Glossary of common terms
This glossary defines a number of words you will see used often in discussions about Moodle - you'll find them highlighted throughout this course.
If you wish to import this glossary to your Moodle site, you can download this file of exported entries: glossary_of_common_terms_20101214.xml.
Please feel free to add new words here!
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ALL
H |
|---|
HTML | ||
|---|---|---|
HyperText Markup Language - a language used to create web pages. | ||
I |
|---|
IANAD | ||
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I Am Not A Developer - a response when answering technical question if suggesting an action that may need more input from a Moodle Developer. | ||
IE | ||
|---|---|---|
Abbreviation for Internet Explorer which is Microsoft's web browser. Originally provided free to undermine Netscape's browser dominance in the 90's and currently provided bundled as standard with Microsoft's microcomputer operating systems. Many people are switching from IE to Mozilla's Firefox to avoid the perceived risk of spy-ware and other security risks. | ||
 | IIS | |
|---|---|---|
Internet Information Services - Microsoft's answer to Apache. This is software, that, when installed on a machine, provides a web service. Just like Apache, IIS listens to port 80 and answers any http requests from client machines. | ||
 | IMHO | ||
|---|---|---|---|
In My (Humble|Honest) Opinion | |||
IMNSHO | |||
|---|---|---|---|
In My Not So Humble Opinion - usually reserved for something we are an expert at or an issue we feel strongly supportive, or otherwise, of. | |||
IMO | |||
|---|---|---|---|
In My Opinion... sometimes... IMHO - In My Humble Opinion | |||
 | INAL | |
|---|---|---|
An abbreviation of "I'm not a lawyer". | ||
Interface | |||
|---|---|---|---|
In general an interface is the boundary across which two systems communicate. There are many software interfaces within Moodle, for example, such as the interface a module uses to communicate with the core product, or the interface used to send mail. Usually, though, this term refers to the interface between software and human beings: the user interface. In Moodle, for example, this is what we see and click on in the web browser and in our mail programs, and it provides ways for us to access, understand and change the database at the heart of any Moodle site. The design of such an interface requires collaboration between software developers and users to make it "user-friendly" (and maximise overall usability). A very important requirement for interfaces is standardisation, which reduces the amount of learning that users need to do to explore the features in the software. Moodle has had informal standards in the past, but we are currently writing a more formal specification to help Moodle's many developers produce a more consistent interface, and remove some of the irregular, inefficient or hard-to-learn interfaces that have crept into various corners of Moodle. With Moodle, interface issues should be discussed in the forums most appropriate to them - if you wish to raise discussion about an interface in the Chat module, use the Chat forum. If you have a specific bug or request to report, please use the bug tracker. | |||