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Glossary
.htaccess

.htaccess

In web development, .htaccess is a powerful configuration file that allows you to manage various server settings and control how your website functions. This file is commonly used with Apache web servers and enables website administrators to implement specific server rules on a per-directory basis.

Some common uses for .htaccess include:

  • Password protecting directories
  • Rewriting file extensions
  • Redirecting URLs to make them more user- or search engine-friendly
  • Setting up custom error pages
  • Blocking IP addresses

.htaccess is a valuable tool that enables you to customize your website’s functionality, performance, and security on Apache Web Servers. Although .htaccess files are not applicable to Webflow-hosted sites, you can find other options for implementing similar functionalities.

Webflow offers alternative solutions for many tasks typically set up using .htaccess files. For example, you can implement 301 redirects in Site settings or create custom 404 pages in the Designer.

Relevant courses

Webflow 101

Introducing Webflow 101, the ultimate course to learn the fundamentals of web design and development.

Interactions & animations course

Learn how to animate multiple elements managed on a single timeline — bring your designs to life with rich, sequenced interactions and animations.

Figma to Webflow

Learn the entire design process from idea to final output as we take you through Figma, Cinema 4D and Octane, and Webflow.

Web animations with After Effects & Lottie

Create animations in Adobe After Effects — the industry standard for motion graphics. Embed and animate them in your Webflow site.

Freelance web design boot camp

The Freelancer’s Journey is a free, comprehensive course to help you build a successful, fulfilling freelance career in web design.

Webflow Ecommerce

Learn how to build and design your Webflow Ecommerce store. Customize every detail and launch a fully functional online store — without writing code.

Other glossary terms

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Layout section

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A tab in the Add panel that houses prebuilt layouts for your Webflow site.

Flex-grow

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The flex-grow CSS property defines how much an element grows relative to other flexible items inside the same flex parent.

Custom domain hosting

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A Webflow service that lets you point a custom domain to your Webflow-hosted site.

Backlink

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A backlink, also referred to as an inbound link, is a hyperlink from one website to another website.

Empty elements

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Empty or void elements are HTML elements that don’t require a closing tag because they contain no content.

SSL

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SSL (secure socket layer) is the standard method for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser.

Closing tag

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

Dynamic element

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Dynamic elements are web page components that can change based on user interaction or external factors, like a live news feed, without requiring a page refresh or reload.

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.

Subdomain

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The part of a domain that comes before the root domain (e.g., blog.yourwebsite.com is a subdomain whereas yourwebsite.com is the root domain).

Dynamic content

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Content you create once, then publish in many different places across your website. As you update this content in the CMS, it automatically updates wherever it exists on your site, making it convenient to create and manage larger websites.

Resource Description Framework (RDF)

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The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a standardized framework developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that facilitates automated data exchange between web systems and applications.

Clickjacking

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Clickjacking is when a malicious actor deceives website visitors into clicking buttons or links hidden in a fake layer to steal sensitive data or install malware.

Syntax

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Syntax is the name for the rules specifying a programming language's structure and formatting.

Last updated

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The last time someone made a change to your site.

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.

JSON

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JSON, short for JavaScript Object Notation, is a human-readable, lightweight format for recording, storing, and exchanging data.

Beacon

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A beacon — also called a web beacon or web bug — is an HTML-embedded object that tracks user behavior on a web page.

Call stack

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A call stack is an ordered list of the functions (or stack frames) a program has to execute before it returns a result.

Display property

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Display properties operate like instructions that tell a browser how to display the different parts of a webpage. You can customize an element’s appearance and layout by changing its display property.

Return on investment (ROI)

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Return on investment (ROI) is a metric evaluating the profitability or gain of a venture.

Ciphertext

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Ciphertext is unreadable, encrypted data that ciphers use for security during data transit.

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.

Em

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An em in CSS is a scalable and relative unit of measurement that defines the size of an element relative to its parent's font size.

HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

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

DHTML

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DHTML, or Dynamic HTML, is a web-development technique combining HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create dynamic, interactive web pages and complex web applications.

Link block

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A link block operates much like a div block, an HTML element for grouping and organizing other HTML elements (like text, images, and forms) into block-level containers. But in the case of a link block, what’s inside the block becomes a link.

Callback function

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A callback function is passed as an argument to another function and executed upon completing the latter’s task.

Key

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A key, or web key, is a unique identifier that authorizes access to a webpage or service.

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.

SCA and PSD2 Regulations

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Mid-September 2019, new European requirements for authenticating online payments were introduced in Europe as part of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements apply to businesses in the European Economic Area (EEA) that accept online card payments from cardholders whose banks are also located in the EEA.Webflow Ecommerce payments are PSD2 and SCA compliant (i.e., support 3D Secure payments) for European customers.If you’re a merchant in the European Economic Area (EEA), all you need to do to ensure that your Webflow Ecommerce store is PSD2 and SCA compliant for your European customers is to republish your store if it wasn’t published on or after September 11, 2019. Read more about how to make your ecommerce store compliant in our Payment gateway article.

Span text

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The <span> tag is used to style inline-text.

Slug

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A slug, also known as a URL slug or a website slug, is descriptive text that appears at the end of a URL and identifies a web page.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

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Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a web development language that controls the appearance of elements on a webpage.

Descendant selector

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

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.

Margin

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Margins are an essential spacing element of web design, dictating the amount of whitespace between a box and its surroundings.

Selector state

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A pseudo-class that allows you to change the styles of an element when it is hovered, pressed, or focused.

Adobe Fonts API token

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An Adobe Fonts API token protects and supports your data from Adobe Fonts with other programs you may be using to personalize your website’s fonts.

