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Glossary
Certificate authority

Certificate authority

A certificate authority (CA), also known as a certification authority, issues digital certificates that verify a website’s owner. Certificate authorities distribute certificates via email or by adding a DNS record to the site’s domain registrar’s account. They help form the chain of trust that protects visitors from scam sites and website owners from cyberattacks.

An SSL certificate, for example, appears as an “s” on the end of HTTPS in a website’s URL. It means the SSL encrypts sensitive data before passing it on. If you’re buying a pair of shoes online, HTTPS in the URL lets you know you’re purchasing from a real seller and that your data is encrypted and safe.

Webflow supports SSL hosting, issues certificates, and automatically renews them so they’re never out of date (as long as the DNS records are continuously pointed to Webflow and the site is loading on Webflow SSL hosting servers). Enterprise customers can also choose to upload a custom SSL certificate if they prefer (but a custom certificate won’t renew automatically).

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Other glossary terms

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Drafted pages

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You can exclude pages from being published to your site by setting them as drafts. These can be unfinished pages, internal pages such as style guides, archived pages saved for backup, etc. Learn more about drafted pages.

Form submission

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When someone sends data through one of your site's forms.

Site plan

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A Webflow plan that you can add/apply to individual sites. You’ll receive access to different site and hosting features based on your Site plan.

Gutters

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Gutters refer to the whitespace between content columns on a webpage.

Publish site

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The act of updating your live site to reflect new design changes.

Item state

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The default UI state for Collection lists, which displays the items in the Collection. It is the opposite of the empty state.

HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

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A standard markup language that web browsers use to display websites.

Maximum width (max width)

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The “max-width” CSS property defines an element’s maximum width.

Typography section

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A section in the Style panel that houses CSS properties related to how typography is displayed such as font, font size and height, and align.

Second-level domain (SLD)

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A second-level domain (SLD) is the part of a domain name that precedes a top-level domain (TLD).

CSS Filters

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CSS filters apply visual effects to HTML elements and their children using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

Height: auto

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The "height: auto" CSS property automatically adjusts an element’s height based on its content.

Utility pages

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Utility pages are default, customizable templates for your site’s 404 page, Password page, and Search results page.

Dropdown

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A dropdown, or dropdown menu, is a pre-built navigation element you can add to almost any part of a website.

List item

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A list is a Webflow element that displays multiple pieces of content in a structured, visually appealing way. The individual elements that make up the list are called list items.

Optimizely

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A web app that helps you measure how different site designs impact user behavior.

Email template

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Email templates — or pre-designed HTML layouts — ensure consistent branding and visual aesthetic in marketing campaigns.

Baseline

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The baseline is the fixed invisible line that serves as the base for letters. It’s used as a measurement for line height and x-height.

Locked site

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When you have more unhosted sites in your Dashboard than your Workspace plan allows, those additional sites past your limit will be “locked” until you upgrade your plan. When you upgrade, you’ll be allowed more unhosted sites (up to the limit for your Workspace plan) and will be able to access your previously locked sites.

Cryptanalysis

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Cryptanalysis examines cryptographic systems to find weaknesses that could allow attackers to uncover plaintext or break encryption.

Element edges

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The color-coded borders of elements you'll see in the Webflow Designer.

Date/Time field

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A field available in CMS Collections. This field lets you display a date and time in a Collection and/or Collection item.

Fold

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The fold distinguishes the visible portion of the webpage immediately visible to users without scrolling from the remaining content viewable by scrolling down.

UI state

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The UI state changes how Collection lists display when you’re designing. The Items state is the default option, and shows the items that you have within the Collection. The Empty state doesn’t show these items and gives the designer the opportunity to design for a circumstance if/when there is no data to be displayed in the Collection list.

Delete element

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To remove an element and its content from your website.

X-Ray mode

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A grayscale view of your site’s canvas that visually displays each element’s border, margin, and padding when hovered over.

Inline Frame (iframe)

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An inline frame or <iframe> is an HTML element that embeds an HTML document within another webpage.

Free plan

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The perfect Webflow subscription for getting started, giving you access to all Designer features, so you can start building a site right away.

Bundling

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Bundling, or bundle pricing, is a pricing technique in which retailers sell products together at a lower price than they would be sold at individually.

Form button

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A form element that lets website visitors submit data to your form handler.

Pseudocode

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Pseudocode is a simplified, informal representation of programming code that outlines a program’s structure and logic without strict syntax.

Control flow

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The control flow is the order in which a computer program executes its instructions or statements, guided by control structures.

Jank

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Jank describes subpar functionality in a web interface that hinders or disrupts user activity.

Localization

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Localization (l10n) involves adapting digital content and applications to meet a specific region or culture’s language and conventions.

Closing tag

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A closing tag is an instructional piece of code that ends a section of page content in HTML.

Forms section

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A section of the Add panel that houses form elements like inputs, checkboxes, and radio buttons.

Password protection

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Password protection is a security feature restricting certain website areas to authorized users, requiring a secret phrase or key to access them.

Percent

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A measurement unit relative to an element's parent.

Designer

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The main interface where you can build sites.

Design mode

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The mode that enables a designer to build in Webflow.

Minimized CSS

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A method of lowering the file size of your stylesheet(s) by removing all white space from your CSS files.

URL

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A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a standardized web address format that allows users to identify and access an online resource.

Prefetch

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Prefetch is a technique that proactively loads and caches resources to improve website performance and user experience.

Favicon

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A 16x16 px image that displays in browser tabs, bookmarks, and other browser areas. It's typically a simplified version of the site's logo.

Element settings panel

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The second panel on the right side of the Designer. Here, you can change element-specific settings such as the element ID, Custom attributes, Search index settings, Editor settings, etc. You can learn more about the element settings for a specific element by searching for the element’s name on Webflow University.

