internet absolute basics

getting you started with the internet

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getting started with the internet

Don’t know a browser

from a hyperlink?

Have you ever spent a

frustrating hour trying to use the internet and haven’t

even got as far as managing to

locate a website?

The following tips will

maybe give you just the information you need to

move forwards…

click here to move on

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here’s what we’ll be looking at:

what is a website? getting onto the internet – broadbandgetting onto the internet - connectingtyping in a website addressnavigating around a pagehyperlinks and navigating

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what is a website?

A website is rather

like a book

containing pages.

The home page (or

front page) of a website

acts a bit like a

contents page.

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An entire website consists

of a number of webpages

.

Home page

travel news

weather

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what is a website?

Some websites, like the BBC website, contain absolutely thousands of webpages, whereas some websites may only contain a few webpages.

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So a website is a collection of webpages, like

a book is a collection of

pages.

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getting onto the internet – broadband

You will need a wireless card in your computer, which is an internal card which will ‘connect’ wirelessly with your router.

You will also need a wireless router (a small box about the size of a video

tape) which you connect to your phone line with a cable.

You will also need to sign up for a broadband connection with a company that provides broadband. This could be BT, but there are many other companies that provide broadband, often at a cheaper monthly cost.

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getting onto the internet - connecting

On your computer

desktop you will see an Internet browser

icon.

This may be a blue icon that looks like a letter e for Microsoft Internet Explorer, although it will be another icon if you have different browser software installed.

Double click on

this icon to launch the browser window.

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e

Find out more about browsers by following

Webwise unit 03 on Browsers

.

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typing in a website address

When you launch the internet

browser, you will be faced with a screen

showing a webpage.

Don’t worry about which webpage it shows – the

computer will have been setup

to show the same webpage each time you

launch the browser.

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typing in a website address

To enter a website

address, click in the address bar near the

top of the window.

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This will highlight

the address that is

currently showing.

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typing in a website address

Start typing the address you want.

You don’t need to type http:// - the computer will add this for you afterwards.

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A typical address may be www.bbc.co.uk

or www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria .

www.bbc.co.uk

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typing in a website address

Always type the address exactly as you see it:–

no spaces, no need for capital letters,

but include any full stops or slashes if the address has any.

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If you make a mistake,

the browser would

probably not be able to locate the

page.

www.bbc.co.uk

It’s a bit like a postman trying to locate the address on a postcard if it hasn’t been written correctly.

But at least the postman is human and has a slim chance of working out what it should be.

The computer probably won’t know what it should be if you typed it wrong.

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typing in a website address

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Then allow the

computer time to

search for the

webpage you

requested.

Having typed your address, you can either press

the ENTER key on the keyboard…

or the GO button on the right hand

side of the address bar.

Enter

key

Go

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typing in a website address

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IIIIIIIIIIIII

See Webwise Unit 03 on addresses

to find out more about

typing a website

address.

You should see an activity bar

with blue or green coloured

rectangles appearing at the bottom of your screen.

This indicates that the

browser is in the process of searching for

and downloading

the requested page to your

computer.

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navigating around a page

Once you have found a

webpage, you will need to

navigate around it to get the

information you need from it.

The main way to do this is by

using your

mouse.If you move your mouse around the

webpage, you will notice it

changes shape – from a white arrow pointer

to a hand.

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navigating around a page

Whenever your mouse hovers

over an image or possibly a bold, underlined or

coloured piece of text, you will

probably see the hand cursor

appear.

The hand cursor indicates that whatever is directly beneath it on the page is a link.

Images or text can be links.

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hyperlinks

A link (or hyperlink) is simply a shortcut to take you to

another page.

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To use the link to take

you to another

page, once the hand appears,

click the left button of

your mouse.

This will tell the

computer to locate the page you have requested

.

See Webwise Unit 3 on

buttons to find out

more about navigating.

This may be another page

within the website, or even a page belonging to

another website.

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hyperlinks and navigating

By clicking on a link

when you see that hand,

you can navigate

around the website.

If you want to go back to a page you saw earlier, click on the back button on the top left of the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Each time you click on this it will take

you back a page.

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Have fun surfing!Visit the online

Webwise course to find

out more about using

the internet…

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Click to go to BBC

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