Web Training Course: Introduction to Web Editing Course Rationale ...

4. Using the Web
4.1. What are the Internet and the World Wide Web?
The Internet is a network of computers across the globe allowing individuals to
communicate with one another. Often called the World Wide Web or Web for
short, it is a collection of electronic documents that are linked together in a
structure similar to a spider’s web. These documents are stored in various
locations around the globe on computers called servers. [2] [3]
4.2. What is the Web made of?
The Web is made up of a user’s Personal Computer (PC), Web browser software
used to gain access to the Web, a connection to an Internet Service Provider
(ISP), servers to host the data, and finally routers and switches. The routers and
switches are used to direct the transfer and flow of this data for viewing as Web
pages in Web browsers. [2] [3]
4.2.1. Web Browser
An Internet browser is a software programme used for accessing and navigating
the Internet to view Web pages on a PC. A browser, also known as client
software, retrieves data from servers and displays this data as Web pages. The
two most commonly used browsers for viewing the Internet are Microsoft
Internet Explorer (IE) and Mozilla Firefox (Firefox). Some others include Safari,
Opera, and Netscape. [2] [3]
Title Bar
The name of the Web site or title of the Web page can be found in the top left
hand corner of the browser screen in the title bar section. It is the horizontal blue
bar that runs across the screen. [3]
Address Bar
The address bar can be used for navigating the Web. If you know the address of
a Web page you want to visit, type the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) in the
address bar and press Return/Enter on the keyboard, or Go on the right hand side
of the address bar. [3]
Status Bar
The status bar is the name given to the bar that runs across the bottom of the
browser screen. It reports on the progress of data download and also displays
link information when hovering over a hyperlink. [2]
Note: You should be familiar with your browser type and also know the version
of the browser you are using. New versions are frequently made available to
computer users and we recommend that you upgrade as soon as possible.
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