There are several different Web Browsers available. However, 90% of the Internet population uses one of the two most popular browsers - Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. These two browsers are in fierce competition (in what's commonly called the "browser wars"). However their functionality is very similar - in fact all browsers share many of the same features.
Elements of your Browser
Hyperlinks: The most basic navigational element in a Web browser is a link. A link is a piece of text that takes you to another Web page (or somewhere else within the current Web page) when you click on it. Links are usually differentiated from the surrounding text by being a different colour and underlined.
Links that you have visited before will usually have a different colour to those that you have not been to yet.
You can define the default appearance of links in your browser's "preferences". Some pages will keep this default appearance, but others may define their own link colours.
Links may also be in the form of images. There is no clear way to tell whether an image is a link (sometimes there is a blue border around the picture). Most good Web sites will make their picture look like they should be clicked.
When you move your cursor over a link, the cursor shape will usually change into a hand. The destination of the link will also turn up in the status bar - the bar at the bottom of the browser.
Run your cursor over this link and you will see the cursor change to a hand and the status bar will show the address.
Location/Address Box: Another way to get to a Web page is to type its URL straight into the location box/address box.
To do this you have to know the URL. You can get them from external sources (eg advertisements, articles in magazines, books) - or you can copy and paste them from places on your computer (eg email messages). If you type a link into your Web browser you have to make sure you type it in exactly as it is written. One small mistake (like using the wrong case) and the browser will not be able to find the page that you want. Once you have typed (or pasted) the URL, you need to press the "Enter" key to signal to your browser to load the page.
Back Button: The back button is an important navigational tool. It takes you back to the last page you had open.
Go Menu: The Go menu is like the back button, but it has a list of all the pages you have visited. You can use this to get back to a page you have previously visited. It saves you having to repeatedly press the back button. In Netscape, use the "Go" menu on the menu bar. In Internet Explorer the menu is on the down arrow next to the Back button.
Bookmarks/Favorites: A bookmark is a place holder of a Web page - so you can easily find the page again when you want it. To define a bookmark in Netscape, select "Add Bookmark" from the "Bookmarks" menu. In Internet Explorer bookmarks are called "Favorites" - select "Add to Favorites" from the "Favorites" menu. When you want to go back to a page you have bookmarked, just select the name of the page from the Bookmarks/Favorites menu. After a while you will find that your bookmarks are overflowing, and it will get difficult to find what you want. When this happens you know that it's time to start filing your bookmarks into folders. You can do this by choosing 'Go to bookmarks' from the Bookmarks menu (or "Organize Favorites" from the "Favorites" menu). This will take you into a window where you can add folders, and then file your bookmarks by dragging them to the folder where you want them to live.
Images: Images are what make Web pages look attractive, but they are also what makes some Web pages take a long time to load. If you are on a slow connection you might not want to waste your time by downloading lots of images. You can avoid this by turning the images off, so they are no longer loaded automatically. You need to turn off "Auto Load Images" or "Show Pictures" in your browsers' preferences/options. If you do this you will soon find out that you are missing lots of information, and that the pages will look a lot duller. If you decide you do want to see a particular image, you can load it by clicking the right mouse button (right clicking) on the placeholder image, and selecting "Load Image" or "Show Image" from the pop up menu. (On a Mac, click and hold the mouse button)
You can save images to your computer (just remember about copyright laws!) by right clicking (or clicking and holding on a mac) on the image you want to save and selecting "Save Image As..." or "Save Picture As" from the pop up menu.
If you see this or this on a Web page, it means that the image couldn't be found (usually caused by a mistake by the person who wrote the Web page).
Home Button: The Home button (in the button bar at the top of the browser) will take you back to your "home" page. You can define the address of your home page in your browser's preferences (or "Internet Options"). You can make it any page you want - it's most useful if you make it a page that you often use as a starting point - English Online for instance.
Reload: The Reload button will load the whole page again from the Web site. This is useful if:
- <!--[if !supportLists]-->Parts of the page are missing because something happening while it was being loaded;
- <!--[if !supportLists]-->You are looking at a Web page that changes its content often and you want to view the new content.
New Browser Window: By selecting "New Web Browser" or "New...Window" from the "File" menu you can open a new browser window. This allows you to keep one page intact while you go off and find another page. For instance you might want to keep a page of search results open in one browser window while you use another window to check out the result pages. If you decide the page is not quite what you want, you can close the browser window and return to the list of search results without having to reload it (a good way of doing that is to 'right-click' or 'click-and-hold' a link and choose "Open Link in New Window" from the popup menu).