Adam Everett Miller has just posted an article on AETUTS+ that clarifies some crucial After Effects terminology.
He defines terms like script, expression, effect, plug-in, filter, and (animation) preset. Most important and useful is the fact that he distinguishes between these terms and steers people away from common confusions between them.
I try to define terms in context in After Effects Help, usually in the first or most prominent place that each term is used. For example, words like composition, render, and export are defined in the sections "About compositions" and "Rendering and exporting overview", respectively. But it's sometimes good to have someone bring it all together in one place to untangle some of the confusion and misusage.
I appreciate that Adam has taken my definitions and added to them. (That's why we have the Creative Commons tag on the bottom of each page of Help on the Web---so that y'all can reuse the material as long as you attribute it and don't sell it.)
Thanks, Adam!
You have tons of info already, so it's counter intuitive that people are having trouble locating the basics.
I think you might expand or relabel categories in "Getting Started" in AE Help. I know I've seen the contained pages before but didn't arrive from the table of contents, and pass them in 1st passes when looking.
You could even add a short section in Resources ("Resources for Beginners and Beyond") for beginners. "Beyond the basics" is well covered but maybe the basics stuff could be put in their own section.