New
to the Internet? Below are some commonly asked questions from New Internet
Users:
What is a web browser?
A web browser is the program you use to load and display pages from
the internet. The two most common browsers are Internet Explorer and
Netscape Navigator. Both of these programs will display pages of content
from the internet as well as provide a program for reading e-mail and
using instant messaging, your web browser also comes with the ability to
store your favorite web pages, search the internet for topics of interest.
Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are available on either PC or
Macintosh platforms. Netscape Navigator is provided by default on most
Linux computer systems.
Why is some of the text on my page underlined or in a different color?
Sometimes words on a page are underlined or appear in a different color
than the surrounding text. When you point and click on underlined or
colored text, your browser takes you to another page that relates to the
words you clicked on. Underlined (or colored) words are called
'hyperlinks' or 'links' for short, because they link you to another page
on the World Wide Web. When you point your mouse at one of these links the
mouse pointer will turn into a hand. Anytime this happens you can click to
access another part of the internet or web site you are accessing.
What is a Netscape bookmark?
A bookmark is a shortcut to a page you've accessed before. When you are
looking at a page you would like to come back to later, you can make
Netscape save the location of that page for you. Select Bookmarks from
the
menu bar and choose Add Bookmark. Later when you wish to access this page
you can go directly their by choosing its name from the list under the
Bookmarks menu.
What is an Internet Explorer favorite?
With Microsoft Internet Explorer, a Favorite is a shortcut to a page
you've seen before. When you are looking at a page you would like to come
back , you can make Internet Explorer save the location of that page for
you. Select Favorites from the menu bar and choose Add to Favorites. Later
when you wish to access this page you can go directly to that page by
choosing its name from the list under the Favorites menu.
Why are some pages faster than others?
There are several factors which affect how fast pages appear on your
computer screen. Most of these factors are not under your control.
The main factor not under your control is the amount of traffic on the
Internet. When you are linking to a page on a Web site, the number of
other people accessing that Web site at the same time will affect how fast
you will get your Web page. It depends on the popularity of the site
you're trying to access and the time of day. It also depends on how much
traffic is on the Internet between you and the Web site you are accessing.
And remember that people are connecting to the Internet from all of the
world's time zones. You will find some times and days are better than
others for accessing pages quickly.
Phone line quality is also not under your control. Phone quality will vary
house to house and town to town. Phone line quality is also not constant.
In other words, your phone quality can and frequently will change in the
course of a single call to the internet.
Generally speaking, the faster your modem and the more powerful your
computer the better performance you will have on the internet.
What is Netiquette?
In a forum where people using typed words, it is both easy to misinterpret
someone's words and hard to convey your own. Netiquette is the way the
Internet community describes common courtesy when using newsgroups,
e-mail, chat, and other forms of communicating. In other words, netiquette
is a set of rules for behaving properly online.
Some examples of netiquette:
-
Avoid typing in all upper
case letters, LIKE THIS, as it is considered "shouting", and is extremely
rude.
-
When first joining to a
discussion group, check the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) if available,
for that group before asking questions that are old news to the existing
participants.
-
Do not repeatedly send or
post the same message as it is considered spam.
-
Get to know how to use "smilies"
to augment your words.
-
Avoid statements that can be
taken as personal attacks. This is called flaming.
-
Use the Subject Line of your
message. It should be descriptive but terse.
-
When replying to a message,
do not quote it entirely but include enough of that message to provide
appropriate context.
-
You should not forward a
private e-mail message without the author's consent.
-
Don't get caught up in
grammar and punctuation, especially excessive punctuation!!!!!
How do I search the internet?
There are several ways to find things on the Internet. If your topic is
general interest such as news, sports, weather, etc. start with the KBcom.net
menu to the right of each page. These pages were designed with our
customers in mind. There you will find links to literally hundreds of Web
sites that have been selected for you. They have been chosen from
thousands of Web sites available on the Internet based on their quality,
usefulness, and general interest.
If you have a topic in mind and can't find it on the KBcom.net Web site, click
Search on either the Internet Explorer toolbar or simply type your query
into the Google search provided on the KBcom.net web site.
