| | Term | Definition |
| Icon | A small image, representing a task, application or idea. Usually clickable, and accompanied by text directly underneath. Examples include the "My Computer" icon in windows. |
| Skin | Created by a designer/developer, "skins" control the look and structure of a DNN website. A skin is completely independent of website content, and is "applied" to change the colours, menu structure and alignment of a website.
The skin can be considered the skeleton of a website, and is applied globally, for all pages, although that can be overwritten on a page-by-page basis. |
| Page | The Page is the basic unit of any website. Each site is made up of one or more pages, which divide the site content up into appropriate sections. The colours and layout of pages are decided by the site skin. |
| Global | As the name suggests, "global" refers to changes or settings that apply to an entire website. The logo, for example is a global setting for a DNN site. |
| Module | While the page is the basic unit of a DNN website, and the skin is the skeleton on which pages are placed, the module is the basic unit for content on those pages. The most common module is the text/HTML module, but there are many more types of content that can be added to a DNN site. These are accessed via the control panel, in the "modules" area. |
| Control Panel | The Control Panel in DNN refers to an area at the top of the website visible only to site administrators (after login). This area allows page and content creation, and global site management. |
| Browser | A web-browser is a program on your computer that allows you to access the internet. The most common browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) and Mozilla Firefox. IE ships with all versions of MS Windows, while Firefox is free to download from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ |
| Window | Originally referring to containing boxes in the MS Windows operating system, the term "Window" now designates a portion of the monitor used by any single application across platforms. For example, I am currently viewing this website through a Firefox window. |
| Internet Explorer (IE) | Microsoft's web browser, shipped with MS Windows (and also in Mac versions), and currently the most common browser. |
| Firefox | An alternative to Microsoft's IE browser, Firefox is the successor to Mozilla Netscape, an earlier competitor to Microsoft. Firefox to date offers superior security and reliabililty to IE, with many more user options and better conformity to international standards. |
| Administrator | A DNN administrator is the coordinator of a single website. The administrator is able to manage every detail of their site, and also to assign user permissions to others. For example, the adminstrator could create an "Editor" role on the site, allowing someone else to edit specific pages or modules. |
| User | Refers to the different viewers of a website. Users are grouped into different categories, basically consisting of "Registered" and "Unregistered" users. The site administrator is able to manage these categories (or Roles) and decides which content is shown to all users, and which requires users to login. |
| Roles | The permission level of each user is governed by their assigned role. General users do not log in to the website, and have the role of "unregistered users". Registered users may include members of your community, who sign up for a username and password, are approved by the administrator, and can then access otherwise private information. |
| Permissions | Each page and module in a DNN website include permission settings. These permissions specify which categories of users can view and edit content. For example, This glossary page allows all users (i.e. anyone on the web) to view the page, but only the administrator to edit it (add content, etc.) |
| DotNetNuke | A content-management-system (CMS) based on the Microsoft .Net framework. DNN allows users to manage their own websites without ongoing reliance on developers and hosts to resolve day to day problems. |
| Portal | The name given to a single website created on the DNN framework. |
| Website | A collection of electronic information coordinated in a common location on the world wide web. In real terms, a website usually consists of several pages hosted in the same ftp folder, and linked together by a common menu. |
| Navigation | The way in which users move between pages in a website is generally termed navigation. This is most often accomplished by a menu, which can be as simple as a list of links. To get to this page, for example, you navigated from the home page to the glossary page by clicking the "glossary" heading on the menu. |
| Link | A link can be thought of as a signpost, which can direct users anywhere on the internet. A link on this page could take you directly to the Vatican website, or could merely move you to the bottom of this same page. Local links are used to navigate within a website, while external links point to another website. |