How to Make the Most of Your Browser.
A beginner's guide to exploring the web.
What's with all the
graphics? What's with all the underlined words? How
do I find it?
How did I get here, I want to go
back? What's in an address? Search engines.
A
more detailed guide to exploring the web.
The first time you try to explore the web, it may seem a bit overwhelming. But with time and patience anyone can become an expert web surfer, and to that end here are just a few hints that I think might help get you on your way.
It's best to think of the web as just that, "A Web". As you sit at your pc
you are hooked into a larger computer either with a phone line or a more direct link (most
schools and businesses use the later.) and that computer is just a hub on the web. When
you ask your pc for some information on the web (either by typing it or just clicking it
with the mouse) you send a signal to the larger computer to start looking. It then uses
the information from you to know where to look. If you give it a computer address (I'll discuss that in a minute) it uses that
address as a code to the location of that computer on the net. It will send the request
for that information to many different computers trying to get to the one it wants. If you
are looking for information from Australia your request will likely bounce through many
different parts of the world before it gets there. But for you only moments will go by.
The address of the web page is how you tell your browser where to look for the information you want. Your current location is listed at the top of the page and it looks something like this: "HTTP://www.cmich.edu". In most cases the address starts with "www" but that doesn't mean it won't start with something completely different and often it does. The address is a very specific to that sight and if you are typing it in you must have the spaces, periods, cases, and all other characters exactly as you see them. If not, you may end up somewhere totally unexpected.
How did I get here, I want to go back?
Well if you somehow end up at a strange address and you want back to where you started there are several ways to do that. First, the simplest way is to just press the "back" key at the top of your browser. It's usually in the top left-hand corner of the screen. Another way on some browsers is to press and hold the right mouse button (if you are using an IBM) and scroll down to the word "back". Also one way that many people overlook is using the "history" file. At the beginning of every new session a log is kept on where you have been. By clicking on "window" at the top of the page (in netscape) you have an option of "history" and this will show you all the places you have gone. If you find a link you like then it's a good idea to save it. Now you can write it down but that takes time and you end up with a bunch of little pieces of paper that you keep losing. A better way is to use the option of bookmarking your current location so you can go back to it. To bookmark a page simply go to the top of your browser and click and hold on the bookmark. Then scroll down to "Add Bookmark" and release. That's it. Next time you click on a bookmark you'll find your link has been added. Please keep in mind though if you are using a computer at a school or one that several people use your bookmarks could be cleared off every once in a while. So just before ending your browsing session you might want to go back to the bookmarks and write down the addresses.
Well there are several ways to find things on the net. The best way is to use a search engine. A search engine is a program that looks around the web for information that has the words you've chosen as important. I've listed several search engines below but in general they serve the same function. Just remember to try to be specific in your searches but not so specific that you can't find anything. Another clue might be to use different words that mean the same thing. You can actually get different hits for the word "tree" than if you typed "trees". With practice you will be finding all kinds of useful information. Also try to become an expert on one search engine before you move to another. Read it's help page and try all the different search options it offers. This will help you understand the other engines you may encounter later.
What's with all the underlined words?
Well the underlined words are called "Hypertext" and this is generally what
makes surfing the web so much fun. It's also the easiest way to get lost on the net.
Because you jump from one link to another so fast that you forget where you started.
That's why bookmarking is so important. See, each hypertext is a link to another sight or
somewhere within the page you are viewing. The search
engines below and the index at the top of the page are
an example of hypertext. If you want to know where the link will take you without clicking
it just run the pointer over the text and look at the bottom of your browsers screen. In
the gray area will be the address you would be headed for.
Some of the graphics of the web are just for fun but others are called "Image
Maps". You can tell you are on an image map because your pointer will become a little
hand. Image maps are another form of "hypertext". By clicking on different parts
of the image you can also surf the net. However, if you don't want to display images don't
worry. You will find that many sites list the image map addresses somewhere on the page in
hypertext.
Did you find a graphic you like?
One of the greatest features of the web is it's ability to display graphics. Some of them are part of the image maps like I've described above, but others are just there for education or entertainment. You can find images of bacteria, birds, dogs, people, places, things. The list goes on and on. But the question is: What good are they if you can only view them online? Well that's another feature of you browser. It's ability to capture graphics for later use by you. If you see an image you like you can capture it by putting your pointer in the middle of it, pressing and holding your right mouse button. Then scrolling through your list of options find "Save image as" and then just release the button. You will be asked where you want it saved at. That's it.
One last word about graphics.
Many people find that while using the net over a modem things work very slowly. This is usually due, in part, by the number of graphics that the page has to download every time you go to it. If you are having this problem it is a good idea to turn off the graphics until you find what might be an image you want to see. You turn off graphics under your "Options" menu on the top of the browser.
Some search engines to get you started.
C|Net Excite Lycos Yahoo Infoseek WebCrawler Opentext Google