Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ

A

• Abuse: harassing, threatening, obscene, or otherwise objectionable content on a page that Yahoo! hosts, such as a profile.
• ActiveX: a loosely-defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information among different applications. ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component Object Model).
• Address field: displays the web address of the displayed page.
• AddressGuard: a feature of Yahoo! Mail Plus that allows you to create and use disposable email addresses.
• Alias: a unique name that identifies you to others in a chat room.
• Alert: a message signalling an error or a task that requires immediate attention, such as a virus alert.
• All-day event: an event that doesn’t have a time frame, such as a birthday or anniversary.
• Allowed list: a user-defined list of sources or domains from which Pop-Up Blocker does not block pop-up windows.
• App: a button on your Toolbar that lets you link to and, in many cases, preview a Web page.
• Application: a program installed in Yahoo! Mail that enriches your Mail experience with photo sharing and editing, automatic message organization, and much more.
• Application: fun or useful software that can enhance your experience on Yahoo!. Think of an application (or app) as a website within Yahoo!’s website. Apps are free, require no downloads, and go with you wherever you’re signed into Yahoo!.
• Archive: a place to save a history of all of your instant messages, alerts, conferences, and text messages.
• Article: a summary of web content from an RSS feed along with a link to the full version of the document.
• Ascending order: from smallest to largest; for alphabetical sorting, from A to Z; for date sorting, from oldest to most recent.
• Attachment: a separate file included as part of an email message; for example, a multimedia or document file.
• Audible: an animated character inserted in an instant message that says something out loud to your contact after you send your message, such as "Welcome" or "Dude!"
• Avatar: a character that you can use when interacting with friends online. By changing hairstyles, clothes, accessories, and backgrounds, you can create your own unique persona.

B

• Base name: the first part of your disposable address, which is common to all the addresses you create using AddressGuard.
• Basic information: definition of basic information here
• Bcc: short for "blind carbon copy"; an email address in this field won’t be visible to any other recipients of the message.
• Blocked address: an email address or domain from which you never want to receive messages.
• Blocking: definition of blocking here
• Blog: a personal or topical journal on the Internet that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption (short for weblog).
• Bookmark: a link to a web page that is stored with a browser. Select a bookmark to go directly to the designated page.
• Bulk folder: a permanent folder that SpamGuard or SpamGuard Plus uses to hold messages it identifies as spam.
• Buzz: A Yahoo! service that presents timely content from across the Web. Readers determine a story’s importance through votes and comments.

C

• Calendar layer: a way to organize your events into manageable groups, including calendars you subscribe to. You could have a Work calendar layer and a Personal calendar layer and view them together or separately.
• Case-sensitive: lower and uppercase letters are not treated the same; for example, "a" is not the same as "A".
• Category: a group of closely related modules in the My Yahoo! content directory; more specific than a topic.
• Category: a group of contacts in your Yahoo! Address Book. Categories let you send the same email to a group of people and let you organize information by groups.
• Cc: short for "carbon copy"; use this field to add secondary recipients to an email message.
• CertifiedEmail™: a class of email that provides accredited commercial, non-profit, and government senders an easy and reliable way for you to identify authentic email messages from them.
• Cleaning: removing a virus or other infection from your computer.
• Client: an application that you install on your computer.
• Clipboard: a temporary storage area in Windows that is used for storing various types of data (such as text, graphics, sound, and video). The clipboard can hold one piece of information at a time for use in a program or to cut/copy and paste information between programs.
• Compose: to enter the text of an email message.
• Compose page: the page in Yahoo! Mail where you address, write, and send email messages.
• Condition: the part of a filter that defines what constitutes a matching message.
• Connection: definition of connection here
• Connection invitation: definition of connection invitation.
• Connection suggestion: definition of connection suggestion.
• Contact: a person with whom you interact; someone to whom you might want to send an email, instant message, or text message.
• Content: information in My Yahoo! that changes on a regular basis, such as news items, sporting events, and the weather.
• Content directory: the collection of available modules that My Yahoo! maintains for users to browse.
• :
• Conversation: an exchange of instant messages between you and a contact.
• Cookie: information that a web site puts on your hard disk so that it can remember something about you at a later time.

