Web Literacy

This guide reviews internet terminology, uploading and downloading files, and cloud-based services and technologies.

The Internet

As a technology professional, you'll spend a lot of time on the internet. You likely already use the internet every day, whether on your phone, your computer, or even streaming movies on your TV. You're using the internet to access this content right now. But what exactly is the internet?

The internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that allow users to communicate between networks and devices. So what does all of this mean? Let's break it down:

• " . . . The internet is a global system . . . " The internet is global, meaning that users all over the world are able to access it.

• " . . . interconnected computer networks . . . " Users access the internet using a computer or electronic device to access a computer network, which is a group of computers that communicate with each other to share resources located on that network. This includes private, public, academic, business, and government networks.

• " . . . that allow users to communicate between networks and devices . . . " Each user's computer network is connected with other networks all over the world, which allows them to communicate with other users and share resources.

So what does all of this look like for you? Every time you send a text message, receive an email, watch a video on YouTube, or log into your favorite social media app, you're accessing the internet to send or receive some sort of resource or data.

Internet Terminology

You could read entire books covering all the different aspects of the internet, but you don't need to know much to get started. Here are some of the terms you should be familiar with:

• Web browser: A type of software used to access websites when using the internet.

• Email: An electronic mail message that's electronically transmitted by a user's computer, sent from the user's email address to another user's email address. Email addresses have two main parts—the username and the domain name—which are separated by the @ symbol.

• Webpage: A single page of content accessed with a web browser when using the internet. Webpages contain a combination of text, photos, images, links to other webpages, videos, and other forms of content.

• Website: A collection of several webpages related to the same subject. Users visit websites (and individual webpages) by either typing the unique name of the website (known as a URL, or web address) or by clicking on a link that takes the user to the website.

• Homepage: A homepage can refer to two different things: the first page that is loaded when the browser starts or the introductory page of a website.

• Link: An element on a webpage that takes the user to another webpage or website when clicked. A link can be a single word, a string of several words in a row, or a photo, image, or icon. Links are frequently, but now always, underlined or highlighted in some way. Some links are elements that change their appearance when the user hovers the pointer over them to let the user know that they can click to element to view another webpage. A link can also be used to download a resource.

• URL: A URL, short for Uniform Resource Locator, is the unique web address of a website or webpage. A URL is made up of at least three parts, but there are some additional optional components we won't cover here:

  • Protocol: The protocol, also known as the scheme, is the first part of a URL, which tells the browser how the website will be accessed. The two most common protocols you will encounter are HTTP, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, and HTTPS, a more secure version of HTTP. You may occasionally see some other protocols. The protocol part of a URL ends with a colon and two slashes (://).

  • Domain name: The domain name, also known as the domain or the host, is the part of the URL following the protocol, and it indicates the website (or collection of webpages) that the user is visiting. Domain names can optionally begin with www., which stands for World Wide Web, followed by the second-level domain, a unique name associated with a website, and the top-level domain. The top-level domain begins with a dot (.) followed by an ending that usually consists of two or three letters. Top-level domains were originally meant to associate a website with the broader purpose of the website (.com for commercial business, .edu for educational institutions, .org for non-profit organizations, or .gov for government entities), but this association has become less common as the internet has grown. There are now over 1500 top-level domains, including 255 codes associated with countries (.us for the United States, .uk for the United Kingdom, .mx for Mexico, or .au for Australia). The domain name can optionally end with a single slash (/) when there's nothing following it in the URL. If there is a path following the domain name, it must be separated using a single slash.

  • Path: The path is everything following the domain name, and it identifies the specific resource within the domain that the user wants to access. This is usually a specific webpage, but it also might be a file such as a video or an image. If there are additional slashes between different parts of the path, this usually indicates that the page or file is located within a subfolder or subdirectory within the website, which can help when organizing a website's structure.

• IP address: A unique number used to identify a computer on the internet. Every computer, smartphone, and mobile device that accesses the internet has a unique IP address, made up of a series of four numbers between 0 and 255, separated by dots.

• Router: A hardware device that coordinates network signals arriving at or being sent from a user's computer or electronic device. A router can be wired, wireless, or both.

• Wi-Fi: WiFi (sometimes spelled WiFi), which is short for Wireless Fidelity, is a networking technology that allows computers, laptops, mobile devices, and any other devices that can connect to the internet to access it without a wired connection.

• Server: A computer set up to send, or serve, webpages to a user on another computer. The server listens for requests from another computer (known as a client) on the network and then sends a response, serving up webpages or other resources.

• Social media: Any online website or application that allows users to interact with a large number of additional users. Some common examples include Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

• Search engine: An application that allows users to search the internet in a systematic way for particular information, using search terms knowns as queries. Search engines provide the user with search results, which are provided in a list. Each result in the list contains a link to either a webpage, an image, a video, or other types of files or resources.

