Knowledge base

The glossary

Every term we use with clients, defined plainly. Browse a subject area, jump to a letter, or search.

Browse by subject

Each area collects the concepts that belong together.

Web Development The terms that come up when we build or rebuild a website or a web application. 4 Cybersecurity How systems are attacked, and the words we use for defending them. 31 Hosting & Infrastructure Where software actually runs, and what the numbers in a hosting contract mean. 2 SEO & Marketing The vocabulary of being found — search, content and measurement. 30 Programming Languages The languages software is written in, and what each one is genuinely good at. 12 Frameworks & Platforms The toolkits built on top of a language so teams do not rewrite the same foundations every time. 6 Databases & Data Where your records actually live, and why the choice changes what the system can do. 4 Cloud & Operations How software gets shipped, run and kept alive after it is written. 5 AI & Automation What the machines are actually doing when a product says it uses AI. 4 Design & User Experience How a screen is laid out, and why some sites feel easy while others feel confusing. 0 Mobile Apps The words you meet when you build an app for a phone and put it in a store. 28 Digital Marketing Paid ads, email, offers and the numbers that tell you whether any of it worked. 29 Social Media Posts, followers, reach and the everyday words of running an account well. 0 E-commerce Systems Selling online: the cart, the checkout, the stock and everything after the order. 29 Shops & Point of Sale The counter, the barcode, the till and the stock room of a real shop. 1 Maintenance Centres Repair jobs, spare parts, warranty and getting a device back to its owner. 0 School & University Systems Students, classes, attendance, marks and fees — the software a school runs on. 0 Hospital Management Beds, admissions, departments and the file that follows a patient through a hospital. 0 Clinic Management Appointments, visits, prescriptions and payments in a small medical practice. 0 Medical Laboratories Samples, tests, reference ranges and how a result reaches the person who ordered it. 0 Radiology Centres Scans, images, reports and the systems that store and share them safely. 0 Property & Rentals Units, tenants, contracts and rent — the paperwork of property, done in software. 0 Property Developers Projects, phases, instalment plans and selling a unit that is not built yet. 0 Salons & Spas Bookings, chairs, staff commission and keeping regulars coming back. 0 Gyms & Fitness Memberships, check-ins, classes and trainers — how a gym keeps track of everyone. 0 Web Applications Software that runs in a browser and does real work — dashboards, portals and systems staff use all day. 23 Custom Software Building a system around how a business actually works, instead of changing the business to fit a product. 0 Integrations & APIs Making two systems talk to each other, so the same number does not get typed twice. 0 Payments & Billing Taking money online, sending invoices and knowing exactly who has paid and who has not. 0 ERP & Accounting One set of books behind every department, so the numbers agree at the end of the month. 0 Software Projects How a software project is scoped, priced, built and handed over — and where they usually go wrong. 0 CRM & Customer Support Keeping track of who your customers are, what they asked for, and what you promised them. 0

Where people start.

PHP PHP is a programming language that builds a web page on the server before sending it to your screen, and much of the web still works that way. Programming Languages Application Programming Interface API An API is an agreed way for one program to ask another for information or for an action, so neither program needs to know how the other works inside. Web Development C# and .NET C# and .NET are Microsoft's pair for business software, where C# is the language you write in and .NET is the toolkit that runs it. Programming Languages Dashboard A dashboard is the first screen a person sees after logging in, and a good one carries today's numbers and the decisions still waiting for an answer. Web Applications JavaScript JavaScript is the language every web browser understands on its own, which is why anything that changes on a page without reloading it is written in it. Programming Languages TypeScript TypeScript is JavaScript with labels on the data, so a mistake is caught while the code is still being written instead of after it reaches customers. Programming Languages Two-Factor Authentication 2FA Two-factor authentication is a sign-in that asks for your password and then for something you are holding, so a stolen password alone is not enough to get in. Cybersecurity Backend The backend is the part of a system you never see, where the records are kept and the rules are checked for every screen that asks. Web Applications Java Java is the programming language large organisations settled on long ago, because a program written in it keeps running even when the computers underneath it are replaced. Programming Languages Chatbot A chatbot is an automated conversation that answers your customers in writing on your website or in WhatsApp, with nobody sitting on the other end. AI & Automation CSS CSS CSS is the language that decides how a web page looks, and because it sits in its own file, one change there restyles every page at once. Web Development Native App A native app is built in the phone's own language, which makes it fast but means paying for an iPhone version and an Android version separately. Mobile Apps

All concepts, A to Z

K

Kotlin Kotlin is the language most new Android apps are written in today, because it says the same thing as Java in far fewer lines and with fewer crashes. Read the definition KPI Dashboard KPI A KPI dashboard is one screen holding the five or six numbers an owner checks each morning before deciding what to do that day. Read the definition Kubernetes K8s Kubernetes is the system that runs your containers across many machines and starts fresh copies whenever one fails or visitors arrive in a rush. Read the definition

L

Landing Page A landing page is a single page built to do one job, so the person who clicks your advert either takes that one action or leaves. Read the definition Laravel Laravel is the most used PHP framework, and it hands a team the pieces every web application needs so they can build your business rules instead of the plumbing. Read the definition Large Language Model LLM A large language model is the software behind assistants that write and summarise text, and it builds its answers by predicting the next word instead of looking anything up. Read the definition Least Privilege Least privilege means each person can open only the screens their own job needs, so a stolen account cannot reach the rest of the business. Read the definition Link Building Link building is the work of persuading other websites to link to yours, because search engines still count each good link as a vote for your page. Read the definition Local SEO Local SEO is the work that gets your business onto the small map at the top of Google when someone nearby searches for what you sell. Read the definition Loyalty Program A loyalty program is a scheme that pays customers for coming back, usually in points they can spend on a later purchase. Read the definition

