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CLICK
HERE to skip the tutorial and go directly to our General
Help Page.
Web Browser Tutorial
Scrolling
Most web pages are much too large to be viewed on your screen. The web page
you are currently reading is a good example. It continues far below this point
and you need to use the scroll bar at the far right side of your browser window
to read the rest of this page. The scroll bar has an up arrow (
)
at the top and a down arrow (
) at
the bottom. Click on the down arrow ()
to scroll down a web page and the up arrow ()
to scroll up a web page. Right now you need to click on the down arrow ()
to continue reading this page.
Hyperlinks
A hyperlink is a word, phrase, or picture (graphic) that will take you somewhere on the world wide web when you slide your mouse on top of it and click the mouse button (Windows users click the left button on the mouse). When you slide your mouse over a hyperlink it will turn into a hand. This is how you can tell if something is a hyperlink or not. For example below there are two "Top of Page" examples. The one on the left is not a link and when you slide your mouse over it the mouse pointer will remain an arrow. The "Top of Page" on the right is a hyperlink and your mouse will turn into a hand when you slide over it. If you click on it it will reload this page and start you at the top again.
Top of Page Top of Page
Ok that was a relatively easy example, but hyperlinks can get trickier when they are pictures (graphics). Look at the two graphics below. They look identical, but when you slide your mouse over one of them it will turn into a hand. The graphic on the left is a hyperlink that will once again take you to the top of this page if you click on it.
Location Window
Most web browsers have a window at the top of the screen which shows where you are on the Internet. The name for the window varies from "Netsite", "URL", "Location", "Address", etc. Basically this window tells you where the web page you are currently viewing is located. For example the location window on your browser should currently have the same address in it as below:
Your browser may not say "Netsite" on it as the example above, but whatever it says it is telling you the location of this help page. Let's take a close look at this location. The proper name for this location is URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
A URL is made up of 3 basic parts.
1st part - http://
The http:// tells your browser you want to connect to a web server
somewhere in the world. These days browsers can do a lot more than
just connect to web servers which is why we specify http://. As another
example if you wanted to telnet to a computer this first part of the URL
would be telnet:// or if you wanted to email someone this first part of
the URL would be mailto://.
2nd part - marblehead.com or www.marblehead.com
The second part of the URL from the example above specifies the address
of the computer we want to connect to. So in the first part we told
our browser we wanted to connect to a web server (http://) and then in
this second part we are telling it the address of that web server (www.marblehead.com).
3rd part - /technology/help/
The third part of the URL in the example above specifies a specific folder to
open. It specifies to open the technology folder and then open a folder within
technology named help. Some URLs can also end with a specific filename like
help.html or help.php.
Some Examples of URLs
http://www.marblehead.com
This URL tells your browser to open a web server (http://) located at the address www.marblehead.com. Since no folder were specified the main web page for this site will be opened. In this example it would open the web page for the Town of Marblehead.
http://www.marblehead.com/schools
This URL once again tells your browser to open a web server (http://), located at the address www.marblehead.com, and then open specifically the folder holding the web page for the schools.
mailto://someuser@marbletown.us
This URL tells your browser to send an email message (mailto://) to the email address someuser@marbletown.us.
Browser Buttons
Just about every web browser has the same basic set of buttons located at the top of the browser window. These buttons help you perform basic tasks while you are browsing the Internet.
Back and Forward
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Netscape Buttons |
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Internet Explorer |
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When you first open up your browser these buttons are grayed out. This means they are unavailable and you can not use them yet. Now let's say you clicked on a hyperlink to take you somewhere. The BACK button would now darken and be available. When you click on the BACK button the browser will return to the previous web page you were at. After you have backed up from a page the FORWARD button will darken. This is so that you can click on FORWARD to move to the page you just backed up from. As an example if you click on the link below it will take you to www.marblehead.com. Once you are there if you click on the BACK button you will be returned to this page.
Home Button
Netscape OR 
Internet Explorer
The HOME button will connect you to the web page that has been set up in your browser as your "home" page. Another way to think of your "home" page is as the first page that automatically loads each time you start you web browser.
Reload Button
Netscape OR 
Internet Explorer
The RELOAD button will load the current web page you are viewing again. You should use this button when you connect to a web page and parts are missing or it looks messed up. Sometimes when you connect to a very busy web site you may have to RELOAD once or twice before the entire page loads correctly.
Open Button
Netscape
The OPEN button will open a window in which you can type a URL that
you want to connect to. There is an alternative way to open a site
without using the OPEN button. Remember the window at the top of
your browser that I called the "location" window. You can click your
mouse in this window any time and type the URL you want to go to and then
press ENTER (IBM compatible) or RETURN (Macintosh). To refresh your
memory the "location" window looks like the following:
Print Button
Netscape OR 
Internet Explorer
To use the PRINT button click on it with your mouse and the entire web page you are currently viewing will be sent to your printer. NOTE: the entire web page will print out and not just the part that is visible on your screen.
Find Button
Netscape
The FIND button is used to locate a word or phrase on the current web page you are viewing. The FIND button does not seach the entire Internet for you. Mostly the FIND button is used when you are viewing an extremely large web page and you are looking for a specific word or phrase within it.
Stop Button
Netscape OR 
Internet Explorer
The STOP button is used to stop your web browser from loading the current page. Let's say you click on a HyperLink and you've been waiting 20 seconds for the page to load. Chances are the site is too busy or something is wrong. Rather than waiting any longer you can click on STOP to force your browser to stop trying to connect. At this point you can use the BACK button to back up to the previous web page you were at or keep browsing the web page you are currently viewing.
Edit Button
Netscape
The EDIT button is used to edit the current web page you are viewing. When you click on the EDIT button the web page you are viewing is downloaded and saved on your computer. You can then edit the page on your computer. The EDIT button does not give you the power to edit pages on the world wide web itself.
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Marblehead Public Schools Technology Department, (781) 639 - 3120 x3243