Free Excerpt from World Business
Resources.com by Garrett Wasny
CHAPTER ONE: BORDER BUSTER TOOLKIT
NAVIGATION
You may attempt to locate a website listed in this or other Internet guides only to find that you are unable to connect to the page. You may receive messages such as "unable to locate server," or "server busy" or "404: File Not Found." Unfortunately, website access problems are a normal and frequent part of the Internet experience. The web is highly fluid and in a constant state of flux. Overnight, existing sites move or vanish. Even the freshest web guides, search engines, and link pages have dead links -- links that don't work. While some access difficulties are unavoidable, the following 404-busting techniques can help you overcome initial connectivity problems, and track down pages that may have moved.
Check Own Connection. When a site doesn't load, the first instinct is to blame the equipment or people at the other end. "Their problem," you might say. "Faulty website or server." Before pointing the finger, ensure that you are properly connected to your own Internet Service Provider. To check, try sending a quick e-mail to yourself, and see if the message is sent and received. If it doesn't go through, your own Internet Service Provider could be the source of the disruption, and may have their server temporarily down for repairs or upgrades. You could also be the culprit. You may have not connected to the service properly because of a misdial, time-out, or faulty equipment. If so, fix what you can on your own computer, and wait for your Internet Service Provider to get back online. Usually, the interruptions are brief, a few hours at a time at most. Continue trying to e-mail yourself, say every half hour or so, until the connection is properly restored. Then you can begin browsing.
Be a Copy Cat. Ensure that the universal resource locator or URL that you type in the location toolbar of your browser is typed exactly as it is written in the directory. The key word is exactly. Every letter, every forward slash, every number, every period, and every other character must be included -- in precisely the right order -- or the address will not work. All it takes is one alphanumeric to be off -- say, a missing period or two w's instead of three -- and the connection will fail. For many websites in this directory, the URL is relatively long -- 70 characters or more -- and reading and typing mistakes are easy to make. If you can't connect to the site on your first attempt, review the URL -- character by character -- to ensure that what's written in the directory is identical to what's typed in the location toolbar of your browser.
Watch One's and L's. Confusing the number one character -- as in you're number 1 -- with the letter l character -- as in L for Larry -- is a common mistake. If you're having trouble connecting to a site, look for the number one and letter l characters in the URL. Double-check to see that the number one's and letter l's are, in fact, where they should be, and haven't been reversed or incorrectly typed. This is a simple error, but all it takes to block access to a webpage.
Watch Zero's and O's. Another frequent error is confusing the number zero character -- as in 2 minus 2 equals 0 -- with the capital O character -- as in O for Oscar. While they look similar to our eyes, they are totally different characters from the perspective of a computer. When inputting all web addresses, take special care to not mix up the zero and O to ensure a successful connection.
Fiddle with the Ending. Sometimes, a directory may list a URL with a period at the end. In some instances, this is misleading because the period refers to the end of the sentence, and was not meant to be included in the web address. In such cases, omit the period to complete the connection.
Wait it Out. After you've typed in the correct address, and hit enter, just sit and wait. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, linking to a website -- particularly to a page in a distant country with unreliable or slow telecommunication networks -- can take a full 90 seconds or more.
Try Again. After waiting more than three minutes with either no result or a "can't connect" message, hit the enter key a second time. The first attempt may have been aborted by a failed connection en route, a busy server, or some other network error. In some cases, a second attempt will do the trick.
Use Another Window. Still no luck? Go to the top left hand corner of your browser and select File, New, New Window. This will create a new browser window on your desktop. Retype the URL in the location toolbar, and verify the address is correct. Now, hit enter and watch. In some instances, trying an address again using another window will make the connection.
Use a Different Browser. If you're using Netscape Navigator, fire up Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Reenter the web address, and see if you can connect with a different browser. Similarly, if you're using Explorer and can't connect to a site, try the URL again using Navigator. In some cases, websites were developed on or for exclusively one browser, say Netscape Navigator. When you try accessing it with a different browser, say Internet Explorer, connection problems may arise. On occasion, switching browsers may do the trick and connect you to a site.
Beat the Rush Hour. Like any highway, the Internet has its own rush-hour. During certain peak periods, particularly in the early evening, millions jam the digital freeways of cyberspace. The congestion slows down online traffic, and may cause disruptions or failures. In certain cases, the site you're trying to access may be highly popular. If the traffic to this particular site exceeds a certain limit, access to the page may be temporarily suspended. In such cases, wait an hour or two for the traffic to subside. Try again and you may connect. To beat the rush hour altogether, you could also access the site during low usage periods, usually between 6:00 am and noon, and improve your chances of connecting to a site.
