Understand WWW   |   Getting Started   |  Visual   |   Functionality   |   Resources

The Internet is made up of layers of connections that allow clients and servers to exchange packets of information. A "client" is an application like the web browser you're looking at now. It's what people see and use to do things. A "server," like a good waiter, is hardly seen. You ask it for something and it takes care of the details without you having to worry about it much.

The World Wide Web is a bunch of clients and servers that sit on the Internet and use hypertext, providing us with a very user-friendly way of using the potential of the Internet.

At the heart of the WWW is a remarkable piece of technology called the "hyperlink." For example:

Internet Literacy (You can click this link to see the action.)

This example harness the potential of the Internet, but in an elegantly simple, intuitive way. When you simply click on the link, a server--or several servers--is asked to send a copy of the web page to your computer, and then it is displayed in your web browser.

Here are some resources on the Web for understanding the Internet:

Internet Literacy an introduction course to the Internet by the University of Delaware. Becoming Web Wise (A good place for novices to begin) an online course in becoming a literate user of the Internet. The History of the Net by the WDVL, links to material for understanding the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Hypertext markup language (HTML) refers to the symbols added to a text file so that a web browser can display it (including text, images, hyperlinks and other functions) as a web page. You can see the code of most web pages by viewing the source code (View -> Page Source in Firefox, or View -> Source in Internet Explorer).

At Penn State, you can learn HTML through seminars or online training.

You can also teach yourself, by experimenting. You can copy the code from someone else's web page, insert your own content, and alter the HTML "elements" or "tags" until the page looks the way you want it to. Or, you can start with a plain text document, and add the HTML tags around your text, to alter the way it will look when displayed in the browser.

Here are some resources on the Web for understanding the HTML:

HTML Tutorial from W3Schools a complete tutorial about HTML by the W3Schools. Understanding HTML (A good place for novices to begin) an online course in becoming a literate user of HTML. The HTML Cheatsheet A cheatsheet of basic HTML elements and tags by Webmonkey.

Personal Web Space (for individuals and for departments using our central web server): All Penn State students, staff and faculty are eligible for web space. You can learn more in Web FAQ's Section 1: Getting Web Space.

Instructional Web Space: In addition to your personal web space, faculty can apply for a Course Online Account (COLA) . For information on this account you can visit our Accounts Office on the web.

ANGEL is the course management system available for use by instructors, students, and staff at Penn State. It provides space for instructional web sites, plus a number of tools for instruction, communication and course management. You can see general informational this site, even if you don't yet have an account to log in.

If you're confused about which course web space is which, here is a chart of types of web space available.

Commercial Web Space: As an alternative to Penn State Web space, you may want to turn to a commercial web server. For example, your Penn State space cannot be put to commercial uses (see "ethical, legal, and policy issues," below). Many providers of web space can be found, large and small, for free or for fee. Here are two examples:

Geocities a popular web host. The Definitive Internet Services Buyer's Guide MecklerMedia's "The List" has information about over 3,000 ISP's searchable by area code or location, many of which offer web space, some for free.

Instructions on posting web pages to your Penn State web space can be found in Section 2 of our Web FAQ

It's important that you keep your files (web pages, images and other files) organized when you post them in the same way on your local computer when you made them as they will be when you post them to your web space. Otherwise, the paths between files will not work.

Viruses are probably the first thing people think of when they think of computer security, but it means more than that. Computer security means preventing unauthorized access to and/or modification of equipment and/or data.

Security Operations and Services the University's office for enforcing computer security and policies. This is the Penn State office to report offensive web content, harassing e-mail, and other inappropriate behavior on the Internet. Stay Safe Online (A good place for novices to begin) sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance, this web site provides a good introduction to security issues. ITS Virus Information page contains valuable information on this topic, including information on Norton Anti-Virus Software, free to all Penn Staters and strongly recommended.