End user

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An end user is an individual or group who directly interacts with a particular product, service, or user interface (UI), such as a website or application.

IP address

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An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique string of characters identifying devices connected to the internet.

Flex child

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An element contained within a parent element that has display: flex set.

CMS Collection page

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A dynamic page that Webflow automatically creates for each Collection item. When you design a Collection page, all the pages that are created for each Collection item will have the same template but different content.

Last published

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The last time your site was published.

RSS

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Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a web format that automatically distributes frequently updated content to subscribers, eliminating the need for subscribers to check the website manually to stay up to date.

Parent

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The element directly above in the hierarchy tree.

Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP)

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Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is a standardized network protocol for transmitting real-time multimedia data like audio and video.

Cipher suite

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A cipher suite is a collection of encryption algorithms that work together to secure a network connection.

Dither

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Dithering is a design technique that simulates additional colors on a display to smooth transitions in images with limited color palettes.

.htaccess

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.htaccess is a powerful configuration file that allows you to configure and control how your website functions.

Child

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A child element is an element nested within a parent element in a hierarchy.

Call-to-action (CTA)

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A call-to-action (CTA) is a website feature that prompts visitors to perform a specific action.

Behavioral targeting

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Behavioral targeting is a marketing technique that leverages user data to deliver personalized ads to drive conversions.

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

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The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) project to enhance accessibility for users with disabilities.

Target

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The currently selected element.

Strong text

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The <strong> element defines important text with added semantic importance.

Section

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A section is an element of design layout that divides a web page into visually distinct segments.

Base tag

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The base tag specifies the base URL for all relative links within HTML code for a specific page or document.

External link

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External links direct users to different websites and impact a site's search engine visibility and rankings.

Accessibility tree

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A webpage’s accessibility tree indicates which parts of the page are compatible with assistive technologies such as braille displays, screen readers, and voice commands.

Responsive design

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Responsive web design (RWD) is a web development and design approach to create websites, applications, and user interfaces (UIs) that display and function effectively on any device or screen size.

Display: inline

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The display: inline CSS property is a display option that controls an element’s appearance and layout.

ALPN

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ALPN stands for Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation. It’s a Transport Layer Security (TLS) extension that aids client and server identification during secure data transfers.

Cookie

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Cookies are small text files sent by a website to a user’s web browser that enhance their browsing experience by remembering site preferences and activities.

States dropdown menu

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The dropdown menu to the right of the Selector field that allows you to access and change the styles of an element when it is hovered, pressed, or focused.

Display: inline-block

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The display: inline-block CSS property defines an element’s appearance and behavior. CSS designers use this code to create website layouts.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

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A Graphical User Interface (GUI) is a visual medium that enables visual interaction with software applications or electronic devices through elements like icons, buttons, and menus.

Content management system (CMS)

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A content management system (CMS) is a tool for creating and managing a website and its content.

Facebook button

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A Facebook button is a clickable element on a website that allows users to connect to or share content on the social media platform.

Total Site Pages

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The amount of pages your site currently has.

Compile

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Compiling is the process of converting code from a high-level programming language into a low-level language that computers can understand.

Page name

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The title of a page in your site. This is visible in the Pages panel.

Field label

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A field label is descriptive text that helps users understand what information to enter in an input field on a web form.

Syntax error

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Syntax error refers to a mistake in code that violates the programming language’s rules and prevents the code from executing correctly.

Robots.txt

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A robots.txt file instructs search engine crawlers which webpages and sections they can or can't crawl and index.

Bottom bar

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A bottom bar is a navigation bar at the bottom of an app or webpage.

Text link

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A typography element that is used to link to other pages or sections of a webpage.

Editor toolbar

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The toolbar that appears at the bottom of the Editor. From here, you can access the various Editor panels to manage page settings, dynamic content, forms, and your Editor account. You can also see and publish the changes you make through the Editor.

Left To Right (LTR)

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Left To Right (LTR) describes a text layout that starts from the left and proceeds to the right.

Descendant selector

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A descendant selector is a CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) selector that targets elements nested inside a parent element.

Certified

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A digital certificate is a data file embedded in the site that signals the site’s safety to visitors, internet service providers (ISPs), and servers.

Lightbox

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A lightbox displays content in a popup or modal window on top of a web page’s main content.

Breadcrumb

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A breadcrumb, or breadcrumb trail, is a navigational element representing a user’s current location within a website's hierarchical structure.

Columns

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Columns let you create sections of content that sit side by side on your website, like the columns in newspapers. You can choose how many columns you want and their widths. You can also control how they display on smaller screens — such as stacking them.

Flex-direction

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Flex-direction is a CSS property that defines the main axis and direction of flex items, dictating the arrangement of the items within a flex container.

Profile settings

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The area where you can manage your profile, email settings, and security settings.

Flex-basis

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Flex-basis is a CSS property used in flexboxes that sets the initial size of a flex item before it grows or shrinks.

Deep copy

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In programming, a deep copy is a replica of an object that doesn’t share the same references as the original. That way, if you make changes to the duplicate, the original stays the same.

Meta description

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An HTML attribute you can use to give a short description of the contents of a webpage. Search engines often display this in results pages (SERPs).

Head code

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Custom code that's added just before the closing </head> tag in your site's HTML file. Learn more about custom code in head and body tags.

Literal

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In JavaScript, literals are fixed values written directly into the code.

Collection

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A content type (blog posts, recipes, etc.) represented by a group of fields you define. Once created, you can add individual Collection items.

Video

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A Webflow element that displays externally hosted videos such as YouTube and Vimeo.

Certificate authority

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A certificate authority (CA), also known as a certification authority, issues digital certificates that verify a website’s owner.
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