Internet - e-Mail, Working with Internet, A-Z of Internet
e-Mail
Introduction to E-mail
How does E-mail work?
Setting up an E-mail Account
Sending & Receiving E-mail
Working with Internet
File Download
The Different forms of Downloading
Images on the Web
A-Z of Internet
e-Mail
Introduction to E-mail
Electronic mail, or e-mail, is probably the most popular and widely used Internet function. E-mail, email, or just mail, is a fast and efficient way to communicate with friends or colleagues. You can communicate with one person at a time or thousands; you can receive and send files and other information. You can even subscribe to electronic journals and newsletters.
You can send an e-mail message to a person in the same building or on the other side of the world.
It's very similar to our traditional mail system with post boxes, post offices, envelopes and addresses. The difference is that instead of Australia Post delivering your messages around the globe for you, messages are sent electronically to other computer users via the computer network (the internet) taking a fraction of the time to get there AND, you don't have to walk to the letter box!
Just as you can send attachments with your letters in the normal post (snail mail) you can also send computer documents, graphics, software or anything else that can be turned into a digital form attached to an email message.
An e-mail address identifies a person and the computer for purposes of exchanging electronic mail messages. The basic structure of an e-mail address is:
• username@host.subdomain.second-level-domain.first-level-domain
The Internet mail system works because of SMTP, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. SMTP is part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols. SMTP is a protocol, or set of rules that enables electronic mail to move smoothly through the Internet. Because of SMTP, a UNIX machine can send mail to a PC or Macintosh computer and vice versa.
Electronic mail works on the client/server principle. A client program enables the user to interact with a server in order to access information and services on the server computer. To read and send mail, users need to access the computer where their mail resides (the server).
The client application is the interface which lets a user read, reply to, forward, compose and send new messages. Some examples of e-mail client programs are Qualcomm Eudora, pine, elm and Lotus cc: Mail.
An electronic mail message is not limited to text. Other types of files can be added to mail messages as attachments. Attachments can be binary files such as a word processed document, a spreadsheet or a graphic image.
A standard called MIME, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, allows for non-text files to be encoded on the sending computer and decoded on the receiving computer.
Electronic mail is a system that allows users to send and receive messages and data through the Internet. SMTP is the protocol that ensures this system of sending and receiving information works smoothly.
A client program is used to read mail, reply to mail and send new messages. Messages can contain text as well as other file types which are encoded and decoded by MIME.
How does E-mail work?
E-mail is an asynchronous form of communication, meaning that the person whom you want to read your message doesn't have to be available at the precise moment you send your message. This is a great convenience for both you and the recipient.
On the other hand, the telephone, which is a synchronous communication medium, requires that both you and your listener be on the line at the same time in order for you to communicate (unless you leave a voice message).
It will be impossible to discuss all the details of the many e-mail packages available to Internet users. Fortunately, however, most of these programs share basic functionality which allow you to:
*send and receive mail messages
*save your messages in a file
*print mail messages
*reply to mail messages
*attach a file to a mail message
In order for messages to be sent from one computer to another, your message needs to be converted into a digital form and forwarded to a computer that acts as a mail server or post office.
This mail server sorts and directs your mail for you. The only way this mail server can direct mail though, to all users is by being connected to a network that all the users are also connected to.
This network can be internal (a stand-alone network) which means you can only send email to other users on that network. If your mail server is connected to the Internet you can also send your email messages to any other computer user that is connected to the internet anywhere in the world because the internet is a network of all the little networks of organisations around the world.
This mail server can be within your organisation or with an Internet Service Provider, so you would connect to it by logging into your email account.
When you send your email message, the mail server decides whether the message is to be passed on to a user on its immediate network or it will pass it onto another mail server on another network closest to it through these combination of networks and each mail server keeps passing it on until it reaches its intended destination.
This is known as the 'store' and 'forward' system, storing your message at various points on the path to its receiver waiting for the link to be free for it to forward your message on the next part of its journey.
