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Web hosting glossary

Hosting comes with a lot of jargon. Here's what the words mean, in plain English, with a link to the guide that puts each one to use.

Your account

Client area
Your account dashboard at my.dredgehost.com, for invoices, payment cards, plan changes, and support tickets. Tour
cPanel
The control panel for your hosting itself: files, email accounts, databases, domains, and certificates. You open it from the client area. Tour
SSD storage
The disk space your files, databases, and email use. SSDs are solid-state drives, much faster than older spinning disks.
Transfer (bandwidth)
The total amount of data your sites send to visitors each month. Every page view, image, and download counts toward it.
Two-factor authentication (2FA)
A second step at login, usually a code from an app on your phone, so a stolen password alone can't get anyone into your account.

Domains and DNS

Domain
Your site's address, like yourdomain.com. You rent it yearly from a registrar.
Registrar
The company you bought your domain from, such as Porkbun or Namecheap. It's where you change your nameservers. Connect a domain
DNS
The internet's address book. It turns a name like yourdomain.com into the address of the server that holds your site and email.
Nameservers
The servers that answer DNS questions for your domain. Pointing your nameservers at Dredge lets cPanel manage all your DNS for you. Connect a domain
DNS record
One entry in your domain's DNS. The common types are A, CNAME, MX, and TXT. Manage DNS records
A record
Points a name at a server's IP address.
CNAME record
Points a name at another name, for example shop.yourdomain.com at an online store provider.
MX record
Tells other mail servers where to deliver email for your domain.
TXT record
Holds text that other services read, such as domain verification codes and SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings.
Propagation
The delay while DNS changes spread across the internet. Most changes show up within minutes, but some networks hold old answers for up to a day or two.
Subdomain
An address in front of your domain, like blog.yourdomain.com, that can hold a separate site. Add a subdomain
Domain alias
An extra domain that shows the same site as your main one. Point multiple domains to one site
Redirect (301 and 302)
Sends visitors from one address to another. A 301 is permanent and passes search ranking to the new address; a 302 is temporary. Redirect a domain or page

Security and HTTPS

HTTPS
The secure version of a web address, shown by the padlock in the browser. Traffic between visitors and your site is encrypted. Turn on HTTPS everywhere
SSL/TLS certificate
The file that makes HTTPS work. SSL is the old name; TLS is the current one, and people use both.
AutoSSL
The cPanel feature that issues and renews free certificates for every domain on your account automatically. Fix certificate errors
Mixed content
A secure page that loads some images or scripts over plain http://, which makes browsers drop or warn about the padlock.

Email

Mailbox
An email account on your domain, like you@yourdomain.com, with its own password and storage. Set up email
Forwarder
An address that passes mail on to another inbox without storing it. Set up forwarding
Webmail
Reading and sending your email in a browser, without setting up a mail app.
IMAP
The way phone and desktop mail apps connect to your mailbox so messages stay in sync across all your devices.
SPF
A DNS record listing the servers allowed to send mail for your domain. Stop email going to spam
DKIM
A signature added to each message you send, so receivers can check it really came from your domain.
DMARC
A DNS record telling receivers what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM, and where to send reports about it.

Files and sites

public_html
The folder that holds your main site's public files. Whatever is in it is what visitors see. Upload a website
File Manager
The cPanel tool for uploading, editing, and moving files in your browser.
FTP and FTP over TLS
A way to move files between your computer and the server with an app like FileZilla. FTP over TLS is the encrypted version, which you should always use. Connect with an FTP client
.htaccess
A settings file in your site's folders that controls redirects, access rules, and more. A typo in it is a common cause of 500 errors.
File permissions
Rules for who can read, change, or run a file. Folders are normally 755 and files 644.
Softaculous
The cPanel app installer that sets up WordPress and hundreds of other apps in one click. Install WordPress
Sitejet Builder
The drag-and-drop site builder included in cPanel, for building a site visually without code.
Backup
A copy of your files, databases, and email you can restore from if something goes wrong. Back up and restore
CodeGuard
The optional add-on that takes daily automatic off-site backups of your site, with one-click restore.

Code and servers

PHP
The programming language WordPress and many other apps run on. You can switch versions per domain. Change your PHP version
MySQL database
Where apps like WordPress store posts, settings, and users. Create a database
phpMyAdmin
A browser tool in cPanel for looking inside your databases.
Cron job
A command the server runs for you on a schedule, like every hour or every night. Set up a cron job
500 Internal Server Error
A general "something broke on the server" message. The error log usually says exactly what. Fix a 500 error
Shared hosting
Many accounts sharing one carefully managed server, each with its own limits. It's what Dredge provides.
VPS
A virtual private server: your own slice of a server with full control, which also means you maintain it yourself.

Missing a word? Email support@dredgehost.com and we'll add it.