Sitefinity terminology

alt text
Alt text is a type of metadata and provides textual information about an image. It appears when the image cannot be displayed due to low bandwidth and is seen by people with visual disabilities using a screen reader. Alt text improves SEO, which helps pages appear in a Google search. Learn to write effective alt text.

analytics
Analytics is the measurement of your website performance based on user activity. Analytics could include the number of users who viewed your page, how long they spent on your page and what they clicked on your page. Learn more about website analytics.

bandwidth
The original meaning of bandwidth refers to the capacity (e.g., 100 megabits per second) for data transfer between systems – for example, uploading an image from your computer to your website. Graphics consume more bandwidth than text, so it sometimes takes longer to download a Photoshop file than a Word file. However, the word "bandwidth" is also used to refer to a person's mental or emotional capacity. For example, "I don't think I have the bandwidth to handle the presentation this week."

breadcrumb
A breadcrumb refers to the "trail" of pages a user has selected to reach their current location on any website. For example, they might start on the Homepage, then click Services, then Programs, then Contact. So the breadcrumb would look like this: Home > Services > Programs > Contact. In Sitefinity, a breadcrumb always sits at the top of the page and is flush left. A breadcrumb cannot be deleted.

below the fold
This phrase refers to any website information that appears below the screen on a computer or any information that would require users to scroll down a screen. Keep in mind that the "fold" position depends on a user's screen size.

browser
A browser is a computer program used for accessing sites or information on a network. Good examples are Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

CMS (content management system)
A CMS is an application or software (such as Sitefinity) that facilitates the entry, modification and retrieval of digital content on a website A CMS helps an organization create, edit, manage, categorize, store, archive, publish and distribute various forms of content (website copy, data, forms, photos, media, etc). Learn why the university chose Sitefinity as our CMS.

content
Content refers to any type of text, audio or visual information on a website. When building your website, content is the primary information that goes on each page. Examples would be web copy, applications, PDFs, images, videos, email messages, data, etc.

content widget
A content widget displays content from text like testimonials, blogs, forms, bios and much more. Content widgets can include images, but often do not.

content type
Per the content definition above, content can be any type of text, audio or visual information on a website. The "content type" refers to one of those mediums.

content type widget
In Sitefinity, content type widgets draw from content created separately – either by you or the university. This would include things like bios, FAQs or class descriptions. Learn how to use content type widgets.

dashboard
A dashboard is a central page or "homepage" included in most software applications and CMS. From here, you can navigate to other areas of the CMS to create and edit. On the Sitefinity dashboard, there's a menu of different projects or pages, recent university news or updates, an "at-a-glance" view of analytics and Sitefinity resources and trainings.

database driven
When a website or page is database-driven, it means the website is grabbing information from a database and inserting that information onto the web page every time it is loaded. In Sitefinity, faculty bios are database driven.

design
For our purposes in Sitefinity, design refers to the way a page is organized and the selected theme. From a broader perspective, design can refer to images, color, logos and layout of any website page.

drop-down
A drop-down is a menu of items that appears below a link or navigation element. For example, you might click on Classes and the drop down would include History, Biology, English and Math. A drop down is a popular navigation design element. Learn more about navigation in Sitefinity.

editable widget
In Sitefinity, editable widgets are for content that you will type directly on the page – typically short pieces, such as instructional copy, phone numbers and descriptions. Learn how to use editable widgets.

footer
A footer is the bottom section of a page on a website. It can be on every page but is not mandatory. It typically includes contact information, copyright and navigation, which is like a table of contents for the various sections of the website.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
A GIF is a computer file format for the compression and storage of images. Other common image formats include JPG and PNG.

governance
Governance is the way a city or company is controlled by the people who run it, often facilitated through rules and guidebooks. One example of governance would be consensus-style or democratic-style.

grid widget
Grid widgets refers to a collection of layout widgets, which helps design a "grid" of different content containers on a page. Some boxes will be for navigation. Some will be for images. Some will be for text.

JPG
A JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts group) is a computer file format for the compression and storage of an image. This means it is also the file extension. Other common image formats include GIF and PNG.

keyboard input
A keyboard input makes all functionality available from the keyboard rather than relying on a mouse. Many people use keyboard input every day. For example, most users can click Control N to start a new document rather than use their mouse to select this option from a drop-down menu. But keyboard input is also critical for speech input. This means users with disabilities, via assistive technologies, can speak into a microphone and give a keyboard command.

landing page
A landing page is the first page of a website a user sees when coming to a website or clicking on a link. The page is in reference to analytics.

layout
Layout refers to the way a web page's elements, including images, text and videos, are organized.

layout widget
In Sitefinity, layout widgets are different options for dividing the page into various combinations of columns, rows and boxes.

library
The library is a place to store website images, videos and documents. Learn how to use libraries.

metadata
Metadata summarizes basic information about data. A good example are the files on a computer. The metadata for each file is the author, the date created and the date modified. This makes it easier to find that particular file. In addition, metadata is used for images, videos, spreadsheets and web pages. Metadata is important because it is used to inform search engines (such as Google) about website page content, which helps determine a website's relevance and rank within the results.

navigation
Navigation is like a table of contents for the website. Navigation lives at the top or side of every page, as well as the bottom of every page, which is called a footer. Navigation offers the user a list of all the sections within a website. Learn more about navigation options.

page
Pages are the building blocks of a website, containing text, images, buttons and more. Start building a page or learn more about pages.

permission
Permission determines a specific person's access to make website changes. Permission allows certain Sitefinity users to have more or less website control than others.

responsive design
Responsive web design rearranges design, so that web pages still look good on a variety of devices, no matter the screen size or shape.

SEO (search engine optimization)
SEO is a process used to get a higher ranking in the results of a web search and, therefore, increase the number of visitors to a website. Learn about metadata and why it's important for SEO.

site map
A site map is a one-dimensional, visual representation of your website, including all the pages and how they link together.

template
A template is a document or file with a preset format, so there's no need to create a new format every time. In Sitefinity, there are four different template options when creating a page. These templates differ by layout, navigation position and theme. Learn more about templates.

theme
A theme is the "look and feel"or branding of a website, including images, logo and name. In Sitefinity, theme is determined by location. University themes available include: CU Denver, CU Anschutz and Dual Campus. Learn more about themes.

user experience (UX)
The user experience refers to the way the user moves around a website. We are always striving to make the user experience simple and convenient. This means clear instructional copy and fewer clicks to reach their destination.

web accessibility
Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact online. Simple ways to ensure web accessibility are to include video captions, alt text, keyboard input, and audio transcripts. Learn more about web accessibility.