D

• Deleted Contacts: a system category that temporarily holds contacts deleted from Yahoo! Contacts.
• Descending order: from largest to smallest; for alphabetical sorting, from Z to A; for date sorting, from most recent to oldest.
• Display image: a picture or avatar that represents you in some way and that you share with your contacts during IM conversations.
• Display image: a picture or avatar that represents you in some way that you share with others on your profile in Yahoo!
• Display name: definition of display name here.
• Disposable email address: a customized email address that you create using AddressGuard to protect your regular Yahoo! Mail Plus address.
• Distribution list: a group of contacts to whom you want to send the same email message. Yahoo! Mail Classic uses categories as distribution lists.
• Domain: a set of Internet addresses, such as for a web site or email. On the Web, a domain is the part after "www." such as "my-domain.com".
• Download: to transfer a file from a remote computer to your computer.
• Draft: an unfinished version of an email message that you save in the Drafts folder to complete and send at a later time.
• Drag and drop: the ability to move an object from one place to another by placing the cursor over an object, pressing the left mouse button, dragging the selected object to another location, and releasing the mouse button.

E

• Email address: A contact’s address that identifies an electronic location where email can be sent. An email address includes the contact’s email name followed by the "@" followed by the contact’s email domain, such as "person@domain.com".
• Email domain: a set of Internet addresses, such as for a web site or email. In email addresses, a domain is the part after the "@", such as "my-domain.com".
• Emoticon: a small character that shows someone how you feel during an IM conversation, such as happy, sad, or laughing.
• Event: an upcoming activity that you enter in your Yahoo! Calendar, such as a birthday or doctor’s appointment.
• Extension: a file name suffix of the form .xxx, which indicates the file’s format so that users and applications can quickly recognize the type of file.
• External email account: an email account that uses a mail server other than the Yahoo! Mail server.

F

• Feed: an XML file used to deliver documents or other content using RSS.
• File transfer: the ability to send and receive files between computers.
• Filter: a rule that Yahoo! Mail uses to direct an incoming message to a particular folder.
• Firewall: a program used to protect a computer from intruders.
• Flickr: a service that allows you to share your digital photos over the Internet.
• Folder: a container that holds individual elements specific to the context; for example, email messages in Yahoo! Mail.
• Forward: (two uses in Yahoo! Mail) to send an email message that you receive on to someone else or to configure Yahoo! Mail to send all email messages that come into your Yahoo! Mail account to another email address.
• Friends list: a list of friends, family, and others who also use Yahoo! Messenger; an older name for "Messenger List".

G

• Genre: a category of artistic composition marked by a distinctive style, form, or content, such as rock, classical, or jazz.
• Group: one or more contacts that you organize together under one unique name, similar to an email list. By default, Yahoo! Messenger adds contacts to the "Friends" group included in the application.
• Guestbook: definition of guestbook here.

H

• Hacker: an individual who uses his knowledge of networks and computer systems to gain unauthorised access to computer systems.
• Hijacking: hijacking software redirects or changes your search results, home and error pages, and other browser settings to some place other than your default settings or preferences without your permission.

I

• iCal: an .ics format that allows the exchange of calendar events across applications.
• Identity: your Yahoo! ID. Your identity is closely tied to your Yahoo! profile. You can have more than one identity and choose which one your contacts see.
• Ignore List: a list of people from whom you don’t want to see or hear anything while you’re using Yahoo! Messenger.
• IM: the acronym for instant message.
• Image: a picture that someone has stored in an electronic form, such as files with .JPG, .BMP, or .GIF formats (among many others).
• Import: to receive data into one program from another.
• IMVironment (IMV): a themed environment that you can select when instant messaging your friends. Potentially, both you and your friends see the IMV during your conversation.
• Inbox: a folder where you receive incoming email.
• Inline reply: when you type your reply to a message between the lines of text in the original message.
• Instant messaging: the ability to exchange messages in real time with other people over the Internet.

J

• Java applet: a program written in the Java programming language that can be included in an HTML page. When you view a page that contains an applet, the applet’s code is transferred to your system and executed by the browser.
• Junk mail: unsolicited email on the Internet; also called spam.

K

• Keyword: the unique, second part of a disposable address you create using AddressGuard.

L

• Link: a connection that opens a favorite Web page in your browser.
• List: a group of contacts to whom you want to send the same email message.
• LiveWords: this feature enables contextual searches from any topic, word, or phrase in Yahoo! Messenger.

