URLs on the Internet

A URL is a Uniform Resource Locator. In simple English that means an Internet address. And in this case, it is the address of a page. Every page on the Internet has its own address.

A URL has several parts. First, there is the protocol. This is the part of the address that tells you how it will be sent. Some protocols are -

http:// this goes to the World Wide Web (WWW)

gopher:// view a list of items to choose from

ftp:// send and receive files over the Internet

The second part of a URL is the basic address. It looks like this:

www.goggle.com

The last part of the address tells you if it is a commercial site (com), a government site (gov), an educational site (edu), or an organization (org).

Next, you have directories. These are like folders in a file cabinet, and they help people keep their files straight on the Internet. They are separated by forward slashes (/). This is an example of a basic address and one directory:

www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/starmsdlc

Finally, you list the filename. That is what identifies each page. For example, the filename of this page is url.htm. URL is its name (in lowercase letters) and htm is the extension, which tells us that it is a file that the Internet can read. Here is the total URL for this page:

http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/starmsdlc/index.htm

URLs are very picky about how they are read. You have to type it in exactly like it is. Most of the time it is all lower case, but if someone has an upper case, you have to type it. You can't get periods and slashes mixed up. The computer will know it!

Just for fun, type in some URLs in the Locator Box above and see if you can do it with no mistakes. Here are some to try (be sure to click the BACK button to return to this page!):

http://www.refdesk.com

http://www.cyberbee.com/

http://www.yucky.com/worm/

After you have done some of these, write in your Journal and tell your teacher about it.