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Glossary

Definitions of terms used in Pagesmith documentation. SSG, SSR, Astro, and more.

Quick reference for technical terms used throughout the documentation.

A

Astro

The web framework Pagesmith uses to generate sites. Astro is a static site generator that supports multiple UI frameworks and produces minimal JavaScript. astro.build

Alt Text

Text description of an image for accessibility and SEO. Screen readers read alt text, and search engines use it to understand image content.

C

Canonical URL

The “official” URL for a page when multiple URLs have similar content. Prevents duplicate content issues in SEO.

Client-Side Rendering (CSR)

Rendering that happens in the browser using JavaScript. The server sends an empty HTML shell, and JavaScript builds the page. Contrast with SSG and SSR.

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

A Core Web Vital measuring visual stability. Low CLS means elements don’t unexpectedly move as the page loads.

Core Web Vitals

Google’s metrics for page experience: LCP (loading), INP (interactivity), and CLS (visual stability).

D

D1

Cloudflare’s SQLite database for edge computing. Used in Pagesmith for dynamic features.

E

Edge Deployment

Deploying to servers located around the world, close to users. Reduces latency by serving content from the nearest location.

H

Hydration

The process of attaching JavaScript to server-rendered HTML to make it interactive. Astro’s islands architecture minimizes hydration.

I

Islands Architecture

A pattern where most of the page is static HTML, with interactive “islands” of JavaScript. Only the interactive parts need JavaScript, reducing page weight.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

A Core Web Vital measuring responsiveness. How quickly the page responds to user interactions.

L

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

A Core Web Vital measuring loading performance. When the largest content element becomes visible.

Lighthouse

Google’s tool for auditing web page quality. Measures performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO.

M

MDX

Markdown with JSX support. Write content in Markdown with embedded React components.

Meta Tags

HTML tags in the <head> that provide metadata about the page. Used for SEO (title, description) and social sharing (Open Graph).

O

Open Graph (OG)

Protocol for social media previews. OG tags control how links appear when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

R

Robots.txt

A file that tells search engine crawlers which pages to access or ignore.

RSS

A feed format for subscribing to content updates. Common for blogs.

S

Sitemap

An XML file listing all pages on a site. Helps search engines discover and index content.

SSG (Static Site Generation)

Pre-rendering pages at build time. Pages are generated once and served as static files. Fast and SEO-friendly.

SSR (Server-Side Rendering)

Rendering pages on each request. The server generates HTML dynamically. Used for personalized or real-time content.

Structured Data

Machine-readable information about page content. Uses Schema.org vocabulary. Enables rich results in search.

T

Tailwind CSS

A utility-first CSS framework. Instead of pre-built components, you compose designs with utility classes like text-lg and bg-blue-500.

W

WebP

An image format that provides better compression than JPEG or PNG. Supported by all modern browsers.

Workers

Cloudflare Workers are serverless functions that run at the edge. Used for SSR and API routes in Pagesmith.