INTERNET STARTGUIDE

 

Index.

1 - What is the internet and what do you need to use it ?
2 - Browsing the web
3 - What is eMail and what do i need to use it ?
4 - Communicating with online contacts
5 - Using online tools
6 - Updating on the latest news or learn new skills ?
7 - Is my computer safe and secure when online ?
8 - Promoting and marketing online
9 - Your own website
10 - Online Automation

 

 

 

1 - What is the internet and what do you need to use it ?

The Internet is a global system of computers and networking parts that can be used to communicate electronicly to sent files and messages from one user or system to another across the globe. The sending and receiving devices can vary a lot, from desktop computers to wrist watches.



 

This so-called World Wide Web (WWW) allows users to (hyper)link information, media and applications for instant access across the internet. From documents to music and video files the internet can handle all digitized material and distribute it to multiple users simultaneously.


 

The internet is so large that it contains the information of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government organizations. Each storing a large amount of schedules, contact information, order data, financial transactions and much more. With nearly 5 billion websites online the total size of the data on the internet has surpassed the 500 billion GigaBytes.

 


All this data can be accessed through a broad array of electronic networking technologies. These devices connnect to the internet through wireless or cabled connections. Some of these devices are build for high speed internet and allow the use of video conferencing and streaming of large data files. This allows users to even broadcast high quality recordings from random locations in the world.



Access to the internet is provided by Internet Service Providers (ISP's). Once you have an internet enabled device and connected it to your ISP you can browse websites, sent email messages and download numerous applications and media files. Internet devices can be connected through landlines like DSL, ADSL, cable and wireless technology like GPRS, GSM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. Usually a modem or router is in between the ISP and your device.(ISP is the box you pay with a code to full in with your personal information IP adress from you to the world).

 

Besides the enormous amount of data available on the internet for download the same infrastructure of the internet also supports the exchange of data, in realtime or relayed through online services. This exchange can be for services like instant messaging, chatting, file exchanges and voice and video communication. In principle all data can be transmitted over the internet to servers for further distribution or directly to a user connected to the internet. Such user-to-user applications are widespread with most applications focussed on social contacts, games and sharing tools allowing the world to share their information with a few clicks of a mouse button.

 

 

 

 

2 - Browsing the web

To visit the internet in the most common way a application called a Web browser is required. These applications can work with the structure of data on the internet to present it to the user. Webbrowers are available on almost all platforms, mobile and stationairy.

The web browser

Where are many browser available some have distinctively better features or features that fit better with your needs. Finding the right browser for the long term takes time and therefor we would like to make some suggestions.

Various webbrowsers are freely available, wether it beeing Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera they all perform the functionality of retrieving webpages from the internet and presenting them to the user to read and if desired click through to the next linked document. The browsers offer many other features to manage for example your website addresses, browsing history and login data. Some browsers also support developer options to improve your own website pages.

Other browsers focus on specific functionality like the Dragon browser from Comodo for anti-virus, Slimbrowser for low memory systems. With so many choices available it is advised to look for the one that matches your requirements the best.



Navigating to a website

With all the content stored on Webservers, serving us the content over the internet, we have to direct our webbrowser to specific internet addresses to obtain the desired content. We do so by entering a URL (uniform resource locator) that points to a specific website on a webserver connected to the internet. It does so by using various technologies like an IP address, a webaccount and webserver routing. You can read more about this in chapter 9 "Your own website".

To navigate to a website type in a web address, also known as a URL, into the address bar usually located in the top of the browser window. Then press the Enter key.
(Here you find the exemple of the EPP-Key from our company to help you.)

If the web address is not correct then you may see a 404 error indicating that the webserver or webpage could not be found. Some websites show this differently but often refer to the 404 error number in such case. Verify if you have typed the address properly. Mind that some websites require www. as first part of the webaddress and that even capitals can matter so type the address exactly or copy/paste it if you can not click on it.

Navigate in a website

Once a webpage has been loaded into the browser and displayed you can interact with the element on the page. Links can be clicked, images can be hovered and a long page can be scrolled through. To navigate to different pages in a website a menu is used. Often displayed as text but also incorperated into the design by using graphic or animated buttons. Clicked links may change colour to reflect that they have been clicked before.

