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Glossary
Cascading rules

Cascading rules

Cascading rules are how Webflow applies your CSS styles across breakpoints, from desktop down to mobile. By default, a style you set at desktop carries down to smaller screens unless you override it there. That's why a change on desktop can unexpectedly show up on mobile too. Knowing how the cascade works saves you from chasing down “style bugs” that aren't bugs at all.

Get more comfortable designing across breakpoints in Make your site responsive.

Relevant courses

Getting started with Webflow

Learn what Webflow is, where your work happens, and how to find the right next step for your role.
Webflow MCP icon on glowy blue square

Get started with Webflow MCP

Connect an AI agent to your Webflow site and complete your first MCP workflow.

Webflow 101

Introducing Webflow 101, the ultimate course to learn the fundamentals of web design and development.

Interactions & animations

Create motion and interactions that guide visitors and tell your brand's story.
Publishing rocket icon flying through glass

Webflow for Marketers

Learn how to build, edit, and publish with confidence in Webflow.

Forms

Design and build forms that turn visits into messages, signups, and real follow-ups.

Other glossary terms

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Compile time

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Compile time is the length of time it takes for a compiler to convert high-level code into low-level code.

MCP

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MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI agents connect to and act within external tools and data sources, like reading or editing a Webflow site.

Control flow

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The control flow is the order in which a computer program executes its instructions or statements, guided by control structures.

Dynamic element

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Dynamic elements are web page components that can change based on user interaction or external factors, like a live news feed, without requiring a page refresh or reload.

Favicon

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A 16x16 px image that displays in browser tabs, bookmarks, and other browser areas. It's typically a simplified version of the site's logo.

Webflow branding

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A visible “Made in Webflow” badge displayed in the bottom right corner of Webflow sites. Webflow branding also appears in the site’s HTML. Learn more about Webflow branding.

Compile

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Compiling is the process of converting code from a high-level programming language into a low-level language that computers can understand.

Constant

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In coding, a constant is a fixed value that can’t change, no matter where it appears or what the program uses it for.

Padding

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Padding is a CSS property defining the space between an element's borders and its content.

Plain text field

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A plain text field is an input field for short-form text without formatting or styling.

Collection URL

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The slug that represents the parent folder for your individual Collection item URLs. For example, if you created a Collection called “Blog posts,” the URL would be website.com/blog-posts, while a Collection item URL for a blog post called “Hello world” would be website.com/blog-posts/hello-world.

Collection field

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An individual field within a Collection. You'll select which fields to display in dynamic Collection lists and Collection pages.

Custom domain hosting

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A Webflow service that lets you point a custom domain to your Webflow-hosted site.

Character encoding

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Character encoding is the process of representing characters (such as “a” or “3”) in a particular way, such as text on a computer screen.

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)

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Scalable Vector Graphics, or SVG, is a file format for displaying scalable vector graphics on the web.

AI credits

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AI credits are the metered unit used to track usage of AI-powered features, with usage typically visible by user, project, or date range.

Public site

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A Webflow site that is publicly visible in your public profile and in Made in Webflow search results.

CMS field groups

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CMS field groups let you organize a Collection's fields into named, labeled sections, making large or complex collections easier for editors to navigate.

Dynamic content

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Content you create once, then publish in many different places across your website. As you update this content in the CMS, it automatically updates wherever it exists on your site, making it convenient to create and manage larger websites.

Flex-sizing

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A flexbox property that determines the resizing behavior of flex children across viewport sizes. They can shrink, grow, or remain static.

Webflow forum

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The place to go when you need help with your site's design, custom code, etc. Visit the forum.

Content management system (CMS)

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A content management system (CMS) is a tool for creating and managing a website and its content.

Minimum width (min width)

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The min-width CSS property defines an element's minimum width. This can be defined in absolute terms (pixels) or relative terms (ems, rems, percentages, viewport-height, or viewport-width).

Static content

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Static content is content that’s not bound to any Collections or dynamic elements.

