- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 3
- 2
-
Sparkle (0)
Thank you for sticking with me as I've defined basic blogging terms over the last three weeks. This is the last week for the blogging glossary; next week I'll be defining and discussing social media terms.
CAPTCHA: stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart. You'll recognize captcha as those words you have to type to verify yourself as human when you leave a comment at some blogs or make changes to some online accounts. Article for more help: The Official CAPTCHA Site
Favicon: Favicons are the small 16 pixel by 16 pixel pictures you see beside some URLs in your browser’s address bar. You also see them in your list of bookmarked sites. They are fairly easy to construct or generate online. Article for more help: What is a favicon and how do I make and install one on my blog?
Hexadecimal value: The six-digit code used within HTML to determine what color to display for a page element. For example, if you want a word to be green you could use this HTML code and hexadecimal value: <span style="color: #ff6600;">orange</span> which looks like this -- orange -- in your browser. The #ff6600 is the hexadecimal value of that particular orange color. For your reference, white is #ffffff and black is #000000. It's handy to know the hexadecimal values of your blog design so you can be sure to use the same colors each time you add a design element to your blog (you can change your link colors to match or be complimentary, add lines between posts in specific colors, etc.). Here's a handy chart that provides hexadecimal values for many colors.
Lurker: Someone who visits a blog, but rarely, if ever, comments. Is it rude to lurk? Not at all. As a blogger, I appreciate that comments can make your day, but it's important to remember that not everyone is comfortable joining an online conversation. Your lurker(s) may love what you write, but don't feel that they have anything to contribute. Or maybe they were looking for specific information, found it, and are off implementing your advice or tutorial. There are a million reasons why someone may lurk, but don't let it ruffle your feathers.
Troll: A commentor (usually anonymous, but not always) who leaves hurtful and rude comments at your blog. A troll is different from spam because spam is usually an advertisement of some sort. A troll's sole purpose is to stir up trouble on your site. What can you do? Ignore them as much as possible, or, if it escalates, block their IP address (most blogging platforms have a way to do this, ask the help desk). My advice, and it's easier said than done, is to try ignore the troll as much as you can. Do not engage in a conversation with him or her. It won't end well.
Please feel free to leave some ideas for other terms you'd like to see defined or add your own definitions in the comments section.
Melanie Nelson writes tips and instructions at Blogging Basics 101 and shares daily links to fascinating and helpful tech links at the BB101 Tumblr blog.
