Glossary of terms

This glossary defines terms used throughout CMS 13 documentation. Use it as a reference when you encounter unfamiliar terminology in CMS, Commerce Connect, marketing, recommendations, search, and analytics.

General concepts

1-to-many relationship – Associate one object with multiple object-related data. For example, you can associate one organization with multiple contracts.
API (Application Programming Interface) – Specifies how some software components should interact with each other, such as accessing a database or computer hardware, or easing the work of programming graphical user interface components. APIs often are in the form of a library that includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables.
BAU (Business As Usual)
BLOB (Binary Large Object) – A BLOB provider is a framework that developers design to store large amounts of binary data in a more optimized and cost-effective solution, such as cloud storage, instead of in a database. Optimizely uses it for the asset system in CMS.
CaaS (Content as a Service) – A delivery model where content is provided through APIs, letting developers consume and display content on any platform or device without being tied to a specific presentation layer.
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) – Tabular data in a plain text file separated by a comma character.
DXP (Digital Experience Platform) – A comprehensive platform that provides a broad set of integrated technologies to support the creation, management, delivery, and optimization of digital experiences across various channels.
GUID (Globally Unique Identifier)
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) – A lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate.
LLM (Large Language Model) – A type of artificial intelligence model designed to understand, generate, and manipulate human language.
many-to-1 relationship – Associate multiple object-related data with a single object. For example, you associate multiple contacts with a single organization.
many-to-many relationship – Associate multiple object-related data with multiple objects. For example, you can associate different Store Keeping Unit (SKUs) with one or more Warehouses for tracking and storage.
NLP (Natural Language Processing) – A subfield of artificial intelligence and linguistics that focuses on the interaction between computers and humans through natural language.
ROI (Return On Investment)
RSS (RDF Site Summary / Really Simple Syndication) – A standard for distributing information from one website to another. Optimizely often uses it for distributing news feeds.
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) – The world's primary time standard regulating clocks and time. It is within about 1 second of mean solar time at 0° longitude, and the system does not adjust it for daylight saving time.
version control – A system that records changes to a file or set of files over time so that you can recall specific versions later, essential for collaborative content editing.
XML (Extensible Markup Language) – An open international standard for structuring and transferring data between systems.

Architecture

.NET – The .NET (ASP.NET) Framework is a software framework that Microsoft primarily developed for Windows. It includes a large programming library and supports several programming languages. Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) uses the Microsoft .NET framework.
add-on or app – A plug-in or module that Optimizely or its partners developed to extend platform capabilities. Developers install add-ons.
CDA (Content Delivery API) – An API specifically designed for retrieving content from CMS for display on various front-end applications, often optimized for performance and caching.
CMA (Content Management API) – An API used for programmatic interaction with CMS, letting external systems or tools create, update, and manage content.
DDS (Dynamic Data Store) – A component offering an API and infrastructure for the saving, loading, and searching of compile-time data types (.NET object instances) and runtime data types (property bags). Optimizely ships the component as part of the Framework package.
Optimizely Graph – A unified API layer that provides access to content from various Optimizely products, enabling headless content delivery and flexible content consumption across different channels.
rendering engine – The software component responsible for processing content and templates to generate the final output (such as, HTML for a webpage).

Content Management (CMS)