• Download: An action that transfers a resource stored on a remote computer, in the form of a server, accessed through the internet, to your local computer.

• Upload: An action that transfers a resource from your local computer to a remote computer, in the form of a server accessed through the internet.

The Web Browser

A web browser, often shortened to browser, is a type of software used to access websites when using the internet. When a user requests a particular website, the browser sends a request to a web server, where that content is stored, and then displays that page on the user's device.

Even though the browser is the most common type of software used to access the internet, casual users only utilize the most basic functionality that it offers. Many technological professionals use the browser in a variety of additional ways, making it one of the most important software applications in use. Browsers can be found on all devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Types of Web Browsers

There are several browsers in existence. Some are more popular among technology professionals due to their extended testing and performance capabilities and the speed at which they adopt new features. Here are some of the most common browsers:

• Google Chrome: Google's Chrome is a free, licensed browser that is the most used browser in the world, accounting for over 65% of the global market share. Google Chrome is also the browser of choice for many technology professional because it provides extended testing and performance capabilities.

• Safari: The Safari browser, developed by Apple, is the second-most used browser in the world, accounting for about 16% of the global market share, and it's the default browser on all Apple devices.

• Firefox: Firefox, also known as Mozilla Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation and its corporate subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. Although Firefox is a distant third for most used browsers across all devices, it's the second-most popular browser on desktop computers.

• Microsoft Edge: Microsoft's Edge is a free, licensed browser that is the default browser on all Windows computers. It replaced Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which used to be the most popular browser in the world, as the default Windows browser. The final release of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 11, still has official support for consumers, and is still in use by about 1% of global users.

Other browsers you might encounter include Opera and several browsers designed specifically for mobile devices, such as Samsung Internet, Android Browser, and UC Browser.

Components of a Web Browser

Each web browser has some slight variations in comparison with others, but they all feature some common components:

• Browser window: like most software applications, browsers open in a resizable, rectangular window that displays websites and webpages. There are three small symbols in the upper righthand corner of the browser window which provide additional functionality:

  • Minimize: The minus symbol (-) allows the user to minimize the browser window, which means that the window is removed from the user's view in the GUI, but the browser keeps running in the background. Clicking on the browser's icon in the toolbar will add the browser window back into the user's view in the GUI, and any webpages that were being viewed by the user will be in their same state.

  • Maximize/resize: The maximize symbol (🗖) allows the user to complete one of two different actions. If the browser window is expanded so that it fills up all of the computer's GUI, clicking on this symbol will resize the window to a smaller size that doesn't take up the entire GUI. When the browser window is smaller than the entire GUI, clicking on this symbol will maximize the window to take up the entire GUI.

  • Close: The close symbol (x) allows the user to close the browser window. This differs from minimizing the window because the browser is no longer running in the background. The user will need to reload any webpages that were being viewed before clicking the close symbol.

• Tabs: When a user opens a browser window, there is a small section in the upper lefthand corner of the window called a tab. Next to the tab is a plus symbol (+) that allows a user to open additional tabs in the same browser window. A user can then switch back and forth between different websites and webpages that are open in separate tabs within the browser window. A user can also right-click on a link to open the linked webpage in a new tab. The x symbol at top right of each tab allows the user to close that tab. If there's only one tab open in a browser window, clicking on the x will close the entire window.

• Address bar: The address bar is directly below any tabs at the top of the browser window and displays the URL of the website that the user is viewing. When a user types a URL into the browser's address bar and presses the Enter key, the browser will load the page associated with that URL. Each browser has varying symbols at the right end of the address bar that allow for additional functionality. One of the most common symbols is an empty star (☆). Clicking on this symbol allows the user to add it to their favorites, or bookmarks. The user can then access their bookmarks to revisit sites quickly. There are a number of ways to access bookmarks depending on the browser, but a common way is by accessing the browser settings menu by clicking on the three vertical dots to the right of the address bar and clicking on Bookmarks.

• Browsing history: Browsers keep a history of every webpage that a user visits. Similar to bookmarks, the browsing history allows users to quickly revisit webpages they've already viewed. The browsing history can be accessed by opening the browser settings and clicking on History.

• Navigation: To the left of the address bar is a series of buttons that allows the user to perform various navigation functions as they view different webpages:

  • Back and forward buttons: The back (←) and forward (→) buttons allow users to view webpages they've already viewed, moving back and forth through recent browsing history. Clicking and holding either these buttons will display a list of any webpages in the recent browsing history for that button's direction.

  • Refresh button: A webpage will occasionally stop working, or a user may want to test out a new feature. The refresh button (↻) allows users to reload the current webpage that they're viewing.

