Q Is the Web the same as the Internet?

A Not exactly. The World Wide Web is the most well-known and visible part of the Internet, the part that you see through your Web browser. It's a global series of interconnected pages (hence the word "web") containing text, graphics, and multimedia (sound, movies, pictures).

Q How do I get to Web sites I read about?

A Simply type the site's address (known as the URL) into the address blank on your Web browser and hit the Return or Enter key on your keyboard. (you can usually leave off the "http://" portion of a URL when you type it in).

Q What is a URL?

A URL stands for Universal Resource Locator. A URL is the equivalent of a Web address; it tells you "where" a Web page is located, just as a street address in the real world tells you where a house or business is located. Every page on the Web has a unique URL, so the URL is all you need to find any page. Type the URL into your Web browser's Location or Address blank (depending on which browser you use), hit the Return or Enter key on your keyboard, and your browser will find that page for you. (You can also get to a page without knowing its URL by clicking to it from a link on another page.) These links are the type that is in blue type. With a little experience, you can learn to read URLs just as easily as you read street addresses.

Q What do URLs look like?

A Most URLs look something like this: http://webdesign.garymillerandson.com/Samples/index.htm The first part, http:// (which stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol) indicates that this address points to a standard Web page. Some publications omit this section of Web addresses.

The second part, www.garymillernandson.com is the Web page's hostname - the name of the computer that houses this page. It consists of a prefix, a domain name, and a suffix. Most host addresses begin with www, which stands for World Wide Web, but you will also see home (your personal Web space), start (your Personal Start Page), or any number of other words. The next part, design/Samples/, tells your browser where the Web page is stored on its host computer. The final part of the URL is the actual name of the Web page file. In this case, the page is named index.htm and it is stored inside a folder named Samples.

Q Will I be charged extra for using some Web sites?

A Not without your consent. Some Web sites require you to pay a fee to access some or all of the site's content. The site will tell you whether you need to pay, and you can agree or simply decline and leave the site.

Q How come some Web pages take a long time to see?

A A number of factors affect the loading speed of Web pages: the amount of text and graphics on the page, the quality of your connection, the traffic on the Internet and at the site your visiting, and so on.

Q Is there any way to make Web pages load faster?

A Yes. You can surf the Net during off-peak hours or upgrade your modem. The standard modem speed used at the present time is 56 K. This is great if the community you are in will allow the transfer of information at that speed. You can also change your browser settings, particularly the size of your cache.

Q What is a "plug-in"?

A A plug-in is a piece of software that you add to your Web browser to allow it to display content that the browser can't display on its own. Plug-ins allow your browser to show video and animation, play audio, and perform other functions.

Q What plug-ins should I have?

A Some of the more popular plug-ins include QuickTime, Shockwave, Flash, Hear Me, Adobe Acrobat Reader & RealPlayer.

Q How come sometimes I can't go back when I hit my browser's Back button?

A It's possible that you opened a new browser window without realizing it. Sometimes when you click a Web page link, the page instructs your browser to display the new page in a completely new browser window. This new window sometimes covers the previous window. Try minimizing or closing the browser window you're viewing to see whether the other window appears.

Q How do I save Web pages that I like?

A Make sure the page is currently displayed in your browser. Then go to your browser's File menu and select Save As. Choose a place on your hard disk where you would like to save the page and click OK or Save. You can also just bookmark the page in your browser to make it easy to get back to without actually saving it.

Q Can I print Web pages?

A Yes. Make sure the page is currently displayed in your browser. Then go to your browser's File menu and select Print.

Q Can I copy text from a Web page into a word processing program?

A Yes. Position your mouse cursor on the top of the text you want to copy, click and hold down your mouse button, and drag the mouse to highlight all the text you want to copy (to select all the text on a page quickly, go to the Edit menu and choose Select All). Then go to the Edit menu and select Copy. Switch to your word processor and choose Paste from the word processor's Edit menu.

Q Why do links seem to change color?

A Links change color to show you which links you've already clicked. The color change helps you keep track of where you've been.

Q What is HTML?

A HTML is the language used to create Web pages. It's a series of codes inserted within the Web page defining the page's layout and appearance.

Q Can I use my Web site for business?

A Yes, this is the fastest growing form of commerce in the world today. If you have a product or service that you want people to know about, there are probably people looking for that product or service today on the Internet. Your web site is your electronic brochure for the world to see. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Q What is a domain name?

A A domain name is the core of any Web address. garymillerandson.com is a domain name. Businesses and organizations generally try to get a domain name that matches their name. This makes their URL easy to remember and their site easy to find. Domain names in the U.S. are controlled by a company called Network Solutions (INTERNIC), which keeps track of what names are registered to what organizations or individuals. If a domain name is not taken, you can register it for your own use.  You do not have to worry about that as we are looking after all the hosting, registering, publishing and announcing for you.

Q Why do most Web site addresses end in .com but others end in .net, .org, or .edu?

A The final part of the hostname tells you the general nature of the site and sometimes the location. In the case of www.qwest.net stands for "network". This indicates that www.qwest.net is a general category on the internet for categories of information that are not as specific as described below... .com: commercial businesses (www.web-park.com) .edu: educational institutions, like colleges and schools (www.usc.edu) .gov: governmental agencies and bureaus (www.fbi.gov) .mil: military agencies (www.airforce.mil) .org: nonprofit organizations and personal pages (www.asisomaha.org)

Q Country Suffixes

A A domain's suffix can also tell you what country a host is in. Sites in the United States do not have any additional suffixes, but other countries have unique designations. Some of the most commonly seen are: .au: Australia .ca: Canada .ch: Switzerland .de: Germany .il: Israel .it: Italy .jp: Japan .uk: Great Britain

Q Why do some URLs end in slashes and others end in .html or .htm?

A Most Web page names end in .html or .htm because the pages are written in HTML (HyperText Markup Language). If the URL does not end in .htm or .html, it likely points to a folder, or directory.

Q Why do I see some URLs written starting with "http://" and others with "www?"

A Most Web addresses begin with http://. This stands for HyperText Transport Protocol, the standard method of sending information on the Web. Anytime you see http://, you can be sure the address points to a Web page. (You may occasionally see addresses that begin with ftp://. These are FTP or File Transfer Protocol sites.) Since almost every URL begins with http://, they are often listed without the http://. If you enter a URL without the http:// into the Address/Location blank, your browser will "assume" that you have typed a URL and add the http:// automatically.

Q Does it matter if URLs are written in capital or lowercase letters?

A The main part of the URL, the hostname, can be written in either lowercase or capital letters. So, you could write either www.garymillerandson.com or WWW.GARYMILLERANDSON.COM. But individual directory or file names (essentially anything that comes after the .com or .net) ARE case-sensitive. You can't, for instance, get to http://webdesign.garymillerandson.com/design/ if you type http://webdesign.garymillerandson.com/Design/ or http://webdesign.garymillerandson.com/deSign/. For this reason, you will most often encounter lowercase URLs. If you do see file names written in some combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, be sure you've typed them into your browser exactly as they appear.

Q How do I find if a domain name is available to use for my Web site?

A Use the InterNIC Domain Name Search to see what names are available for you to use. You will find that many of the simplest, most common names are taken, especially those ending in .com Try your selection in .net if the .com is taken, and try alternate versions of the name you want. For instance, www.tennisballs.com might already be taken, but www.tennisballs.net or www.best-tennis-balls.com might be available.