ACL (Access Control List) – Optimizely user permissions to access system processes and operations.
access rights – Controls what a visitor can view and what an editor can do to content on a website. Access rights include Read, Create, Change, Delete, Publish, and Administer.
admin view – Where administrators manage access rights, website languages, scheduled jobs, export and import of data between websites, and configure websites in a multi-site solution. (See edit view for comparison.)
approval sequence – Defines the steps and reviewers who review and approve content or certain changes (such as changes to access rights, language settings, and so on).
asset – Content such as documents, videos, and images that you can link to other content such as pages, blocks, and catalog entries.
assets pane – Customizable placeholder for assets, where you can drag and drop images, blocks, files, or products into a CMS page and see non-visible settings for the content.
autosave – Saves the page every minute by default, ensuring your work will not disappear if a sudden crash of the system or browser occurs. Your organization might have other settings configured for autosave.
block – Shared, reusable content, such as an image banner, a page listing, or a video, that you can insert into one or more pages. If you edit a block's content, it updates every page on which it was inserted.
block-based editing – A content editing paradigm where pages are constructed using reusable content blocks, offering editors flexibility in layout and design while maintaining consistency.
block type – A type of block, such as campaign teasers and banners, videos, news feeds, and contact forms. A block type contains a set of properties, a visual representation, and editing capabilities. It has no URL.
breadcrumb – The path to the current page within the website structure. Breadcrumbs are clickable for backtracking.
category (Optimizely Content Management System) – An Optimizely property you apply to content, but must build the functionality to display the filtered results.
content area – Where you can drag and drop pages and blocks and create a block. A link collection has a similar area for creating links.
content reference – A property type in CMS that lets one content item (for example, a page or block) link to or embed another content item, establishing relationships within the content structure.
content type – CMS content types: folders, pages, blocks, and assets (media files). Commerce: CMS content types plus catalogs.
content type builder – A tool or interface within CMS that lets users define and manage the structure of their content, including fields, properties, and relationships, without writing code.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) – A file type that defines the appearance and layout of the website, containing fonts, colors, and so on.
customer – A site visitor who has purchased on your website.
developer – Writes code to implement some features of the website, especially integrations with other systems and customizations of basic functionality.
edit view – A user interface section where you edit content items, such as pages and blocks. (See admin view for comparison.)
gadget – A small application component responsible for its rendering and behavior, that users can access from the dashboard or the panes in the CMS user interface.
front-end framework – A collection of pre-written code (such as React, Vue, Angular) that provides a foundation for building user interfaces, commonly used with headless CMS implementations.
global menu – Group of options that displays in the uppermost part of the user interface when you log in.
headless CMS – A content management system where the content repository is decoupled from the presentation layer ("head"). This lets content be delivered through APIs to any front-end experience.
internal link – A web page link to another page on the website.
localization – The process of adapting content and user interfaces to specific languages, cultures, and regions, often involving translation and cultural adjustments.
master language – The language in which editors create the first version of content.
media – Files such as an image, a PDF, a Word document, a video, or an MP3 file.
metadata – Information about information. Includes meta-descriptions for content that search engines pick up, and metadata for media such as images or documents.
navigation panel – Contains the page tree structure, language branches, tasks, and project items of the website.
occasional editor – An individual who occasionally changes web page content.
on-page editing view – Where you can edit selected properties for content in a WYSIWYG-like view.
OpenID – Standard for using an existing account to sign in to multiple websites.
operation – An operation is the unit of an API method and an API endpoint.
page template – Generates the output of the web page and controls how the content editors enter displays to visitors. Developers connect a page template to one or more page types.
page type – Editors use a page type when creating content, and it contains a set of fields (properties) such as page title and main body.
partner – An organization that specializes in building websites for clients.
property – The field in a page type where you can enter information such as the title of the page, the author name, or a main body area where editors add text and images.
quick edit view – A view for updating blocks that displays all relevant block properties in one dialog box without leaving the page context.
rich-text editor – Utility for editing the content of web pages.
root – The parent of all folders in a file system.
scheduled publish or unpublish – A feature that lets editors set specific dates and times for content to become visible or hidden on the website automatically.
SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) – Network protocol for secure data transfer.
start menu – Main page in the classic Optimizely Campaign user interface, where Optimizely groups the options together.
thread – Execution string or execution order of processes, such as API requests.
top menu – The top menu displays in the uppermost part of the user interface when you log in.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) – Also known as a web address.
user – Logs into a website to manage and administer content and products.
WCM (Web Content Management) – A system and procedures for managing online content.
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)