The digital data can be broken up and follow different paths (go through different mail servers) to gets to its destination but always meets up when it gets to the post office or mail server of the recipient. The mail will stay at the post office until the recipient decide to collect it which is done by logging into their email account.
Email Software
In order to read or send any electronic mail you will need special software. Eudora is one of the most commonly used software packages and comes in two versions. Eudora Lite can be downloaded from the Eudora website and used without charge.
Eudora Pro - a more advanced version of the software can be purchased for approximately $89 from most leading software suppliers. The Eudora website can help you locate a supplier closest to you. Eudora can be used on both IBM compatible and Macintosh computers.
Web browsers like Netscape and Explorer now have an email function also but they are not as sophisticated and reliable as Eudora.
One benefit of this type of email package is that where addresses of World Wide Web pages are given in the body of the message you can click on the address and the browser will automatically display the page. Eudora also has this ability.
If your school is connected to to the statewide VicOne network you can to the Edumail site to obtain information relating to email software available to Victorian schools. You will need your school username and password to access this site.
Email Account
To become an email user you need to have an email account set up for you by an Internet Service Provider or your organisation. This would normally occur automatically when you get your internet connection if you're setting up your account privately.
With a school or business you would normally gain access to email by talking to your technical advisor where a user account will be set up for you. When you get your account you will be given an email address, a Username and a password which you would use to access your email.
You can obtain free email accounts through certain web sites on the internet. You check your mail through your web browser by looking at a web page, typing in your name and password.
These types of services are nowhere near as secure as having your own email software on your own computer and can be slow with delays. They are free though and provide additional services such as receiving regular news from various sites of your choosing. One such site is the Hotmail Site.
Email Address
Each email user is given an email address which distinguishes them from each other like your name and street address distinguish your house from your neighbors. Your email address is usually your Username or User ID, plus the domain name of the computer through which you normally gain access to the internet with an @ symbol in-between.. - (sofweb@edumail.vic.gov.au)
As you can see here my Username is 'sofweb' and the domain name for the Department of Education, Employment and Training (where I work) is edumail.vic.gov.au . Your Username doesn't necessarily have to be your real name it can be a variation or any name of your choosing - eg. (wizard@edumail.vic.gov.au)
Setting Up Your Email Account
After Downloading your Email Software and setting up your email account with your Internet Service Provider, you need to set the software up with details like your Username, password, email address and mail server. The Internet Service Provider will normally give you all of this information which you will need to include in the set up.
With Mac or Windows 95 you follow the prompts and include the details the provider has given you. If you are not setting your account up privately your technician should do all of this for you. With free email accounts like Hotmail you do not need to download any software and the instructions are usually simple to follow, and provided on the website.
Setting up an E-mail Account
http://www.hotmail.com
To learn more about hotmail click on All about hotmail.
Click on New Account Signup.
Fill in your personal information which includes: Name, Language, Country, State, Zip Code, Time Zone, Gender, Birth Date, Gender, and Occupation.
Notice the drop down menu which allows you to choose one of several answers. Simply click on the down arrow and drag the mouse to the option you would like to choose and when highlighted, release the button.
Creating an Account Continued
• Username: Choose a username you would like to have your e-mail addressed to. You can use your name, birthdate, favorite hobby, number of children or grandchildren, or any combination of items.
Some usernames may already be taken so it is important to be more unique. For example, instead of grandma@hotmail.com you could use grandmamoses@hotmail.com. It may take a few tries before you create a name that is not in use.
• Password: Make the password something you can remember. An address, birthdate, hobby, color, or object that you will remember work well.
• Secret Question: If you forget your password, you will be asked the secret question of your choice.
• Secret Answer: Select a question you will always know the answer to.
• Registration Check: Type in the letters and/or numbers you see in the box. This step prevents companies from e-mailing unwanted solicitations to hotmail account holders.
• Agree to Terms of Service: Agree to follow the terms of service by clicking on the box. After clicking on the "I Agree" button, you will be taken to the next screen
Accessing Your Account
Anytime you would like to access your e-mail account go to http://www.hotmail.com.• Type in your username@hotmail.com and password and click Sign In.
