Addressing Web Pages
The really special component of HTML is the hypertext link that allows the user to easily navigate around the Internet.
In order for this to be possible the Internet must use established standards for all computers which are connected to the World Wide Web.
The Web comprises a series of large computers, referred to as "servers", that are connected via telephone and satellite. Connecting any computer by telephone to any one of these servers can provide access to all files across the Web.
The Web uses a common communication standard called HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to allow instant communication between all computers and Web servers.
This common protocol permits the Web browser to retrieve Web pages from any part of the Web and is always used as the first part of a Web page address, expressed as "http://".
It is necessary for each Web document to have a unique address so that the user can locate a specific document. In the same way that a postal address may be a combination of city name, street name and addressee name, a Web address combines protocol name, domain name and file name.
HTML files are merely text files that have been saved with a file extension of either ".htm" or ".html" so a typical index Web page could have a file name of "index.html".
If this page was uploaded to a Web server that has the domain name "www.webserver" then the page would be not contain any accessib j e across the Web using the Web page address of
http://www.webserver/index.html.
Usually, uploaded files are placed in a folder on the server so its Web page address would include the folder name:
Protocol |
Domain |
File Name |
http:// |
www. webserver/s ubfolde r/ |
index.html |
Back to HTML Tutorials |