M

• Mail server: an application that receives incoming email and forwards outgoing email for delivery. A computer dedicated to running such applications is also called a mail server.
• Mailing list: a group of contacts to whom you want to send the same email message. In Yahoo! Mail, you can create and use categories as mailing lists.
• Message header: the information used to deliver an email message, including the To, From, Date, and Subject fields.
• Message input area: the text box at the bottom of the IM conversation window where you type in your message.
• Messenger ID: the Yahoo! ID a person uses to sign in and use Yahoo! Messenger.
• Messenger List: a list of coworkers, friends, family, and associates who also use Messenger.
• Messenger List: the main part of the Contact List in Yahoo! Messenger. The Messenger List includes the contacts with whom you communicate most often.
• Mini calendar: the small calendar displayed in the calendar and search panel of Yahoo! Calendar.
• Mini editor: the small editor that displays when you add an inline event.
• Mobile device: a wireless communication device for exchanging voice, text, and/or graphic information; includes pagers, mobile phones, web phones, pagers, two-way pagers, PDAs, and Internet appliances.
• Text messaging: sending and receiving written messages on a variety of devices via "short message service" (SMS).
• Module: a self-contained block of content in My Yahoo!, which you can add, edit, move, or remove.
• MP3: a format for compressing a sound sequence into a manageable size while maintaining the sound quality of the original source.
• My Yahoo! Reader: a feature that lets you view articles without leaving My Yahoo!. It works when publishers provide My Yahoo! with access to the full articles.

N

• Network: the people with profiles on Yahoo! that you keep in touch and share personal information with.
• New message tab: a tab in Yahoo! Mail where you address, write, and send a new email, chat, or text message.
• Nickname: a shortcut to a person’s email address.
• Notification: a short announcement that lets you know what friends are doing online, such as letting you know when a friend writes a comment on your profile in Yahoo!.

O

• Offline: not connected to the Internet or any other network.
• On hold: when the connection during a phone call is maintained, but the person on the other end cannot hear anything on your end.
• Online: connected to the Internet.
• Online: signed into Yahoo! Messenger.
• Online contact: a contact with a Messenger ID who is signed in at the same time you are.
• Online status: a setting that lets others know your availability to chat.
• Open Talk: a Messenger feature that lets your friends connect a PC-to-PC call to your PC without waiting for you to accept the call.

P

• PC-to-PC calling: the ability to call another person’s computer from your computer; similar to placing a phone call. Both you and the person you are calling must have a Yahoo! ID and be logged into Yahoo! Messenger.
• People Search: definition of People Search here.
• Permanent folder: a mail folder that is automatically created in a Yahoo! Mail account and can’t be deleted.
• Personal folder: a mail folder that the user created.
• PIM: a personal information management tool, such as your Yahoo! Address book, the Palm Pilot, and Microsoft Outlook.
• Pingbox: an embedded box on a Web page where visitors to the page can send you instant messages and which lists visitors on your Messenger List.
• Pingbox group: a unique Messenger List group that lists visitors to the Web page to which you added a Pingbox.
• Plain text: text that has no formatting defined; how this text appears (for example, its size) depends on the web browser or email application that you use.
• Plug-in: a software program that adds a specific feature or to another program.
• POP3: Post Office Protocol 3, a standard client/server protocol for receiving email in which a mail server receives and holds email messages for you.
• Pop-up window: a window that tries to open automatically on top of or under a browser window.
• Port: a connection between two computers. The connection protocols TCP/IP and UDP use ports to indicate the type of server program that should handle a connection. Each port is identified by a number.
• Preloaded tab: a pre-defined tab of related content created by the people at Yahoo! and made available to you as a quick way to add tabs of content to My Yahoo!.
• Primary email address: the email address that a user identifies as primary in his Yahoo! account email information.
• Private message: definition of private message here.
• Profile: a public web page provided with a Yahoo! ID that lets others learn something about the person associated with the ID, such as hobbies and favorite links.
• Profile card: definition of profile card here
• Prompt: a message that guides the user to take some action, such as "Please leave a message after the tone."

Q

• Quick Launch Toolbar: a row of icons at the bottom left of your computer screen that represent programs or applications.

R

• Reply: to respond to an email message you received.
• Rich text: a format that lets you change font style, add color, and more to your outgoing message text.
• Ringtone: a brief audio file played to indicate an incoming call. You can select your preferred ringtone in Yahoo! Messenger.
• RSS: a standard distribution format that Web sites and blogs can use to send updated headlines to users through a service like Yahoo!. (The acronym is commonly expanded to Really Simple Syndication.)

