Glossary of Terms
The Glossary defines terms used in our online documentation and by our support team. The definition of each term has been developed from the perspective of ShoutCMS. To get started, click the letter below that corresponds to the first letter of the term; alternatively, you can use your browser's search option to locate word(s) of interest.
A
Access Security: ShoutCMS supports secured content that only specific Contact Groups or Contact Identifiers can access. Access Security can be used to restrict access to individuals that have logged in and have been granted appropriate access privileges.
Administrator Console: The (ShoutCMS) Administrator console is used to configure web pages and other the data that is used when your website is presented when someone accesses your URL (e.g. .com. The Administrator console is to modify the content of your site and process form submissions and product orders. The Administrator console is accessed from www. com/admin or from the temporary site http:// .shoutcms.net (no www’s). The console may be referred to as the “Control Panel” in older documentation.
Articles: An Article is a special web-page whose summary information can be included on other pages in the site. A page displaying articles does so using the pages Layout definitions that control how the articles are displayed (order, format, and size). An Article can be displayed on multiple pages on the site. Articles are typically used for news and sub-content related to the host page. Articles are very similar to Product pages.
B
Banners: banners are images with an associated hyperlink that when clicked on, redirects the user to a different page or website. In ShoutCMS, banners are added to Banner Groups that are configured globally or for specific pages. Placement of the banners on a page is controlled by the banner group and the selected Page Layout. Click-through of banners is tracked on a monthly basis.
Billing and Shipping Information: When a ShoutCMS user purchases an item through the store or an invoice is generated for a user, contact information (i.e. first name, last name, address, etc.) is collected. Alternative billing and shipping information can be specified for invoices and orders destined to alternative addresses.
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Captcha: Captcha is a feature usually included in a web form to prevent automated spamming tools from submitting forms. The Captcha prompts the user to input letters or numbers shown in an accompanying image.
Carousel: The Carousel display images much like a slideshow. Users can manually shift the images and click on hyperlinks that are associated with each image. Carousels are displayed on the top portion of a page. Carousels can be uniquely configured for each page.
CSS: Stands for "Cascading Style Sheet." Cascading style sheets are used to format the layout of Web pages. They can be used to define text styles, table sizes, and other aspects of Web pages that previously could only be defined in a page's HTML. With ShoutCMS, the CSS can be modified using the Theme Designer, a WebDAV interface, or by uploading a new stylesheet to the site. ShoutCMS uses CSS, HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language), and JavaScript to rendering a site’s web pages.
Checkout: When finished adding items to the shopping cart, the user initiates the Checkout process to finalize the purchase and enter shipping and payment information. The checkout process ends with a final confirmation message and an email confirming the order.
Comments: The term Comments refers to the feedback users leave on a page. In ShoutCMS, these are located at the bottom of pages that have comments enabled.
Contact: A Contact is created when an individual registers, completes a form, or buys a product from your site. Alternatively, Contacts can be created internally by staff to support sales activities or when assigning access to restricted parts of the site. Contacts are managed by assigning them to Contact Groups and Identifiers. Contact attributes include: name, address, shipping information, company, photo, comments, to name a few. A history of form submissions and purchases is maintained by ShoutCMS.
Contact Group: Contact Groups are used by ShoutCMS to organize contacts based on how they interact with your business processes. Contact groups are used by Mass Mail and Access Security. Contacts can be added to one or more Contact Groups. ShoutCMS Web forms and products can be configured to automatically add a Contact to a Contact Group when the form is submitted or a product is purchased. Additionally, ShoutCMS supports Identifiers that are similar to Contact Groups but provide an alternative way to configure access.
Contact Identifier: A Contact Identifier is used by ShoutCMS to filter contacts when using the ShoutCMS Mass Mail tool and ShoutCMS Access Security system for various functions. An individual contact can be assigned to one or more Contact Identifiers. ShoutCMS web forms and products can be configured to automatically add a Contact to a Contact Identifier when the form is submitted or a product is purchased. Additionally, ShoutCMS supports Groups that are similar to Contact Identifiers but provide an alternative way to configure access.
Contact Manager: The ShoutCMS Contact Manager is a powerful tool that can be used to organize and manage your customers, suppliers, staff, and other business stakeholders. Contacts are created when an individual registers online or manually from the Contact Manager. Once created, you can use the Contact Manager to edit the contact’s demographic information. You can also assign them to groups. The Contact Manager can be used to support lead generation, outbound correspondence, tracking purchases, and other activities when operating your website. The Contact Manager is a major component of ShoutCMS.
Content Domain: A group of web pages or other website content that is managed distinctly by a content owner. Typically, Content Domains are informally used to determine who is responsible for what content (portion) of large websites. Forms, store configurations, Contact management functionality may be considered a Content Domain. Administrator access to internal components of your website can be disabled if required.