Backup

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A backup is a copy of data stored in an alternate location, including hard drives, cloud servers, or network-attached storage (NAS) servers.

Checkout process

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The checkout process in ecommerce is the process that online customers go through to complete a purchase.

Semantics

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Semantics accurately represent the structure and purpose of content in computer languages, enabling web developers and programmers to ensure the written code produces an output legible to humans and machines.

Google site verification meta tag

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Adding a Google site verification meta tag to your website's HTML code allows Google to verify that you own the site.

Client-side

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Client-side is the user-facing part of a web app, responsible for processing user input and displaying content.

Percent

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A measurement unit relative to an element's parent.

Media query

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A media query is a CSS technique that applies different styles to a website or an app based on the characteristics of the device displaying it, such as screen size, resolution, and browser viewport.

Map

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A Webflow element that embeds an interactive Google Map in your site.

Background

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A website background is a visual element behind webpage content, enhancing aesthetic appeal and user engagement.

Sibling

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An element that shares the same parent of another element.

Webflow CMS

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Webflow's content management system (CMS) is where dynamic content (Collections and their Collection items) is stored and maintained so you can reference it throughout your site. A CMS lets you input data in one location, then use Collection template pages or Collection lists to display that content without having to update the content displays one at a time.

CRLF

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On Windows-based systems, the sequence of two ASCII characters representing a line break in text files is called "Carriage Return, Line Feed," or CRLF.

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.

Plain text field

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A plain text field is an input field for short-form text without formatting or styling.

Parent folder

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A parent folder is a directory containing one or more folders and files.

Minimum height

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The min-height CSS property defines an element’s minimum height.

Folder

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A folder is a subdirectory of your site's root folder for organizing web pages.

Content optimization system (COS)

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A content optimization system (COS) is software that lets you optimize website content to attract more traffic.

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.

Duplicate element

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To copy an element and its content, styles, and settings.

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.

Collection URL

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The slug that represents the parent folder for your individual Collection item URLs. For example, if you created a Collection called “Blog posts,” the URL would be website.com/blog-posts, while a Collection item URL for a blog post called “Hello world” would be website.com/blog-posts/hello-world.

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.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

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Structured Query Language (SQL) is a programming language that enables storing, retrieving, and manipulating information in a relational database.

Basic section

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A section of the Add panel that contains the elements that act as a website's fundamental building blocks (e.g., div block, list, button, etc.).

Network Address Translation (NAT)

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NAT (Network Address Translation) is a technique that enables communication between devices with private internet protocol addresses and the public internet.

Unbranded form submission notification

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Form submission notifications that have no reference to Webflow (e.g., notifications sent from “no-reply@webforms.io” instead of “no-reply@webflow.com”).

Element breadcrumbs

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A navigational aid that displays in the bottom of the Webflow Designer to help you keep track of the element you're interacting with in relation to its hierarchy.

Mutable

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In JavaScript, mutable objects are dynamic elements that allow post-creation changes and modifications.

Dashboard

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From your Dashboard, you can access, create, and manage all your sites.

Localization

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

Maximum height (max height)

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

Domain-Specific Language (DSL)

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A Domain-Specific Language (DSL) is computer script that solves software problems in a specific domain.

Collection list

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A Collection list is a Webflow element that lets you dynamically display content from a CMS Collection.

Paragraph

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A typography element used for displaying multi-sentence text content.

Canvas

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The <canvas> tag in HTML5 creates a container for dynamic graphics and image rendering on a webpage.

Width: auto

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The way browsers calculate an element's width automatically where Block level elements fill the available space of its parent and Inline elements shrink to the size of its children/content.

Position section

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A section in the Style panel that houses CSS properties related to the positioning of an element.

Headless CMS

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A headless content management system (CMS) separates the front-end presentation layer from the back-end management layer, allowing for more flexible content delivery.

Wrapper

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A wrapper is a programming language function for encapsulating and organizing elements within a well-defined interface.

Delete element

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To remove an element and its content from your website.

Pages panel

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A panel in the left toolbar where you can add static pages and folders to your Webflow site. You can also manage and access Utility pages and Collection pages.

Selector

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A selector identifies and selects specific HTML elements to apply CSS styles to.

Literal

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

Account notifications

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Account notifications update you about activity in your account. New notifications appear on your Webflow Dashboard after you log in.

Serialization

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Serialization is the process of converting data into an optimized format for storage, transmission, and sharing.

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.

Flex-order

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In CSS, flex-order is a property that allows you to manipulate the default source order of the items within a flex container. Flex-order is especially useful when you want content to display differently on mobile than on desktop.

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.

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.

Micro conversion

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Micro conversions are small but important user actions on a website that contribute to the overall conversion funnel.

Language code

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A language code is a standardized code of letters and numbers that represent different languages.

Form button

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

Total Form Submissions

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The amount of times a site visitor submits data using your site's form(s).

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.

Site

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What you create in Webflow! You can publish sites to a webflow.io staging subdomain for free, export the code on a paid plan, add hosting on any paid plan, or add a Site plan to any site to connect your custom domain and unlock hosting features.

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.

DNS records

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DNS records store important information about domains and hostnames. They function like maps, directing DNS queries to the desired endpoint.

Link field

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A link field is a form input field that enables you to add links to your designs dynamically. You can connect a link field to text links, buttons, or other link elements to turn them into active links.

Primitive

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A primitive is the simplest JavaScript data type, representing fundamental values that do not encapsulate any object, method, or property.

Sorting Collection lists

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You can sort your Collection items in multiple ways — select the field from the Collection you wish to filter from, then select the ordering option.
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