Understanding the Web


tip

You can normally leave off the http:// when you enter an address into your web browser. In most cases, you can even leave off the www., and just start with the domain part of the address.


Before you can surf the Web, you need to understand a little bit about how it works.

Information on the World Wide Web is presented in pages. A web page is similar to a page in a book, made up of text and graphics. A web page differs from a book page, however, in that it can include other elements, such as audio and video, and links to other web pages.

It's this linking to other web pages that makes the Web such a dynamic way to present information. A link on a web page can point to another web page on the same site or to another site. Most links are included as part of a web page's text and are called hypertext links, or just hyperlinks. (If a link is part of a graphic, it's called a graphic link.) These links are usually in a different color from the rest of the text and often are underlined; when you click a link, you're taken directly to the linked page.

Web pages reside at a website. A website is nothing more than a collection of web pages (each in its own individual computer file) residing on a host computer. The host computer is connected full-time to the Internet so that you can access the siteand its web pagesanytime you access the Internet. The main page at a web site usually is called a home page, and it often serves as an opening screen that provides a brief overview and menu of everything you can find at that site. The address of a web page is called a URL, which stands for uniform resource locator. Most URLs start with http://, add a www., continue with the name of the site, and end with a .com.

note

You can use any web browser to surf the Webthe instructions here work equally as well with Netscape or MSN Explorer, or the browser built into America Online.




Absolute Beginner's Guide to Computer Basics
Absolute Beginners Guide to Computer Basics (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0789731754
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 261

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net