Chapter 6
The World Wide Web
All references below refer to the Internet Explorer Version 5 browser software and the screens shots are from OzEmail's Home Page as at 31 May 2000.
You have connected to the Internet. Now you need to discover how to navigate your way around it.
OzEmail Homepage
Internet Explorer will automatically open at your ISP's Home Page. A home page is the first page of a web site and it will give an indication of what you can find at that particular site. You can set Internet Explorer to open at a home page other than your ISP's if you wish.
The Toolbar
The standard toolbar will display navigation buttons to help move around the Internet.
Back and Forward - returns you to previous pages visited.
Stop - stops the PC from loading a page.
Refresh - reloads the current page.
Home - takes you back to your home page.
Search - divides your screen into two panes and helps you clarify your search.
Favourites - opens a pane and displays your favourite sites.
History - opens a pane and lists the web pages you have recently visited.
Mail - opens Outlook Express, the email program.
Print - prints the current page.
Remember that your toolbar may look slightly different, depending on your browser and what version you have.
Address Bar
Immediately below the toolbar is the address bar.
| URL - Uniform Resource Locator | If you know the address (URL) of a web site, you can type it here and press Enter, or click on the Go button. |
Web addresses are very specific. You must type them exactly or you will not find the site you are looking for.
With most browsers you do not now have to type in the 'http://www.' part of the address. This is assumed.
The address bar may open up and show you a list of previously visited sites to help, or Web Address Search may help you find the site you are looking for.
Web sites are categorised by 'domains'. These are based on who owns them and form part of the site's address. Some common domains are:
Countries also have a two letter suffix to their domain names. For example .au for Australia (www.ozemail.com.au) .nz for New Zealand (www.jazz.co.nz), .uk for United Kingdom (www.the-times.co.uk) etc. American sites do not have a suffix (www.narada.com).
Search Engines
If you do not know the address of a web site, or you are looking for information about a particular topic, there are search engines to help you. Search Engines are programs that send 'spiders' or 'bots' trawling through the Internet to catalogue words or phrases appearing on web sites and organise access to those sites.
OzEmail's home page allows you to search using the ANZWERS search engine. You make a choice of searching just within Australia, or New Zealand, or a search of the world.
By typing in the word 'Drummoyne' Anzwers search engines gives us 346 results in a list, sorted according to relevance. To view the site, click on the hyperlink - usually a different colour and/or underlined.
If we type "Drummoyne Community Centre" and type double quotes around the words, we would get just 1 result.
Other Search Engines
If you don't find what you're looking for using one search engine, try another, because you'll often get different results from different search engines. Some to try out:
All search engines work slightly different, so have a look in the Help section to help you narrow your search. Ask Jeeves lets you ask a question:
If you find a site that you would like to return to in the future, click on Favourites on the menu bar, and then select Add to Favourites. When you click on the Favourites button on the toolbar at a later date, this particular site will be listed. Click on this hypertext link to go directly to the site.
Downloading Files
If you wish to download something from the Internet, eg a game, clipart etc, the web site you are visiting will saying something similar to Click here to download. The File Download window will then ask what you want to do with the file. Select Save this file to disk as illustrated below. Select the folder you wish the file to be placed in and the download should automatically start.
It is a good idea to create a Download folder before starting the download process. If you place everything you download into this particular folder, then you shouldn't have trouble trying to find what you downloaded at a later date.
An easy way to create a Download folder is:
If you are trying to locate this folder using Windows Explorer, it can be found at C:/Windows/Desktop/Download.
Once the file is downloaded, it should always be virus checked before opening it. How you do this depends on what anti virus software your PC has.
An interesting site to download free 'stuff' from is the TUCOWS site. Click on Free Download on the OzEmail Home Page under OzEmail Services. This site also has a TUKIDS section for children with games, stories and colouring etc.
Printing Information
You can get a copy of a web site by printing it. Either click on the Print button on the toolbar, or select File, Print from the menu bar.
Part of a page, or site may be printed by highlighting the information you wish to print and then selecting File, Print from the menu bar. From the Print window, then select Selection from Print Range before clicking on OK.
Some Sites to Explore
Australian Sites for Women