Commerce Connect

account – A user account you create with a contact to which you can assign roles and access privileges in Commerce Manager.
bundle – A collection of packages, products, and variants (SKUs) that let customers purchase two or more items at once.
cart – A collection of products that a website customer selects with the intention of completing a purchase. Also known as a shopping cart or basket.
catalog – A top-level container for catalog entries such as categories, products, and variants (SKUs).
category – Categories let you adjust the structure and range of a catalog to optimize the selling potential of products.
checkout – Completing a purchase on a website involves collecting shipping and billing addresses, shipping methods, payment, and so on.
Commerce Manager – One of several main user interfaces in Optimizely Commerce Connect. This UI area provides pages for managing markets, customers, catalogs, orders, and so on.
contact – An individual with personalized information (name, address, email, and so on) that Optimizely creates when a user on the front-end registers to make a purchase.
customer group – You create customer groups in Commerce Manager and then apply them to contacts and organizations.
discount – A deduction applied to an online purchase, typically implemented as part of a marketing campaign.
EO (Exchange Order - Optimizely Commerce Connect) – Tracks the exchange of a purchased item for the same or a different item.
exchange – Replacing a faulty product with another one.
expiration date – Used if an order ties to a recurring payment plan for subscription-based transactions.
expression – Customizable conditions that let users extend the marketing system. Promotions, customer segments, and policies rely on expressions.
inventory – The process of checking product availability in one or more warehouses, or a complete list of items such as property, goods in stock, or the contents of a building.
line item – The products, SKUs, packages, and bundles on one line of a purchase order.
list price – Also known as MSRP or regular price, list price is typically an item's price before a sale or discount reduces it.
low stock report – A report that shows which products are running low in inventory when a product's inventory is less than its minimum reorder quantity.
market – One or more countries, regions, or customer groups, to which you want to apply languages, catalogs, currencies, or promotions.
order – A record of a customer's request for goods or services.
organization – Groups or sub-groups of users and customers who register.
organization unit – Same as organization.
package – A sellable unit that contains variants or other packages, with a single price; similar to an SKU because customers must purchase it as a whole.
packing slip – A paper slip with order information Optimizely attaches to the physical package during shipping.
parent order ID – Relates a purchase order to a payment plan or other order.
payment – Verifying a money transaction in a website shopping scenario.
payment method – Contains information about how a customer views a payment option and has an associated payment gateway.
payment plan – Payments Optimizely initiates and uses for managing orders.
PCI (Payment Card Industry - Optimizely Commerce Connect) – An organization providing security standards for merchandising companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information.
PDP (Product Display Page) – A commercial page that displays products for sale.
picklist – The list warehouse staff use to collect the physical items for shipping.
PIM (Product Information Management - Optimizely Commerce Connect) – A system for managing product information, which Optimizely distributes to multiple output sources.
plan cycle – Used for payment plans, determining the period of time during which a payment plan is initiated.
PO (Purchase Order - Optimizely Commerce Connect) – An order a customer registered and paid for.
product – Various forms of merchandise that you can display and purchase from the public site, including products, variations or SKUs, bundles, and packages.
promotion – A marketing tool marketers use to increase sales of certain products or product lines.
purchase order – An order a customer registered and paid for.
refund – A payment Optimizely Product Information Management (PIM) returns to a shopper due to a faulty product delivery or other reason.
relation – Lets a merchandiser assign items related to the current one, enticing shoppers with upsell or cross-sell items.
return – Manages exchanges and refunds for faulty or unwanted products.
sales report – An overview of a site's sales performance over a period of time.
shipment – A collection of products from a purchase order, ready for shipment after warehouse staff go through inventory check and other verifications.
shipping gateway – In Shipping Providers, you select a specific class (Generic Gateway or Weight/Jurisdiction Gateway).
shipping jurisdiction groups – A group of jurisdictions (such as the Southwest region). A field Optimizely requires when configuring Shipping Method parameters.
shipping jurisdictions – Define values for region-specific shipping rates. Optimizely only uses it when you select the Weight/Jurisdiction Gateway.
shipping method – A set of information and rules determining the shipping cost.
shipping provider – A shipping provider interacts directly with one or more shipping services, such as USPS, UPS, or FedEx.
shipping report – Overview of shipping method, number of orders, and total shipping cost over a period of time.
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit - Optimizely Commerce Connect) – Corresponds to a product that a customer can purchase with specific characteristics.
split payment – A remittance that the system divides by either time (such as a subscription) or by different receivers.
split shipment – A shipment that comes from multiple warehouses or warehouse staff cannot fulfill simultaneously.
subscription – A recurring order that Optimizely can associate with a payment plan.
tax category – Applies a different tax rate based on the items a customer purchases.
tracking number – Optimizely uses it to track the shipment of orders.
variant – A variant (SKU) corresponds to a product that a customer can purchase with specific characteristics.
VAT (Value-Added Tax) – A consumption tax the seller adds to a product at the point of sale.
widget (Configured Commerce) – A content holder ISC_Content user roles use to add content to website pages without having to develop page elements.

