A
URL is the address of a web page. URL's are unique to each
page they represent, just like street addresses are unique
to each building they represent. They consist of a specific
set of information that directs the computer where to look
for a web site. As you supply more information, the computer
will take you to more specific areas of the web site. You will
always see a URL in the location or address bar of your web
browser. You can enter URL's in this area as well.
Let's
examine a URL:
http://www.bwschools.net/liberty/index.htm
http://
is
the protocol. Http stands for hypertext transfer protocol.
Another protocol is ftp, which stands for file transfer
protocol. These protocols tell the computer what action
to take and coordinate the transfer of information from
one computer to another. In most cases, you no longer need
to enter http in the location bar when typing in a URL.
www.
is
the service to be used on the Internet. It is usually www
although it can be other things like "mail".
bwschools
is
the domain name. This is the name of the company or server
that houses this site. In this case, it is baldwin standing
for Baldwin-Whitehall School District.
.net
is
the domain suffix. It helps identify what type of site
you are viewing, commercial or otherwise. There are a limited
number of domain suffixes and each signifies a different
type of site.
/liberty/
These
are folders. You could type www.bwschools.net in the "Location" or "Address" bar,
but this would take you to the Baldwin-Whitehall School
District main page. By typing the folder name
you specify the exact location of where you want to go.
In this case, Project Liberty web site.
index.htm
This
is a file name. Usually, files are the equivalent of a
web page or, in other words, one page of a book. Typing
in all the information up to this point would take you
to the Prject Liberty Main Page. The .htm or .html is the
file extension. It tells the computer how to interpret
the information contained in the file. .htm and .html tells
the computer that this is a HTML or Hypertext Mark-up Language
file. HTML is simply the computer language responsible
for web pages.
Other
Domain Suffixes
.com
represents
business, commercial, and personal web sites. Examples
of .com's include www.honda.com or www.potterybarn.com.
.edu
Used
by higher educational institutions, like technical schools,
colleges, and universities. Examples include Pitt's address
at www.pitt.edu and Penn State's address at www.psu.edu.
.k12.pa.us
Used
by local Pennsylvania school districts. Example: Baldwin-Whiehall
School District's address at www.baldwin.k12.pa.us
.net
used
by networked organizations or internet service providers
like www.webtv.net.
.org
organizations
that are usually non-profit. Example: the Carnegie Library
of Pittsburgh at www.clpgh.org.
.gov
denotes
governments agencies. Example: The Whitehouse at www.whitehouse.gov
Administration Building, 4900 Curry Road,
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