Content Template: Content Templates are distinct from the Page Template. A Content Template can be created or modified from Settings->Pages to facilitate the creation of regularly used page content. A Content Template defines default text (similar to an MS-Word template document) that can be copied into a new Page, Article, or Product. You can define tables, fonts, default images and other content as if the template was a page itself. Once created, a Content Template can be loaded when you are created a new webpage. When in the ShoutCMS page editor, you can also copy in Snippet content.
Coupons: Coupons are typically used to get a discount on a particular product or service. Coupons can be configured to be applied to a single product or a product category.
D
Dashboard: The opening screen of the ShoutCMS Administrator Console is referred to as the Dashboard because it provides an overview of the website’s information can is used to open the various tools used to manage the website including Pages, Forms, Store, and Contacts. You can also access recently modified pages and review new from the ShoutCMS team. Click the “Home” icon to display this screen.
E
Embedded Navigation: Embedded navigation refers to technique of embedding links into the body of a web page as an alternative to navigating through the site’s menu system. You can implement embedded navigation by 1) using the ShoutCMS Related Content, or 2) using the Content Editor to insert a website or email link in the Editor area of your page.
Email Accounts (outbound): ShoutCMS uses email accounts when sending outbound emails. These accounts are defined in the Settings area, Forms, and Store. These email accounts are used to send replies to the person that submitted the form, ordered a product, or registered online – e.g. the reply would come from No-Reply@ .com. These accounts must be synchronized with your email services if you wish to receive an inbound email sent to the email address. Note that the outbound accounts are distinct from ShoutCMS email services that are available to setup email accounts for your staff.
F
Featured Images: The featured image is a picture or graphic that represents the page when the page is included as Related Content. The Featured Image is uploaded and selected from the pages Image Gallery.
Feature Summary: Featured Summary refers to the Page content that is displayed on other pages as Related Content. This content includes the title, the feature image, and the feature summary. Related Content is a powerful tool that supports embedded navigation.
Flat Rate: Flat rate refers to a single shipping rate or charge that applies to all products regardless of quantity, or size. Footer: The footer section is displayed at the bottom of each web page and contains the same information throughout the site. It is often used to supplement the main navigation by providing links to frequently accessed sections of the site. It may also contain references to company and site policy, copyright, contact and social media related to their site (such as Facebook or Twitter).
Forms: Forms are used on pages to get customer feedback on various topics. This is done by asking a number of questions using a variety of input options(for example, a text box).
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Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a service provided by Google that allows users to monitor traffic to their site, allowing them to target the correct audience. It is very easy to configure a ShoutCMS site to use Google Analytics once an account has been created. We recommend using Google Analytics in conjunction with ShoutCMS to track site traffic.
H
Hosting Account: The ShoutCMS hosting account, sometimes referred to as the Client Area, is used to control your website, email services, support tickets, and other DNS/SSL services. The Primary Contact login credentials, assigned when you launch a ShoutCMS site, are used to access the hosting account. Do not lose the username and password of the Primary Account; your identity must be verified before your hosting credentials can be reset.
Header: The header is the section at the top of a site. It contains logos and menus that persist on all pages of the site. The header is configured in the Site Settings area of ShoutCMS.
Hidden or Live: The ‘Hidden or Live’ setting of a page determines whether the page is visible on the menu system. When set to ‘Hidden’ the page and its Related Content is not shown; however, the page can still be accessed through a bookmark or embedded hyperlink. ‘Hidden’ should not be used to secure a web page, use the Security Settings instead.
Home Page: The top-level (main) page of the web site. The default page displayed when a user visits the web site. It is the first page in the site navigation.
I
Image Gallery: The Image Gallery contains images that have been uploaded to the Page. These images can be used for various purposes when the page is displayed on the site.
Invoice: Invoices are issued when an online purchase is made through the shopping cart or when an internal sale is entered using the ShoutCMS online invoicing system. Invoices are sent to the customer by email. Customers can pay invoices directly through the ShoutCMS online payment process. Recurring invoices, typically associated with a monthly subscription, can be configured using the ShoutCMS Recurring Billing feature.
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Keywords: Keywords refer to the words or phrases consumers use when searching for particular products or services online. Keywords can be added to each page of a ShoutCMS site as part of a search engine optimization campaign. Choosing keywords that accurately describe your product well helps improve search engine marketing.
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Landing Page: A page on you website that is designed as an entry point to site content. Social media, Google, and printed documentation should only reference landing pages (including your Home page). Landing pages should not be deleted or renamed.
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Manufacturer: The manufacturer is the company that is responsible for creating the products you are selling. Manufacturers and Suppliers are used when sorting products and creation purchase orders when restocking your store.
Mass Email: The ShoutCMS Mass Email tool can be used to create send personalized emails using templates, embedded images and mail-merge fields. The Mass Mail tool can be used to create and distribute full-featured HTML-based emails such as newsletters, announcements, news releases, and sales material, to members of one or more Contact Groups.
Meta Data: information that describes the format of structured data, for example, a description of the columns in a spreadsheet and the type of data contained in the column. This description can include source, accuracy, format, range, expiration, volatility, owner, etc. The concept of meta data is important when designing web forms or defining how you will configure you Contact Groups to support your business processes.
