TUTORIAL FOR NEWCOMERS TO THE INTERNET
 
7- Addresses (URLs) 
Basics  
More Basics  
1 - Scope of the Internet  
2 - Connecting  
3 - How ISPs Differ  
4 - Definitions   
5 - The Browser  
WORLD WIDE WEB  
6 - "Web Page"  
7 - Addresses (URLs)  
8 - Bookmarks 
9 - Known Address  
10 - Navigating   
11 -  Frames  
12 - The "Home" Page  
13 - Cruising  
14 - Searching  
15 - Saving Text  
16 - Saving Pictures  
17 - Security  
18 - Plugins  
E-Mail  
19 - Programs/Settings  
20 - E-mail Addresses  
21 - Using E-mail  
22 - Attachments  
23 - Listservs  
Other  
24 -Newsgroups  
25 -Netiquette
Each of the hundreds of millions of Web pages on the Internet has a unique address.  You've seen them in magazines and on boxtops and on television.  Web addresses look something like this: 
 
http://www.
 
Actually, this is the address of the main page of the whole Rabbitbrush Web site.  This specific page has more added to the above. 
  
.../7-addresses.html
 
The whole address of this specific page is shown just above  (look in the shaded part of this window to see it).  In fact, the address of every page you go to is displayed when you arrive there.   

Pass your mouse over the links at left.  As you do, watch the status bar at the bottom of this window.  It will show the address of the page linked to. 

Because every single page of the hundreds of millions on the World Wide Web has a unique address, anyone in the world can find every available resource, if he/she knows where to look.   

Every character in an address is important; the distinction between upper and lower case is also important. 

    NOTE: Addresses on the Internet are also called URLs, standing for Uniform Resource Location. 
     
ANATOMY OF AN ADDRESS 

Given the address  
  

 http://www.

or  

 http://www.whitehouse.gov
  
The first part of the address, http://, tells the browser that this is a HyperText document, which refers to the tagging language used in composing Web pages. 

The next part of the address points to the particular server (computer) in the world where this file is actually stored.   You'll often see www in addresses, standing for World Wide Web.  Sometimes the last two parts of a server name ( or whitehouse.gov) are called a domain name.  

The very last part of the domain name varies very little.  Only a few options are available: 

  • com or net for general commercial Web servers
  • edu for servers at higher educational institutions
  • org for non-profit organizations' servers
  • gov for U.S. federal government servers
If you're looking for a particular company on the Web, it's a good bet that its address will be  http://www._____.com with the company name or initials in the blank. 

All other Web servers end in two letter codes which identify a country.  In the U.S., the suffix us is reserved for local and state governmental agencies.  For example: 

In other countries, the two letter country code may be used as that country wishes.  To view the list of countries connected to the Internet and their two-letter codes, click here.  (You'll be able to click your Back button at upper left to return to this page.) 

  

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