The URL
As was mentioned in the last lab. The URL (or Uniform Resource Locater) is the address of the web page. But how does it work? The URL can be broken down into four parts. Let's use the address of this page as an example.
http://www.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/csci1001/netscape2.html First, you will notice that there is a part at the start, that ends with a colon and two slashes. This is the method by which you are using the internet. In this case, the address states that we are using http:. We could as easily have typed in an address that begins with gopher: or ftp: , as well as some other endings.
Next, is a series of short words seperated by dots (www.itlabs.umn.edu). This is the server on which the page resides. A server is a name for a computer that you can connect to, and that holds pages.
Next, is a series of longer words with more slashes (/classes/csci1001/) these are the subdirectories (folder) where the page resides. This tells the computer, attach to the server, then move into the classes directory and then the csci1001 directory.
Finally, is the name of the page itself. (netscape2.html). After looking in the csci1001 directory, the computer finds a file marked netscape2.html and loads it. The ending .html tells the computer that this is a file that is already formatted for a graphical browser.
Saving Images
One thing of interest in using Netscape is that by moving onto a graphic and holding down your left mouse button, a menu will come up offering you a few commands. One of the choices being "Save this Image As..." by clicking on that choice, you will be able to choose where you would like to save that image. Practice by downloading an image to your disk.
Finding words
After you have loaded a web page, you can find the specific word in it by using the "Find" command on the "Edit menu. This is good for extremely long and wordy documents, where you are trying to find a specific piece of information.
Adding Bookmarks
If there is a place on the internet that you find yourself wanting to go back to, you can add a bookmark to that location. A bookmark is basically a pointer to a web page. It keeps track of the address, and allows you to click on it to go back to that location. The "Bookmarks" menu has the choice "Add Bookmark". By clicking on this, a pointer will be added to the current page that you are on. CAUTION don't do this in the lab. If everyone added their bookmarks, the list would fill up screens with bookmarks. Best to only do this on your own machine.
Viewing your history
Under the "Go" menu, you will notice a list of all the different places you've been. You may click on any of these locations to get back to the previous places. The only thing to be aware of here, is if you click on the "Back" button, and go somewhere else, the place that you went Back from will no longer exist. The first location on this list is the page that appears when you click on the "Home" button.
Reconnecting
Finally, if you notice that you are having problems loading a page, and you are sick of waiting. Click on the "Stop" button, and click on the link again. It seems as though the computer sometimes get's lost. By reclicking on the machine, you "nudge" the computer and sometimes cause it to continue.
If you'd like to test yourself on the skills. |
To return to lab 2 |