W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) - http://www.w3.org/ An international industry consortium committed to developing public protocols for the World Wide Web Currently, the W3C is contemplating HTML 4.0 specs including XML, digital signatures and they are the developers of the Joint Electronic Payment Initiative (JEPI).

WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) - A distributed information service which offers simple natural language input, indexed searching for fast retrieval and a "relevance feedback" mechanism which allows the results of initial searches to influence future searches. Public domain implementations are available. See also Archie, Gopher, Veronica.

Wallet - An application which stores a user's payment card information and Certificates.

WAN - Wide Area Networks are basically the same as a LAN. Where a LAN usually involves one wired office, floor or building, a WAN can traverse the globe and connect geographically dispersed users.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) - A protocol used to deliver Web pages to suitably equipped mobile phones and Personal Data Assistants.

wav - Pronounced "wave", an audio file used extensively on the Internet and in computer software programs i.e.: filename.wav

Web - A set of hypertext pages that is considered a single work; typically, a single Web is created by one or more authors and deployed on a network server with links to other servers; a subset of the Web.

Web Copywriting - The writing of text especially for a Web page. Similar to the writing of copy for any other type of publication, good Web copywriting can have a great effect on search engine positioning, so it forms a major part of optimization.

Web Design - Web Design is the art and process of creating a single Web page or entire Web sites and may involve both the aesthetics and the mechanics of a Web site's operation although primarily it focuses on the look and feel of the Web site. Some of the aspects that may be included in Web design or Web production are graphics and animation creation, color selection, font selection, navigation design, content creation, HTML/XML authoring, JavaScript programming, and ecommerce development. Web design is a form of electronic publishing.

Web Services - Web services are self-contained business functions that operate over the Internet.

Web site - A collection of Web pages or a domain on the World Wide Web.

WebBots - See robots.

WebCrawler - One of the largest search engines.

Whois - An Internet program that allows users to query a database of people and other Internet entities, such as domains, networks and hosts.

Winsock - Winsock is a TCP/IP stack that allows you to use your modem to send data to/from the Internet. A Winsock interface is required for Windows Internet applications like Netscape, Eudora, Free Agent, and many others. Winsock allows true Internet networking via modem.

Wizards - Software "question and answer applications" that perform a function after presenting the user with selectable options. A set-up wizard may ask, "Do you want white or black text," or "Do you want fries with your order?"

Worm - A computer program, which replicates itself and is self-propagating. Worms, as opposed to viruses, are meant to spawn in network environments. See also Trojan Horse, Virus.

WS-FTP - A file transfer program that is used to upload/download files and text to your Web site. Designed for non-programmers but sophisticated enough for power users, WS_FTP Pro is widely recognised as the fastest, most powerful Windows file transfer client application available.

WWW (World Wide Web) - A hypertext information and communication system popularly used on the Internet computer network with data communications operating according to a client/server model. Web clients (browsers) can access multi-protocol and hypermedia information (in some instances multimedia helper applications or plug-ins are required for the browser) using an addressing scheme. A Home Page or a Web Page is part of this World Wide Web.

WYSIWYG - An acronym for What You See is What You Get. Pronounced "whizzy-wig".