Chapter 8 Browsing and Searching the Web

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 Getting Started In this Chapter, you will learn: What is a Web page What is a URL How a browser works How to use a search engine About saving text and graphics that are found on the Web About Hardware: Web servers Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 What’s a Web page? A Web page is the output of Web-based files which is then displayed on your computer Millions of Web pages are available on the Web Clickable hypertext links allow you to move between Web pages Computers that store Web pages are known as Web servers Each Web server hosts one or more Web sites Web sites contain information about a specific topic The person who creates and maintains a site is the Webmaster Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 What’s a Web page? The main page of a Web site is the home page Any page on a Web site can be linked to the home page or to other Web pages Text links usually appear as blue or green underlined words Graphics links appear as pictures When you point to a link the pointer changes to a hand-shaped link pointer By clicking a link you are requesting the Web page indicated by the link Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 What’s a Web page? Web page with text and graphic links Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 What’s a URL? A URL (uniform resource locator) is a Web page address Most URLs begin with HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) indicating the communication standard The Web server’s name begins with www, the name of the company, and the top-level domain, such as .com or .gov A folder name, file name, and file extension, may follow like this: /contest/rules.htm Most Web pages have an .htm or .html extension because they are stored in a file format used on the Web called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 What’s a URL? Example of a URL Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 How does a browser work? A Web browser is the software that displays Web pages on your computer screen. The browser: Interprets HTML tags embedded in the file Handles links between Web pages Plug-ins are programs that extend the variety of files and media that your browser can display, such as Adobe Flash Player Your browser can interact with a Web server to create a cookie, which is a message that contains information to help the Web server identify you the next time you visit the Web site Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 How does a browser work? Browser Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

How do I use a search engine? A search engine catalogs Web pages to make it easier to find information Popular search engines are Google and Yahoo! You enter words and phrases in the Search box and the search engine returns a list of links to pages that match your search criteria Most search engines can handle simple and complex searches A simple search would be entering in a topic and a few synonyms such as “weight loss diet calories” A complex search would return a more targeted list by using sophisticated search techniques. Consult your search engine’s online Help for these techniques Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

How do I use a search engine? Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Can I save text and graphics that I find on the Web? You can print or save articles and graphics To print a Web page, use your browser’s Print button or the Print option on the File menu You can also save a copy of the entire Web page, selected paragraphs, or graphics Respect the Author’s intellectual property rights If you want to use a graphic that you downloaded, you should obtain permission by e-mailing the copyright holder If you incorporate text into your documents you must include a citation with the author’s information Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 Hardware: Web servers Web sites, blogs and e-commerce sites are handled by Web servers that run specialized software A blog is a Web site that is formatted as a series of journal entries An e-commerce site offers online access to merchants and services to buy Internet service for a Web server is typically more expensive than standard service Web servers require constant attention and need to be operational around the clock Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 Hardware: Web servers Most people host their Web site with a Web hosting service, which is a company that operates industrial-strength servers Web page hosting offers space for personal Web pages Blog hosting offers software for creating blogs Image hosting and video hosting offers sites where you can upload photos or video clips E-commerce hosting offers software and server space to construct an online store Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 Hardware: Web servers The financial model for Web hosting varies Sites that host personal Web pages are sometimes free, especially if visitors have to view ads Many hosting services charge a nominal monthly fee in exchange for upgraded storage space, number of simultaneous connections, or amount of data transferred E-commerce hosting is usually fee-based Anyone can obtain a domain name from an authorized domain name registrar Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 Hardware: Web servers Blade (or rack-mounted) Server Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 Hardware: Web servers Registering a Domain Name Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

The filtering controversy What do you think? If you had children, would you use filtering software on your home PC to block access to certain Web sites? Do you think schools and public libraries that provide Internet access to children should use filtering software? Should a government prevent its citizens from accessing Web-based material that does not conform with its political and cultural agenda? Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8

Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8 Chapter Summary You should now know: What is a Web page What is a URL How a browser works How to use a search engine How to save text and graphics that are found on the Web About Web servers Practical PC 5th Edition Chapter 8