To link the different pages so-called hyperlinks are used. Most elements can be linked like this but often only text and images are. You can right click a link to open it into a new window while preserving the first window. Links will usually change colour to indicate you have already visited them. Links can be copied also providing you with the web address (URL) of the destination page. This URL can then be sent to others or stored for later reading.

Content types

Our technology to digitize near all information on the planet combined with the internet has presented us with a wide variety of content available in websites, apps, gameboxes and other webenabled devices. This content is often accompanied by plain text to offer a description of the material, reviews of its use or perhaps statistics about availability or prices. As everyone can be online with their information we see a large amount of social material in the form of stories, opinions, pictures, audio and video recordings surrounding the initial information.

On the internet every element has to be categorized. Here are some common ones;

To differentiate between the various elements each type has its own filename extention, these are the letters behind the dot in the filename.
The available data online is, just as offline, formatted for specific purposes. Find below some examples of document types extensions);

 

Popups

A click on a link can lead to a new browser window opening (popping up) leaving your first window hidden behind the pop. These are also often (ab)used for (unwanted) advertising. Failures sometimes lead to the endless popping up of new windows, closing your whole browser is the best solution for that. To avoid popups you can in some cases set your browser to not allow it or run a anti-popup plugin or application.

Cookies

Cookies help to store data in between browser sessions so that some settings, form data or login status can be restored automaticly when returning to the website. A cookie is no more then text file stored on your computer by the web page you visited. These cookies may contain information you would not like to store. This could be contact details, information you entered in forms or login information. Clearing your cookie-cache is therefor regularly advised to avoid third parties finding the information.

Also cookie theft/abuse is a well known problem on the internet. Malicious third party advertisements or website plugins are often the case when the information in the cookie is valuable.

Secure browsing

While the internet is open to everyone you may not expect others to actively try to abuse your presence on the internet. However this is a daily occurence. With your valuable login details transmitted over the world wide web it is not impossible for others to intercept this data and use it for their own good. Abusing web traffic can be made more difficult by browsing the internet in a secure environment. This is accomplished by using a so-called HTTPS connection (With the S meaning for secure). Often your bank or store has such a https:// address available for you and you should be automaticly redirected to it when it is time to enter your valuable details into the webbrowser and transmit them. In all cases it is the owner of the website you are visiting that is responsible for setting up a secure environment while the user has to maintain an updated webbrowser application.

Plugins

While a browser offers a large amount of features there are always new idea's that improve your browsing experience. By installing plugins into your browser you can add even more functionality to your browser application. These plugins vary largely from translater tools to anti addware tools and are often freely available. Search on your browsers developer website for more plugins or check the browser menu for the plugin options. Do keep in mind that plugins can also contain malicious code so properly verify the author/seller before you install them.

 

 

3 - What is a Email and what do i need to use it ?

E-mail or electronic-mail is the technology of sending and received messages and files over the internet from one emailbox to one or more emailboxes. The messages can contain plain text, images, weblinks, documents and much more. Only users with an email address can receive email but using webpages with forms everyone can sent emails. Sometimes these can be sent anonymously as part of a service or support desk but more common is that users have their own unique email address.

eMail address

An email address consist of two parts. One part defines the host where the email is managed. The other part defines whom it is for or from. An example of an email address is;

john.doe@gmail.com

Here 'gmail.com' is where the email is managed. The organization behind gmail.com can choose to host email boxes themselfs or direct the email to another provider that does this. The first part 'john.doe' is the actual user that uses this emailbox. Both parts need to be exactly correct for email to arive properly. When registering for an email address you can only choose the username (first part)john.doe, the hostname (second part) @gmail.com is chosen by the provider unless you own your own domainname ex: ana@ana.com. You can read more about domainnames in Chapter 9 "Your own website".

eMail provider

A emailbox provider or email service is a department or organization that provides email hosting. It provides email servers to send, receive, accept, and store email for other organizations and/or end users, on their behalf and upon their explicit mandate.A mailbox provider is the administrator of the registered domain name that forms the domain-part of its email addresses.