• If you are using a private computer and would like the computer to sign you in automatically, click the box under password.
• If you are using a public computer, click the box under sign in to keep your e-mail address and password private.
What to Expect From Your E-mail Account
You will be able to keep in contact with friends and family all over the world at the click of a mouse. You will also be subject to junk mail.
• Junk mail is unsolicited e-mail from companies.
• Junk mail can usually be identified by the name of the sender which is identified under the from column.
• For instance, any weird name found in the From column (for example, anne909tk435) will most likely be junk mail.
• Well-known companies may also send you junk mail.
• However, you have the option of what to do with junk mail. You will learn how to delete junk mail in a following lesson.
• Hotmail has special controls to limit the amount of junk mail able to enter your e-mail account.
Changing Your Password
For security purposes, you may need to change your password from time to time. You can do this by clicking the Options link, which is written in white letters and located in the top right corner of your Inbox.
Next you will reach a page called Mail Options. In a left-hand column, you will see several options. Click once on Personal, the first choice listed to the left.
Changing Your Password Continued
After clicking on the Personal button, you will reach a page titled Personal Options.
Under the Personal Options header, click on Password, written in blue letters. Next, fill in your old password and enter a new password. Click continue.
Sending & Receiving E-mail
Email messages are often less formal than letters and can sometimes be as short as one single word. Because it is treated more casually than a formal letter sometimes people aren't as careful with what they say in an email message
Anatomy of an Email Message
Recipients Name & Address
You can't send email without having the other person's full email address. Without it its like mailing an envelope without any address on it. Just as you would put the person's name and address on the envelope, you would put their email address, comprised of their Username and domain name, on the email message. You can include their real name in the message also.
You may be able to find an Gmail users email address at the gmail.com
Most email packages allow you to set up an email address book so that you only need to click on the person you would like to send the message to once you have put them in your book. All you need to do is use the automatic addressing feature to transfer the address to your new message.
As you would normally put your return name and address on the back of an envelope so the message can be returned to you if there is a problem - you can include this on your email software when you set it up so it does the same with the email messages you send.
RETURN NAME & ADDRESS
Subject
If you type in the subject, this subject header will show up on their email program so that they get an idea of what your message is about - you can type in Urgent! to let the recipient know to open it right away.
SUBJECT, TIME & DATE ON INCOMING MAIL
Time & Date
The email program automatically puts in the time, the date.
Main Body
This is where you type the main body of your message.
Attachments
Documents can also be attasched to email messages. To attach a document or other type of digital file to an outgoing emssage, select Attach File from the Message menu.. A standard dialogue box will be displayed. Slect the document you want to send and click OK. The location of the file will appear after the Attachments: field of the header. When the message is sent the attachment will be located and sent also.
Receiving Attachments - Select the directory or folder you want the attachments to be saved to. You can do this by going to Settings menu, then clicking of Attachments, followed by the box under Attachemnt Directory. Select a directory/folder for your attachments to be saved into. If you do not select a specific directory, incoming attachments will be saved into the Eudora directory.
BEWARE!! When you are sending attachments please ensure that the person you are sending to will be able to "read" (open) the file. Check to find out if they have the corrrect software and the correct version of that software. If in doubt save word processor documents as .rtf - most word processors can read this type of file, although you may lose some formatting in the process.
CC (carbon copy)
You can forward a copy of your message to the user you include here. All you need to do is include their email address in this section.
CC (blind carbon copy)
This field allows you to send to send a copy of a message to someone else without the original recipient knowing.
Checking for Email
To check if there is any new mail you have to login to your email software with your account. To do that you open the software, your Username will automatically come up and your password will be requested. After you type in your password your email program will connect to your mailbox at your post office to see if there is any mail waiting for you.
If there is it will download the messages to your computer and tell you you have new mail. You click on OK, and then just click on the new messages that you have to open them. You can tell they are new by the unopened markers next to them.