Bug

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A bug is an error, fault, or flaw in an application or software that causes the program to behave unexpectedly, often producing inaccurate and invalid output.

Image

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A Webflow element that displays graphical files on your website.

Flex-justify

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A flexbox property that lets you customize the alignment behavior of flex children, based on the main axis of the flex container — that is, whatever you defined as the flex-direction. Options include start, center, end, baseline, and stretch.

Blog

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A blog, short for weblog, is a website or webpage where an individual or group regularly shares content about specific topics, typically in reverse chronological order.

Total asset size

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The total weight of your site's HTML, CSS, JS, and images.

Library

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A Library is a shared collection of components, styles, and assets that you can install across multiple sites in a Workspace, so updates to it can propagate everywhere it's installed.

Site plan

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A Webflow plan that you can add/apply to individual sites. You’ll receive access to different site and hosting features based on your Site plan.

Mobile (landscape) breakpoint

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A Webflow canvas setting that lets you create styles for viewports with a minimum width of 480px and a maximum width of 767px. Also known as the mobile landscape media query.

Accessibility tree

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A webpage’s accessibility tree indicates which parts of the page are compatible with assistive technologies such as braille displays, screen readers, and voice commands.

Rich text field

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A rich text field is an input tool for formatting or applying text styles, such as bold, colors, font sizes, italics, underline, and other visual modifications.

Rich text element

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Allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually.

DNS records

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DNS records store important information about domains and hostnames. They function like maps, directing DNS queries to the desired endpoint.

Slug

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A slug, also known as a URL slug or a website slug, is descriptive text that appears at the end of a URL and identifies a web page.

Syntax error

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Syntax error refers to a mistake in code that violates the programming language’s rules and prevents the code from executing correctly.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

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Structured Query Language (SQL) is a programming language that enables storing, retrieving, and manipulating information in a relational database.

Cipher suite

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A cipher suite is a collection of encryption algorithms that work together to secure a network connection.

Sorting Collection lists

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You can sort your Collection items in multiple ways — select the field from the Collection you wish to filter from, then select the ordering option.

Bottom bar

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A bottom bar is a navigation bar at the bottom of an app or webpage.

Minimum height

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The min-height CSS property defines an element’s minimum height.

Domain

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A domain, or domain name, is the unique address that directs to a website on the internet.

Form button

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A form element that lets website visitors submit data to your form handler.

Field-sizing

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Field-sizing is a CSS property that lets form elements like text areas and inputs grow or shrink automatically to fit their content instead of staying locked to a fixed size.

Paginate items

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This checkbox allows you to enable or disable pagination on the selected Collection list.

Smoke test

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A smoke test, also called build verification testing or confidence testing, is a preliminary examination to determine the basic functionality of a software, website, or application.

Deployment

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In software and web development, deployment is the process of moving code from one environment to another, usually in the form of changes or updates.

Layout section

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A tab in the Add panel that houses prebuilt layouts for your Webflow site.

Dither

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Dithering is a design technique that simulates additional colors on a display to smooth transitions in images with limited color palettes.

Comment

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A comment is a text note in source code that offers context, internal information, or other guidance to any developers using it.

Adobe Fonts API token

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An Adobe Fonts API token protects and supports your data from Adobe Fonts with other programs you may be using to personalize your website’s fonts.

End user

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An end user is an individual or group who directly interacts with a particular product, service, or user interface (UI), such as a website or application.

Synchronous

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Synchronous programming refers to sequentially executed operations.

Cascading rules

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The order in which a Webflow site's CSS styles flow from desktop to mobile breakpoints.

Document type definition (DTD)

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A document type definition (DTD) defines the structure, validity, and attributes of standard generalized markup language (SGML) documents, such as GML, HTML, and XML.

Container

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An element that contains content.

Parent

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The element directly above in the hierarchy tree.

Canvas

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The <canvas> tag in HTML5 creates a container for dynamic graphics and image rendering on a webpage.

Bundling

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Bundling, or bundle pricing, is a pricing technique in which retailers sell products together at a lower price than they would be sold at individually.

