4 C H A P T E R © 2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved1 Surfing the Net Whether...

© 2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved 1

4C H A P T E R

Surfing the Net

Whether or not you have surfed the Net, studying the concepts in this chapter will enable you to become a better surfer than if you “just do it.”


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Objectives:

Know what it means to “surf” the Net. Select a Web browser and use it to go

surfing. Understand the elements of a Uniform

resource locator (URL). Know how to go to any URL on the World

Wide Web.


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Objectives:

Visit some of the most exciting sites on the World Wide Web.

Understand the concepts of linking and browsing.

Understand the concepts of a Web page, a home page, and a default page.

Manipulate a window by sizing, scrolling, hiding, maximizing, and switching among multiple windows.


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Objectives:

Navigate using the browser’s buttons and shortcut keys.

Poke around a Web site by manipulating its URL.

Avoid distractions and stay focused on the purpose for which you visited a Web site.


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Objectives:

Know how to create more screen space to display the maximum amount of a Web page inside your browser window.

Bookmark your favorite Web sites for quick recall whenever you want to visit them again.


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What Is Surfing?

In telecommunications, the term surfing means to browse by going from place to place in search of something that interests you.


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Selecting a Web Browser

Netscape and Microsoft make the most popular Web browsers.

Almost everyone on the Web uses either Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.


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Using a Web Browser

You must have a computer that is connected to the Internet according to the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

If the browser is not installed on your computer, you must install it.

Typically you start your Web browser by double-clicking one of these

icons.


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Understanding URLs

protocol

server name

port number (optional)

filename (optional)

anchor (optional)

A URL can have several parts, which always appear in this order:


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Web Sites

Every hypertext document on the World Wide Web resides on one of the computers connected to the network.

The place where the hypertext document is stored on that computer is known as its Web site.

Every Web site has a URL.


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Web Pages

Like books, each site on the Web consists of one or more pages.

Each page at a Web site is known as a Web page.


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Surfing Concepts and Techniques

Surfing the Net enables you to navigate a world full of interconnected information.


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Entering URLs

To go any other site for which you know the URL, you simply type the URL into your Web browser’s URL field, and press the [Enter] key.


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Home Pages

Almost every company has a home page, as do government offices, schools, and colleges.

Home pages organize and help you access the information at that site.


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Default Pages

If you go to a Web site without specifying what document to view, you will get that site’s default page.

The default page is often the home page of the company or person who owns the site.


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Scrolling Pages

When a Web page contains more information than can fit on the screen, a scroll bar will appear.

A scroll bar is a control that lets you move the contents of a window up or down to reveal more information.


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Scrolling PagesClick to scroll up one line. Hold mouse down to scroll up continuously.

Click to scroll up one screen. Hold mouse down to scroll up rapidly.

Click-and-drag this slider to jump anywhere in the document.

Click to scroll down one screen. Hold mouse down to scroll down rapidly.

Click to scroll down one line. Hold mouse down to scroll down continuously.


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Triggering Links

Links form the pathways that interconnect the documents and resources on the Web.

You activate a link by triggering it. There are two kinds of triggers: hypertext

and hyperpicture.


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Hypertext Links

Hypertext triggers consist of one or more words that you click to trigger the events that are linked to the text.

So you can tell which words are hot, the hypertext triggers are underlined or printed in a different color than the rest of the text.


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Hyperpicture Links

Hyperpicture triggers are pictorial hot spots that you click to trigger events linked to images on the screen.

The images can be little icons or larger graphics.


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Hyperpicture Links

Click here to trigger events linked to the text.

Click here to trigger events linked to the hyperpictures.Click here to trigger events linked to the hyperpictures.


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Image Maps

It is also possible to have more than one hot spot in a picture; clicking different parts of the picture can trigger different links.

Depending on where the user clicks, the appropriate feedback is given.

Too Low

Middle C

Too High

Can you find Middle C on the music keyboard?


C H A P T E R 4 Navigation Buttons and

Keys

At the top of your browser you should see a row of navigation buttons with names like Forward, Back, Home, and Stop.


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Manipulating URLs

Suppose you’re curious as to what else is available at a site.

By progressively stripping off the subfolder names of the path to the original document, you can go to the higher levels of the Web site, and use them as surfing-off points.


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Partial URLs

Both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer allow you to type partial URLs.

A partial URL is a shortened form of a complete URL, which the browser automatically expands into a complete URL.


C H A P T E R 4 Coping with

“File Not Found” Errors

If you get a “File Not Found” error, try manipulating the URL

By progressively stripping off the filename and then the folders, you can usually get the URL to take you to a Web page from which you can browse to what you need.


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Sizing and Positioning Your Browser Window

Normally, when you surf the Net, you will want your browser’s window to be full screen.

There are times, however, when you might want to have two browser windows open simultaneously so you can do side-by-side comparisons of the information at different Web sites.


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Working with Multiple Windows

To work with multiple windows, you need to know how to make a particular window become visible when you want to view it, and how to hide the window when you want something else on your screen.