NEW MAIL
If you want to make the best use of email make sure to check regularly for incoming mail and reply as soon as possible. The benefit of email is its ease of use in sending, receiving AND replying promptly.
Remote Access
You don't have to use the same computer to access your email, you can access it remotely from other computers as long as the computer has email software and you know the domain name of your mail server and your user details.
Reply Command
The email program has an automatic reply command, which will instruct it to prepare an email reply to go to the sender of the email. The program automatically insert the senders email address, and by default the same subject header. You have the option of including the original text in the message when you reply so that you can refer to points in it.
Bounced Email
Occasionally you will get email returned to you that has "bounced", this happens if you type the address incorrectly or the user has cancelled their account. It will be returned to you with an error message telling you why it couldn't be delivered like - "this message could not be delivered as there was no email account or mail box for this person". It is very important to get the address exactly right including all underscores and full stops.
Email In The Classroom
Electronic Mail in the classroom is an exciting adventure for both students and teachers. Some of the benefits of using electronic mail include:
• Students are writing messages for a purpose and a real audience
• Increased focus on literacy
• Increased motivation
• Co-operative team work
• Less emphasis on teacher-directed learning
• Improved research skills
• Increased communications
• Provides stimulus for students to learn about other cultures
• Increased comprehension, hand-eye coordination and typing skills
There are many fun and educational projects can be joined through the Global Classroom Project site.
Email Lists
What is an e-mail discussion list?
An electronic mail list is simply a discussion group which operates via electronic mail. In its simplest form an e-mail list can be a small number of people who send mail backwards and forwards to each other, possibly a professional group, or people with a particular interest in common.
Imagine that at one stage this group of people decided to formalise things a bit, and appointed one person to operate as the maintainer of the discussion. One way of doing this would be for that person to maintain the list of e-mail addresses of the other members.
Then each member of the list who wanted to join in the discussion would forward their message to that one person, who would then distribute it to everyone else.
This would work quite well if there were only a small number of participants, but what if the discussion was so interesting that lots of people wanted to join in? It would become a lot of work for the person who was running the list.
In order to make life simpler for the person who runs the list (the list owner), there are several kinds of software which automate the running of an e-mail list, including enrolling new members (subscribing), removing members (un-subscribing), changing mail preferences and distributing the messages.
There are several different kinds of software which do this, one of the most common is known as Listserv software, so you will often see e-mail discussion lists called Listservs, after this software. However there are other kinds, including Majordomo. All of this list software operates in a similar fashion, so once you have learned how one kind works, it is easy to learn the others if you need to.
How does a list work?
Simply, once you have subscribed to the list (see below), all you need to do is send your mail message to the list's address and your message will be automatically distributed to every other member of the list.
Why would I join one?
Electronic mail lists are an excellent way of participating in discussions with people who share an interest in your particular subject area. They are a good way of keeping up with the latest developments in your field by belonging to a network of people all over the world who are working in your area.
You can share ideas or concerns, ask questions, find out about research, conferences or professional development activities and discover what is going on in other regions, states or countries
Electronic mail is a relatively low cost form of communication and e-mail lists are free. It costs you nothing except your dial-up time to subscribe and participate. The only cost you might find is in time, if you join a high volume mail list, or find yourself participating in a lot of discussions!
For people who may be isolated from other professional networks because of distance, or for any other reason, electronic mail lists are an excellent way of remaining in touch with your colleagues, researchers in your field and other interested people.
Where do I find a list?
There are tens of thousands of e-mail lists in the world covering a huge variety of subjects. If you are looking for a list in a particular subject area here are some places to look. PAML, (Publicly Accessible Mail Lists) at: http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/ has possibly one of the most comprehensive lists of electronic discussion lists on the web. Another place to look is LIZST at: http://www.liszt.com/ where you can search more than 66, 000 lists for one that interests you.
How do I join a list?