Marketing

allowlisting – The reverse of blocklisting. The practice of listing trustworthy sender IP addresses to protect them from being rejected or sent to the junk mail folder.
autoresponders – A computer program that automatically answers emails you send to it.
blocklist – Recipients whose email addresses are on the blocklist will not receive your email.
BOFU (Bottom-of-Funnel) – A marketing term; the stage where someone is ready to decide, perhaps to buy a product.
bounce – The email system generates a bounce whenever an email fails to reach a recipient's server or mailbox.
bounce overflow – Optimizely records recipients who exceed the bounce limit as bounce overflow and no longer contacts them.
campaign (Optimizely Campaign) – A campaign in Smart Campaigns or Marketing Automation. The complete campaign plan contains elements, nodes, and branches, and their relationships to each other.
campaign (Optimizely Commerce Connect) – A set of related components and activities for promotions.
CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test) – A challenge-response test that developers use in computing to determine whether the user is human.
client (Optimizely Campaign) – The working environment of Optimizely Campaign. A client is a stand-alone and closed system that organizes your mailings.
click profiles – Click profiling generates target groups.
click-through – Following a hypertext link to a particular website, especially a commerce site.
closed loop interface – Bi-directional interface between Optimizely Campaign and an external system.
closed-loop marketing – Marketing that relies on data and insights from sales teams, who report back to Marketing what happened to their leads.
CMO (Campaign Monitor and Optimization) – Measures and monitors campaigns and optimizes landing pages.
creative – Artwork for website advertisement, such as a banner, that generates leads by promoting a discount, product, or service.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) – A system for managing interactions with current and future customers.
CSR (Customer Service Representative)
CTP (Click to Purchase)
CTR (Click-Through Rate) – The ratio of users who click a specific link to the number of total users who view a page, email, or advertisement.
CUID (Customer User ID)
customer journey – Describes the phases and touchpoints of a potential customer with a product until making a purchase decision.
direct traffic – A user generates a visit when they arrive after typing the URL directly in the browser, or using a bookmark, or clicking a link in an email.
double opt-in – A practice in which a recipient consents to receiving email from the sender before any promotional email is sent.
ESP (Email Service Provider)
franking code – A code on mailing envelopes that machines read to calculate postage.
hard bounces – Occur when the email system cannot deliver an email due to a permanent error.
hash algorithm – An algorithm that encodes digital content using a unique combination of numbers and letters, making it uniquely identifiable.
impressions (Marketing Automation) – The number of visitors to a landing page in an A/B test.
landing page – The target page on which a visitor "lands" after clicking a banner or link.
lead – A contact acquired through marketing activities.
lifecycle marketing – The concept that marketers should orient email content toward the recipient's interests and personal circumstances.
MAI (Marketing Automation Integration)
marketing channel – Channel through which Optimizely transmits advertising messages or information to customers and prospects.
MOFU (Middle-of-Funnel) – A marketing term that refers to the stage where someone is considering the content, perhaps a target audience or sales lead.
node (Campaign) – Item that determines when a recipient passes through the campaign and the actions Optimizely executes for the recipient.
omnichannel marketing – Multiple channel marketing that provides an integrated experience for buyers.
opt-in method (Optimizely Campaign) – An opt-in method requires recipients to give a sender explicit permission to send them advertising mail.
original page – Web page version editors publish and marketers use in an A/B test.
post-click tracking – Tracking method that measures and analyzes the click path that site users follow after clicking a link in an email.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) – An internet advertising model advertisers use to drive traffic to websites, in which an advertiser pays a publisher when a user clicks the ad.
product feed – A file that contains all products a client sells.
promotion (Optimizely Commerce Connect) – A marketing tool marketers use to increase sales of certain products or product lines.
pseudonymization – Encryption of personal data using combinations of letters or numbers.
Punycode – A way to transform Unicode to ASCII that Optimizely uses for Internet host names.
push campaigns – Campaign to send push messages that display on the recipient's mobile device or web browser.
push messages – Message that displays on the recipient's mobile device or web browser without any special request.
RBL (Realtime Blocklist) – A list of IP addresses of mail servers that Optimizely knows send spam.
recipient list (Optimizely Campaign) – A recipient list contains information on recipients, such as name and email address.
segment – A term for dividing recipients into relevant groups to send them the appropriate content.
Smart Campaigns – Optimizely feature for sending out one-shot campaigns.
soft bounces – Occur when the email system cannot deliver emails due to temporary problems.
split mailings – Variation of a regular mailing where the system "splits off" a subset of recipients.
SWYN (Share With Your Network)
target groups – Subset of recipients marketers define by rules and conditions.
TOFU (Top-of-Funnel) – A marketing term that refers to the beginning stage of awareness of the content and has the broadest general audience.
transactional mails – A recipient action (such as an order or purchase) or event (such as an anniversary) triggers an email.
trigger mails – Campaign mailings related to an event or special occasion.
Triggered Messages – A product that lets you send automated personalized emails through an Email Service Provider (ESP), whose email recipients' on-site actions initiate.
utm (Urchin Traffic Monitor) – A snippet of simple code that you can add to the end of a URL to track the performance of campaigns and content.
Webhook – HTTP callback for sending event data in real-time.
Webhook URL – Data hub that gathers information from form data through API calls.

