SEO Glossary - Letter P
packet
A unit of data of standardized size, into which information is divided for transmission over a network. Each of the packets that comprise a message travels the internetwork independently; the message is reassembled from its component packets at the destination.
packet switching
A message delivery technique in which information is broken down into small units (packets) and then relayed through stations in a computer network along the best route available between the source and the destination.
Packet Switching
The method used to move data around on the Internet. In packet switching, all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into chunks, each chunk has the address of where it came from and where it is going. This enables chunks of data from many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines, and be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same time.
page view
Also called a page impression. Hit to HTML-viewable pages only (.htm, .html, .doc, .txt, .asp, .jsp, and .cfm, for example)
Page Views
Also called Page Impressions. Hit to HTML pages only (access to non-HTML documents are not counted).
Page Views
Each time a web page on a site is accessed by a visitor, it counts as one page view. It doesn't matter if the same user viewed the same page 5 minutes ago, it still represents another page view.
PageRank (PR)
A proprietary numerical score that is assigned by Google to every web page in their index. PR for each page is calculated by Google using a special mathematical algorithm, based on the number and quality.
Pageview
A pageview - a single screen of content - refers to the sum total of what a user sees in a browser window. Before frames came along, pageviews were a hell of a lot easier to explain and to track: the page you saw was one simple page of content. But frame-based pages are comprised of a whole mess of documents. The Webmonkey frontdoor brings together three different pages: the frameset itself, the content page in the top frame, and the ad called up in the bottom frame. Yet in the language of pageviews, these three pages add up to a single pageview.
Paid Inclusion
Directories charge a fee for sites.
Parse
To parse means to break something down into units that can be analyzed. To parse a sentence means to break it down into its parts of speech. In computer terms, a compiler must parse source code so that it can be analyzed and then assembled into object code. An XML parser, for example, is a tool for reading eXtensible markup language documents. XML parsers can pass data to a browser if that data is "well-formed." XML doesn't provide an application programming interface (API) to an application, it just passes data to it. Both Microsoft and Netscape include XML parsers in their browsers.
Path
The path tool in Photoshop enables the selecting, identifying, and saving of parts of an image more precisely than the Lasso tool. Using the path tool, you can create an adjustable line connected by dots around a particular area. Once you've completed a circle, the path tool will select that area, allowing you to name and save it. The path can then be manipulated just as you'd manipulate a layer.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
This is a traffic generating method where a search engine or directory places your link in their searchable database and charges you a fee every time your URL comes up in a search and it gets clicked on. The amount of the fee that you pay is usually determined by bidding on keywords or keyphrases.
PEM
(Privacy Enhanced Mail) A encryption standard generally used to secure Internet mail.
Perl
Practical extraction and reporting language, or Perl, is a scripting language first created by Larry Wall to be used as duct tape for programming with the Unix operating system. Due to its immense power for handling piles of text and, consequently, as a common gateway interface (CGI) scripting language, Perl became very popular among server-side scripters. Perl has a large community of contributing programmers and, what's more, costs nothing and is free to redistribute. These circumstances have helped Perl evolve from a scripting language used to generate server stats into a language many use for database administration. All along Perl has maintained its zaniness. Most Perl documentation reads as though written by early vaudeville comedians.
Persistence
What you often need to learn anything, including becoming proficient on the Internet.
PGP
Pretty Good Privacy is a flavor of algorithmic encryption that uses two cipher keys, one public and one private. Anyone can use a public key to send a scrambled message to the receiving party. The private key is then used only by the receiving party to unscramble incoming messages. The two-key system was developed by RSA Data Security, Inc. and PGP is the most popular type of two-key encryption available for public, non-commercial use.
PHP
PHP is an open-source scripting language that is embedded alongside HTML to perform interactive functions, such as accessing database information. PHP is similar to Microsoft’s active server page (ASP) technology, but is used primarily on Linux Web servers (or Windows servers with add-on software). An HTML page that has PHP script usually has a ".php" extension. Visit Webmonkey’s PHP tutorial to learn how it works.
ping
A diagnostic utility that determines whether a remote computer is active and where it can be contacted
Pixel
The cell is nature's building block, and the pixel is the Web designer's. Pixel is one of those half-baked half-acronyms: PICture ELement. It refers to how monitors divide the display screen into thousands or millions of individual dots. A pixel is one of those dots. An 8-bit color monitor can display 256 pixels, while a 24-bit color monitor can display more than 16 million. If you design a Web graphic on a 24-bit monitor, there's an excellent chance that many of your 16 million pixels won't be seen by visitors to your site. Since the agreed-upon lowest common denominator palette for the Web has 216 colors, you should design your graphics using 8-bit color.
