More About URLs

Learn More About URLs:

Protocol

The first part of a URL starts with the protocol to be used. A protocol is a way to send data between computers. You will see http:// most frequently. This tells computers how to send hypertext documents on the Web.

Host Name

The name of the server that hosts the information you need is the next part of the URL. The name of this pretend server is www.campbell.edu. Usually the name of the server ends with the domain type. This domain type is edu, which lets you know it is an educational institution (4-year university or college.) A few other domain types are:

.org stands for non-profit organizations.
.com stands for commercial business-type organizations, like Nike or Toys-R-Us
.gov stands for a U.S. government agency, like the White House.
.us represents a country code.

Directory

Usually a slash leads to a file or through directories (called folders on a Mac) to get you to the file you need.

File Name

The actual file name appears at the end.