The Sweden Canada Link

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Web Technology - How it Works

The Internet is rather technical. Need help? Here we try in simple words to describe the most common terms.
So if you are looking to create, modify or expand your online presence, we encourage you to learn more about who we are and read this page.
If you need more information, please visit our resource page filled with links.

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What Is the Internet?

Internet is a global network of computers communicating with the same language. No one owns or controls the whole net. It consists of many small parts that are connected in such way as to give the appearance of being one large network. On Internet you send e-mail, look at bulletin boards, read Newsgroups or download files. The most common and well-known part of the net is the WWW or World Wide Web. The WWW is like a large library where the websites are books and the webpages are pages of those books. The first page in every website is called the homepage. The address of that homepage is http://www.mysite.com.

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HTML is the language on the web

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. You need web browsers such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator to see webpages. Web browsers interpret the codes and present the content to the users.

• HTML 2.0 (Nov 1995) Forms, Improved images.

• HTML 3.2 (Jul 1996) Tables, Applets, Floating images.

• HTML 4.0 (Dec 1997) CSS, Scripting, Frames, Embedded objects, Disabilities accessibility.

Presently HTML 4.0 is recommended but not every browser on the market supports that version fully. Older browsers just ignore the new unfamiliar code of version 4.0. Therefore, we follow these guidelines regarding HTML:

• We use HTML 4.0 Transitional.

• We use HTML to mark up headings, paragraphs and other elements in the document and to add a style sheet for the layout.

• We try to keep the HTML codes tidy. That makes future conversions to either XHTML or XML easier.

• We use codes that help visually impaired users who rely on speech synthesizers to browse the text.

• We use JavaScript inside the HTML code when beneficial.

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What Is A Style Sheet?

A style sheet is a simple text file used to control how a Webpage looks.

What style sheets can do for you?

• With a style sheet you can separate form and structure.

• The style sheet handles the style while HTML handles the content.

• You can control the appearance of the elements in the webpages from just one single file.

• The webpages are easy to maintain.

• The text on each page gets the same style.

At Sweden Canada Link we link our documents to an external style sheet file. That file sets the rules for font properties and other typographical effects for all the pages on our website.
Style sheets require at least Internet Explorer 4 or Netscape 4 in order to fully work. Older browsers will just ignore the code. However, the documents will still look good in older browsers.

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Server Side Technologies

If your website is large, it is worthwhile to consider using server side web technology like CGI, SSI, JavaServlets, Cold Fusion or ASP.
By using ASP, Active Server Pages on an NT-server you can:

• Add features that work with all browsers.

• Make the webpages more responsive.

• Control headers and footers from a single file.

• Improve the maintenance for large websites.

When using server side solutions we can not test the whole site from our computer. The website has to be uploaded to and run from a server that supports the technology for it to work. The webpages may also be slower and security may also be affected.
Furthermore, if you choose to use server side technology, you generally have to choose between an NT or UNIX-server.
Therefore, we prefer to use client-side technology as much as possible for smaller websites.

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Web Technology - Interactive Pages

One can make the web pages interactive like any multimedia product by using various scripts and plug-ins. The simplest form of interactivity on webpages is the hypertext links. Here we try to explain some of the more advanced technologies.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface)

A server side script used for making forms etc. It is the most common way of creating interactivity. Most often the language Perl is used to create these scripts. There are a few things CGI can do that client-side scripts like JavaScript can't.
Nonetheless we recommend the use of JavaScript over CGI because:

• CGI may slow down the site.

• CGI is less secure.

• You need access to the webserver to test the scripts.

CGI is used for: Hit counters, Guest books.

Active-x

Is a Microsoft technology only for Window systems? Unlike JavaScript, the Active-x components will be downloaded on the visitor's harddrive. Therefore, some people are skeptical about Active-x.

JavaScript or Jscript

JavaScript is an open and commonly used client-side script which is rather easy to use. With JavaScript we have to take the same consideration as with HTML. Not all users have browsers that support the latest version of JavaScript. Therefore, we only use JavaScript 1.1, which is supported by version 3 or later browsers.

A very good use for JavaScript is a pop-up window
Another is

Java Applets

Java is a program language very suitable for the Internet. It runs on all computers that have a "virtual machine" installed. A small Java program embedded in a webpage is called a Java Applet. It has limited access to the client's computer and requires a browser to run.

A nice Java application is this slideshow.

Dynamic HTML

Dynamic HTML is a combination of the following technologies HTML, Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript and DOM. It can rather easily add life to the pages. Both Netscape Navigator 4.0 and Internet Explorer 4.0 support all these to some extent.

Some examples of what you can use dHTML for: Transitions between pages, mouse-overs, make things appear and disappear, create bookmark buttons.

Flash

Allows for interactivity. It is becoming the most used technology for this purpose and has replaced Shockwave. Flash MX is platform independent and the visitors can use older browsers as long as they download a plug-in. Flash MX uses vector graphics and has sound built in.

In general The Sweden Canada Link minimizes the use of advanced interactive features for the following reasons:

• We want to Keep It Short and Simple.

• We don't want to scare away visitors with older browsers or less Internet experience.

• An alternative method is to have 2 versions of the web site. One in HTML 3.2 and one Flash presentation

• We want to minimize use of time consuming technologies and in so doing reduce service charges.

• We want to minimize errors.

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Images On the Web Pages

When just words are not enough, you can choose between the following images.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

The oldest format which supports up to 256 colours. It's suitable for logos and icons. GIF's can be loaded gradually (interlaced) or be transparent.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts group)

Excellent for photographs. Supports more than 16 million colours. Its compression technology is optimized for speed.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

A new format without royalties. Is superior to GIF. Works with web browsers of version 4 or later.

Image maps

Clickable images. Have various uses.

Animated images

Most often presented as blinking banners on webpages.

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Colours

Websafe colours

For text and illustrations we use only colours from the websafe 216 colour cube.

They appear the same on all monitors and operating systems.

What colours mean

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Audio and Video

If you have something to say with audio or video it should be on your site. Streaming audio or video is attractive because it doesn't take a lot of time to download.

What you should consider before choosing to go with audio or video:

• Can you replace the video with a slide show?

• Do you need streaming video or will video for download do?

• Video is not suitable for some disabled users.

There are many ways of putting audio or video on your website. You will always notice some new web technology tomorrow.
Please go to our audio and video page for more information.

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