(see Bit Depth)
Platform
Software developers need to know which platform their software will be running on. A platform can be an Intel processor running Windows, a Macintosh running System 8, or any combination of hardware and software that works together. Platforms are important for Web designers to understand, because they need to make sure their pages will work on more than one platform. Different browsers display Web pages differently on various platforms. Since the Internet itself is a cross-platform system, designers need to test Web pages on different combinations of machines and browsers to ensure the widest possible audience will be able to view their sites.
Platform
The operating system (i.e. Windows 95, Windows NT, etc.) used by a visitor to the site
Plug-in
A (usually small) piece of software that adds features to a larger piece of software. Common examples are plug-ins for the Netscape® browser and web server. Adobe Photoshop® also uses plug-ins.
The idea behind plug-in’s is that a small piece of software is loaded into memory by the larger program, adding a new feature, and that users need only install the few plug-ins that they need, out of a much larger pool of possibilities. Plug-ins are usually created by people other than the publishers of the software the plug-in works with.
Plug-Ins
Conceptually, plug-ins are like Lego toys. They are software modules that add a specific feature or service to a larger system. A Lego wheel by itself isn't that fun, but add that wheel to a Lego car, and you're cooking with gas. Unfortunately, most plug-ins, whether for browsers or graphics programs, don't provide as much functionality as a Lego wheel. For example, there are number of plug-ins for the Netscape Navigator browser that enable it to display different types of audio or video messages based on MIME types. However, if nobody develops those kinds of files, the plug-in is useless. There are some cool plug-ins for graphics programs, the best of which is Kai's Power Tools. That adds a zillion effects that you can use on your images. By the way, in Photoshop you can activate plug-ins by holding down the command and shift keys when starting up the program.
PMS
The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is a popular system for printing inks. Often a printer has two choices for creating an ink color: process color and spot color. Process color uses a mixture of four specific colors - cyan, magenta, yellow, and blacK (CMYK) - to create the desired shade. Spot color uses a matching system to create the shade. By specifying the official Pantone name or number, you can be assured of the color match when the file is printed.
POP
(Point of Presence, also Post Office Protocol) -- Two commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dial up phone lines. So if an Internet company says they will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it means that they will soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines can connect to their network. A second meaning, Post Office Protocol refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell account you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail.
Pop-up window
A pop-up window is a small browser window that is activated by a mouseover or double-click of an image or button in an existing browser window. Pop-ups can be outfitted with all or none of the the usual browser "chrome" (location bar, navigations buttons, etc.).
Port
3 meanings. First and most generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the serial port on a personal computer is where a modem would be connected.
On the Internet port often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server, so you might see a URL of the form:
gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/
shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard gopher port is 70).
Finally, port also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh.
port number
(or port address) To ensure that each server application responds only to requests and communications from appropriate clients, each server is assigned a port address. If IP addresses are like street addresses, then ports can be thought of as apartment or suite numbers.
Common IP Port Numbers
20
21
23
25
53
70
80
107
109
110
119
137
143
194
220
389
443
514
540
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Telnet
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
DNS (Domain Name Server)
Gopher
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
Remote Telnet Service
POP2 (Post Office Protocol version 2)
POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3)
NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol)
WINS (Windows Internet Naming Service)
IMAP4 (Interactive Mail Access Protocol 4)
IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
IMAP3 (Interactive Mail Access Protocol 3)
LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)
SYSLOG
HTTPS (HTTP running over secure sockets)
UUCP (UNIX to UNIX Copy)
Portal
Usually used as a marketing term to described a Web site that is or is intended to be the first place people see when using the Web. Typically a "Portal site" has a catalog of web sites, a search engine, or both. A Portal site may also offer email and other service to entice people to use that site as their main "point of entry" (hence "portal") to the Web.
Posting
A single message entered into a network communications system.
E.g. A single message posted to a newsgroup or message board
PPP
(Point to Point Protocol) -- Most well known as a protocol that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make TCP/IP connections and thus be really and truly on the Internet.
Protocol
A set of rules that lets computers agree how to communicate over the Internet.
Proxy
A proxy server is a machine used to secure and speed up traffic on a network. The server directs traffic between workstations and Web servers, filters requests made to the Web, or blocks them altogether. The server can be set with specific rules, such as blocking prohibited sites or closing certain ports. Proxy servers can also streamline network performance: For example when a user requests a Web page, the server will cache the page and have it ready if another user requests it.
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