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Focusing on a Purpose

You need to be careful out on the Web to remain focused on the reason why you are browsing.

The whole world of interconnected information is available to you, and it’s loaded with distractions.


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Distractions to Avoid (or to Enjoy)

While the ads can be fun, and sometimes you will want to click one, you need to be careful not to form a habit of meandering.

Your time is limited, and you need to use it wisely. It is better to form the habit of not surfing.


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Distractions to Avoid (or to Enjoy)

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Bookmarking Your Favorite Sites

In a Web browser, a bookmark is a pointer to a Web page that enables you to jump directly to that page, without having to navigate the Web to get there.

To jump to any site that you bookmarked, simply pull down your browser’s bookmark menu, and select the bookmark you want.


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The Netscape Bookmarks dialog.

Bookmarking Your Favorite Sites

The Microsoft Internet Explorer Add to Favorites dialog.


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Retracing Your Steps

Both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer remember your most recently visited sites and make it possible for you to jump back to a previous site without having to press the Back button repeatedly


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Auto Completion

Some browsers have a feature called auto completion. If you begin typing into the browser’s URL field the address of a Web site that you visited previously, the browser will auto-complete the entry to save you time.


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Space

Turn off some of the options that make your browser use extra screen space.

For example, turning off the display of the URL field saves a little screen space and increases the viewing area inside the browser.

Turning off the navigation buttons frees even more screen space.

Having studied the browsing principles and techniques presented so far in this chapter, now you’re ready to go out on the Net and do some serious surfing.


C H A P T E R 4 Visiting Selected Web

sites

Having studied the browsing principles and techniques presented so far in this chapter, now you’re ready to go out on the Net and do some serious surfing.


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Visiting Selected Web Sites

CNN

The CNN Web site presents a menu of local, national, and world news; sports and weather information: and special features.


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Amazon.com

The Amazon.com Web site presents a wide range of products to fulfill your shopping fantasies.


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ESPN Sports

At the ESPN Web site you can find all the latest information about your favorite sport.


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The Global School House

The Global Schoolhouse links kids around the world with a global, Web-based educational network.


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Government Online (Thomas)

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center provides educational links for students of all ages.


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Government Online (THOMAS)

Named after Thomas Jefferson, THOMAS us a Web-based information service of the U.S. Congress.


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Louvre

You can visit he largest museum in western Europe at the Louvre site.


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American Journal Review

The American Journalism Review (AJR) NewsLink site provides access to the top-25 related online newspapers, plus 18,000 other links.


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Autobytel

Autobytel is one of the first sites you should visit if you are looking to buy or sell a car.


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Classroom Connect

ClassroomConnect has a subscription service as well as a collection of free stuff for teachers and kids.


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Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution sponsors many Internet services that provide access to materials from its various museums and research arms.


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New York Stock Exchange

The NYSE Web site is designed as an educational tool for investors, students, and teachers.


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NASDAQ

The NASDAQ stock market’s Web site has a live WebCam and RealAudio.


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TERC

TERC is a nonprofit research and development organization committed to improving mathematics and science teaching and learning.


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Weather Channel

You can find out current weather conditions and forecasts for almost every city in the U.S. at the Weather Channel Web site.


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White House

At the White House Web site you can access many resources.


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MapQuest

MapQuest provides you with maps and driving instructions to and from any address or intersection in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico


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Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) catalogues more the 200,000 movies and keeps information on over 400,00 actors and actresses.


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Finding More Cool Web Sites

To help you find the best sites, a company called About.com hires guides and pays them to keep updating and adding new information and links to Web sites in hundreds of different subjects.


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Finding More Cool Web Sites About.com

About.com hires guides and pays them to keep updating and adding new information and links to Web sites in hundreds of different subjects.


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Portals

A portal is a Web site whose purpose is to provide access to other Web sites and services on the Internet.

The portals know that the more they can make their services match your needs, the more likely it is that you will make them be your start page.


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Personal Portals

A personal portal is a Web site that lets users set preferences, which make the portal show the kinds of information the user wants to see, and hide what the user is not interested in.

My Yahoo, My Excite, and My Lycos are the names for the personal portals you can set up at Yahoo, Excite, and Lycos, respectively.


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Managing Your Web Browser’s Cache

When you surf the Web, your browser keeps copies of the most recently visited Web sites in a place on your hard disk called the cache (pronounced cash).

If the site has not changed, the browser will redisplay the site from the cache, instead of downloading it again.


C H A P T E R 4 How to Manipulate the

Cache

It is possible to change the size and location of the browser’s cache.

You can also purge (i.e., delete) the cache.

Purging the cache can also fix problems when Web pages don’t work properly, especially Web pages with Java.


C H A P T E R 4 How to Manipulate the

Cache

The Netscape cache setting.

The Internet Explorer cache setting.

4 C H A P T E R © 2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved1 Surfing the Net Whether...

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