shoup/internet visual quick tips
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sample chapterTRANSCRIPT
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Sample Chapter
A Web browser is a computer program thatenables you to access and view Web pages.Popular Web browsers include NetscapeNavigator, Opera, Firefox, Safari, andInternet Explorer (covered here). Youlaunch your Web browser like you do anyother program on your system — forexample, from the Start menu (PC) or theFinder (Mac).
Although browsers do have theirdifferences, they are fundamentally similar:You type the uniform resource locator(URL), or Web address, of the site youwant to visit in the address bar, click theBack and Forward buttons to return toprevious pages and then back again, andso on.
You can, however, adjust settings for yourWeb browser to direct how it looks andbehaves. For example, you can reconfigureyour browser’s toolbars, specify whichpage loads at startup, control the size ofthe text that your browser displays, andeven browse in full screen mode. Somebrowsers, including Internet Explorer 7,also offer tabbed browsing, which enablesusers to open multiple sites in a singlebrowser window.
Before you adjust a setting, note its originalstate. That way, if you do not like the resultof the adjustment, you can change it back.
Customizing Your Browser
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COPYRIG
HTED M
ATERIAL
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Set a Default Home Page ......................................................................................................4
Mark a Page as a Favorite......................................................................................................6
Visit a Favorite Page ................................................................................................................7
Organize Your Favorites ........................................................................................................8
View Your History List ..........................................................................................................10
Customize Your Browser Toolbar........................................................................................12
Add an Address Bar to Your Windows Taskbar ................................................................14
Browse in Full Screen Mode ................................................................................................16
Increase or Decrease Text Size ............................................................................................18
Browse Multiple Pages with Quick Tabs ............................................................................20
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Set a DefaultHome Page
Chances are you frequently visit a particularWeb site — for example, a news or weather site,an Internet e-mail site, or the home page for asearch engine that you use on a regular basis.If you want, you can set up your Web browserto automatically load that site whenever youlaunch the browser or click the browser’sHome button. This saves you the trouble of
typing the site’s uniform resource locator(URL), or Web address, or selecting the sitefrom your Favorites.Be aware that if a site has lots of graphics orother high-bandwidth content, it might notmake the best default page for your browserbecause the site may require extra time toload.
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1 With the page youwant to set as thedefault open in yourbrowser, click Tools.
Note: If the Tools button is notvisible, click the toolbar optionsbutton ( ) in the upper-rightcorner of the browser window; alist of additional buttons,including the Tools button,appears.
2 Click Internet Options.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
Remove It!If you no longer want to use the page you set as the browser’s default home page,revert to the one your computer’s manufacturer established by clicking Tools,clicking Internet Options, clicking Use Default, and clicking OK. Alternatively, youcan configure your browser to display no page upon launch in order to speed up thestartup process. To do so, click Use Blank in the Internet Options dialog box.
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The Internet Optionsdialog box opens,displaying the Generaltab.
3 Click Use Current.
l The URL listed in theHome Page text boxchanges to match theURL of the currentpage.
4 Click OK.
The Internet Optionsdialog box closes, andthe page youindicated is set as thedefault.
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Mark a Page as a Favorite
With literally billions of Web pages availableonline, the Internet is unquestionably anincredible resource for information. Its sheerscope, however, also makes it very difficult tosearch and sort. That means when you do finda site that you know you will revisit, you willprobably want to use your browser to mark itas a favorite.
The uniform resource locator (URL), or Webaddress, for a site marked as a favorite is savedin a special list in your browser, called theFavorites Center. When you are ready to revisitthe site, you can simply click the link to thesite in the list.You can organize your favorites by placingthem in special folders, which you can create.
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1 With the page youwant to save as afavorite open in yourbrowser, click the Addto Favorites button.
2 Click Add to Favorites.
The Add a Favorite dialogbox opens.
3 Optionally, type a moredescriptive name for thepage.
l To save the page in adifferent folder, click theCreate In and choosethe desired folder.
l Alternatively, create a newfolder by clicking NewFolder, typing a name forthe folder in the dialog boxthat appears, and clickingCreate.
