FAQ
What is a domain name?
Every computer that hosts data on the Internet has a unique numerical address. The Domain Name System (DNS) was invented so that people didn't have to remember those numbers. Basically DNS translates a numerical address to words. For example you could go to the BBC website by typing its number into the address box of your web browser. But it's much easier to use "www.bbc.com". In this case, the domain name for the BBC is bbc.com. ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, manages the Domain Name System for the most popular .com domains. In the UK, .co.uk domains are managed by Nominet. Domain names are usually registered for 1 or 2 years at a time. It is important to remember to review your registration otherwise someone else could buy your domain when it expires.
What is a URL?
Web pages are stored on web servers located around the world. A common way to get to a web site is to enter the URL of its home page file in your web browser's address line (for example our homepage URL would be http://www.whoatemycrayons.com). However, any file within that web site can also be specified with a URL. Such a file might be any web (HTML) page other than the home page. The breakdown is as follows: the URL contains the name of the protocol to be used to access the file resource (i.e. http://), a domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet (i.e. whoatemycrayons.com), and a pathname, a hierarchical description that specifies the location of a file in that computer (i.e. index.htm).
What does hosting a website mean?
Your website pages have to be stored on a web server to allow people to access them via the internet. Website hosting is a means of storing, sharing and maintaining files for one or more web sites. The computer space that is provided for web site files needs to have a fast connection to the Internet and must be turned on 24 hours a day. An individual business hosting its own site would require a fast connection to the internet which would be expensive. Using a hosting service lets many companies and individuals share the cost of a fast Internet connection for storing and sharing files.
Web browsers, why is it important to use the right one?
Web browsers are software which allow to you view websites and information via the internet. Like many things in life the internet has standards as to how the information is presented in these browsers. Guidelines are issued by the World Wide Web Consortium. There are a handful of web browsers which are on the market today. You will probably be most familiar with Microsoft Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, the biggest is not always the best. Up until the most recent release of Internet Explorer 7, the previous versions of Internet Explorer have been non-compliant. Basically this means that it renders the layout and design on web pages differently to how it was intended to be seen. While you may not think that the visual aesthetics of the web site affects you, the issue of holes in the security and subsequent 'viruses' and bugs generated should. If you are using Internet Explorer we would highly recommend Mozilla Firefox as an alternative. It's completely free and also compliant and very easy to use. You can download a version by going to the Mozilla website. When we create a website for you we test it on all the major browsers to ensure that works before it goes 'live' on the internet.
What is a web page made of?
A web page is an electronic document written in a computer language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). Alongside this it is possible to use other progamming or developing languages such as ASP and PHP. These development languages create all the functionality and interactive elements of a web page. Web pages can contain text, graphics, video, animation, sound, as well as interactive features, such as forms and searching facilities. If you ever want to see how a web page looks in it's raw code state, you can choose 'View Source' by clicking on the right mouse button while on the web page you want to see. Why not try it now on this page?
What are search engines?
Search engines are like a sophisticated way of indexing web sites for the internet. These engines allow you to search for a web site using keywords and topic subjects. The engines trawl the internet visiting and indexing millions of websites around the world. They store keywords and phrases and allow you to reference this information and then direct you to the relevant site.
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