Encapsulation

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Encapsulation is an object-oriented programming (OOP) process that combines functions and the data they manipulate into a single entity.

Shim

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A shim is a code snippet enabling modern web features to function within older programming or browsing environments.

.htaccess

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.htaccess is a powerful configuration file that allows you to configure and control how your website functions.

Facebook button

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A Facebook button is a clickable element on a website that allows users to connect to or share content on the social media platform.

ATAG

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Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) are a layered rule-set that influence how designers and developers create a more accessible internet.

Localization

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Localization (l10n) involves adapting digital content and applications to meet a specific region or culture’s language and conventions.

Deep copy

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In programming, a deep copy is a replica of an object that doesn’t share the same references as the original. That way, if you make changes to the duplicate, the original stays the same.

Folder settings

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Allows you to manage your folders.

Widget

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A widget is an interactive element embedded in a user interface that facilitates specific user actions or displays important information at a glance.

Span text

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The span tag is used to style inline-text.

Text link

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A typography element that is used to link to other pages or sections of a webpage.

Literal

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In JavaScript, literals are fixed values written directly into the code.

Help text

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Help text is a user interface design element that provides additional information or guidance to users to clarify which content should go in a given Collection field.

Flex-align

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A flexbox property that lets you customize the alignment behavior of flex children, based on the cross-axis of the flex container. The cross axis is the opposite of the flex-direction property, so if you set the direction to vertical, the cross axis is horizontal. Options include start, center, end, baseline, and stretch.

Receipt emails

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Email confirmations you receive upon making Webflow payments.

Position section

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A section in the Style panel that houses CSS properties related to the positioning of an element.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a collection of strategies to enhance a website’s ranking and visibility on search engines.

Form submission

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When someone sends data through one of your site's forms.

Algorithm

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An algorithm is a set of rules or steps that help solve problems or carry out specific tasks.

Deprecated

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Deprecated HTML tags are old tags replaced by updated alternatives in modern web design and development.

Desktop breakpoint

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A breakpoint, or media query, is the width at which a website’s design and layout adjust to fit screens of different sizes. When designing in Webflow, breakpoints for smaller devices inherit styles from the base — or desktop — breakpoint by default.

Left margin

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Left margin is a CSS property that defines the space between an element's left edge and its surroundings.

Cipher

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In cryptography, a cipher is a digital security algorithm that encrypts and decrypts data.

Class

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A class is a template that defines variables for objects with similar properties.

Serialization

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Serialization is the process of converting data into an optimized format for storage, transmission, and sharing.

Display: none

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Display: none is a CSS property that hides website elements. This code tells the document flow to ignore the element entirely, making it invisible.

Closing tag

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A closing tag is an instructional piece of code that ends a section of page content in HTML.

ALPN

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ALPN stands for Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation. It’s a Transport Layer Security (TLS) extension that aids client and server identification during secure data transfers.

Optimization

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Optimization is a systematic approach to improve a website's appearance, functionality, and visual appeal to enhance the user experience, improve search engine rankings, and achieve business objectives.

Heading

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A heading is a text element that provides a title or headline for a section of content on a webpage. These elements guide users and search engines through your content.

Static page

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A static page is a document with fixed content that makes up an individual web page on your site.

Pages panel

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A panel in the left toolbar where you can add static pages and folders to your Webflow site. You can also manage and access Utility pages and Collection pages.

Java

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Java is an object-oriented programming language for building dynamic, interactive web applications across platforms

Designer

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The main interface where you can build sites.

ASCII

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The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is an encoding standard that assigns numerical values to characters and translates them into computer-readable code.

Node title

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The type of element you're working with, i.e., H1, link, button, etc.

Display: grid

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The display: grid CSS property defines a website element (such as a button or header) as a grid container.

Flex-basis

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Flex-basis is a CSS property used in flexboxes that sets the initial size of a flex item before it grows or shrinks.

Google site verification meta tag

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Adding a Google site verification meta tag to your website's HTML code allows Google to verify that you own the site.
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