Help in Using the Web

On-Line Mathematics Tutor

Help in Using the Web

Just a few tips about working on the World Wide Web.

Figuring Out Where You Are. There should be a text box up near the top. That tells you where you are. The part in the text box between the double-slash ("//") and the next slash ("/") - that's the Internet name of the computer that sent you the information you are looking at. The last three letters tell you what type of organization sent you the information, as follows:
- gov - a government computer
- edu - owned by an educational institution
- com - a business
- org - a non-profit organization
- net - an Internet service provider or other network service organization
Usually, the name of the organization is in there somewhere. Right now, you are reading something from Wayne State University, on the computer www.cll.wayne.edu.

And what comes after the name of the computer? That told the computer where to find the information you are reading.

Think you might want to go back there? Read about bookmarks down below.
The Mouse. On the World Wide Web, be safe and only click once. If you double-click, that second click might do something that you don't want.

Also, if you just point the mouse at a link, without clicking, the line at the bottom of the screen will tell you where the link will take you.

Moving Around On a Page. Use the arrows keys to move up and down a line at a time. If you have Page Up and Page Down keys, they will move you a screen at a time.

Or, in the picture of the scroll bars to the right,click the mouse (once!) on the up and down arrows at a or f to move one line at a time, in the space next to the arrows at b and d to move one screen at a time, or just grab the "elevator" at c to make large moves. ("Grab" means to click on it with the mouse and drag the mouse while the button is down.)

Links. The big deal on the Web is the links. A link will take you to other information if you click on it. A link can be either text or a picture. If it is text, the text is underlined and blue if you have not followed the link yet, purple if you have. Over a link, the mouse cursor will usually change to a pointing finger. The place where the link will take you is shown near the bottom left of the screen.
Bookmarks. Found a Web Site you like? Make a bookmark that you can click on to go back. To make a bookmark, click on the Bookmark menu item near the top of the screen. (On Internet Explorer, this is called "Favorites.") Then, click on the "Add"menu item (Add Bookmark or Add to Favorites) to bookmark the page you are on.

Then, to go back to that site later, click on Bookmark / Favorite again, find the page in the list, and click on it.