How do I use the Scroll Bar?
A) Move your mouse pointer to the scroll bar, located at the far right and
possibly bottom of the web browser.
B) HOLD the left button of the mouse down, and
C) DRAG (slide the mouse itself) in the direction you want.
To move down the web page, you would move the pointer to the scroll bar on
the right side of the web page, then drag the mouse towards you (down). To
move up the web page, you will drag the mouse away from you (up).
Choose the scroll bar on the bottom of the page to move left or right.
You can also click on the small arrows at each end of the scroll bar to
move in the direction you want.
How do I enter addresses into the Web Browser?
If you know the web address of the web site (URL) you are looking for,
you can simply type it into the address/netsite bar of your web browser.
There will already be an address in that box, which you will need to
replace.
Move your mouse pointer to the address bar and click once using the left
button of the mouse (single click).
This should select/highlight the entire URL that is in the address box. Be
sure you type in the entire URL, including the extension (.com, .org, .edu,
etc). example: www.cnn.com
Press the "Enter" key.
How are some of the ways I can navigate a web site?
Many web sites have a Site Guide or Site Map as one of their choices.
Site Guides and Maps generally show you ALL the pages that are in that
site. If you’re having a hard time finding what you want in a particular
web site, see if they have a Site Guide available.
Some web sites have a search function available that will perform a search
on the information in that web site only.
Some sites have a special Welcome Page that has little more than graphics
(and often music), and you enter the actual web site by clicking on an
<enter here> link.
Remember, links can also be graphics like the arrow you click on to move
to the next page. There are a number of web sites that are navigated
simply by clicking on graphics that represent the topic of the web pages.
What do all those buttons on my web browser do?
Standard Browser Buttons:
Below the menu are graphic buttons. This is the standard toolbar. If any
of the buttons appear “grayed out”, it means they are not currently
available for use.
The Back button moves your web browser to the previous web page you
visited during this session of its use.
After you have used the Back button, the Forward button becomes
available. It will move your web browser forward. Try it now if you’d like
- click on the Back Button, then the Forward button to return to this
page.
The Refresh (Internet Explorer) or Reload (Netscape) buttons
give the command to load a new copy of the page you’re visiting again.
You’ll use this if a page doesn’t load properly, or if your Web Browser
has in its memory (cache) a page that has been updated. If you clicked on
the Refresh or Reload button now, the Web Browser will simply reload this
page.
The Home button returns the Web Browser to your preset Start Up
page.
The Stop button stops the current downloading of a web page.
The Search button use is covered in the Search the Internet section
of this web site.
The Print button will send a command to your default printer to
print one copy of the whole web page showing in that browser window.
Selecting only a portion of
the page to print:
The easiest way to be sure you print only what you want is to "select" it.
To "select" part of a page, click on the page at beginning (or end) of the
part you want to print. Hold the left mouse button down, and DRAG the
mouse pointer down and to the right over that part of the page you want.
If you start at the end of the section you want, you would drag the mouse
pointer up.
As you DRAG the mouse pointer over the web page, the text (and any
graphics) that you select will become highlighted. If you need to redo
your selection, just click somewhere else on the page to UNselect, then
repeat the click and DRAG. If the web designer put a graphic in the middle
of the text you want to select, the graphic will also be selected
automatically.
You will need to use the Print Command (not the Print shortcut on your
browser bar) to print just a selection or change other options. The print
command is at the top of your web browser under "File". Make sure you
chose the selection option in your printer dialogue box and not all.
Why won't my web page
display?
There are a variety of reasons why a web page may not display on your
browser. The following codes will help you identify the problem.
401 - Unauthorized Access - This is a web page that requires you to
authenticate (provide a username and password). You have either supplied
an incorrect user name and password or you have not been given access to
this web site.
404 - File Not Found - This indicates that either the web page does not
exist or an incorrect spelling when you type the address into your
browser.
500 - Internal Server Error - This indicates that the server you are
trying to access is having technical difficulties.