Once you have found a list you need to let the list know that you want to join in the discussion by subscribing to the list. You do this by sending a subscription message (request to join the list) to the list address. The subscription message will vary depending on which list administration software is being used.
Here is a table of the subscription messages for the major list administration software.
Package
Command
LISTSERV
subscribe listname yourfirstname yourlastname
LISTPROC
subscribe listname yourfirstname yourlastname
MAILBASE
join listname yourfirstname yourlastname
MAJORDOMO
subscribe listname
Depending on the list you will get a message back, either letting you know that you are subscribed to the list, or that your subscription to the list has gone to the list owner for approval. Some lists are moderated or closed lists, which means that the list is open only to a particular group of people, or that all messages sent to the list need to be approved by the list owner before they circulate to other members.
Note that most lists are publicly accessible, so that all you need to do is send your subscription message in order to be allowed to join.
All e-mail lists have two addresses. One address is that of the automatic list software (for example listserv or majordomo), the other is the address to which you send your messages when you want to participate in the discussion.
The first address will have the name of the e-mail software as the first element, (the bit before the @). The second address has the same element after the @ as the first address, but the bit before the @ is the name of the list. So if we invent a listserv called list-l, which is held at an address called address.edu.au, the two addresses would be:
listserv@address.edu.au and list-l@address.edu.au. The first address is where you send your subscription detail, the second address is where you can send your messages to join in the discussion.
An easy way to sort this out is to think of the e-mail list as a club you want to join. Most clubs will have a secretary who is responsible for such things as requests to join, membership subscriptions, changes of address and other administrative details. This is the equivalent of the first address (majordomo@edx1.educ.monash.edu.au).
However, if you wanted to submit an article to the club's newsletter you wouldn't send it to the secretary, you'd send it to the person responsible for that particular activity, possibly the newsletter editor. This is the equivalent of the second address (called the list address), the one where you send your thoughts, comments, information and questions.
It is important that you are sure of the difference between the two addresses because if you try and send a question to the majordomo address you will simply get an error message back, while if you send a query about your subscription to the list address you won't get any action.
One important thing to remember about subscribing to a list is that in order to use the list, you need to send any messages, to either address, from the original e-mail address you subscribed from. It is the equivalent of having the club's newsletter sent to your home address, if you move and don't let the secretary know you have changed addresses, you will no longer get your mail.
So if you change e-mail addresses you will have to unsubscribe from the list using your old address and resubscribe using your new address. If you send a message to the list and get a reply saying that you are no longer subscribed to the list, check to make sure that you are sending your message from the e-mail address you used to subscribe.
What other things do I need to know?
There are other commands you can send to the majordomo which can be very useful to know. One of the most useful, and the easiest to remember is the word HELP. If you send a message to you majordomo address with just this in the body of your message you will receive a list of the commands that majordomo recognises, including instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing.
But remember that their is more to e-mail than just joining a list, you need to remember that there are real people on the other end of the list. This is where Netiquette is important.
Style Guide for Email
Because e-mail is fast and easy to use, there is a tendency to write before you think. In order to make and keep friends using e-mail it is a good idea to learn about Netiquette, but it is also important to learn a few e-mail style guidelines which will make your messages welcome in the mail boxes of your correspondents.
• Most e-mail programs are strictly text only, and use only the letters, numbers and keyboard punctuation marks, without any of the formatting you are used to being able to use in word-processing.
• Keep it short. Unformatted text is not particularly easy to read on screen, so your chances of someone reading your whole message are better if you keep it as concise as possible. The length of a message might not seem important if you don't get much mail, but for people who receive a lot of e-mail there may not be time to read long messages.
• If you need to write a longer message, flag it in the subject line of the message, ie "Why the Cat in the Hat Came Back (long)". This way people know that it's a long message and can decide whether they have time to read it immediately.
• Always use a subject line and try and make it as relevant as possible to your message. This is the first part of the message anyone sees when they open their e-mail program and many people choose whether or not to read the message on the basis of the subject line.
• A whole screen of text is not easy to read either, so try and break your message up into short paragraphs with breaks in between. White space makes text easier to read.
