Page 281 - DCAP101_BASIC_COMPUTER_SKILLS

Basic Computer Skills

Notes 13.5 URL

Typically, web pages today are becoming more dynamic. A dynamic web page is one that
is created server-side when it is requested, and then served to the end-user. These types of
web pages typically do not have a permalink, or a static URL, associated with them. Today,
this can be seen in many popular forums, online shopping, and even on Wikipedia. This
practice is intended to reduce the amount of static pages in lieu of storing the relevant web
page information in a database. Some search engines may have a hard time indexing a web
page that is dynamic, so static web pages can be provided in those instances.

13.5.1 Viewing
In order to graphically display a web page, a web browser is needed. This is a type of
software that can retrieve web pages from the Internet. Most current web browsers include
the ability to view the source code. Viewing a web page in a text editor will also display
the source code, not the visual product.
13.5.2 Creation

To create a web page, a text editor or a specialized HTML editor is needed. In order to upload
the created web page to a web server, traditionally an FTP client is needed.

The design of a web page is highly personal. A design can be made according to one’s own
preference, or a premade web template can be used. Web templates let web page designers
edit the content of a web page without having to worry about the overall aesthetics.
Many people publish their own web pages using products like Tripod, or Angelfire. These
web publishing tools offer free page creation and hosting up to a certain size limit.
Other ways of making a web page is to download specialized software, like a Wiki, CMS,
or forum. These options allow for quick and easy creation of a web page which is typically
dynamic.

13.5.3 Saving

While one is viewing a web page, a copy of it is saved locally; this is what is being viewed.
Depending on the browser settings, this copy may be deleted at any time, or stored
indefinitely, sometimes without the user realizing it. Most GUI browsers provide options
for saving a web page more permanently. These may include:
Save the rendered text without formatting or images, with hyperlinks reduced to plain
text
Save the HTML as it was served—Overall structure preserved, but some links may be
broken
Save the HTML with relative links changed to absolute ones so that hyperlinks are
preserved
Save the entire web page—All images and other resources including stylesheets and
scripts are downloaded and saved in a new folder alongside the HTML, with links to
them altered to refer to the local copies. Other relative links changed to absolute
Save the HTML as well as all images and other resources into a single MHTML file.
This is supported by Internet Explorer and Opera. Other browsers may support this
if a suitable plugin has been installed.

Most operating systems allow applications such as web browsers not only to print the
currently viewed web page to a printer, but optionally to “print” to a file that can be viewed
or printed later. Some web pages are designed, for example by use of CSS, so that hyperlinks,
menus and other navigation items, which will be useless on paper, are rendered into print

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