Accessibility
Accessibility refers to the specific set of usability concerns related to people with disabilities.
Example: Giving images appropriate "alternate text," short for alternative text, allows visually impaired people to interpret images.
See also: Usability, Universal Design
Administrative User
An administrative user has permissions to all Drupal settings and is the highest Drupal role. The Web Guys are the only administrative users. Maintaining a small number of administrative users ensures system stability and consistency.  Administrative users can create and manipulate views, add menu items, create aliases and redirects, and configure all other Drupal settings.
See also: Editor, Power User, Roles
Alias
By default, Drupal assigns each node a basic URL, such as "node/45861". 
Aliases have a different format, such as "site_index", which is generally easier to read and remember. A node may, though general should not, have more than one alias.
Grinnell's site automatically creates aliases that reflect the menu structure using the module PathAuto.
Aliases appear as the webpage's address in the browser's address bar (unlike a redirect, which simply sends users to a different URL).
Example: The node you are now viewing can be found by going to "grinnell.edu/node/45510" or "grinnell.edu/help/glossary." The latter is an alias.
See also: Redirect
Associated Media
Associated Media (a vertical tab found at the bottom of every content type's editing interface) is a list of all the media (images, files, audio, and video) that were imported from BornFree. If an image that was on the previous version of a page is not displayed in BornFree, it can usually be found under Associated Media. These fields are not used to display any information but rather to keep a record of the page's previous contents.
See also: Legacy Content
Block
"Blocks are a method for positioning data within a page. They often contain lists of nodes or other navigational content and are frequently placed in the left or right regions of a page. Assignment to a region is specified through the admin settings. Blocks themselves are not nodes. You can specify that a block only appears on certain pages or in certain contexts."1
Example: The menu on Grinnell.edu's site is a block placed in the left region of the site's layout.
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are the text showing a visitor where in the hierarchical site structure they are located.
Example: The breadcrumb at the top of the English homepage is "Home > Academics > English."
See also: Menu
Child Menu Item
A page/node that falls under the current webpage when you place a node in a menu.
See also: Parent Menu Item