• For much the same reasons don't use all capitals in a message. In the culture of cyberspace, messages written in all capitals are seen as shouting. This is because a message composed entirely of capital letters is uncomfortable to read. It's okay though to use all capitals IF YOU WANT TO EMPHASIZE SOMETHING, as long as it's not a whole message.
• There are other ways of creating emphasis. You can use *.* to indicate italics. This can be *very useful*.
• If you want to underline you can use underscores _. For example if you wanted to underline the title of a book, _The Cat in the Hat_.
• Keep your line length shorter than 80 characters and preferably no longer than 60 characters. Otherwise when your message is received it might break in strange places which is very irritating to read.
• If you are sending a message to a mailing list, don't start your message with a space. Some mailing lists gather a group of messages together and send them to subscribers all at once (this is called a digest). A message with a space at the beginning can cause the digest to truncate at your message.
• Always include your name and e-mail address at the bottom of your message. Some mail programs don't receive the message header which generally includes your name and e-mail address, so if they wanted to answer you they might not be able to.
• Some people have created remarkable signatures from simple ASCII text, but they tend to be quite large. Try and keep your signature file to no more than four lines. Some people have to pay for their e-mail by the amount they download, so it is considerate to save message size by keeping your signature short.
Emoticons & Acronyms
There are many ways of adding personality and meaning to your e-mail message, these are known as emoticons and acronyms. There are lots of them, but the most common are the ones to indicate humour. There is the smiley face :-) (try looking at it sideways), the grin, and the very big grin . Try some of these in your messages.
Acronyms
Words
Meaning
Words
Meaning
FOFL
Fall on the floor laughing
IRL
In real life
LOL;
Laugh out loud
YMMV
Your mileage may vary
ROTFL
Roll on the floor laughing
ITRW
In the real world
TTFN
Ta ta for now
BTW
By the way
Grin
Grin, joking
BG
Big grin
VBG
Very big grin;
RTFM
Read the flaming manual
TIA
Thanks in advance
IMHO
In my humble opinion
IMNSHO
In my not so humble opinion
IOW
In other words
Emoticons
Symbol
Used for
Symbol
Used for
:-);
Smile, "I'm joking"
:-(
Frown, "I'm not happy"
:)
Smiley for lazy typists
:(
Frown for lazy typists
;-)
Wink, a sly grin
:-O
Shocked
*
Kiss
{ } [ ]
Hugs
{{{***}}}
Hugs and kisses
:-P
Sticking out your tongue
:,-(
Crying
:-|
Can't decide how to feel
Working with Internet
File Download
The internet is full of sights to see and things to do like listen to sounds, view movies, play interactive educational games and transfer applications to your own computer like virus checkers, drawing programs, screen capturing programs and much more.
In order to get and run these files you need to learn how to download and set them up on your own computer. Downloading refers to the actual transferring of the document from the internet to your own computer.
Before You Start Downloading
Know Your System
Firstly you must make sure that you know what type of software is appropriate for your computer. That is you must know the specifications of your computer. Things like whether you are using a Personal Computer (PC) or a Mac (Macintosh) and if you are using a PC whether you are using Windows 3.1, Windows 95 or Windows NT as your operating system.
You also need to know how much memory you have and whether the machine is a 486 or pentium if it is a PC. The type of computer, the operating system and specifications of your computer dictate what type of programs you can run on your computer.
You may not have the capacity to run certain software or the software may not be available for the platform you are using and downloading it can be a complete waste of time.
Set up a separate download directory
Setting up a separate download directory to store your downloaded files into is so they don't get mixed up with any other programs/files on your system, and so you always know where you can find them should you have to reinstall or find the files at a later date.
Normally with software you receive on a disk the separate directory is the files on the disk and the file runs through it setup functions and creates a directory where the program will sit. By creating this download directory you are saving a lot of clean up time later.
. Most files you download will also be in a compressed format and when uncompressed will explode into many other files. By separating them you are able to clean up your file directories at a later stage with greater ease.