M

Machine Learning ML Machine learning is a way of teaching software a rule by showing it thousands of solved examples, so it works out the pattern instead of being told it. Read the definition Malware Malware is any program written to damage your computer or to work quietly for someone else while you carry on using it. Read the definition Marketing Budget A marketing budget is the money a business decides in advance to spend each month on being noticed, plus the plan for how that money is split. Read the definition Marketplace Integration Marketplace integration runs your listings on Amazon, Noon and similar sites from the same system as your own shop, with one stock number behind them all. Read the definition Minimum Viable Product MVP A minimum viable product is the first real version of an app, built to do the one job that matters most so everything else can wait. Read the definition Mobile Device Management MDM Mobile device management is the software a company uses to control its staff phones and tablets from one screen, right down to erasing one that goes missing. Read the definition Mobile Website A mobile website is your ordinary website built to work properly on a phone, so visitors arrive at the same address and have nothing to download. Read the definition Mobile-First Indexing Mobile-first indexing means Google reads the phone version of your page and ranks you on what it finds there, so anything your mobile layout leaves out barely counts. Read the definition MongoDB MongoDB is a database that keeps each record as its own flexible document, so two products can carry completely different details without being forced into one fixed form. Read the definition Multi-Branch Management Multi-branch management is running two or more shops, clinics or gyms from a single system, so the owner can see every branch on one page. Read the definition MySQL MySQL is the most widely used free database in the world, and it is where a website keeps its customers, orders and prices in tidy tables. Read the definition

N

Native App A native app is built in the phone's own language, which makes it fast but means paying for an iPhone version and an Android version separately. Read the definition Net Promoter Score NPS The Net Promoter Score is one question, answered from nought to ten, that measures how many customers would recommend you rather than warn a friend away. Read the definition Next.js Next.js is a free toolkit built on React that prepares the whole page on the server first, so a React site opens quickly and search engines can read it. Read the definition Node.js Node.js is the tool that lets JavaScript run on a server, so one language can power both the screen the customer sees and the system behind it. Read the definition

O

Off-Page SEO Off-page SEO is the part of your search ranking that other people build for you, through the links, mentions and reviews they leave on sites you do not own. Read the definition Offboarding Offboarding is the security work a business does when someone leaves, closing every login and shared password they had so nothing stays open behind them. Read the definition Offline Mode Offline mode is what a system keeps doing when the internet drops in the middle of a sale, so the work carries on until the connection returns. Read the definition Offline Sync Offline sync is the way an app keeps working with no signal, because it saves the work on the phone and sends it up once the network comes back. Read the definition On-Page SEO On-page SEO is the work you do inside the page itself, from the title to the text on your photos, so readers and search engines both understand it. Read the definition Open Rate The open rate is the share of the people you emailed who look like they opened it, which phones now push up by loading the hidden tracking image themselves. Read the definition Order Tracking Order tracking is the running record of where an order has reached, from paid to delivered, which the customer reads in the same words your staff use. Read the definition Over-the-Air Update OTA An over-the-air update is a change you make on your own server that every phone picks up by itself, without anyone downloading a new version from the store. Read the definition Overselling Overselling is taking money for an item you cannot send, which happens when your counter, your website and your marketplace each count the same stock on their own. Read the definition OWASP Top 10 The OWASP Top 10 is a free list of the ten mistakes that most often let a stranger into a website or a web application. Read the definition

P

Page Speed Page speed is how long a real person waits on their phone before your page becomes useful to them. Read the definition Password Manager A password manager is a small program that remembers every password for you and keeps them locked away, leaving you just one to memorise. Read the definition Patch Management Patch management is the habit of updating every program and device you use on a set plan instead of whenever someone remembers. Read the definition Pay Per Click PPC Pay per click is advertising where you pay only when somebody actually clicks your advert, however many times it was shown. Read the definition PCI Compliance PCI DSS PCI compliance is the set of safety rules that the card companies make every business follow before it is allowed to take card payments. Read the definition Phishing Phishing is a message built to look like it came from someone you trust, so that you hand over a password, a code or a payment. Read the definition PHP PHP is a programming language that builds a web page on the server before sending it to your screen, and much of the web still works that way. Read the definition Point of Sale POS A point of sale is the counter or checkout page where a customer pays, and that same moment tells the shop what just left the shelf. Read the definition PostgreSQL PostgreSQL is a free database that refuses to store anything that does not make sense, which is why it is chosen when the numbers have to be right. Read the definition Product Photography Product photography is how you show an item to someone who cannot pick it up, so the pictures have to do the touching for them. Read the definition Product Variants Product variants are the different versions of one product, such as the same shirt in small blue or in medium black, each counted on its own. Read the definition Progressive Web App PWA A progressive web app is a website that staff add to the phone's home screen and open like a normal app, with nothing to install from a store. Read the definition Push Notification A push notification is a short message your system sends to a phone while your app is closed, so the person reads it without opening anything. Read the definition

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