Glossary

Accordion

A vertically stacked list of headers that can be clicked to reveal or hide content associated with the page. This feature is frequently used for FAQ or General Information sections and can make longer pages more readable.

Administrator

A role in Drupal that is automatically given all privileges for managing content and administering the site.

Autoformatting

An efficiency feature that automatically formats your content, saving you time and ensuring consistency.

Alternative Text

A short written excerpt that displays or is read by a screen reader in the place of an image for accessibility reasons.

Back End

Server-side work, which focuses on everything the user can’t see on a website. Back-end developers ensure the website performs correctly, focusing on databases, back-end logic, application programming interface (APIs), architecture, and servers.

Boilerplate

A page with placeholder text and elements that shows the functionality of a system and can be easily copied and edited to replace text and make new pages.

CAPTCHA/ReCAPTCHA

A type of challenge that ensures the user is human by providing a simple question-answer puzzle or similar task.

Carousel  

A slideshow component for cycling through elements (images or slides of text) like a carousel; the elements move in a stepwise or smooth manner in the same space.

CKeditor

A WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor that allows you to write content directly into webpages or web applications that will translate to what you would see as a general user on your website.
 

CMS

A CMS or Content Management System is a computer software or an application that uses a database to manage all content, and can be used when developing a website. You can directly manage the website’s contents through the CMS’s backend.
 

Configuration

The arrangement of all of a system's functional units.
 

Content Type

A reusable container for managing content by common structure and purpose, eg. news posts or event listings.
 

Content Row 

A row which allows you to nest additional content within it. These content rows come in different styles/functions

CTA (Call to Action)

A Call to Action is usually an image, text, button, or video that contains a link to a page. Its primary job is to capture the attention of your users and make them click through.
 

Crosshair

An icon that shows the intersection of two perpendicular lines that looks like the + symbol. Commonly used in Drupal to reorder content by clicking on the crosshair and dragging to your desired position.
 

.Csv file

A Comma-Separated Value file that shows data split up by commas. This file is commonly used in the software Microsoft Excel and in the creation of spreadsheets and tables.

Directory

A long list of files, people or organizations with associated information such as phone numbers.

D10

Drupal 10, the latest version of Drupal. Learn more about the new features of Drupal 10 here

Embed

To attach something inside something else. Common examples are embedding a link within text like a link going to upanup.com embedded in the phrase: Explore Upanup's website here!

External

Belonging to the outer structure of something.

Flexbox

A layout model for distributing space between items.

FontAwesome

A database of over 30,000 customizable icons that can be added to a CMS via html or other code. Visit FontAwesome Here

Front End

The front end of a website that is accessible to all users. The practice of producing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for a website or Web Application so that a user can see and interact with them directly.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the most basic building block of the Web. It defines the meaning and structure of web content.
 

H1, H2, H3 etc... Nesting Headers 

The subset of headers that have a numerical and scalable hierarchy - H1 is the largest followed by H2 and so on. The headers should be nested within each other in descending order for usability.
 

Iteration

A specific repetition or version of something. For example, the apple Iphone X is an iteration of the Iphone.
 

Internal

Belonging to the inner structure of something. Internal information shouldn't be shared outside of the organization.
 

Module

An assembly of parts or system designed to be added and removed from a larger system easily.
 

Node

Any piece of individual content, such as a page, poll, article, forum topic, or a blog entry in Drupal. Every node is given a specific identifying number.
 

Pain Point

A recurring problem that frustrates multiple users.
 

Plain Text

Data that only represents characters you can read but has no other representation (like code) behind it.
 

Plugin 

A software add-on that is installed on a program, enhancing its capabilities.
 

Qualitative Research

Subjective research that can't be numerically measured and asks open-ended questions whose answers are not easily put into numbers, such as "how" and "why."
 

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is numeric and objective, seeking to answer questions like "when" or "where."
 

Quicklink

A quicklink is a word or button on your website that takes your visitors from one part of the website to another.
 

Screen Reader

A software application that reads out the text and alternative text on a website. Screen readers are commonly used by people with visual impairments.
 

Source Code 

Text that shows the behaviour of a computer and can be understood by humans.
 

Taxonomy

A system for organizing content using content structure, metadata, or controlled vocabulary.
 

URL

A URL is the unique address of a resource on the internet. Every website and thing on the internet has a URL.
 

UX (User Experience)

User Experience is the overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.
 

WCAG

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium, the main international standards organization for the Internet.
 

White Paper

An informational document created by an organization to show the features of a service the organization offers.
 

WYSIWYG

Drupal's WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) feature allows users to create and edit content visually, without requiring any coding knowledge. The WYSIWYG editor is just what it sounds like: any change you make in the WYSIWYG field in the back end of your Drupal site will be made to the front end of the website once it's been saved. The WYSIWYG editor is integrated into Drupal's content editor interface and provides a user-friendly way to format text, add images, embed videos, and create links. Learn more about the WYSIWYG.