4 Click Add.
The page is added to yourfavorites.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
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1 To view your list offavorites, click theFavorites Centerbutton.
Visit a FavoritePage
When you save a page as a favorite, its uniformresource locator (URL), or Web address, issaved in a special list in Internet Explorer,called the Favorites Center. When you areready to revisit the site, you can simply clickthe link to the site in the Favorites Centerinstead of, for example, using a search enginesuch as Google to locate the site again.
By default, sites in your Favorites Center aresaved in the top-level Favorites folder. Youcan, however, create subfolders for storing thelinks to your favorite sites. This makes it easierto locate the page you want in your favorites.For more information about organizing yourfavorites in this way, see the task “OrganizeYour Favorites.”
The Favorites Centeropens.
2 If necessary, clickFavorites.
A list of sites markedas favorites appears.
l If the link to the siteyou want to visit hasbeen saved in asubfolder, click thefolder.
3 Click the site you wantto visit.
The site opens in yourbrowser, and theFavorites Center closes.
l To prevent theFavorites Center fromclosing, click before you click thesite you want to visit( changes to );click to close theFavorites Center.
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Organize YourFavorites
By default, sites marked as favorites are saved inthe top-level Favorites folder. This is fine if youhave added only a few sites to your list offavorites. If, however, you add new sites on aregular basis, locating the site you want in yourever-growing list can become challenging.To rectify this, you can organize your favoritesby reordering them in your list, or bygrouping related sites into subfolders. For
example, you might create one subfolder fornews sites, a second subfolder for sites thatrelate to a favorite hobby, a third subfolder fortravel sites, and so on.Periodic pruning of your favorites list isanother way to keep things organized. If youdetermine that you no longer want to includea site in your list of favorites, you can easilyremove it.
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CREATE ASUBFOLDER
1 Click the Add toFavorites button.
2 Click OrganizeFavorites.
The OrganizeFavorites dialog boxopens.
3 Click New Folder.
l A new folder appearsat the bottom of thefavorites list.
4 Type a name for thenew folder and pressEnter.
The new folder isrenamed.
5 Click Close.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
More Options!To change the order of a favorite in the Favorites Center, click the Favorites Centerbutton ( ) to open the Favorites Center, click Favorites if necessary, and click thefavorite you want to move in the list and drag upward or downward. A line appears,indicating where the favorite will be moved in the list; release your mouse buttonwhen the line is in the desired spot.
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MOVE A FAVORITETO A SUBFOLDER
1 In the OrganizeFavorites dialog box,click the favorite youwant to move.
Note: To open the OrganizeFavorites dialog box, click theAdd to Favorites button ( )and click Organize Favorites.
2 Click Move.
The Browse ForFolder dialog boxopens.
3 Click the subfolderinto which you wantto move the favorite.
4 Click OK.
5 Click Close.
DELETE A FAVORITE
1 In the OrganizeFavorites dialog box,click the favorite youwant to delete.
Note: To open the OrganizeFavorites dialog box, click theAdd to Favorites button ( )and click Organize Favorites.
2 Click Delete.
Your browser asksyou to confirm thedeletion.
3 Click Yes.
The site is deletedfrom your favorites.
4 Click Close.
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View YourHistory List
Suppose you want to revisit a page you recentlyaccessed, but you failed to save it as a favorite.Instead of using a search engine to locate thepage again — a process that could be timeconsuming and frustrating — you can simplyview your History list to locate the page.To expedite this process, you can sort yourHistory list in one of four ways: By Date, By
Site, By Most Visited, or By Order VisitedToday.Note that you can change the number of daysthat your browser saves and displays in theHistory list. To do so, click Tools, clickInternet Options, and click Settings in theBrowsing History area of the General tab;then adjust the Days to Keep Pages in Historysetting.
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1 Click the FavoritesCenter button.
The Favorites Centeropens.