Sender and subject

As with all messages a message subject helps to organize email. Having the proper subject in an email improves the speed in wich it is processed and avoids confusion for the reader. With the message you can state where it came from, this can be either your own address or another address you wish to have them return their response to.

Recipient

The recipient of the message is the receiving party. This can be a single address or a list of addresses seperated with a comma. The message will then be transmitted to each of the addresses in the recipient list.

Attachements

To sent files or archives by email one can use the Attachment feature of their mailprogram and select the files they wish to transmit to the recipient. Remember that there is a maximum size per email provider. Common size limits for files are 4 to 5MB with the new standard going up to 8MN and 20MB. Large files are not advices but can occur. Check with your email provider if you run into trouble sending a large file. Keep in mind that incomming emails that have attachments can also conceal electronic virusses. For this reason it is strongly advised never to run executables from your emailbox without trusting the sender in full. Use of virus scanners is advised as well. You can read more about internet security in Chapter 7 "Is my computer safe and secure when online ?".

CC and BCC

For the practical use of including copies of messages the CC (Carbon Copy) and BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) allow senders to sent copies to others including (CC) or not including (BCC) the other recipients.

POP3 and IMAP

The eMail messages themselfs are stored on mail servers. These are specialized applications that handle email data and communication only. The use of email is seperated in two groups, the POP3 technology and IMAP technology. POP3 technology allows sending and receiving of email but without storage on the mailserver of received and sent email. With POP3 the sent and received emails are stored on the computer you use to access the emailbox. IMAP technology allows storing of all your emails on the mailserver allowing you to access them from anywhere in the world using various devices.

 


 

 

eMail Applications and Webmail sites

To sent and receive email from your device you can install a specific email application or make use of a website that provices this functionality for you, this we call webmail. Webmail sites offer the ability to login to your own email account and manage your emailbox. You can sent email, and receive and read email. You can access webmail sites from any regular webbrowser making it easy to access and widely available. You do have to login to access these webmail based emailboxes.


eMail Applications are more specialized them webmail sites. They offer a range of faster and stronger features to manage your email. They also function better as they are developed specificly for the device you are using. eMail Applications may also offer build in spam filters and virus detection. Have a good read through of the manual of your eMail application, they can help you manage email with incredible easey. You do not have to login to these application emailboxes, they look nicer and react faster. We advise using an application over a webmail solution.


Spam, scams and virusses

As eMail can carry harmfull attachments and everyone can sent to your address by default it is important that you keep in mind the topics SPAM (unsollicated email) and VIRUSSES (harmfull files). Also messages with requests for your login details, bank account details, lending requests and most other offers to good to believe are often online scams. Do not feel tempted by these and ignore them if unsure if they can be trusted.

To protect yourself against virusses and spam you can download and install specialized anti-virus software or request your email provider to provide such for you. These applications can recognize and isolate spam and scam emails as well as virus files and protect your device from beeing harmed or exploited.




4 - Communicating with online contacts

With others beeing connected to the internet as well it is very likely that some of your family, friends or colleagues are online as well. As such you can communicate with them through a variety of applications.

Forums

When the internet had just formed dialogs about many topics were shared through forums (also known as message boards) where users could post a message for others to read when they would get online. Forums can be free for the public or restricted to a specific group of users. After such a long time we now have forums for almost every activity or topic we know of in our world.

eMail

Electronic Mail is by far the most used intense application on the internet. Making possible a vast amount of detailed dialog from user(s) to user(s) around the world has brought us a faster working environment with a very efficient communication proces. Allowing a mix of text, images, links, documents and other media in one single message enveloppe made is far easier for us to communicate. eMail is further explained in Chapter 3 "What is eMail and what do i need to use it ?".

Chatting

If users are both online then with the use of chat applications these users can engage in a real-time chat dialog with each other. The same principle is applied for many users that can join up in a chatroom where they all can follow the same dialog. Chat applications are widely spread since the beginning of the internet but some are worth a reference like Whatsapp, Skype, HipChat

Instant messaging

For sending messages quickly and directly there are Instant messaging applications. These applications oftten run on mobile devices allowing you to carry along your contact list and messaging options. Some applications revolve around images, video's, art pieces, music but the majority focusses on the dialogs between users. Examples of instant messenger applications are : ICQ, Skype, Live Messenger, AIM. For mobile devices there are even more apps like WhatsUp, KiK, and SnapChat.

