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Well… basically a web-site is a group of files, text, pictures, whatever, stored on a computer
that is permanently connected to the internet and configured such that anyone 'surfing the web'
can see it. You can read these files with a program called a 'browser'… Microsoft's 'Internet
Explorer' or Netscape's 'Navigator' for example. The files are usually linked to each other
so that you can easily jump from one to the next and back again giving the familiar 'surfing the
web' concept.
Servers
You could store the web site files on your own computer but unless you were connected more or
less permanently to the internet then no-one else would be able to see them. Most web sites
are stored on computers known as 'servers', specially configured to store and 'serve up' web
pages via the internet. If you have internet access, at work or at home, this means you have
an account with an internet service provider (ISP), and you will usually be given some space
on one of their servers. This is one possible place to put your web site. Perhaps the biggest
problem here is that your site will have a strange and complicated name, something along the lines of
www.aa5683t04.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk.
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Domain Names
You can give your web site a much more professional appearance by taking your own 'domain',
eg. tesco.com, or bloggsplumbing.co.uk etc. This is a lot cheaper than you might
expect - the first year is included in Abbeydale's basic web site package. A domain name
can be pointed to your web site files stored by your ISP. Domain names are sometimes referred
to as URLs (Unified Resource Locator) or just 'web addresses' tho strictly these terms also include the
prefix www. or more correctly, http://www. and may include names of particular files as well,
eg. www.tesco.com/index.htm.
Hosting
If you don't have internet access yourself then your web site will need somewhere else to live.
A number of companies provide exactly this service, known as 'hosting', and prices start at around
£20 per year. Hosting is generally preferred over using your ISP's space since it will not be
subject to the limitations ISP's typically place on personal web space.
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