2 Click the down arrow ( ) next to theHistory button.
3 Choose the desiredsort method — in thiscase, By Date.
4 Click the day onwhich you visited thesite in question.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
More Options!Another way to locate a page from your History list is to search for it. To do so,click the Favorites Center button ( ), click the down arrow ( ) next to the Historybutton, and choose Search History from the menu that appears. Type a relevantkeyword in the Search For text box and click Search Now. Finally, click the desiredpage in the list of results that appears.
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A list of sites youvisited on that dayappears.
5 Click the desired site.
A list of pages youaccessed on that siteappears.
6 Click the desiredpage.
The page will open inyour browser window.
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Customize YourBrowser Toolbar
Your Web browser has a toolbar that providesbuttons for moving backward and forwardthrough pages you have visited, stopping apage from loading, refreshing a page, printinga page, and more. You can customize thetoolbar by adding or removing buttons,rearranging the buttons, and so on. You canalso switch to Full Screen mode, hiding the
toolbar to provide more room to display Webpages. (In addition, you can hide or displaythe browser’s menu bar, which offersalternative methods for navigating yourbrowser and the Web in general.)Once you have your toolbar set up just right,you can lock it in place to prevent accidentalchanges.
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1 Click Tools.
Note: If the Tools button is notvisible, click the toolbar optionsbutton ( ) in the upper-rightcorner of the browser window; alist of additional buttons, includingthe Tools button, appears.
2 Click Toolbars.
3 Click Customize.
The CustomizeToolbar dialog boxopens.
4 In the AvailableToolbar Buttons list,click a button youwant to add to yourtoolbar — in this case,Full Screen.
5 Click Add.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
More Options!In addition to customizing your browser’s toolbar, you can also specify whether theInternet Explorer menu bar should be shown. To do so, right-click the toolbar andchoose Menu Bar to check or uncheck that option in the menu that appears. TheInternet Explorer menu bar simply offers an additional set of options by which youcan access various browser tools and commands.
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l The selected buttonappears in theCurrent ToolbarButtons list.
6 To change the orderin which the buttonappears on thetoolbar, click it in theCurrent ToolbarButtons list.
7 Click Move Up orMove Down as manytimes as necessary tosituate the button asdesired.
Note: To remove a button,click it in the Current ToolbarButtons list and click Remove.
l The button’s order inthe list changes.
l Depending on wherein the list the buttonhas been moved, itmay appear on thetoolbar.
l If the button does notappear on thetoolbar, click thetoolbar options buttonto access it.
8 Click Close.
Note: To lock the toolbarbuttons in place, click the Toolsbutton, click Toolbars, and clickLock the Toolbars.
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Add an Address Bar toYour Windows Taskbar
When most users want to visit a Web site, theytypically launch their Web browsers first andthen type the Web address for the page theywant to visit in their browser window’s addressbar. You can, however, save yourself a step byadding an address bar to your Windowstaskbar — the space along the bottom of your
screen that contains the Start button, buttonsfor currently running programs, thenotification area, and other handy tools. Then,anytime you want to visit a Web site, you cansimply type its address in the taskbar’s addressbar; Windows automatically launches yourbrowser and opens the page you specified.
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1 Right-click a blankarea of the Windowstaskbar.
A menu appears.
2 Click Toolbars.
A submenu appears.
3 Click Address.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
More Options!As you type the desired Web address in the Windows taskbar’s address bar, a list ofaddresses that match the text you have typed thus far appears. If the address you seekis in the list, you can click it there instead of typing it in full in the address bar. Youcan also access this list by clicking the address bar .
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l An address barappears.
4 Type the URL for thepage you want to visit.
5 Click the arrow orpress Enter.
Windows launchesyour browser andopens the page whoseaddress you typed.
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Browse in FullScreen Mode
When your Web browser displays its toolbar,status bar, menu bar, and so on, its controlscan occupy much of the space that it could useto display Web pages. To give a Web pagemore screen space, you can switch to fullscreen mode. In this mode, your browser hidesvarious window controls, such as its title bar,
status bar, and all toolbars (although it doesleave the vertical scrollbar in place so you canmove up and down the page). To again displaythe window controls, simply move your cursorto the top of the window; the controls slideinto view.
