Browsing the Web

Access to the Internet

The Internet uses a certain mode of communication, or protocol, to ensure computers of different types can communicate on the network.  This is referred to as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).  TCP/IP breaks information into packets and routes the packets in different paths to the destination.  When it reaches the destination it reassembles the packets.</span>
To connect to the Internet you need to connect your computer to a computer that is connected to the Internet.

Internet Addresses

Every computer on the Internet has a unique IP, Internet Protocol, address.  This address is a block of four sets of numbers separated by periods. 
example:  209.4.201.194
Since people remember text strings more consistently than obscure numbers, the Domain Name System was created which uses text and symbols to represent internet addresses.  
example:  www.anycorp.important.com
This is a fictitious address that demonstrates the Domain Name System.  The block of text, "anycorp", identifies the computer.   "important" identifies the network to which the computer is connected and is referred to as the sub-domain.  "com" is the top level domain and usually represents the type of organization.

Common U.S. Top-Level Domains

.org	Organization, generally non-profit
.mil	Military
.net	Network centers
.gov	Government
.edu	Educational
.com	Commercial

International Top-Level Domain

.au	Australia
.ca	Canada
.dk	Denmark
.fr	France
.de	Germany
.il	Israel
.jp	Japan
.uk	United Kingdom

Internet Services

World Wide Web - Easy to use interface to access information anywhere in the world
Electronic Mail - To send and receive messages
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - To transfer files.
Newsgroups - Discussion groups

Internet Explorer Windows Components

1. Title Bar - Indicates program name and current page
2. Menu Bar - For Internet Explorer menu commands
3. Address Bar - Indicates current page address and also to navigate to new addresses
4. Content Area - Where web page contents display
5. Status Bar - Helpful information about current page
6. Progress Bar - Contained in Status Bar.  Displays the progress of current page.

Browsing the World Wide Web

Browsing the web is similar to reading the newspaper.  When you want to find information in the paper you turn to the correct section.  On a web page you click on the links to jump from one section to the other.

Uniform Resource Locators

The URL is an address to identify and locate a page on the World Wide Web.  It contains a resource type, host name and if necessary the path of the site. 
In the URL    http://www.compuhelpinc.net 
"http://" is the resource type. Http stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol and it indicates the server is a Web site.  "www.compuhelpinc.net " is the host name.  
For quick access to a Web site you can type the URL in the Location field or Open Location Dialog box at anytime.

Navigation Buttons

After following a link you may wish to go back to the page you started from.  You can use the Back button  on the toolbar to go back one page at a time.   

The Forward button is available after you have used the Back button once.  

The Stop button stops the current operation.  This may be necessary when a page isn't loading properly or if the connection to the internet is lost.

  There may be times when it necessary to reload your page.  The Reload button reconnects to the host and displays a fresh copy of the page.

  The Home button brings you back to your home page.  Your home page is automatically set for you when you install your browser.  You can change your home page at anytime by choosing the down arrow next to the home icon. 

Searching the Web

The World Wide Web contains a vast amount of information from all over the world.   A search engine will look for information on the Web based on your specifications.   Every search engine searches a little differently so it is important to use more than one search engine to access data.  The information obtained by the search engine is referred to as hits.
We are going to use some of the most popular search engines in the links below to perform searches based on your criteria.  It is important to be as specific as possible when defining your search.  If you search for keyboards you will get many hits ranging from piano keyboards to computer keyboards.  You would have more luck searching for computer keyboards.  It is not uncommon to get thousands and sometimes millions of hits on a search.
Most of the time you are going to want to include more than one word in your search.   Although each search engine has it's own syntax, the following are normally recognized conventions.  To view the specific syntax for each search engine visit their home page.

Initial Capital Letters	Marc Merit	Proper Name
Quotes	"Washington DC"	Appear together
Plus sign	keyboard +computer	Include this word
Minus sign	keyboard -piano	Doesn't include word

Saving a Web Page to Your Hard Drive

To save a page to your hard drive or to your floppy disk you would use the Save As command on the File menu.
If you save it in HTML format the file retains its format.  If you save in Plain Text format the file takes up less space, but only saves the text.

More Favorites Features

Creating folders for your Favorites may be useful if you have collected many and you need to organize them.  To create folders for favorites, go to the Favorites menu and choose Organize Favorites.  Click on the new folder button, type a name for the folder and press enter.  You can move items to this folder by simply clicking and dragging them there.  You can also create subfolders.

Miscellaneous

To create a desktop shortcut for any URL address, you can drag the URL link icon (the icon to the left of the URL in the Address field, that looks like a piece of paper and a lowercase "e") to the desktop.
Some features discussed in class today can also be accomplished by using shortcut, right click, menus.  For example you can add favorites, move back or forward a page. 
Shortcut menus can also be used to copy graphic images you find on the web.  Please be careful when doing this because some could be copyrighted.  When you right click on a graphic a shortcut menu appears with options to View Image, Save Image As..., and Save As Wallpaper.