Social media

As we all have our own life full of events and information some applications offer social media accounts where you can keep short stories with media like images and video's. Many of these applications have reached large volumes of users connecting the world even closer together. Some examples of social media / blogging applications are; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TapTalk. Some of these apps focus on business and work like LinkedIn and Freelancer.

Voice and Video phoning

To communicate in a natural way voice phoning allows actual vocal conversations between one or many persons. Each running a version of the same software allowing to connect with each other. To even make it more natural video phoning allows images to be transmitted along with the audio signal. This feels nearly as close as communicating eye to eye with the person or group. Video phoning applications are available on all major devices with software from amongst others; Skype, Tango and Viber.

 

Screen sharing and remote access

Sometimes it is very usefull to share screens when explaining something or even allow remote access for someone else to explain or perform an action on your device. These remote access applications can be usefull as well as harmfull. Make sure you do not hand out access to your device to easy.





5 - Using online tools

Once online and ready to get some work done you may run into the need for a specific tool like a calculator or calendar. These tools are widely available and finding them is not hard. If you have none available then stop by your favourite search engine and look for an online version of your desired tool.

Search Engine tools

With all this digital information online it can become difficult to find what you are looking for. Even with the advanced search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing it may take a while searching. Some search engines are for specific types of information while others offer an index for the whole internet.

Office tools

To make work in the office easier some tools can be access online from your desktop or laptop. From simple calculators to complex project planning these online tools allow you to access your tool when you need it. Some examples of office tools are; Open Office, Evernote, Zoho, Gliffy.

Translator tools

Quickly translating a piece of text or a whole webpage has become easier then ever. With several online language translators already available for free use you can now have a dialog with foreign contacts in minutes. Examples of online translator tools are; Google translate, WorldLingo, PROMT

Collaboration tools

If you are ever working with someone online and want to share documents, drawings, diagrams or files then collaboration tools should be on your list. Some require an account and subscription others may be free. Depending on what you use from it the costs of them may well be worth it. Examples of collaboration tools are; BlueScape, ConceptBoard and Basecamp.


Payment tools

For the process of forfilling payments electronicly there are online payment platforms and providers. These payment options allow for regular payments, (very small) micro payments and recurring payments from within websites and mobile apps. This makes it possible to pay for something online and immediatly receive the purchased product or service. Examples of online payment systems are; PayPal, Google Wallet and Skrill.

 

6 - Updating on the latest news or learn new skills ?

Once the time allows you will want to explore the internet for other interests. With many websites providing detailed information about many topics you are bound to find what you are looking for. You can update yourself on the latest news or comments about them, visit your favourite sportclub or check out the concert agenda of your local club. You may find yourself looking to learn a new skill, book a holiday or go shopping online.

Online shopping

With many stores joining the internet for sales of physical goods and offline/online services it is probable to say that almost everything can be bought over the internet. From clothing to fresh prepared food there is a 24/7 economy online. Ordering flowers for family across the globe, buy custom build furniture from foreign countries or book your dream holiday across a continent. Shopping is usually supported by providing access to a catalog and shopping basket. Once satisfied you can enter payment and delivery details and often complete the payment eletronicly right after ordering.

Newssites

Distributing information online is the best feature of the internet and news companies make use of it since day one. With a wide variety of radio channels, video channels, blogs and news sites the proces of publishing new information has become easy and fast. You can visit newssites usually without an account or subscription but some require you to register first.

Schools and education

The ability to train and study using online resources is becoming a common activity. With studies for a range of skills you can quickly find yourself on a webpage learning something you never knew. From language studies to cooking, technology, sport, administration and so much more. Online courses may include offline material like DVDs or practise material but these days most of this is integrated into the website providing the course. Online education is available in small parts or full multi-year studies.