Web Browser Functionality

In addition to the functions described in the components section above, there are two other functions that are important when using a web browser:

Downloading

Downloading is an action that transfers a resource stored on a remote computer, in the form of a server, accessed through the internet, to your local computer. This means that the user can save a resource that's stored on another computer to their own computer.

Users can download resources in a few ways:

• clicking on a link that points to a resource, such as a PDF, a document, a video, or other types of files. Depending on the user's settings, the website's settings, and the type of file, one of three things may happen:

  • The resource will download to the user's computer automatically, usually in the downloads folder.

  • The resource will open in a new tab in the browser.

  • A dialog box will open, prompting the user to either save the resource or open it with a default program. If the user chooses to save the resource, it will download automatically. If the user chooses to open it with a default program, the resource will be downloaded first and then opened with the default program.

• Right-clicking on a link and selecting the "Save as" option. This option might say "Save link as..." or "Save target as...". This will bring up a dialog box, where the user can choose the folder on the computer where they'd like to save the resource or change the name of the resource that they're downloading.

• Right-clicking on an image and selecting the "Save image as..." option. This will bring up a dialog box, where the user can choose the folder on the computer where they'd like to save the image or change the name of the image that they're downloading.

Uploading

Uploading is an action that transfers a resource from your local computer to a remote computer, in the form of a server accessed through the internet.

Many websites allow users to transfer a resource on their computer to a server for a variety of reasons. This might include adding a profile picture on a social network, adding an attachment to an email, such as a PDF or image, sending important production files for movies, music, art, or books, and providing legal documentation securely.

Every website that allows users to upload resources has a slightly different process. Often, the website will provide some guidelines and instructions to help the user through the process. Despite these variations, there are two primary ways that a user uploads files to a website:

• Clicking on a button or icon that opens a dialog box, where the user can browse to the location on the computer where the resource is stored. After the user selects or highlights the resource in the dialog, they then click the Open button in the dialog.

• Using the mouse to drag the resource from the computer's GUI onto the website's GUI in the browser window and dropping it on an area designated for uploads.

Usually, but not always, the user will see a progress bar, which might display the time remaining for the upload to complete or show the completion in real time, with a percentage increasing from zero to 100.

Cloud Storage

You've likely heard about the cloud in commercials for various tech companies or services. You might have also heard the terms cloud computing or cloud storage. But what do these terms mean?

The cloud is just another word for resources that are stored remotely on the internet. Anything that you have stored or saved directly on your computer is stored locally. Anything that you access through an online, remote service is stored in the cloud.

Although these resources are said to be stored in the cloud, they are actually stored on physical servers that users access through online services. Cloud service providers are responsible for keeping these resources available and accessible on demand, and for ensuring that the physical servers are protected and running.

Here are some common services that utilize the cloud:

• Web-based email: Every time you log into your Gmail, or any other web-based email, you're using a cloud-based service. All of the emails in your inbox are stored on servers rather than the user's computer. This means that the user can check their email from any device with access to the internet.

• Video streaming: All of the most popular video streaming platforms, including Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu, are cloud-based. All of the video that users watch is stored on remote servers which allows users to watch programming on demand, on multiple devices, and on-the-go.

• File storage: Services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud allow users to store their files, such as videos, images, documents, and more, on remote servers, rather than on their physical devices. This provides users the ability to access these files from any device with an internet connection.

• File sharing: The other aspect that most file storage services provide is the ability to share these files with other users. This allows for instant delivery of resources, which is convenient for sharing images and videos among friends and family, but is also especially important when multiple users are collaborating on a project. Services like Google Docs allow multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously, allowing for quick brainstorming, feedback, and collaboration.

• Online backup: Online backup services, such as Carbonite, share some similarities with file storage services, but they focus on the backup, storage, and recovery of resources. Online backup systems usually run on a given schedule, either running every night or running continuously to save changes in real-time. They typically collect, compress, encrypt, and then transfer the user's resources to the service's remote servers.

• aaS: aaS stands for as a service and describes something being presented to a consumer (often a company) as a service in the context of cloud computing. Several online companies follow the aaS architecture, with three primary models: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), and Software as a service (SaaS). It's not important that you know what these are; the important aspect of these services is that the companies using them no longer have to set up infrastructure, install a platform, or install software on their local machines. Instead, they access them through the internet.

These are by no means the only services that use the cloud. Because the internet has become data-driven and user-focused, almost every online service that's popular is cloud-based in some way. As you continue to use the Internet, you will use a number of cloud-based services and technologies.

Resources

For more information, see the following resources on internet terminology, working with files, and cloud-based services:

• Common Internet Tech Terms

• Finding and Working With Files in Windows

• Organize Your Files in Mac

• What is Cloud Storage?

This page was updated 6 months ago
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Category: Computer Literacy

Tagged under: internet basics, internet terminology, web browsers, IP address, web browser functionality, uploading, downloading, cloud storage,