Welcome to our A to Z of technology terms. Do you know what a hashtag is? Do you need to know how to Tik Tok? In this section we will offer you short, simple and non technological explanations of the technology in use all around us in the context of the Church and internet.
Anchor is a free platform for podcast creation. It contains tools that allow users to record and edit audio, arrange it into podcast episodes, publish podcasts to listening platforms like Apple and Spotify, and monetize content by collecting listener contributions or adding advertisements into episodes.
Audioboom is an on-demand audio and podcasting distribution platform. AudioBoom offers business-to-business services to the radio, media and podcast industries. It is free to use but a pro account offers more flexible features for podcasters.
Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.
A Content Managament System (CMS) is a piece of computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content.
Facebook is defined as an online social networking website where people can create profiles, share information such as photos and quotes about themselves, and respond or link to the information posted by others.
FLICKR is a photo and video sharing and hosting service. It supports an active and engaged community where people share and explore each other’s photos. Flickr is free to use but a Pro Account will give you value added features. It is a popular way for amateur/professional photographers and organisations to host high-resolution photos for easy download.
Instagram is a free, online photo-sharing application and social network platform that was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Instagram allows users to edit and upload photos and short videos through a mobile app.
A hashtag—written with a # symbol—is used to index keywords or topics on Twitter. This function was created on Twitter, and allows people to easily follow topics they are interested in. It can also be used on other social media platforms.
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages. HTML describes the structure of a Web page. HTML consists of a series of elements. HTML elements tell the browser how to display the content.
LinkedIn is a social network that focuses on professional networking and career development. You can use LinkedIn to display your resume, search for jobs, and enhance your professional reputation by posting updates and interacting with other people.
Microsoft Teams is available on both Android and iOS (audio only), and it provides a simple and easy-to-use app that allows you to chat with your team via text, have a voice conversation, or a video meeting.
A Podcast is a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded from a website to a media player or computer. Podcasts can also be used through apps like Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc.
TikTok is a social app that allows users to make short videos. Users can add filters, text, sounds, and music, and it is especially popular for making creative, lip-synched music videos. The app was launched in 2016 in China, where it’s called Douyin.
Twitter is a ‘microblogging’ system that allows you to send and receive short posts called tweets. Tweets can be up to 280 characters long and can include links to relevant websites and resources. Twitter users follow other users. If you follow someone you can see their tweets in your Twitter ‘timeline’. It is best that you keep your tweet to the point and short.
Twitch can be described as a live streaming video platform that allows gamers to stream their games for others to watch while they play. First introduced in June 2011, Twitch.tv focuses on music broadcasts, e-sports competition broadcasts, creative content, and video game play throughs. It has also been adopted for use by some priests for broadcast of Mass and other services.
URL stands for “Uniform Resource Locator.” A URL is the address of a specific webpage or file on the Internet. http:// – the URL prefix, which specifies the protocol used to access the location. … techterms.com – the server name or IP address of the server.
YouTube is a video sharing service that allows users to watch videos posted by other users and upload videos of their own. Videos that have been uploaded to YouTube may appear on the YouTube website and can also be posted on other websites, though the files are hosted on the YouTube server.
Vimeo is a video sharing website (www.vimeo.com) that lets people upload videos for private or public viewing. Launched in 2004, the name is a play on “video” and “me,” meaning my personal video creations. Video creators making content for schools would tend to use Vimeo more than YouTube as YouTube is often blocked by schools.
WWW: World Wide Web [okay that’s an easy one]
WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) that makes it easy to create and manage a website. It is the most popular CMS in the world. Millions of business owners, bloggers, and publishers use WordPress every day to maintain their online presence. It is the management system most favoured by dioceses and parishes here in Ireland.
Zoho is a secure and reliable business email solution tailor-made for an organisation’s communication’s needs. It has enhanced collaboration features which allow you to do a lot more than just simply emailing.
Zoom is a cloud-based video communications app that allows you to set up virtual video and audio conferencing, webinars, live chats, screen-sharing, and other collaborative capabilities. You don’t need an account to attend a Zoom meeting, and the platform is compatible with Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, meaning nearly anyone can access it.
Zoomla is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) for publishing web content, developed by Open Source Matters, Inc.
Check back for more technology terms explained and let us know if there are any you would like us to include here. Email [email protected] with Digital Hub in the subject line.
