| Browsing is a great way to explore the Internet, especially if you are not exactly sure what you are looking for. You can browse around to see what information or resources you can find. Think of browsing as flipping through the pages in a book to get a sense of the content or looking through the table of contents. Browsing is like an expedition, and you are not always sure where you'll end up! If you don't want to browse, you can go directly to a site. Typing a site's address is the fastest way to get to that site. In keeping with the book metaphor, typing an address would be similar to looking up the page number in the index and then going directly to that page. When you know where you want to gothat is, when you know the site's addressyou can use this method for accessing content on the Internet. Every page on the Internet has an address (sometimes called a URL or uniform resource locator), and this address follows a certain naming method. For instance, the address to Que's Web site is http://www.quepublishing.com. The URL breaks down like this: The first part is the protocol (usually http://, hypertext transfer protocol) and indicates that the site is a graphical, multimedia page. This designation indicates a file site. You do not have to type that part (http://) of the address. Internet Explorer assumes that you want to go to an HTTP site. note  | Another common protocol is ftp:// (file transfer protocol). This type of site is commonly used for sharing files. Also, https:// is the protocol used for secure sites. See "Ensuring Internet Security and Privacy" later in this chapter. |
The next part of the address is the host name (usually www for Web servers). When you type this part, you usually can leave off the www. The most important part of the address is the domain name (which also includes the extension). The domain name is the name of the site and is usually the name or abbreviation of the company or individual. For instance, Que's domain name is quepublishing. tip  | Most Web site names are some form of the site or company name, so often you can simply guess. For instance, to go to the NFL site, type www.nfl.com. If the address is incorrect, you'll see a page explaining that the site is not available. You can try another version of the name or search for the site as covered in Chapter 9. |
The extension indicates the site type. Common extensions include .com, .net, .gov, .edu, or .mil (commercial, network resources, government, educational, or military, respectively). The address (or URL) might also include a path (a list of folders) to the document.
You can find Web site addresses in advertisements, newspaper or magazine articles, and other media sources. To go to an address, follow these steps: 1. | Click in the Address bar.
| 2. | Type the address of the site you want to visit and press Enter. Internet Explorer then displays the page for that address.
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tip | If you have typed a specific address before, you can type only its first few letters; Internet Explorer will display the rest. Press Enter to let Internet Explorer complete the address for you. This feature is called AutoComplete. |
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