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1 Click Tools.
Note: If the Tools button is notvisible, click the toolbar optionsbutton ( ) in the upper-rightcorner of the browser window; alist of additional buttons,including the Tools button,appears.
2 Click Full Screen.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
More Options!An even quicker way to view your pages in full screen mode is to press the F11 keyon your keyboard. Click it again to revert back to regular mode. Other keyboardshortcuts, which apply in both full screen and regular mode, include pressing Alt+leftarrow and/or Alt+right arrow to move backward and/or forward through pages youhave already visited.
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The page appears infull screen mode.
3 To again view thewindow controls,move your cursor tothe top of the screen.
l The controls reappear.
4 To restore the windowto regular view, clickTools.
5 Click Full Screen.
Note: Another way to returnthe window to regular view is toclick the Restore button ( )in the upper-right cornerof the screen.
The window willrevert to regular view.
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Increase or DecreaseText Size
Instead of indicating a specific size for text,most Web pages contain codes that specify therelative size of text. For example, the personwho built the page might indicate that theWeb page’s title should be larger than thenormal text that appears below it — but notthe precise size. Your Web browser interpretsthese codes according to its own setting to
determine exactly how the text appears. Youcan adjust this setting to control how large orsmall text appears on-screen.This setting applies to text only; adjusting itwill not affect how large or small graphicsappear on your screen — even if the graphicscontain words. In that case, you can use yourbrowser’s zoom tools to zoom in and out.
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CHANGE THE TEXTSIZE SETTING
1 Click Page.
Note: If the Page button is notvisible, click the toolbar optionsbutton ( ) in the upper-rightcorner of the browser window; alist of additional buttons, includingthe Page button, appears.
2 Click Text Size.
3 Click a size option(here, Largest).
The text on the screenis resized.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
Did You Know?Most Web pages are coded to use a particular font, but some are designed to displaywhatever font your browser uses by default. To change this default, click Tools andclick Internet Options. In the Internet Options dialog box, click Fonts in theGeneral tab, click the font you want to use in the Webpage Font and Plain Text Fontlists, and click OK twice to close both dialog boxes.
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ZOOM IN
1 Click Page.
Note: If the Page button is notvisible, click the toolbar optionsbutton ( ) in the upper-right cornerof the browser window; a list ofadditional buttons, including thePage button, appears.
2 Click Zoom.
3 Click a zoom option(here, 200%).
The browser zooms in on(or out of, depending onyour selection in Step 3)the page.
Note: An even faster way to zoomin on or out of a page is to pressCtrl++ (plus sign) or Ctrl+- (minussign).
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Browse Multiple Pageswith Quick Tabs
Suppose you are using the Internet tocompare the price of flights offered on variousairline Web sites. In earlier versions of InternetExplorer, you would have had to open aseparate browser window for each site;switching from one open page to another wasoften cumbersome.To rectify this, Microsoft developed a featurecalled Quick Tabs. With Quick Tabs, when
you open multiple Web pages at once, eachone appears in the same browser window in itsown tab. To switch to a different Web page,you simply click the page’s tab.Quick Tabs also supports a special view, calledQuick Tabs view. In it, all the pages that areopen in your browser appear at once.
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1 To launch a page in anew tab, click theblank tab that appearsto the right of anypopulated ones.
A blank page opens.
2 Type a Web addressin the address bar.
l The page youspecified opens.
3 To switch to adifferent page, click itstab.
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Chapter 1: Customizing Your Browser
Try This!Another way to switch to a different page is to click the down arrow ( ) next to theQuick Tabs button ( ) and choose the desired page from the list that appears. Toclose a page, right-click its tab and click Close, or click the tab’s Close button.
44 The page whose tabyou clicked appears inthe browser window.
4 To view multiplepages in Quick Tabsview, click the QuickTabs button.
The open pagesappear in Quick Tabsview.
Note: Click any page in QuickTabs view to view it in itsregular display mode.Alternatively, close Quick Tabsview by again clicking the QuickTabs button ( ).
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