Glossary
Definitions for terms you might see in the docs and in hosting guides.
General
Archive
Your music site, the website that holds your music. It’s built by Faircamp from a folder on your computer and then put online (hosted) so it has a link you can submit to the Public Library.
BYOT (Bring your own technology)
The idea that everyone brings their own tools and infrastructure. For the Public Library, that means you create and host your own archive; the Library catalog just links to it.
Faircamp
A free app by Simon Repp that turns a folder of your music (and optional artwork/metadata) into a static website, your archive. faircamp website
Federated
A system made of many independent parts that work together (e.g. many people’s archives) instead of one central company running everything.
Self-hosted
You put your files on a server or service you choose and control, rather than uploading to a single big platform (e.g. Spotify or SoundCloud). Your archive is self-hosted when you put it on Neocities, Bunny CDN, Backblaze, or similar.
Publish page (publisher page)
The page on the Public Library where you submit or update the link to your archive so it appears in the catalog. Publish page
Profile (profile page)
Where you set how you appear in the catalog, e.g. artist name and profile picture. Separate from the publish page, where you submit your archive link. Profile page
Hosting and the web
Hosting
Putting your archive (the built website files) on a service so it’s available at a public URL (e.g. https://yoursite.neocities.org). That URL is the link you submit to the Public Library.
Bucket
A container for files in cloud storage (e.g. Backblaze B2). Like a top-level folder in the cloud. Your faircamp build is uploaded into a bucket.
CDN (Content Delivery Network)
A network of servers that store copies of your site’s files and serve them from locations close to visitors, so the site loads faster. Bunny CDN is a CDN; the “pull zone” is how your storage is exposed through it.
Pull zone
In Bunny CDN, the setting that connects your stored files to a public URL. Creating a pull zone gives you the link (e.g. yoursite.b-cdn.net) where your archive is visible.
Route translator
A small program (e.g. a Cloudflare Worker) that takes requests from a browser (like “open /album/xyz”) and maps them to the right file in your storage. Some storage (e.g. Backblaze) serves files but doesn’t do this mapping by default; the route translator makes your archive behave like a normal website.
Technical terms (especially Backblaze guide)
CLI (Command Line Interface)
A way to run commands by typing them in a terminal (or command prompt) instead of clicking in an app. The “B2 CLI” is Backblaze’s command-line tool for uploading and managing files.
Credentials
The secret information used to prove who you are to a service, e.g. an Application Key ID and Application Key for Backblaze. Keep these private and never share them.
Application key (app key)
In Backblaze B2, a key (ID + secret) that lets a tool or script access your bucket. You create one in the Backblaze dashboard and use it with the B2 CLI to upload your faircamp build.
Terminal (command line, command prompt)
The window where you type text commands (e.g. b2 sync ...) instead of using menus and buttons. On Mac it’s often “Terminal”; on Windows, “Command Prompt” or “PowerShell.”
.faircamp_build
The folder that Faircamp creates when you build your archive. It contains all the website files (HTML, CSS, audio, etc.). You upload the contents of this folder (or the folder itself, depending on the host) when hosting.