How to Find a Web Page
What is a
URL?
The address for
your page is called a URL. Every page on the Internet has its own URL, which is
what you type into your Web browser to locate anything on the Web. URL is an
abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.
A URL will
automatically be assigned when you start a new page. However, the URL will only
access your page when the page has been published.
Parts of a
URL
Since the document, or file, can be on any type
of Internet server, and on any type of computer, accessing the file via a URL
requires specifying several pieces of information:
Specify the type of server, or method
needed, to retrieve the document. By
telling the browser or program the type of server or method it will connect to
lets the browser know what it has to do with the information once it gets
it. This is the only part of a URL that
does not directly relate to locating a file on your local machine or on a
network that you are attached to.
Specify the machine name where the
document is located. This portion is
used to identify the type of computer and where it is located on the Internet.
This is equivalent to specifying a drive on your local computer or on a
network.
Specify the path and document name that
you want. This is exactly the same as
specifying a path and file name in commands on your local network or drive.
An Example
Look at the following URL --
http://www.cardells.net/cacav/LinksLCom.htm
This URL is an html document of “A Collection of
Philippine Pages Picturesque Philippines World Wide Web Links” it is a great
link page for finding resources and information about the Philippines --
government, education, Internet, business, even newspapers and ezines.
The URL is made up of three parts:
http://
The
“http” means that you are dealing with a World Wide Web resource. It stands for “HyperText
Transport Protocol”. This is the way that the Web moves
information around the world. This
information is critical to your browser.
It tells the browser how to connect to the system.
This
is the next part of the URL. It is the name of the site where the resource is
located. It is the name given to the
actual server that sits somewhere in the world on the Internet.
/cacav/LinksLCom.htm
The
final part of the URL is the directory path and resource name. Notice that the path is separated with
forward slashes.
In the example above, notice how the last item
ends in “.htm”.
That stands for HyperText Markup Language,
which is the program coding that is used to create hypertext documents. Many Web addresses will end in it or “html”
If you connect to the URL, http://www.cardells.net/cacav/LinksLCom.htm
you will see the following
page:
Ending an
URL in a slash
When using FTP, HTTP, and Gopher URLs, the
"directory path and resource name" will sometimes end in a slash.
This simply means that the URL is not pointing to a specific file, but a
directory. In this case, the server generally returns the "default
index" of that directory. This might be just a listing of the files available
within that directory, or a default file that the server automatically looks
for in the directory. With HTTP servers, this default index file is generally
called "index.html", but is frequently seen as "default.html”,
"home.html", or "welcome.html".
If you name (or rename) the main
page of your site to "index," and someone types in your web site
address without a page name, they will automatically be presented with your
Index page. This will help to reduce the length of your URL.
Common
Mistakes When Typing a URL:
If you receive an error when attempting to
connect to a URL, first check to see if you entered the correct URL -- in other
words, check the typing.
URLs are Case Sensitive. This means that if you
use a capital B instead of a small B, the computer will not be able to find the
page you want.
Incorrect Spelling. You must be careful to
spell the URL correctly, including any spaces, dots, slashes and other special
characters. If the URL is spelled incorrectly you will receive an error message
saying that the site cannot be found.
If your spelling is OK then perhaps the Web
server is busy, simply try again later.
Domain
Names
The 'domain name' of a Web site is the first
part of the Web address between http:// and the first /, for example:
http://omni.uk/
This 'domain name' is the unique name which
identifies that organization on the Internet. Its different sections are as
follows:
http means 'hypertext transfer protocol';
punctuation, which separates the various components of the
URL;
www means world wide web. This is usually present
but not always;
first part, such as 'cafamily' or 'omni', is the part of the domain name that an
organization can choose. It cannot be currently in use by anyone else;
codes representing the type of organization and its
country of origin.
Common organizational codes include:
.com (for commercial organizations);
.edu (for educational organizations);
.gov (for governments);
.org (for organizations, usually non-commercial).
Country codes (country level domains) for example:
no code (for the
.au (for
.int (for international);
.uk (for the