Glossary
Web hosting and domain terms, in plain English
What the jargon means, with links to step-by-step guides when you need to do something about it.
Web hosting · VPS · WordPress · Domains · DNS · Email · Microsoft 365 · SSL and security · Web design · Tools and services
Web hosting
- Web hosting
- A service that keeps your website on a server connected to the internet, so people can visit it at any time.
- Compare web hosting
- Bandwidth
- The amount of data your website sends to visitors. Pages with larger files and more visitors use more.
- Compare web hosting
- Staging site
- A private copy of your website for testing changes before they go live.
- Create a staging copy of WordPress
- 301 redirect
- A permanent redirect from one web address to another, which also tells search engines the page has moved.
- How to set up a redirect
- PHP
- The programming language that WordPress and many other websites run on. Keeping it on a supported version matters for security.
- Change your PHP version · Check your site with our Security Checker
- cPanel
- A widely used control panel for managing a website's files, databases and settings without using commands.
- CDN (content delivery network)
- A network of servers around the world that keeps copies of your website's files, so visitors load them from somewhere nearby.
- Uptime and SLA
- Uptime is the share of time a service is available. An SLA, or service level agreement, sets out what a provider commits to.
- Node.js hosting
- Hosting for applications written in JavaScript that run on the server, rather than for standard websites.
- Node.js hosting
- LiteSpeed
- Web server software built for speed, with its own caching. Our ProFlex hosting runs LiteSpeed Enterprise.
- ProFlex Max hosting
VPS
- Root access
- Full administrator control of a server, so you can install and change anything, including things that could break it.
- VPS hosting
- Managed and unmanaged hosting
- With managed hosting, the provider looks after the server software. With unmanaged, you are responsible for updates and security yourself.
- First steps on an unmanaged VPS
- VPS (virtual private server)
- A private section of a physical server, with its own resources and full control over its software.
WordPress
- WordPress
- Free, open-source software for building websites that you can edit yourself. It needs hosting and a domain to run.
- WordPress hosting · WordPress development
- Plugin
- An add-on that gives WordPress extra features. Each one needs keeping up to date, and too many can slow a site.
- Secure your WordPress site
- WooCommerce
- A plugin that turns a WordPress site into an online shop, with products, a basket and payments.
- Set up your shop with WooCommerce · E-commerce development
Domains
- Domain name
- Your address on the internet, such as example.co.uk. You rent it by the year from a registrar.
- Find a domain name
- Domain extension (TLD)
- The ending of a domain name, such as .co.uk or .com. TLD stands for top-level domain.
- See all extensions and prices
- Registrar
- A company you register and renew domain names through. The registry runs the extension itself, as Nominet does for .uk.
- Find a domain name
- WHOIS and RDAP
- Public lookups showing who a domain is registered through, its status and its dates. RDAP is the newer system replacing WHOIS. Owner details are usually hidden.
- Look up a domain
- IPS tag
- A label showing which company manages a .uk domain. A .uk domain moves between companies by changing this tag.
- EPP code (authorisation code)
- A password for a domain that you give the new registrar when you transfer it. Also called an auth code or transfer key.
DNS
- DNS
- The Domain Name System, which turns a domain name into the address of the server that holds your website or email.
- Manage DNS records
- A record
- A DNS record that points a domain at the IP address of a server, usually your website's.
- Point your domain with an A record
- TXT record
- A DNS record that holds text, often used to prove you own a domain and to publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC settings.
- Manage DNS records
- DNS propagation
- The time it takes for a DNS change to reach the whole internet, as servers around the world refresh their saved copies.
- How long DNS changes take
- Nameserver
- The server that holds a domain's DNS records. Changing nameservers moves control of all of those records.
- MX record
- A DNS record that tells other mail servers where to deliver email for your domain.
- CNAME record
- A DNS record that points one name at another name, rather than at an IP address.
- TTL (time to live)
- How long, in seconds, other servers may keep a saved copy of a DNS record before checking again.
- IMAP
- A way of reading email that keeps messages on the server, so your phone and computer stay in step.
- Email settings for any device
- POP3
- An older way of reading email that usually downloads messages to one device. IMAP generally suits people using several devices better.
- Email settings for any device
- SMTP
- The system used for sending email. A device or website needs SMTP settings before it can send through your mail server.
- WordPress not sending email?
- Webmail
- Reading and sending email in a web browser, without installing an email program.
- How to log in to Webmail
- SPF
- A DNS record listing the servers allowed to send email for your domain.
- DKIM
- A digital signature on your email that shows it came from your domain and wasn't changed on the way.
- DMARC
- A DNS record telling receiving servers what to do with email that fails SPF and DKIM checks, and where to send reports.
Microsoft 365
- Microsoft 365
- Microsoft's subscription for business email, Teams and OneDrive, with Office apps on some plans.
- Microsoft 365 plans
- Exchange Online
- The email and calendar service inside Microsoft 365. Host Dada supplies it as part of Microsoft 365.
- Microsoft 365 plans
SSL and security
- SSL certificate
- A small file that lets a website use HTTPS, encrypting traffic between the site and its visitors.
- Compare SSL certificates
- HTTPS
- The secure version of the web's connection system, which needs an SSL certificate. Browsers warn visitors about sites without it.
- Activate free SSL and force HTTPS
- DV, OV and EV
- The three SSL validation levels: domain, organisation and extended. They differ in what is checked about you, not in how well they encrypt.
- Compare SSL certificates
- Mixed content
- When a secure page loads files such as images over an insecure connection, which can trigger a "not secure" warning.
- Fix "Not secure" warnings
- Wildcard certificate
- An SSL certificate covering a domain's subdomains at one level, such as shop.example.co.uk and blog.example.co.uk.
Web design
- Responsive design
- Building a website so its layout adapts to any screen, from phone to desktop.
- See our web design service
- CMS (content management system)
- Software that lets you edit your website's pages and posts without code. WordPress is the best-known example.
- WordPress development
- SEO (search engine optimisation)
- Work that helps a website appear for relevant searches, from page content and speed to links from other sites.
- Search Intelligence
- React and Next.js
- Technologies for building fast websites and web applications that work like software, including bookings, portals and marketplaces.
- React and Next.js development
Tools and services
- VPN
- A virtual private network, which encrypts your connection and hides your IP address from the sites you visit.
- Our VPN
- Rank tracking
- Checking where a website appears in search results for chosen keywords over time.
- Search Intelligence
- Uptime monitoring
- A service that checks your website regularly and alerts you if it goes down.
- Uptime Monitor
- Dynamic QR code
- A QR code that points to a short link, so you can change where it goes without reprinting it.
- QR Code Generator
- One-time secret link
- A link that shows a password or other confidential text once, and then stops working.
- One-Time Secret