Lesson 2

Web browser basics

You've already used a Web browser. Otherwise you wouldn't be looking at this page. But what is a Web browser?

A Web browser translates hypertext markup language (http), the language of the World Wide Web, for you and displays it. Unlike other protocols, http supports text, graphics, audio, video and multimedia formats making it the run-away smash hit of the Internet.

Web browsers meanwhile are getting more powerful and more general so that they now often serve as gateways to other protocols on the Internet such as email, ftp, and Usenet news groups.

The most common Web browsers are Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Internet Explorer is made by Microsoft Corporation and is the reason the company is in so much trouble with the U.S. Department of Justice. Seems Microsoft built it and then, depending on who you believe, warmheartedly decided to give it free to all buyers just because the company is filled with the milk of human kindness, or converserly, coldheartedly gave it free to customers in a predatorial move designed to drive Netscape out of business. It comes on every computer with the Windows operating system.

Netscape Navigator's venerable lineage dates indirectly back to Mosaic, the very first Web browser which is now sadly departed. Truth is, the two browsers operate about the same for how you'll use them and both are very similar to each other. You can use either one.

When you look at a web page, you will notice links. Links look like this. If you put your mouse on the link, the arrow cursor will turn into a pointing hand. On the bottom left hand corner of your browser, you should see a web address. Try it with the link above. This tells you where you would go if you clicked on the link.

Both browser allow you to do the following tasks:

• View web pages including pages with sounds, animation, graphics, video and other features.

• Save and organize bookmarks or favorite lists.

• Look at the source code of a web page

• Save information off a Web page

Web browsers are designed to be simple to use. They are. Let's take a look at Internet Explore. Almost all the same functions can be found easily on Netscape Navigator.

At the top of the page, you'll notice something that looks like this:

• The address bar is where you type in the addess of the Web site you would like to visit. You need no type http.

• The Back and Forward arrow allow you to move backwards and forward through the Web pages you have been browsing.

• The stop button stops the loading of a Web page.

• The refresh (reload in Navigator) resends your requests for the Web page you have typed. This is important because Web pages don't always display correctly. Sometimes data is lost in transmission. By clicking refresh, you request the information again which often fixes glitches in the process.

• Home takes you back to the first Web page. You can set your first Web page by going to tools and internet options and entering a Web site in the home page box. Every time you open your Web browser, it will load the Web page you specified.

• You don't need the search, history or edit buttons. The print button prints the page. The email button only works if you use Microsoft Outlook for your email.

• The favorites button (bookmarks in Navigator) is one of the most useful buttons on your browser. It allows you to save and organize links to your favorite Web sites. But it's more than that. It is your way of applying your own organizational strategies to the Web and that is important. Remember, the Web is chaos. Anything we can do to provide order helps us find information faster.

  • If you find a Web site that you want to save, click on the favorites button. Click of add to favorites. It will prompt you with a screen that asks where you want to save a file. It also allows you to give your own description of the Web site (name:) because many Web sites describe themselves poorly.

  • If you select organize favorites, the browser allows you to create folders to store your favorites. I suggest creating folders for every topic you might be interested. For instance, I have folders labelled government sites, educational sites, entertainment sites, etc. The more organization you provide, the easier it is to find a site next time.

  Here are a few more tips for creating your favorites directory:

  Don't just add any file to your favorites list. Make sure you've checked it out and it is useful. Otherwise, you are recreating the chaos of the Web on your computer. I save only links I am likely to use again and I always place them in a folder. I create a folder called "cool sites" where I save links to sites I don't have time to look at but seem cool. Later on, when I'm off deadline, I look at the sites and save those I will use again and purge those I won't. Periodically, I purge unused sites from my directories.

  This may sound excessive, but it works. As many as 75% of all sites I visit are sites I have saved.

The top row (file, edit, view, etc) has the functions that control how the browser works. Here are some important features of your web browser you will find there:

• Save a page: When you add a link to your favorites list, you are saving a link, not the actual content of the page. If you want to save what's on a Web page, all you need to do is select file at the top of the page and save as from the pull down menu. It will prompt you for a location to save the file.

• If you want to find a keyword on a page, select edit and find on this page from the pull down menu. Enter the word and it will highlight the word on the page.

• To view the actual source code or html (hypertext markup language) that makes up a web page, select view and then source. This allows you to see the programming code used to generate the Web page.

• Browsers record everything you do so if you don't want your boss to know you've been visiting the Christine Aguilera homepage instead of the department of health Web site, you had better delete the evidence. To do that, select tools and internet options. Near the bottom of the page is the Clear History buttons that allow you to clear your history file of pages you've visited and a second button labelled Delete Files that allows you to delete temporary files (Web pages) that are stored on your computer when you visit a Web site.

Happy surfing.

 

All material Copyright © 2000 Drew Sullivan unless otherwise indicated.
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