Browsing Anatomy

Browser Anatomy

When you first launch your web browser, usually by double-clicking on the icon on your desktop, a predefined web page appears. This page is referred to as your home page or start page. With Navigator for instance, you may be taken to Netscape's NetCenter or to a page selected by your Internet service provider. If you want however, you can easily change your start page. Here's how.

The Toolbar

Internet Explorer Toolbar

Netscape Navigator Toolbar

The row of buttons at the top of your web browser, known as the toolbar, helps you travel through the web of possibilities, keeping track of where you've been. Since the toolbars for Navigator and Explorer differ slightly, we'll first describe what the buttons in common do:

The Back button returns you the previous page you've visited.

Use the Forward button to return to the page you just came from.

Home takes you to whichever home page you've chosen. (If you haven't selected one, it will return you to the default home page, usually the Microsoft or Netscape website.)

Reload or Refresh does just that, loads the web page again. Why would you want to do this? Sometimes all of the elements of a web page haven't loaded the first time, because the file transfer was interrupted. Also when you download a web page, the data is cached (pronounced "cashed"), meaning it is stored temporarily in your computer's memory. The next time you want that page, instead of requesting the file from the web server, your web browser accesses it from the cache. But if a web page is updated frequently, as may be the case with news, sports scores or financial data, you won't get the most current information. By reloading the page, this timely data is updated from the web server.

Print lets you make a hard copy of the current page loaded in your browser.

The Stop button stops the browser from loading the current page.

Search connects to directories and search tools on the Microsoft or Netscape websites.

Bookmarks or Favorites lets you can record the addresses of websites you want to revisit. Once you add a URL to your list, you can return to that web page simply by clicking on the link in your list, instead of retyping the entire address.

When to Use the STOP Button

There's a good reason why the Web is referred to as the World Wide Wait. If you can't connect to a site, use the STOP button and try again later, especially if you are trying to access a popular site.

The Location Bar

Just under the toolbar, you will see a box labeled "Location," "Go To," or "Address." This is where you enter the address of a website you want to visit. After you enter it, press the Return or Enter key to access the site or click on the "Go" button to the right of the address box.

By clicking the small triangle to the right of the Location box, you will get a drop-down list of the most recent websites you have visited. To revisit a site, just click on the address.

The Menu Bar

Located along the top of the browser window, the menu bar offers a selection of things you can do with a web page, such as saving it to your hard drive or increasing the size of the text on a page. Many of the choices are the same as the buttons on the toolbar below, so don't try to learn everything now. Click once on a word to access the drop-down menu, then click on the selection you want to make.

The Access Indicator

Both Navigator and Explorer have a small graphic in the upper right-hand corner of the browser. When this image is animated, it means that your browser software, known as a client, is accessing data from a remote computer, called a server. The server can be located across town or on another continent. Your browser downloads these remote files to your computer, then displays them on your screen. The speed of this process depends on a number of factors: the speed of your connection, the size of the files you are downloading, how busy the server is and the traffic on the Internet.

The Status Bar

Status bar

At the bottom of your web browser you'll find the status bar. You can watch the progress of web page transactions, such as the address of the site you are contacting, whether the host computer has been contacted and the size and number of the files to be downloaded.

The Scroll Bar

The vertical bar to the right of the browser lets you scroll down and up a web page. You can do this by placing your arrow pointer on the up or down arrows and holding down your left mouse key. You can also place the pointer on the slider control, hold down the left mouse key and drag the slider. Your mouse may also have a scrolling wheel as an alternative way of navigating a long page.

If a web page is too wide to fit your screen, a horizontal scroll bar will appear at the bottom on your browser. This scroll bar works the same way.

Some Browser Tricks

As with most software, there is more than one way to accomplish a task. Here are a few other useful features to help you navigate:

As you hop from page to page and website to website, your browser remembers where you've been. With Navigator, select History from the drop-down list under the Communicator menu. With Internet Explorer, click the History button on the toolbar. There you'll find a list of all the web pages you have visited during a specified period of time. To revisit a page, just click on the address.

Another way to move between pages is by clicking the right mouse button. A pop-up menu will appear and you can choose to move forward or back.

Speed Up Downloads

While text downloads quickly, images can really slow things down. There are two ways to speed things up.

	Since text appears first, after it loads, click the Stop button. The images won't appear, but should you want to look at an image, use the right mouse button to click on the image icon, then select View Image.
	You can view websites in text-only mode by turning off the auto-loading of images function under the Options menu.

One final word of advice: Your web browser is your gateway to the Internet. Take the time to learn about its features. In the long run, it will save you hours of frustration.