If you are using Windows 95 you have the ability to create a new directory immediately to store the file in otherwise store them all in a download directory. You could create sub directories like that below.
File Extensions
Look at the file extension of the file you want to download Files like this one you are reading - download.htm have two parts separated by the (.). The name of the file refers to the first part, the file extension refers to the second part.
The file extension is usually three letters and can be used to identify the type of file that it is. In this example download.htm means it is a hypertext markup language document (html).
As you become more familiar with the internet and different file extensions you will be able to identify their file types and what you need to run them. A comprehensive list of file extensions and There are an amazing array of different file types around, you would probably be familiar with some more common ones such as word.doc and word.txt. Word.doc is a word document and word.txt is a plain text document.
Compressed Files
Compressed files are a way of storing many files into one, or making a big file smaller so by making it smaller it is quicker to download. For PC users the most common file extensions are zip files and exe files and for Macintosh users sea and hqx.
Exe and Sea files are self extracting archives, that means you don't need other software to uncompress them and when you click on them in your file managing program they will automatically either run a setup program, explode into a larger file or explode into several files.
. All files can be compressed into these formats including all your sounds movies and programs to run them.
For Zip and Hqx files you will need other programs to decompress/unzip/expand them. For PC users winzip is the most popular and for Mac users stuffit expander.
Once you have this additional software you will be able to uncompress the files just by clicking on them in your file managing software. They will decompress onto your computer in the same manner as the exe and sea files.
The Different forms of Downloading
Downloading technically means the transfer of one file on one computer to another computer. This can take several different forms when you are downloading using the internet.
You can save individual web pages or images on a web page which are transferred in an instant or you can transfer whole programs and files by clicking on a link in a web page and the timing will depend on the size of the file.
Saving A Web Page
With simple files like this web page you are reading you can save just by clicking on File on the menu bar of your browser, then clicking on Save As.
In the save as type menu you will have two options, either to save it as html file or a text file. If you want to save the html code that is used in it or only wish to ever read the file in a web browser save it as a html file. If you want to read the file in any text based programs like Microsoft Word save it as text. This will mean that you don't have to sift through the code that comes with all hypertext documents. If you are using Microsoft Word 97 with HTML options installed you will not have this problem.
All of the images on the web page will need to be saved individually if you wish to view the entire document, images included on your own computer. You will also need to store the images in the same directory that the images are stored in (or change the code). Getting confused? It's pretty simple.
For this particular document I have stored all the images in a separate directory called images and when I have inserted them into the web page with html code I have told the browser that all of these images are in an images directory. You can view the source code by clicking on the view button on your button and clicking on source code or look at the sample below.
Here you can see that the saveas.gif file is saved in an images directory. Now all you have to do is create a subdirectory for this page, call it images and save all the images individually into that directory. When you open this page up from your own computer all images will be intact and the file will be viewed as normal.
With HTML files that are in frames, you will either need to click on the particular frame that you wish to save and save it or you will need to collect all the frames by clicking in each frame and then also saving the main frame which is the document if you would like the entire page. Sometimes this can get a little messy and confusing, it might be easier just to do a screen capture of the web page.
Downloading A File Through Your Web Browser
The following instructions are based on downloading a file using the Netscape browser. Most web browsers operate in a similar manner so the basic concepts can be used for all browsers.
When you click on the link for a file that you want to download a box similar to the one below will come up.
The browser is stating that the file that I am downloading is of a pdf format - see application/pdf. The browser doesn't recognise this file so it is asking for you to either pick an application to run it or whether we want to save it and work out what application we will use to run it later.
As a beginner, always save the file unless you are very familiar with the file extension and know what program will run it.. There is nothing more annoying than picking the wrong application, waiting for it to download and then finding the wrong program has been chosen and having to download the file again.
A box like that below will come up if you click on Save The File. This is where your separate directory comes in handy. If you are using windows 95 you have the ability to create a new directory immediately to store the file in.
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