Using a Browser

 

A browser is the program used to view pages on the Internet. There are many different browsers available, and most of them are free. Each one has a fan base that will swear by their supremacy.

As the note to the right states, this article is written for Firefox, because I want you to use it. Internet Explorer is the default browser for Windows, and most people use it just because it's there. Note that if you install and use another browser, you DO NOT have to uninstall IE. Actually, you really can't uninstall it, since it's an integral part of Windows.

I actually do use IE occasionally, but that's because some sites are not written for Firefox, and some features of those sites don't work in Firefox. So the one site I visit most often that has known issues in Firefox is my homepage in IE, meaning that if I need to go to that site, I just open IE, and there it is. More about setting your homepage later.

NOTE: Visit here to get an overview of the new version (7) of Intenet Explorer.

 

OVERVIEW

The browser window has several locations: the Title Bar, the Navigation Bar, the Address Bar, the Search Bar, the Links (or Bookmark) Bar, the Status Bar, and the main window. Hhhmmmm, all these bars...I'm kinda thirsty...

 

TITLE BAR

The Title Bar is the bar at the very top. It is just like the Title Bar of any window, and will contain the name of the webpage you are looking at, and the name of the browser.

 

NAVIGATION BAR

The Navigation Bar contains the buttons used for...well, navigation. Moving back and forth between pages, accessing your home page, refreshing the page, etc.

 

Back reverses to pages that you have viewed during the current session.

Forward takes you to pages that you previously viewed and went backwards from

Refresh loads a new copy of the page you are viewing. When you visit a web page, Windows stores it in a browser cache. This makes the page load faster the next time you visit. This cache also stores images, so you don't have to wait to download the same images on every page. The browser can load a page that you previously visited, and even though the page may have changed since the last time you visited, you may not see the changes. So you may occasionally have to hit Refresh to see the latest changes. This will download a new copy everything on that page, including the images.

Cancel stops the page from loading. If you are trying to visit a page, and it takes longer to load than you would like, you can stop the download of that page.

Home is the web page that you have chosen as the page that will open every time you start your browser. You can have ANY page that you want as your Home page. You DO NOT have to use the home page that your Internet provider set up for you. If you find that you visit the same site first thing every time you start your browser, make that site your home page. If you always go to Google first, make it your homepage. If you go to CNN, make that your homepage. We'll discuss how to set your homepage a little later.

 

ADDRESS BAR

The Address Bar is where the address of a page is shown. This is also where you can type an address of a site that you want to visit. There are a couple of key points about using the Address Bar:

You can enter a keyword that may or may not be in the actual address of the site you want to visit. For example, if you simply type "Google", the browser automatically looks for Google.com, .net, and so forth. It will go to the most likely site based on what you typed.

 

Browsers use something called "Autocomplete", which remembers addresses of sites you have previously visited. You can type a letter, and there will be a dropdown of recent sites from which you can select. You can use this feature or completely disregard it. The more you type, the fewer addresses will show up.

TIP: You can delete one or more of these items by just mousing over that item, and hitting the Delete key on your keyboard.

 

There is a down-arrow at the right end of the Address Bar. You can click this and you will get a list of recent sites that you typed into the Address Bar. You can use this if you want to return to a site you previously visited.

 

SEARCH BAR

To the right of the Address Bar is a search bar built right into the browser. Firefox defaults to Google, but you can click the down-arrow and select another default search site. This bar saves you the trip to Google or some other site to search for something. You can do a search no matter what page you're on.

 

LINKS BAR (aka BOOKMARK BAR)

This is a bar where you can store links that you visit often. These are right there in front of you, and you don't have to dig through the Bookmarks menu item to get to them. These links can be organized in folders, or they can be stand-alone links. You'll notice that one of the folders in the picture above is labeled "Everyday". That's the 7 or 8 sites I visit at least once every day

 

STATUS BAR

The Status Bar indicates the loading progress of the page you are visiting. You can look here to see if the page is still loading, or if it is finished.