Surf the Web: Web Browsers: Page 2

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The Toolbar The row of buttons at the top of your browser, known as the toolbar, helps you travel through the web of possibilities, keeping track of where you've been. Since the toolbars for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Navigator, differ slightly, we'll first describe what the buttons in common do. The Back button (the arrow pointing to the left) returns you the previous web page you've visited. Use the Forward button to return to the page you just came from. Home takes you to whichever home page you've chosen. (If you haven't selected one, it will return you to the default home page, usually the Microsoft, Netscape or Google website.) Reload or Refresh does just that, loads the web page again. Why would you want to do this? Sometimes all of the elements of a web page haven't loaded the first time, because the file transfer was interrupted. Also when you download a web page, the data is cached (pronounced "cashed"), meaning it is stored temporarily in your computer's memory. The next time you want that page, instead of requesting the file from the web server, your web browser accesses it from the cache. But if a web page is updated frequently, as may be the case with news, sports scores or financial data, you won't get the most current information. By reloading the page, this timely data is updated from the web server. Print lets you make a hard copy of the current page loaded in your browser. The Stop button stops the browser from loading the current page. When to Use the STOP Button There's a good reason why the Web is sometimes referred to as the World Wide Wait, especially if you don't have a speedy broadband Internet connection. If you can't connect to a site or if the page is loading very slowly, use the STOP button and try again later, especially if you are trying to access a popular site. Search connects to directories and search tools on the Microsoft, Netscape or Google websites. Bookmarks or Favorites lets you can record the addresses of websites you want to revisit. Once you add a URL to your list, you can return to that web page simply by clicking on the link in your list, instead of retyping the entire address. Back      Next Page  Learn the Net (www.learnthenet.com) is Copyright 1996-2008. Michael Lerner Productions. All Rights Reserved.