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THE WORLD WIDE WEB - THE BASICS

Web browsers

To look at the World Wide Web from your computer you need a piece of software called a web browser. You're using one at the moment, and the chances are that it's sitting at the top of this page, complete with menus and toolbars.

A 'browser' is software which turns the raw data arriving through your modem into viewable webpages including graphics, animation and sometimes sound and even video.

The two most common types of browser are called Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer (often shortened to 'Netscape' and 'IE'). And apart from opening up the entire world of cyberspace to you, the best thing about them is that they are entirely free.

URLs are...

When you use the internet and the Web you will come across "URLs" like the one shown here. Impress your friends by telling them that URL stands for "Uniform Resource Locator". And impress yourself by learning what a URL is and what it is used for.

A URL is an internet file (or 'resource') address. Every different file on the internet (such as a webpage) needs an address so that it can be found by programs. How do you go about calling up a specific page? First of all you have to know the location of a page. Not in a geographic sense, but in terms of its URL. The URL has a number of components and if it's correctly typed in full into the address or location box before you press 'enter', the browser will know how to find it.

Bookmarks

When you've found a good website, your browser lets you store the addresses or URLs of your favourite pages. In Netscape these are called 'Bookmarks' and in Internet Explorer 'Favorites'. Then, when you want to go back to a particular page, you can go there in one click, instead of trying to remember where it was that you got there from, or even having to recall a very long URL.

Adding a bookmark couldn't be more simple. When you are at a page you wish to bookmark, just click your mouse on the 'Bookmarks' or 'Favorites' menu at the top of the screen and move down to select 'Add Bookmark' or 'Add Favorite'.