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Navigation Menu: The menu located at the top of a ShoutCMS website. Menu navigation is also controlled by the left-side or right-side menus that are defined by the page’s Layout Template. The default order of menu options is based on when a page is added. Use the Page Sorting option to change the change the order of menu items.
O
Online Store: The ShoutCMS Online Store allows your customers to buy products through the Internet. Products for sale are added and are configured from the Pages area; once added, inventory and sales data is managed from the Store area of the Administrator Console. The Online Store supports member discount pricing, discount coupons, time-based sales, inventory management, sales tax calculations, and credit card processing.
P
Page Title: The title of the page is the phrase that appears in the page navigation. In ShoutCMS, a user friendly URL is created automatically based on the title of the page.
Product Gallery: A product gallery displays small versions of the images in the gallery as well as a special panel which shows a slightly larger version of the first image in the gallery. When another image is clicked, it replaces the image in the panel. When the panel image is clicked, the picture expands.
Q
Quote: A quote document can be created to provide information about products for sale. Once accepted by the client, the quote can be easily converted into an invoice for order processing and payment tracking.
R
Recurring Invoice: Recurring invoices are invoices that are automatically sent to customers based on a schedule. An example of a recurring invoice would be a periodic subscription fee in which an invoice is generated automatically requesting payment in order to continue using a service. The recurrence duration and final invoice can be configured.
Recurring Package: A recurring package is the configuration of attributes required to automatically generate recurring invoices. Selling a recurring package (a group of services) results in the creation of a recurring invoice. The package information provides defaults for the recurring invoices that are generated over time.
Related Content: Web pages in a ShoutCMS site support the inclusion of Related Content, content that comes from a other page in your website. Depending on the Page Layout, Related Content can be added as Small, Medium, and Large feature sections. Each can contain zero or multiple entries from other pages in the site. Note that a page will not be displayed as Related Content on other pages if it is ‘Hidden’ or if it is secured and the user does not have the required access permission.
Rendering Engine: The ShoutCMS rendering engine is responsible for generating the final HTML that is sent to the browser when the site is accessed. The Rendering Engine is tested on a regular basis to be compatible with current versions of popular browsers.
S
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO refers to any practices involved in increasing your site placement in search engines such as Google or Bing. Using SEO effectively moves your site closer to the front of the search results, giving it more coverage.
Secured Page: Secured pages that are accessible only when a user has logged on and is a member of at least one of the Contact Groups that has been used to secure the page. The ShoutCMS security system allows you to build sites that contain public and private content. Multiple security zones can be created to permit access to members of different security groups. Note that Related Content of a secured page is not displayed on other pages when the user does not have the necessary access permissions.
Sitemap: The sitemap is a summary page containing titles of all the pages in the site. In ShoutCMS, this page is generated automatically based on the site tree. Secured pages are shown only when the user has logged in and has associated access permissions.
Site Resource: Site resources include images, graphics, video, animation, and documents that are accessed through hyperlinks embedded in the pages of your ShoutCMS site. Site resources are maintained by the File and Image Manager located on the Pages area. The File and Image Manager utilizes a folder structure that separates graphics, photos, banners, and documents for easy management of Site Resources
Site Theme: The site template defines visual aspects of the overall site including layout of the home page, links to site style sheets, and menu structures. The site theme can be modified by the Theme manager tools. The site theme is ultimately controlled by the site’s cascading style sheet (CSS).
Snippet Content: The ShoutCMS page editor has a snippet function that can be used to insert text at the current cursor position. The default installation includes snippets to assist with HMTL features and managing mail merge tags when creating mass mails.
Stock: Stock refers to the amount of product on hand for distribution. This does not include reserved goods, only goods that are readily available for distribution.
SKU: Stock Keeping Units (SKU) are numerical references for products that are purchased and sold through your store. SKUs are used during invoice generation, inventory management, and purchase order generation.
Stock Limits: When set, these limits notify staff when the stock of a product either drops below or rises above the selected values. In ShoutCMS, this is indicated by a colour change when the product is listed.
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Thumbnail Gallery: A form of gallery that displays smaller versions of photos on the page that, when the user clicks on one of the photos, increases the size of the photo and allows users to easily shift between them.
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W
Watermarks: Watermarks are personalized images that appear when your site’s images are being used by outside sources. When the image is re-sized or used in a different way than intended, the watermark you chose will be printed in the image. Essentially, these act as signatures to prevent image theft.
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Editor: This tool is used to create the content located in the body of the page. The editor allows you to create feature rich content without a knowledge of HTML. ShoutCMS uses a full-screen HTML editor to simplify the creation of website content. This editor supports font, formatting, divisions, and insertion of HTML tables. You can also use the Editor to insert video clips (e.g. You Tube). Advanced users can access the HTML source code associated with the page to develop advanced content such as inserting iFrames.