Basic

Internet Terminologies,
Features, and Functions
CREATIVE TECH 7
 Internet
It might be helpful to think of the Internet as a vast
system of roads all connecting to each other. You
may have heard the term “information
superhighway.” It’s a vast infrastructure of pathways
allowing computers to “talk” to each other, even
though the computers may use different operating
systems. They do this through unique identification
numbers called Internet Protocol Addresses (IP
addresses).
 World Wide Web
The abbreviation “www” stands for World Wide
Web. Many people think the World Wide Web
is the same thing as the Internet. It isn’t. While the
Internet is a large connection of networks
(hardware), the World Wide Web is a way to access
the information on the Internet.
It’s like the software you need to run programs on
the hardware of your computer. So, the Internet is
broader than the World Wide Web.
 HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
The Web uses common communication protocols (sets
of rules) and special languages. One of these is called
HyperText Markup Language (HTML). These special
languages act as a bridge, allowing computers to
communicate that don’t use compatible operating
systems. This means that you don’t have to use a specific
type of computer in order to access a website.

Besides the Web, there are other ways to disseminate

information, such as email, File Transfer
Protocol (FTP), and Telnet.
SURFING THE WEB

CREATIVE TECH 7
 Browse
The process of moving through a Web site or
"surfing the Net," using a World Wide Web
browser and clicking on a variety of hyperlinks.
Derived from the notion of "browsing" through a
store, the term implies you are "just looking,"
but in fact, you are interacting: You must point-
and click to get to the next Web page. (from
www.netlingo.com)
 Browser (or Web browser)
A program used to view, download, upload, surf,
or otherwise access documents (for example,
Web pages) on the Internet. Netscape Navigator
and Internet Explorer are well-known "Web
browsers" that enable you to view and interact
with Web sites. (from www.netlingo.com)
 web page, website, homepage
A web page is a single page of information on the World Wide Web.

A website refers to a group of web pages identified by a single

domain. For example, all of the web pages on the Indian Hills
website begin with www.indianhills.edu.
Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and
Wikipedia.

A homepage is the first or front page of a website. If you were to

type “www.indianhills.edu” into your web browser, the first web
page that came up would be the website’s homepage.
For example: The Indian Hills website contains many web pages,
including the homepage.
 URL or “Uniform Resource Locator”
A URL or “Uniform Resource Locator” is the unique
address of each web page. For example, the URL for
the Indian Hills Bookstore is:
http://www.indianhills.edu/bookstore/index.html
Each URL has several parts that appear in a specific
order. Let’s look at each part by using the URL for
the Indian Hills Bookstore as an example:
http://www.indianhills.edu/bookstore/index.html
http://www.indianhills.edu/bookstore/index.html
 Protocol
A protocol is a set of rules, used to retrieve a
specific document. The “http” in our URL refers
to HyperText Transfer Protocol. The “http” is
followed by a colon and two forward
slashes, then “www,” which refers to the World
Wide Web.
 Domain Name
The domain name consists of two parts. In our example,
“indianhills.edu” is the domain name. where “indianhills” is the host
and “.edu” is the top-level domain. This suffix indicates the type of
organization to which the host belongs. As you can probably guess,
“.edu” indicates that the host, “indianhills,” is an educational
institution.
Common Top-Level Domains
.com Commercial or business websites, however
anyone may use this now
.gov United States Government websites
.mil United States Military websites
.org Organizational websites
(often non-profit organizations)
 FAQ (short for frequently asked questions)
a FAQ is an online document that poses a series of
common questions and answers on a specific topic.
FAQs originated in Usenet groups as a way to
answer questions about the rules of the service.
Frequently, FAQs are formatted as help files or
hypertext documents. (from www.webopedia.com)
 Hyperlink
An element in an electronic document that links
to another place in the same document
or to an entirely different document. Typically,
you click on the hyperlink to follow the link.
Hyperlinks are the most essential ingredient of
all hypertext systems, including the World Wide
Web. (from www.webopedia.com)
 Link
Text or images on a Web page that a user can
click on in order to access or connect to another
document. Links are most commonly thought of
as the technology that connects two Web pages
or Web sites. They are most commonly seen on
your browser as underlined words. (from
www.netlingo.com)
 Menu
A list of items you can select. This term also
loosely refers to any type of drop-down menu,
dialogue box, check box, or list of option buttons
that appear on a Web site. (from
www.netlingo.com)
Rollover menu
Popup menu
Dropdown menu
 Menu
Rollover menu: A rollover menu is a dynamic HTML function that is
triggered when the cursor is placed over a certain image or text on a
Web site (the “navigation label”). Thus, a rollover menu is hidden
until the user positions the cursor over the navigation label.

Popup menu: a menu that appears outside of the menu bar and
that pops up when a user clicks on it. (from
www.usabilityfirst.com/glossary)

Dropdown menu (or drop-down menu): in a menu bar, an item you

can click that brings down a list of options to choose, typically used
to perform commands or set options. (from
www.usabilityfirst.com/glossary)
 Navigation bar (or nav bar)
The set of directional tools presented on a Web site,
or the hyperlinked options that when clicked on take
you to other sections of the site.
The names on a nav bar are usually determined by
the titles of the sections within a Web site.
Almost all Web pages are linked in numerous places
to numerous other pages, per the nature of the Web
itself, and nav bars are supposed to guide users
through what could seem like a tangled mess. (from
www.netlingo.com)
 Plugin or plug-in
A software program that extends the capabilities
of your browser in a specific way, giving you, for
example, the ability to play audio samples or
view movies on your computer screen. Think of
a plugin as a smaller, add-on computer program
that works in conjunction with a larger
application by enhancing its capabilities. (from
www.netlingo.com)
 Plugin or plug-in
A plugin is a software add-on that is installed on a
program, enhancing its capabilities. For example, if you
wanted to watch a video on a website, you may need a
plugin to do so. If the plugin is not installed, your
browser will not understand how to play the video.

Every web browser has an official website where you can

download and install plugins (also called "add-ons" or
"extensions"). The web browser publisher (e.g., Google,
Mozilla, Apple, etc.) verifies the plugins are not harmful
before making them available to download.
 Upload
To copy a file from your local computer to a
server or host system; the reverse process of
download. (from www.netlingo.com)
 User
A term that defines the online audience, it also
refers to anyone who uses a computer. (from
www.netlingo.com)
 Web page
A single HTML file that contains text and images, is
part of a Web site, and has an individual file name
assigned to it. When viewed by a Web browser, this
file could actually be several screen dimensions long
(appearing as more than "a page"). Many times, on
the Web, a user must "scroll down the page" in
order to view the rest of the contents on the screen.
Even if "the page" prints out at ten pages long, that
one HTML file is considered a single "Web page."
(from www.netlingo.com)
 Web Site
A place on the Internet or World Wide Web. It
refers to a body of information as a whole,
for a particular domain name. A Web site is a
place made up of Web pages. (from
www.netlingo.com)
 World Wide Web
A system of Internet servers that support specially
formatted documents. The documents are
formatted in a markup language called HTML
(HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to
other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and
video files.
This means you can jump from one document to
another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all
Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.
(from www.webopedia.com)
 Browse
• Make Effective Presentations
• Using Awesome Backgrounds
• Engage your Audience
• Capture Audience Attention
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Product A Product B
• Feature 1 • Feature 1
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