Navigating the Internet

World Wide Web (WWW) is a collection of web pages connected together with hyperlinks. Each document or page has a unique address that allows you to find it among the millions of other documents on the Web. The address is called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or sometimes a Uniform Resource Indicator (URI). When you chose a new link by clicking on it or by typing it into the address field your browser sends a request for that document and displays it on the screen. That link can be to a different section of the current document, another document on the same website as the original or on another website anywhere in the world. Web pages are designed using hypertext markup language or HTML.

The key to the web are the links to different, useful or interesting pages. Internet users collect links to their favorite sites or web pages and add them to a bookmark or favorites list.

An example of a link would be A link begins with HTTP which stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol and describes the type of connection. WWW (World Wide Web) is the sub-domain and not always required. GRASSROOTSDESIGN is the domain name and COM is the generic top level domain (gTLD). Some of the other gTLD are ORG, NET, BIZ, INFO, and NAME. Beginning in 2013 dozens of gTLDs where introduced. Everything after the domain name is the path to the specific file and/or folder that is being accessed. In the example above 'intro' is the folder and 'navigation' is the file that is being viewed.

Hint: If you are looking for a specific company or organization try typing into the address bar to go directly to that company's website.

Most countries maintain their own "country specific" top level domain (ccTLD) which is two characters. The lists below show the ccTLDs sorted by country and by ccTLD.

Receiving information, such as a web page, from another computer is called downloading. When a user chooses a web page to go to the browser automatically downloads the information from the website and displays it on the user's computer screen. The user can also choose to download specific files. Sending information to another computer is called uploading. To place a web page on a website a web developer must upload the file from their computer to the ISP's server.

Being Online means being connected to another computer, whether that computer is your ISP, your friend's computer across town or a remote office computer, through a modem, or digital connection. Going Offline means disconnecting your computer from the remote connection.

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