The Lexicon of New Media Terms

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Note: These entries have been loosely complied from hundreds of online and print sources. Make independent confirmation and proper citation before using any of this material for professional or academic purposes.

Terms beginning with "W"

WAIS: Wide Area Information Servers, a communications system displaced by the Web.
walk-through: An instructional presentation (live or through multimedia) which highlights specific features about a product or service.
Wall, Larry: Creator of the PERL scripting language.
WAN: Wide Area Network, a group of computers linked together over greater distances; for example, a chain pharmacy stores exchanging prescription records.
wannabees: People, companies or Web sites which try to appear like a more successful rival in order to share in that rival's higher status.
WAP: Wireless Application Protocol, an Internet communications protocol for portable devices such as cellular phones.
warez: Illegally distributed software, program serial numbers, or product licensing; rhymes with "bears."
waste: The point at which it is no longer economically sound for a marketer to continue targeting a message to a specific consumer or audience.
WAV: A compressed audio file format.
WC3: World Wide Web Consortium, the cabal of Internet professionals and experts who approve standards for WWW protocols and coding.
Web rings: A series of seperate, independent Web sites linked together in a series to focus on a similar topic.
Web server: A compter and/or computer program connected to the Internet to deliver Web sites on demand to user's Web browsers.
Web site: A set of HTML documents or other files grouped under a domain name and delivered to users through the World Wide Web.
Web vertigo: The result of bad user interface design when a user doesn't know what to do next on a Web page.
Webmaster: A vague term usually refering to the person responsible for maintaining a Web server.
WebMonkey.com: Wired's Web site for advice and tips to online development professionals.
webographics: Ways to measure a user experience; key factors include platform, browser make and model, and connection speed.
Weinman, Lynda: Author of several Web design and graphics editing books and videos.
wetware: Human users.
WHOIS: A common program used to look up and show information about domain names and their legal owners.
wildcard: A character (usually an asterisk *) used to represent any other character; often used in searches when only part of the text for what's sought is known.
window dressing: Graphic elements which don't add meaning to the content but help maintain a consistent branding or just look cool.
Windows: Microsoft's PC Operating System, available in DOS-enhancing versions (Windows95, 98) or as full network OS (WindowsNT, 2000).
WinSock: Windows Sockets, software Windows uses to communicate with a network - specifically, the Internet.
Wired: At first a magazine for computer geeks, soon it grew to a media family of technology-related Web, print and broadcast products including WebMonkey.
Word: Microsoft's word processing application.
workstation: A computer typically more powerful than an ordinary desktop computer and often running UNIX.
worm: A program that can make copies of itself automatically across a network or the Internet; such a program wreaked havoc worldwide in late 1988.
WWW: World Wide Web, a protocol for communicating over the Internet.
WYSIWYG: What-you-see-is-what-you-get, software such as a Web page editor which displays what the end product will look like as a user is working.

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