Recommendations

audience – Formerly visitor group, an audience is a group of site visitors with something in common, such as age, geographic location, and so on. Optimizely CMS uses it in the personalization feature.
campaign (Optimizely Email Product Recommendations) – Describes the rules for sending emails that share a strategy and time frame while marketing a product or service.
campaign (Optimizely Product Recommendations) – Describes rules for displaying recommendations that share a strategy and time frame while marketing a product or service.
campaign (Optimizely Triggered Messages) – Describes rules for sending automated personalized emails through an Email Service Provider (ESP), whose email recipients' on-site actions trigger.
content item (Optimizely Content Recommendations) – A web page with an associated identifier.
customer segment (Optimizely Commerce Connect) – Determines the target audience for a promotion.
deliveries – Include retargeting, blocks on a web page, and personalized emails that contain relevant content based on previous interactions and interests.
Email Recommendations – A personalization feature that incorporates personalized product or content recommendations into an email that Optimizely generates dynamically.
flow (Optimizely Content Recommendations) – Rules for sections based on titles, URLs, or metadata, to group content.
goal (Optimizely Content Recommendations) – A set of behaviors you want someone to perform, such as filling out a form, requesting demos, downloading a resource, or viewing three pages on the Financial site.
hint – Attributes span products, such as products that fit into the same category or products you recently viewed, similar to expressions that work on specific product attributes.
ingestion – The process of gathering topics for analysis.
interest profile – A data representation of an individual's interests based on site activity, which Optimizely derives from the near-real-time modeling of topics contained within the URLs the individual visited.
native clients – Clients that use the Optimizely platform (such as the CMS with Content Recommendations or Commerce Connect with Product Recommendations or Email Product Recommendations).
personalization – Adapt content to target groups you customize for a personalized website experience.
Profile Store – Tracks and stores data about a visitor to your website.
reviewer (Optimizely Product Recommendations) – Can view, create, edit, review change requests, approve or reject changes, and make a Product Recommendations campaign "go live."
section (Optimizely Content recommendations) – Groups of content based on flow rules.
standalone clients – Clients that use non-Optimizely platforms (for example, Magento or Hybris) with Product Recommendations, Email Product Recommendations, or other Optimizely solutions.
strategy – A criterion (such as best sellers for conversion, best trending, or abandoned basket products), Optimizely uses to determine when it sends an email.
topic (Optimizely Content Recommendations) – A subject Optimizely indexes, such as finance, insurance, hamburgers, rocks, or a brand name.
volume (Optimizely Content Recommendations) – The number of content profiles that the system calculates as unique URLs, into the personalization instance.
visitor group – See audience.

