A cron job is a way of automatically scheduling a programme to run at certain intervals. Crons are often used in CiviCRM to handle daily or monthly events such as sending membership renewal reminders or processing ongoing payments.
CRUD Create, Read, Update and Delete: the basic functions performed on databases.
CSS (CASCADING STYLE SHEETS) A way to control the style of a website by defining design and layout elements in a single file which is linked to all files in a website and applies the style across the site. An element, such as the formatting of a heading or a background colour, can be changed once in the CSS file to effect a change on all pages of the site.
CSV (COMMA SEPARATED VALUES) A simple format for a spreadsheet. CSV files are text files where each cell is separated by a comma, and each row is separated with a return. T his very simple format is understandable by many different programmes.
CUSTOM DATA FIELD A field that is added to the data structure of a CiviCRM record by your organisation. Custom data fields extend the information that can be stored in that type of record. For example, your organisation might need a custom field to record each contacts' professional qualifications, or the food preferences of event participants.
DASHBOARD A user's homepage, which displays when the user logs in to CiviCRM and which can be personalised with dashlets.
DASHLET A report on some data in the CiviCRM database, configured to appear on a user's dashboard. For example, monthly figures in graph and/or numerical form, appointments for the day, or a list of new memberships.
DATA CENTRALISATION Storing all your data in one place.
DATABASE Is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. In one view, databases can be classified according to types of content: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and images.
DEMO SITE A website that allows you to test and explore the functionality of a piece of software. CiviCRM maintains three demos sites: one integrated with Drupal, one integrated with Joomla! and one in standalone mode.
DEDUPE Refers to the task of finding and merging multiple entries for one contact.
DEVELOPER 322