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Glossary Tooltips

Terms get explained right where they first appear

Guides, technical docs and policy pages are full of words a reader may not know. Explaining each one in brackets bloats the sentence, and sending the reader off to a glossary page breaks the reading. Write the terms and definitions inside the mount point as a dl list: the widget walks the text and puts a dotted underline under the first occurrence of each term, and nowhere else. Hover, tap or focus the underline and a bubble opens right there with the term, the definition and a link when you gave one. Korean terms are found even with a particle attached, and a term hiding inside a longer word is left alone. Where the table of contents widget gathers the skeleton of a document in one place, this one explains a word without breaking the flow. Both only read the text and never change it. The glossary list stays on the page, so visitors without JavaScript and search engines read it as it is. Included in the BootSignal subscription ($20/mo or $200/yr, every widget on 1 domain, add more from the dashboard). Unlimited terms while subscribed.

Preview

Put the site behind a CDN and a server near the visitor serves the page instead. Until the TTL set for each file runs out, the origin server is not asked again.

So a fix you need out right now only shows after a cache invalidation. If the origin server pauses for a moment, pages keep going out for as long as the TTL lasts.

CDN
A network of servers close to the visitor. It serves copies of the page so the origin server carries less load.
TTL
How long a copy may be reused. Only after that does anyone ask the origin server again.
cache invalidation
Forcing copies that still have time left to be thrown away. Used when a fix has to go out immediately.

The same loader (bootsignal.js) powers your other widgets too. An active subscription is required to run the widget.

Pricing is a single BootSignal subscription: $20/mo or $200/yr (2 months free). It unlocks every widget on 1 registered domain, and you can add more domains from the dashboard. Writing terms requires an active subscription; while subscribed, usage is unlimited with no per-use charges, and reading is always free for visitors. Manage the subscription at accounts.mrlatte.net. See full pricing →