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URLs
All homepages on the World Wide Web have an address called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). HTML is UNIX which is case sensitive and therefore caution is needed when entering or searching for URLs on the Web. If you get an error message like "404 - Document not found on this server.", it is probably because the address was entered incorrectly. Notice the difference in the seemingly like addresses below:
http://www.Geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/9151/Index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/9151/index.html
Entering the first URL will return an error message for three reasons:
1) Entering Geocities using a capital "G" will not allow you to
access geocities' server. It must read http://www.geocities.com ...
2) Entering Index.htm using a capital "I" will return an error as
well because all primary pages must be lower case and read "index.html".
3) The extension in the last field of the url must read .html rather than .htm in order for the webserver to read it. Alternate pages may carry the extension .htm, but consistancy makes it easier for both you and your visitors.
The second URL is correct and will render the first page of the website.
Internet Resources
Most URLs start with http:// but there are exceptions:
| Service |
Definition |
Description |
| http:// |
Hypertext Transfer Protocol |
A Service that distributes HTML formatted documents to anyone requesting the file by entering the URL. Your web browser then converts the simple mark-up text file into a graphical screen.
|
| ftp:// |
File Transfer Protocol |
A service that allows Fast File Transfer between two computers.
|
| news:// |
UseNet Newsgroups |
A service that resembles the old BBS (Bulletin Board Services). These groups post and reply to other postings within widely varying time frames. Replies may come within minutes, hours, days, or even months after the initial posting. |
| telnet |
Remote Terminal Session |
A service that allows you to remotely connect to another computer system and uses Unix operating commands. |
| gopher |
Off-line Search Program |
A service that will do off-peak-hours topic searches throughout the Internet. Many of the newer search engines like Yahoo and AltaVista have replaced the gopher service. |
DOMAINS
Geocities is a domain (World Wide Web Space Provider). To access the homepage http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/9151, visitors will first reach the HTTP default server which will direct the server to the World Wide Web [the Web]. The http server then goes to the Geocities domain [geocities.com] where this homepage resides. From there, the URL directs the person to [ResearchTriangle] which is a geocities directory called a (neighborhood) within Geocities. My personal address is #9151, thus the complete address is:
http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/9151
In the newer browsers, it is no longer necessary to type in HTTP:// when entering a URL. These browsers simply scan the entry, and if it does not begin with one of the other above mentioned Internet Resources, the entry is either treated as a HTTP request or the search is automatically directed to the domain's [www].
Directory Path
UNIX urls also use a ~ (Tilde) followed by a specific username as a directory path. In the following example, http://www.microserve.com/~budman, the tilde is a substitution for entering "usr/home/" after the domain in the url and directs the http server to the home directory of the user budman on the remote server microserve.com. The home directory in Unix is known as your login or default directory. Typing in the entire URL, http://www.microserve.com/~budman, will bring you to budman's main page (index.html). Try it!
Document Filename
Finally, if you want to access just one section (page) on any website without going through the main page (index.html), you will need to extend the URL to include the name of the page you wish to access. To access only the content page on this site you would enter:
http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/9151/content.html
- http:// Connects to the web server
- www.geocities.com reaches the domain geocities.com
- /ResearchTriangle reaches the directory where the homepage resides
- /9151 reaches the address
- /content.html brings up a specific page within the website
Some websites require the use of subdirectories. To reach the #Chat homepage on the geocities.com directory "SiliconValley", you must also enter the subdirectory's name "Way" in the url.
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/1299/
This will bring you to the website's main page or index.html. Please note that all fields in a url are seperated by a " / " slash.
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