S

• Scan: the process of checking files to see if they contain known viruses.
• Searchable: available for Search to use to find a person’s profile. The profile’s owner controls what information is searchable.
• Shared calendar or list: a calendar or to do list that you share with one or more of your contacts. A shared calendar or list may be view only or editable so that you and your friends can edit the same item.
• Shortcut: underlined text in an email message that lets you act on the text. For example, you can click a phone number and add it to your Yahoo! Address Book or click a physical address and view a map of its location.
• Sign in: enter your Yahoo! ID and password to identify yourself to the network and to gain access to your personal information.
• Sign out: the opposite of sign in; to remove all of your personal information and preferences with regard to Yahoo! products and services, so no one else can use your account.
• Signature: a short text file that you create (through the Options page) and Yahoo! Mail attaches to the end of your outgoing email messages. The file might contain your name, position, a favorite quote, or whatever you want to convey with every email message you send.
• Skin: a selection that controls the overall look of the Messenger windows.
• Smart tag: information, such as a phone number or email address, found in an instant message and underscored for your use. Clicking a smart tag allows you to act on the information, such as sending a text message to a mobile phone number, sending an email to an email address, or adding the information to your address book.
• Snippet: a couple of lines of text from the message body.
• Spam: unsolicited email on the Internet; also called "junk mail".
• Spam folder: a permanent folder that SpamGuard uses to hold messages it considers spam.
• Spammer: someone who sends spam.
• Spyware: software, typically installed on your computer without your permission, that can track personal information, serve as an unauthorized entry point for a remote user, or transmit data to an external source.
• Stationery: a predefined format that you can apply to an outgoing message text, including a background image or color and a specific font.
• Status message: a personal message that appears on your profile card; you can change it whenever you want.
• Stealth setting: a setting that allows you to choose when specific contacts see you as online or offline.
• Subscribe: to add a shared calendar or to do list to your Yahoo! Calendar.
• Subscription: a calendar or to do list shared by someone else that you add to your Yahoo! Calendar.
• Synchronize: to cause items in multiple locations to match exactly.
• System category: a category packaged with Yahoo! Contacts that provides basic organization for your contacts (All Contacts, Unfiled, Connections, and Deleted Contacts).
• System tray: the row of icons in the lower-right corner of your screen that displays an icon for each application running in the background.

T

• Tab: an organizational unit in My Yahoo! used to orgainize content into meaningful groups. Your My Yahoo! page can have up to 9 tabs.
• Theme: a predefined set of colors and background images that you can apply to a My Yahoo! page.
• Thumbnail: a small version of an image, often linked to a larger version.
• Toolbar: a row of buttons across the top of the browser window that you can click to perform various tasks.
• Topic: a group of related modules in the My Yahoo! content directory; more general than a category.
• Tracking cookie: a cookie that is used to track your web browsing behavior for the purpose of displaying targeted advertising. Tracking cookies do not pose a security threat.
• Trash folder: the folder into which Yahoo! Mail moves all deleted email messages.
• Trojan: a software program that has hidden, unwanted intent.

U

• Update: an event based on your Yahoo! Applications activity. Events often take the form of a sentence that is written to your updates module after you take a certain action within an app.
• Update: definition of update here
• Upload: to transfer a file from your computer to a remote computer.
• URL: Universal Resource Locator; specifies the location of a file or web page, such as http://my.yahoo.com.
• User-defined category: a category in Yahoo! Contacts that you create to manage your contacts.

V

• View: the way you see your calendar; either by day, week, month, or year.
• Virus: a computer program that attaches itself to other programs and causes harm to computer software, data, and/or hardware, often undetected until it is too late.
• Voicemail: a message left in the caller’s own voice for the intended recipient to listen to later.

W

• Web-based mail client: a program (usually a web site) that any computer with an Internet connection and a web browser can use to access the mail server.
• Webcam: a video camera typically attached to a computer.
• Windows Live™ Messenger: Microsoft® Windows’ free instant messaging application.

XYZ

• Yahoo! Contacts: your Yahoo! online address book with a listing of people and their personal information.
• Yahoo! ID: the name by which a person is known to all Yahoo! networks.
• Yahoo! Local: a subject-based guide to businesses and services organized by location.
• Yahoo! Mail Plus: a fee-based, advertisement-free version of Yahoo! Mail that provides additional online protection features and control.
• Yahoo! Messenger: an application that lets you communicate using your voice, text, or other means with one or more people over the Internet in real time (instantly).
• Yahoo! Phone In: a premium, subscription-based service of Yahoo! Voice that attaches a phone number to your Yahoo! ID so that you can receive phone calls to your computer through Messenger.
• Yahoo! Phone Out: a pre-paid Yahoo! Voice account that allows you to make calls using Messenger from your computer to any regular phone or mobile phone in over 30 countries.
• Yahoo! Toolbar: a customizable toolbar that allows you to use your favorite Yahoo! features from buttons on your browser.