Review sites

Not knowing if a product or service is acceptable in quality or price we often ask someone else what their experience with it was. Such a review may make you decide to buy something you otherwise would not buy. Review sites offer reactions from existing customers to help convince you of a good sale. However if the product is not good or the service behind it lacks you will also read about it on these sites. Once you need to know about a product it is worth it to have a browse online for reviews.

 

7 - Is my computer safe and secure when online ?

Beeing connected to the internet obviously means you can encounter files that can be harmfull to your computer or to your data stored on the computer. here we describe some of the topics worth mentioning when improving your online security.

Email spam and scams

With eMail connecting to a large part of the worlds population you will receive messages that lead to loss of money, data and access to online accounts. These messages may include stories that are look trustworthy but are complete scams. Messages containing advertisment and promotion material that you did not request is considered unsollicited email (Spam). Use a spamfilter to minimize the amount of scam and spam emails in your emailbox. Note!: Never hand out your personal information or valuable details without trusting the recipient to the fullest.

 

Hacking

When a particular person or group wants to cause damage, steal data or hijack facilities they can attempt to access the systems remotely by the use of hacking. Hackers can access systems by brute force using thousands of computers, by complex failures in the technology used or by tricking someone else with access to grant it to them or hand it over. Protecting against hackers is possible but limited, the best advice is ;

Virusses and worms

Harmful files that are downloaded to your device may sometimes trigger execution through the mailprogram or require you to doubleclick them to execute them as attachment. Such files, when opened on your device, can cause harm to your device and data. Virusses spread from one computer to another through connected networks or attaching to outgoing emails. Worms hide on your computer to damage, lock or steal files, snoop on your passwords, run hidden websites and so on. As executable applications these attachments can cause a lot of harm.

Protection options

To protect yourself against the risks of the internet you should;

 

8 - Promoting and marketing online


Search engines like Google offer a large visitors stream which can be tunneled to your website using proper website tagging and submission. Having your website listed with the major search engines can provide a steady boost to your website traffic.


Search engines alone is not enough though, in this competing world there is the need for additional (conventional) promotion through a variety of options;

In its basics low budget promoting can provide a huge boost in response but a full range marketing campaign can yield more results for its costs.


Promotion services by Internet Realisation

At Internet Realisation we offer various promotion services including;


If you are interested in our promotion services then contact us directly or order through our webform

 

9 - Your own website


When its time that you feel the need to present your content to the world you can choose to do so on free advertising pages or using your own website. With your own website you control most of the choices in presentation, functionality and design. Be the full owner of your website decor and alter it as you wish to look exactly as you own place of business. While the presentation of a website is important it only acts as a container for presenting information and functionalities. The functionalities that a website can present are numerous but here are some of them listed;

 

Expanding your website can be made easy and limited or custom and more complex. Making sure your website is ready to include future functionalities is as important as having it function the first day of use. Many websites therefor use a CMS (Content Management System) to allow faster and more efficient management of their website content. Often these CMS's operate in frameworks allowing many other functionalities to be enabled at low cost and short term.



Requirements

The requirements to enable your own website can differ per venture but we would advise the minimal of the following;

Many of these combination packages are available on the web ranging from budget to professional. Often a large amount of utilities, themes and plugins are available to add'on to your website. Adding custom components to these frameworks to improve or expand your website for better results is usually possible as well.


Website development by Internet Realisation

Having provided website development and hosting services for over 15 years we are confidend to be able to handle nearly any request. From design to automation we offer services for partial website development or full packages. Have a look at our current packages on our website.

10 - Online automation


With your website connected to the internet it can also directly connect to online users, resources libraries and other systems. These internet features allow for interactive and realtime software to function on your website. Software for a variaty of applications from informal to commercial can expand your website with more information, functionality and service for visitors.

Below you can find some of the most used internet components;


Software development by Internet Realisation

We develop internet software using the successful LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) platform. This very stable though flexibility platform has the power that allows us to match even the most demanding product requirements. With development on the stable LAMP platform the time to deliver and the development costs are kept to a minimum. With a long track record of automation our development team offers a broad set of development skills to swiftly complete and integrate the product into your organization.

Read more about our software development services on our website.