Websites
What Is A Website
Simple:
A website is a page or multiple pages that can be downloaded and viewed over the Internet. These pages can include words, pictures, and even music & video.
Details:
A web page is a text file that contains one of a few specific types of computer code (most famously HTML). Because there are different types of computers in the world (including cell phones, and other web enabled electronics) it is hard to ensure that a website will look the same on each computer. The purpose of using standard web programming languages, such as HTML, is to try to ensure that a visitor can view a website from any computer or device. The code is downloaded to your computer and opened with a special program called a web browser for viewing the web page.
What Is A Web Browser / Internet Browser
Simple:
A web browser (also called an Internet browser, or just browser for short) is a program on your computer that opens websites and displays them to you.
Details:
When you visit a website you are downloading code to your computer. That code is then opened by your browser and is translated into something you can see and understand. Since a browser is a program, it is possible to have more than one installed. Most browsers try to follow international website standards so each will display almost the exact same pages as each other - but each browser may vary in speed or offer a simpler or more user friendly interface.
Because the Internet is evolving and changing quickly and also because there are people and places finding security issues with browsers on a regular basis it is very important to keep your browser up to date. The following list shows some of the most popular Internet Browsers and includes links to install / update them on your computer. Each browser listed is 100% free to download and install.
Internet Explorer - by Microsoft
Firefox - by Mozilla
Opera - by Opera Software
Chrome - by Google
Safari - by Apple
What Is A Domain Name
Simple:
A domain name is the name, or address that brings you to a website. When visiting a website the domain name usually comes after www. and it ends with one of many extensions - most popularly .com. Examples of domain names include:
Yahoo.com
Google.com
Walmart.com
FournierCS.com
Details:
The telephone system uses telephone numbers to identify businesses and households and in a similar way the Internet uses IP Addresses (which are numbers) to identify websites and computers. IP addresses are hard to remember so domain names were invented to make websites easier to get to.
A domain name is a unique name, often easy to remember, that is registered to a specific website or location and is translated to a specific IP Address. In order to make it easier to visit a website your computer can automatically look up a domain name and connect to the appropriate website server.
Domain names have a general 3 part form although there are always exceptions. In general you can think of a domain as:
Part1Part2.Part3
Part1 is used to express the type of destination. For example the two most common things to see in front of a domain name are "WWW." or "@". When you see WWW infront of a domain name you know the destination is a website. WWW stands for World Wide Web and should always bring you to a web page. When you see the @ symbol that designates the destination as an email address.
Part2 is the unique 'easy to remember' name - most often the name or part of the name of a business.
Part3 is the end of the domain name and it was originally meant to help people separate different types of domain names. Here are some common examples:
- .com - Originally meant to be used only for commercial purposes it has quickly become the default
- .org - Originally meant only for non commercial organizations it is now open to anyone
- .net - Originally meant for networks this domain is also open to anyone
- .edu - Stands for Education. Only educational institutions can use the .edu extension
- .ca - Each country can have its own extension. This one is for Canadian websites
- .co.uk - This extension is used for websites based in the United Kingdom
How Does Email Work
Simple:
You can think of email as a virtual post office. Each person's specific email address is like a unique post office box but instead of using numbered boxes we are able to use names and phrases. Just like a post office box, you can receive email (electronic mail) even when you are out being busy. All of your email will be stored in a virtual mailbox.
Details:
Email address will be in the form of "Someone@DomainName.com". The @ symbol is what specifies that it is an email address. Everything before the @ symbol is what specifies which specific mailbox you are trying to contact.
For example a business might use first names for each employee. The employee John Smith might have an email address that begins with "John@" while Susan Jones might have an email address that begins with "Susan@". Of course, many times people can and do choose their own email name and can pic odd address such as "FunnyDuck123@".
Everything after the @ symbol specifies which general location, or which virtual post office handles that person's virtual mailbox. If John Smith works for Walmart then his email address might be "John@Walmart.com". Many people use an email account provided by their local cable or telephone company and may have an email address "John@Cox.net" or "John@Comcast.net" or "John@Verizon.net". Again, the unique domain name after the @ symbol is like the virtual post office that is in charge of the virtual mailbox.
When you send an email to "Mike@FunGames.com" the email message gets sent to FunGames.com. Then, the FunGames.com email server looks to see if it has a virtual mailbox called "Mike". If so, it puts the message into Mike's mailbox. If it does not, it will return the message back to you with an undeliverable error - just like the post office if you had written a letter to an address that did not exist.
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