White Wave Designs creates the thumbnails for you!
URL Universal Resource Locator; the "proper" term for your website address or domain name.
Still have questions? Contact White Wave Designs for more information.