Try Again Next Week. In some instances, a site you're attempting to access may be undergoing extensive repairs or upgrades. The server may be down for days, weeks, and even months. In many cases, servers are fixed outside regular working hours in the late evening, and on Saturday and Sunday, to minimize disruptions to employees. If you can't access a particular site, try again tomorrow, next week, and even next month, preferably during regular business hours. By then, repairs may be completed, and access restored.
Slash After the Slash. When you encounter a "404: File Not Found" prompt, try this simple but effective trick. Place your cursor at the end -- that's the end, not the beginning -- of the URL in the location window. Delete the portion of the URL from this point back to the first forward-slash (/) you encounter. Hit enter. If nothing happens, delete that portion of the URL to the next forward-slash (/). Hit enter again. Repeat until you access the site or delete the entire URL. If you still cannot connect to the resource, move on. The website has moved. If you do access the site, it means the particular page you sought within the site has moved, not the entire site. Now, scan the index and contents of the site. Often, you'll find the page in a new spot.
Search Dogpile. If none of these techniques works, chances are the website has moved or been discontinued. But don't give up the search just yet. Call up Dogpile at http://www.dogpile.com/, a multi-engine search tool. Enter the name of the site you're seeking in the Dogpile window and hit enter. The service will scan a dozen or so of the leading search engines including InfoSeek, Lycos, and Yahoo at the same time. This sweeping search may yield the new address of the site.
Search Regional Search Engines. If the site you seek is based outside North America, scan one or more regional search engines that focus on that particular global region or country. While the site may not be listed on a popular United States search service, the page could be posted on another non-North American search listing. Visit Beaucoup for a directory of regional search engines around the world.
Search on Altavista. If still no results, call up AltaVista at http://www.altavista.com/, one of the Internet's largest and most powerful search services. Enter the name of the site and hit enter. If no matches are found on the first result page, scan at least the next five result pages. The address information you seek may be buried further down in the search results.
Do General Search with Quotes. Still on AltaVista, reenter the name of the site you seek. Only this time, put the name in quotation marks. Say you were looking for Swedish Trade Council International. In the AltaVista search window, type "Swedish Trade Council International" and include the quotation (") marks. These instruct the engine to look for sites with that exact phrase.
Search Title. Say you're still looking for the Swedish Trade Council International. In the AltaVista search window, type title:Swedish Trade Council International. This would scan for pages that contain this particular phrase in the title bar of the browser, the blue bar at the very top of the screen. What other scans may have missed, this title search may detect.
Search Text. Continue on with AltaVista. In the search window, type text:Swedish Trade Council International. This looks for pages that contain this phrase in the actual text of the website, excluding image tags, links, or the URL.
Search URL. Refer to the original URL of the website you seek. In this case, the address of the Swedish Trade Council International is http://www.swedishtrade.com/. In the AltaVista search form, type url: http://www.swedishtrade.com/. This looks for pages that contain the specific phrase http://www.swedishtrade.com/ in the URL. This may uncover new information and links.
Search Link. Try one final scan with AltaVista. In the search form, type link: http://www.swedishtrade.com/. This finds pages that link to this particular URL. Visit these linked pages and look for information about the site you seek. In some cases, a linked page may be that of an affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organization, and may provide updates about the site's new location and status.
Search DejaNews. If none of these tactics is successful, visit DejaNews, a database of some 80,000 discussion groups. Enter the name of the site in the DejaNews search window and hit enter. The service will scan through millions of discussion group postings for the phrase. This may uncover new information about the whereabouts of the site, and its administrators.
Do a Post. Still in DejaNews, visit the Power Search features at http://www.dejanews.com/home_ps.shtml. In the Forum window, type in the name of the organization you seek. This will return a list of online discussion forums related to the topic area. For example, typing in the phrase Swedish Trade Council International yielded five newsgroup matches. These included alt.business, alt.business.export.import, and biz.market. Of these, select one or two that appear to be the best match, or use the Power Search feature to look for other related discussion forums. Using DejaNews, post a message to these newsgroups, and inquire if anyone in the newsgroup knows of the site and its new location. Someone in the forum may know, and pass along the information.
Contact Other Nationals. If all else fails, try contacting a leading government organization, industry association, or source from the same country. Assuming you wished to contact the Swedish Trade Council International, review the Sweden trade resources listed in this directory. In Sweden's case, over 60 resources are listed, from search tools to market guides to export assistance. Look among these sources and scan for related organizations and sites. In this case, they could include the Swedish Export Directory at http://www.swedishtrade.se/sed/index.htm, and Sweden Trade Profiles at http://www.swedishtrade.se/tradeprofiles/index.htm. These or other organizations could provide a status report on the site, or suggest alternative ways to get the information or contacts you seek.
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