Where Code and Content Meet: Design Patterns for Web Content Management and Delivery, Personalisation and User Participation

Glossary

This glossary explains the relevant terminology used in the context of content management and content delivery. For some terms the meaning given here is specific to the context of this book, and therefore more specific than it would be in a broader context.

Ajax

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. A collection of techniques that allow the browser to handle user input efficiently. Ajax leads to faster and richer user interaction, but is sometimes criticised for conceptual flaws and security drawbacks.

Caching

Storage optimisation techniques that provide fast access to frequently used objects (for example content elements or web page fragments).

Click ratio

The number of times a link underlying a page element is followed relative to the number of times that page element is displayed, usually expressed as a percentage.

Community software

Software that facilitates collaboration among communities with shared interests. Examples include forums and chatrooms.

Content

The sum of digital artefacts that are valuable to an organisation, including text, pictures, multimedia objects, as well as relations and dependencies between these objects. Referred to as web content if the intention is to make these artefacts available on the web.

Content delivery

Techniques and processes for distributing and delivering content to its target audience. The target medium is often, in the case of web content, the web.

Content editor

A person who creates, maintains and publishes content for an organisation, often with ...