Search

canonical URL – Websites can contain identical or almost identical pages, and the canonical link points out which pages are the most important.
GraphQL – A query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data.
O.D.R. (Dynamic Rendering)
schema.org – A set of extensible schemas that enable webmasters to embed structured data on their web pages for use by search engines.
search index – When a search engine robot crawls the pages of a website, an indexing program analyzes the result.
search phrase – One or more words a user enters into a search box to begin a search.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Making website content attractive to website visitors and, as a result, achieving high rankings in search results.
SEO URL – Corresponds to a simple address in CMS.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page) – The page with search hits you see in search engines, such as Google, when you have searched for a term.

Analytics

bounce rate – The percentage of visitors to a website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.
conversion – When a website visitor takes a desired action.
conversion goal – The measurement of actions on web pages. Also known as Key Performance Indicator (KPI).
conversion KPI – A key performance indicator that measures how many visitors reached the target page.
conversion page – A confirmation that a visitor completed the desired action on the target page.
conversion path – A conversion path shows how many visitors reach a campaign target page.
conversion rate – Number of conversions divided by the number of views of an item.
cookies – Files used by your browser on a website or by a third party, and can range from very small to large text files.
CPC (Click-to-Purchase Conversion - Personalization)
downloads KPI – A key performance indicator that measures the number of downloads of a document or file in an online campaign.
exit rate – The percentage of visitors on the session's last page.
finalized form submission – A website visitor has gone through all steps of a form and submitted the form.
forms KPI – A key performance indicator that measures when a visitor posts a web form.
generic KPI – A key performance indicator that collects data through a Web Service API from any external data source.
goal page (Optimizely Commerce Connect) – A confirmation when a website visitor completes a desired action on a target page.
HTTP Referrers – Key Performance Indicator that measures traffic from a URL or domain.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) – The measurement of actions on web pages.
KPI entity – An extension Optimizely uses with KPI values.
KPI value – Optimizely converts desired actions into KPI values, in market value or points.
page views – Measures the number of page visits.
partially submitted form data – A website visitor has gone through some of the form steps but has not reached the final step and has not submitted the form.
RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) – A customer segmentation technique that categorizes customers into distinct groups based to their past purchase behavior.
- Recency (R) – Time since last purchase.
- Frequency (F) – Total number of purchases.
- Monetary value (M) – Total monetary value.
session (Optimizely Triggered Messages) – A sequence of activity from the same website visitor in a limited time.
target page – The page that defines the end goal of a conversion path.
Tracking ID (Optimizely Google Analytics) – A unique number to each website you want to track separately, that Google uses to count when someone visits and interacts with your website.
unique visitors (Marketing Automation) – The number of unique IP addresses that visited this page or URL during a period you specify.
visitor – Someone who visits a website using a web browser.