Internet 101

By Kumar Dhanagopal

Have you ever stopped to wonder how the Internet works? Or did you have to, at some point in your professional or personal life, build up a Website from scratch? You needn’t look far for answers and help.

http://www.stimulus.com/education/internet101.html is a well organized and easy-to-understand online resource for beginners, as well as those who need refreshers on the basics of the Internet. The site consists of three main sections—Introduction, HTML, and CGI. The challenge of covering as vast a subject as the Internet is addressed by clustering the topics in neat little lesson-modules. The key points are crisply recapped at the end of each module.

The information within each lesson module is organized under a series of questions such as, How to build a form, How to write a Perl script, and How to get the values from the FORM.

The Introduction section contains four lessons—Preface, Terminology, Connectivity, and Getting Started.

Preface: This lesson provides an overview of the Internet, covering the origin and growth of the Internet and TCP/IP.
Terminology: This lesson contains definitions of the technical terms typically associated with the Internet—from protocols and languages to Internet services such as email.
Connectivity: This lesson explains how individual computers/servers connect to the Internet, and the various methods available for users to log on to the Internet (ISDN, Broadband, DSL, Cable, and so on).
Getting Started: This lesson is aimed at first-time users of the Internet. It is essentially a collection of search and e-commerce sites. If your goal is to learn more about the Internet and possibly build your own site, skip this lesson.

The HTML section is divided into six lessons—HTML Basics, Advanced HTML, Frames, Optimizing Web Pages, Web Design, and Marketing.

HTML Basics: This lesson explains the concept and purpose of HTML, lists the common HTML tags, and provides usage examples for each HTML tag.
Advanced HTML: This lesson covers changing font name, size, and color, and also creating tables.
Frames: This lesson defines frames, analyzes the advantages and drawbacks of using frames in Web pages, and describes ways to create frames and framesets.
Optimizing Web Pages: This lesson provides some background information on how a Web page is loaded/retrieved, and then explains how the height and width tags, tables, and image formats (GIF, JPEG, and so on) influence page-download speeds.
Web Design: This lesson provides useful tips and techniques for Web page layout—maintaining context, concealing magnitude, using sub-pages, using frames wisely, using the appropriate typefaces, and so on. The most valuable tip in this lesson is this: “Don't let your brain stop with what you see on the Internet. Invent new ways of using the same technology to present information in a way that is easy for the user to understand. If you don't succeed in your first try, continue trying.”
Marketing: This lesson is a refreshing change from most other ‘tech-knowledge’ sites, which concentrate on teaching the core technical stuff and ignore the business side of the Internet. This lesson teaches the basics of Internet marketing.

The CGI section consists of two lessons: Preface and Process.

Preface: This lesson introduces students to the basic elements of FORM objects in HTML. It addresses questions such as What is a form object and How do you lay out a form object.
Process: This lesson uses one example as a common thread throughout the lesson and takes students on a step-by-step journey of building an HTML FORM that can talk to and get responses from a Perl script. Besides explaining how to build a form and write a Perl script, the lesson also tackles questions about how information fed into the form is processed and how e-mails are sent using Perl.

The content is simple and to-the-point. The site is almost devoid of graphics. While this makes reading a bit monotonous, it does help when you are forced to live with slow connections. Numerous references to related books on www.amazon.com are included throughout the site. Had it been supplemented with generous reference links to other sites, and had the Webmaster thrown in even a basic search capability, the site could be a one-stop shop for anyone wanting to learn about the Internet.

The next time you feel the itch to find out more about MIME, POP, cookies, sockets, etc., simply ‘google’ for ‘Internet 101’; this site is listed among the top five hits.

(Kumar is a technical writer with Intel, India).

See also Internet 101
Using the Internet Effectively

By Tharoor Gopalakrishnan

Technical communicators often face tough questions like these. What policies, practices, and attitudes help organizations get information on the Web quickly and reliably? How do you get started developing your organization's first Web site? How do you redesign the 5,000-file monster your site has become? How can you use multimedia, forums, and databases more effectively? How do you market your online products and services? How do you know what impact they are having on decision-making?

Help is available on hand at www.sdcn.org. This site is essentially an online community, sharing knowledge about using the Internet more effectively. A brief introduction on Sustainable Development Communications Network (SDCN) is available in the first two links. You could become an active contributor to this site by registering here.

The link Developing Web-Empowered Communications Strategies focuses on strategies for the organization in the section Organization’s Internet Communication Strategy. This helps support existing communication Products and Services and convey the message to Internal and External audiences through appropriate communication tool.

The section on Budgeting and Financing for Web Products and Services delves into financing Web projects either through conventional or alternative sources. Descriptive links to Human Resource Costs, Technical Resource Costs, Funding, Management commitment and sources of financing, challenges and sustainability of Web products are available.

The Technical writing team can easily gather a wealth of information from the following links, as each of them has their own index list.

Ø Creating Web Style Guides and Product Specifications
This link gives the technical writer ideas on effective organization standards to achieve consistency and accessibility. Ideally a Web site is an official publication of the organization that should follow set standards or guidelines.

Most of the Web browsers are people with a short attention span. Add in Web content that has poor grammar, long sentences, and misspellings, and you have all the makings of a disastrous site. In such crisis situations, the links to Web Writing and Editing, Meta-data, Visual Design and Navigation, Coding and File Management, and Flexibility in Applying are sure remedies.

Ø Developing Coherent Information Architectures
Organizing the elements of a Web site’s form and content is outlined in Information Architecture (IA). IA helps the organization align its information to meet the requirements of the target audience and users. The sub links -- Information Architecture Planning Processes, Effective Information Architecture, Navigation Schemes: Issues and Concerns -- make for easy navigation. Choose the appropriate navigation scheme catering to the organization’s needs.

Ø Managing Content and Workflow
An organization that can make its corporate Web site a gateway to the organization has given a living moving representation of its content.

Ø Writing and editing for the Web
This section details the processes to edit and approve text before it is posted online. This is essential to maintain the quality of Web site.

Ø Managing Design and Coding
The key focus in this link is to organize information in a Web site with ease of navigation. A detailed list of technical features ranging from Cascading Style Sheets, Flash and Image Maps is available to ensure that Web pages work even in locations that are void of interconnectivity and computer usage is not popular. For those with a technical bent of mind there are tips on how to make an Internet Video or publish a CD-ROM.

Ø Managing Web Site Redesigns
If you were wondering what the differences between a facelift, an update, or a complete overhaul of your Web site were, the different facets involved in these three activities are explained in this link. Outdated information, lack of functionality, or change of organization mandate and structure are the forerunners for Website redesign.

Effective redesign from the user perspective calls for tidy backend processing and futuristic designing that can be effectively modified to suit customer requirements. Suggestions on how to go about this can be obtained from the sub links.

Ø Marketing Web Products and Services
This section gives an overview of Web Marketing Strategy with a strong focus on Brand Strategy and Brand loyalty. It explores the techniques of E-mail, Off-mail and Web based marketing and how to establish strategic partnerships.

Ø Monitoring and Evaluating Web Communications
This section recommends the following tools for better usage:

Log file analysis of traffic on the Web server
Reviewing display mileage of the Web site through search engines, Web gateways and other directories
User feedback
User testing

Ø Managing User Feedback and Communications
When users do not get adequate information from the Web site they register their feedback. This helps the organization understand its users better. An effective feedback mechanism helps understand the users, their requirements, and addresses their problems. When the content in the site is well organized it has effective audience reach. Ease of navigation ensures revisit by the user.

(Tharoor Gopalakrishnan is a Technical Writer with Polaris Software Limited, Chennai).

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