Content Type
"Every node belongs to a single…'content type,' which defines various default settings for nodes of that type."1
Example: Person, FAQ, Event, Publication, and Page are all content types with unique sets of fields and requirements.
See also: Node, Views
Content Conversion
The process of moving a node's content from "Legacy Content" to an appropriate content type that structures the data. The Office of Communication does most content conversion.
Example: In converting a Legacy node describing an event, a worker places the date, time, location, and event description into different fields of an Event content type. This allows Drupal to build views listing dates and locations of events.  This task would be impossible without the additional structure of a content type.
See also: Content Type, Legacy Content
Editor
The most basic defined user role for Grinnell.edu. An Editor may log in, edit any content in a Section to which s/he is assigned, and create new content using a basic set of content types. Editors who need assistance with Drupal may contact a Power User in their area, the Web Guys, or use this help section.
See also: Power User, Roles
Headers / Headings
Headers are a means of structuring the content of a web page. Headers imply an outline structure on a page. Users can make headers using the WYSIWYG's Formatting Drop Down menu. When users make headers, they are wrapping the selected text in an < h2 > tag (if they are selecting a Header 2; < h3 > for Header 3, etc.). The page title is the only < h1 > on the page. This is what search engines display in their search results. Headers are important to make a page accessible as they are used by screen readers to scan a page's content.
Example: The Heading 1 of this page is "Grinnell's Drupal / Website Glossary." "Sources"—at the bottom of the page—is a Heading 2.
See also: Accessibility, Header Instructions, WYSIWYG
Legacy Content
Legacy Content is a content type that was created to hold all content imported from BornFree that has not yet been converted to a more appropriate content type in Drupal. It is very similar to the Page content type, although it has slightly fewer fields.
See also: Content Conversion
Menu
A menu is any set of links used to move around a site. Menus are only one form of navigation and are used to generate the breadcrumb trail. They are used in Drupal to give the content a hierarchical structure. On the Grinnell.edu site, each section has its own menu.
When describing a menu's structure, it is common to use the metaphor of family generations (i.e. parents, children, grandparents, great-grandchildren, etc.).
Example: The list of links to the left starting with "Grinnell.edu Help" is a menu, as is the black bar at the top of the page starting with "About."
See also: Breadcrumbs, Navigation, Parent Menu Item, Section
Menu Link Title
Menu link titles are the labels that appear in the section (left-side) navigation.
Menu ID
A menu ID is the unique number Drupal uses to keep track of a menu item. 
Note: Nodes and views can both have menu IDs.  Nodes will also have node IDs.
Module
"A module is software (code) that extends Drupal features and/or functionality."1 Because Drupal is open-source, anyone may write a module and share it with other Drupal sites.
Modules may conflict with each other or not work with all versions of Drupal. Hence, all modules used on Grinnell's site must by approved the the Drupal Functions & Shared Apps committee.
Example: One module allows users to be assigned to sections.
See also: Drupal Functions & Shared Apps Committee
Navigation
Navigation refers to any tool used to move about on a website. Forms of navigation other than menus are sometimes referred to as alternate forms of navigation.
Example: Menus, Search, Indices, Views, and Breadcrumbs are all forms of navigation.
See also: Menu, Views, Breadcrumbs
Node
"A node is a piece of content in Drupal, typically corresponding to a single page on the site, that has a Title, an optional Body, and perhaps additional fields. Every node also belongs to a particular content type."1
Example: An image, a document or other text, or a webform is each an example of a node.
See also: Node, Views
Node ID
A node ID is the unique number Drupal uses to track a particular node. It appears in the URL when you edit a node—e.g.: www.grinnell.edu/node/45617/edit.
Parent Menu Item
"A 'parent' menu item…contains other menu items, which are referred to as 'children' menu items."1 Parent/child relationships are created when you place a node in a menu.
Example: The parent of "Biology" is "Academic." The parent of "CERA" is "Biology." "CERA" is thus a grandchild of "Academic."
See also: Menu
Permissions
"Permissions control access to content creation, modification and site administration…Administrators assign permissions to roles, then assign roles to users."1
Example: A user with Editor permissions has access to edit all content in any Sections to which they are assigned. They may create or edit any content in their assigned Sections.
See also: Roles, Universal Design
Power User
Specially trained Drupal users with a wide-range of campus positions. Power Users can easily arrange menu items, edit any nodes on the site, and are generally knowledgeable about using Drupal.  There are 10 - 15 Power Users on campus.
See also: Editor, List of Power Users, Roles
Published
The status of a node that is publicly available (or "world viewable") on the website. An "unpublished" node may only be viewed by logged-in ("authenticated") Drupal users. Time-sensitive information may optionally be published or unpublished automatically on a specified date at a specified time.
Example: When drafting a page, an editor may leave it unpublished so that a visitor of the site will not see it until completed.
Redirect
A redirect is a URL that displays a node with a different URL when entered. Unlike an alias, a redirect displays a different URL once a page is loaded.
The Grinnell site uses the module PathRedirect to handle redirections.
Example: If a user were to enter "grinnell.edu/glossary," Their browser would then redirect to this page, and display "grinnell.edu/help/glossary" as the URL.
See also: Alias
Revision
A way to record changes made to a node. A node can have many revisions and may be made to “revert” to any single revision at any time.
Example: When deleting a paragraph of text from an FAQ, one creates a revision to allow the restoration of that paragraph at a later date.
Roles
"Roles are sets of permissions that can be applied to individual users. Users can belong to more than one role."1
Example: Grinnell has "Editors," "Power Users, and "Administrators." Any of these roles may also pertain to Webform editors, a Sports Editor, or an Art Editor. Each of these has access to specialty content types.
See also: Permissions, Power User
Sections
A custom feature on Grinnell.edu's site used to organize the menus. Each Section is a "subsite" that can have editors, a custom theme, contact information menu, and its own menu.
Example: Sociology, ITS, Rosenfield, and Athletics are all Sections of the website Grinnell.edu. A Section may also have sub-sections; for example, Men's Soccer under Athletics.
Site Manager Menu
The menu that appears for logged in Drupal editors.  When you view most pages of the site while logged in, the Site Manager menu appears under normal page navigation on the left side of the page.
Standards / Standardization
Standards are common practices used on the website to increase the quality, accessibility, and reusability of content. Standardization ensures content conforms with established practice.
Example: Some standards are enforced by Drupal (such as fields in a content type), while others must be followed by the user (such as good page titling).
Subtheme
A variation of a theme that modifies colors, font styles, and other cosmetic parts of a theme. A subtheme does not drastically change the position or width of any elements.
Example: A subtheme of the current theme (what this page looks like) might change the banner and headers to shades of red and change the font to Times New Roman.
See also: Look & Feel External Resources, Theme
Tagging, Tags
See Taxonomy
Taxonomy
"Taxonomy is literally 'the science of classification'. The Drupal taxonomy system enables authorized users to categorize content using both tags and administrator-defined terms. It is a flexible tool for classifying content with many advanced features."1
Tagging—a.k.a. free-tagging—is one form of taxonomy.
Example: Taxonomy is used to build Views of FAQs, External Resources, and even blogs. The Look & Feel External Resources page shows all FAQs tagged "Look and Feel."
See also: Views, Vocabulary
Theme
"A theme is a file or collection of files (PHP, INFO, CSS, JPG, GIF, PNG), which together determine the look and feel of a site."1 The theme styles whatever content may be on a page.
Example: The theme controls font styles (color, size, etc.), layout/positioning, background colors and images, and more.
See also: Look & Feel External Resources, Subtheme
Universal Design
Many accessibility issues are also examples of "universal design," design that makes a site more useful for all users, not only the "neediest" users.2
Example: Correctly using headers allows all people to scan a page’s contents easily and quickly.
See also: Accessibilty, Usability
Unpublished
See Published
Usability
Usability is the general measure of how easy a website is to access and update.
Example: "Breadcrumbs"—the string of text toward the top of this page that says "Home > Help > Grinnell's Drupal / Website Glossary"—make our website more usable by providing contextual information to the visitor.
See also: Accessibilty, Universal Design
Views
"Views permit selection of specific fields [from content types] to display, filtration against various node attributes, choice of basic layout options (i.e. list, full nodes, teasers, etc.), and other more advanced features."1
Example: Listings of faculty, FAQs, an Event Series, or a table of contents for an issue of a publication are all Views.
See also: Content Type, Node
Vocabulary
"A collection of terms that share some sort of relationship with each other."1 Unlike "free tagging," a vocabulary only contains a set of predefined terms.
Note: Only Administrative Users can add terms to a vocabulary. However, it is a simple process they are happy to do.
Example: News and Blogs are created and sorted by using vocabularies. (In these two cases, the type of news and the name of the blog, respectively, are the terms used in the vocabularies.)
See also: Taxonomy
WYSIWYG
"WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, used in computing to describe a method in which content is edited and formatted by interacting with an interface that closely resembles the final product."1
Example: The WYSIWYG editor provides functions for bolding and italicizing text, making lists, making links, creating page headings, etc.
See also: WYSIWYG Editor Resources

Sources

1. "Terminology." Drupal.org. http://drupal.org/node/937. Accessed 13 Oct 2009. 2. "The Inclusion Principle." A List Apart. http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-inclusion-principle/. Accessed 13 Oct 2009.