Getting to know your web browser!

Part of basic computer training is learning to use the internet. Today we are going to learn about the web browser! What is a web browser? What are the parts of the web browser?

Display Window

The web browser has a 'display window' you are viewing this lesson in! Its basically the work space you are reading this computer basic lesson in! Web browsers pulls documents up on your screen!

There are a couple of different kinds of web browsers that seem to be the most popular!

 

IE or Internet Explorer was my first one! At one time that was pretty much all that was available as well!

Later came Mozilla FireFox as well - also very popular! There are number of different ones now of course - not just these two!

No matter what web browser you use it will have tools to navigate the web (or internet)! In addition to finding web pages (like the one you are on now), web browsers can MARK pages that interest you as well called favorites.

 

Most web browsers use the same basic functions, and similar navigation tools! I will use Internet Explorer in this lesson, because it seems MOST beginners start with that one! Don't worry if you use a different web browser - they all have the functions we will learn about!

Web Browsers are more similar than they are different, and all share the concept of a "start" or "home" page. This is the first Web page or website displayed after launching the program.

A default page is built into the software when you first use it, but the user may choose a different place to start. Alot of people call this their HOME page as well! I will show you how to change that home page in a different lesson.


How to Launch Web Browser

To start your web browser you may have done one of two things!

1) Double click on the icon on the desktop

Internet Explorer Icon has a big lower case 'e'.

Firefox icon looks like this:


OR

2) From the Start Menu - going to programs. Then select your web browser under the program list.

Starting Page or Home Page

When your web browser starts it will immediately open a page that is set up as the starting page. Again - some people call it their home page! For example, Internet Explorer opens Microsoft's or MSN's homepage on the web (or internet).

 

At the VERY top of your screen is the

Title bar: Again the title bar is at the very top of your browser window; in both Firefox and Internet Explorer. You'll see the title of the Web page there; for example, you should see "Learning Computer Basics - Getting to know your web browser!" at the top of your browser window right now.

 

Most of the time it also tells you what web browser you are using.  Our Web Browser below is Internet Explorer.

 

 

If you move all the way to the right of the title bar you will see something that should be familiar to you.

 

The first is the minimize button.  The next is the Maximize button.  Then lastly, you have the close button.

IAddress Bar:  Starting from Left

Back Button and Forward Button on your web browser 

 

The first arrow is called the 'back button'. What do you do with the back button? YOU go BACK to where you were before - each click of the back button brings you back ONE page!

 

The opposite arrow WELL it goes the opposite direction! That is called the forward button. It goes forward one page. MOST of the time you will use the back button on your web browser.

Also, when the button is greyed like forward button pictured? It means you can’t go forward anymore.

 

Below is the address for my home page for this blog.  If you look at the address bar on your browser you will see this address, plus addition information.  The reason for that is each separate page on the internet has its own address.

 

 

You will hear people talk about website addresses all the time!

For example, www.yahoo.com

is pronounced, "doubleyou, doubleyou, doubleyou" or WWW then 'DOT' for the period then 'yahoo' and again 'DOT' KOM!

doubleyou - doubleyou - doubleyou - dot - yahoo - dot - KOM!

Tip: You do not have to type "http://". Your browser software assumes you want to use the http protocol since you are using a Web browser. You don't have to mention it to most people either due to that reason! Your computer ALREADY knows that part!

Web address are also called URL's which stands for Uniform Resource Locators. You don't have to know the formal name - URL is fine! You enter that web address in that long window that has either 'address' or 'GO TO' mentioned in the web browser! You hit your enter button on your keyboard or the symbol right next to the address bar and OFF you go!


Keep in mind some addresses have numbers, Dots (.), dashes (-), or underscores (_) and you will need to type those as well. Underscores reminds me of that line you use to UNDERLINE things you want to point out more strongly!

Lets move to the rest of the address bar on your web browser.

 

The first symbol in the next set is the capability button. We aren’t going to cover that today, and not all web browsers have this button.

You see the double arrow button that almost looks like it is going in a circular motion? That is called the 'refresh button' or alot of people call it RELOAD button. There are a couple of different instances in which you may use the refresh button within the web browser.

You want the MOST up to date screen - hit the refresh button or reload button page in the browser bar!

Stop Button on your web browser

Do you see the (X) button next? That is the STOP button! Click this stop button if you want to stop loading the current page. Some sites have pages that are very large and take a long time to load. The Stop button will help stop the loading of the page, and allow you to move backwards.

 

Home Button on your web browser

The HOUSE button takes you back to your home page! The home button returns you to your designated "home page" or 'start page'. The place you started when you clicked the web browser to open at the beginning!

 

You may notice with some web browser they have more than one location for the HOME button.

 

Menu Bar

In Internet Explorer, the different menus available are File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools and Help.

    Slide your mouse over one of the menu options (File, Edit, View, etc.).
    The menu you've selected should be highlighted in blue.
    Click the left mouse button once. A menu will slide down.
    Slide your mouse over the item in the menu that you would like to select.
    Click once with the left mouse button to select the item.

 

Today you have options to add on to this bar to meet your needs.  That would be covered in the helps section depending on which web browser you use.

 

 

Lastly, This is the navigation bar within your web browser.  You notice the HOME button again?

 

The Orange symbol is the RSS feed button.  We will learn about that later.

 

The next button is your email, and depending on what browser you use?  You can sent this up to email someone – even yourself – directly from the browser.

Printer Button on the browser tool bar

If you want to print a page you click that!

 

The rest of the buttons normally are things came with your web browser when it was downloaded.  The question mark is for Help section on this bar.

 

Some of the symbols towards the end are tools I added myself to my web browser.

At the bottom of your web browser window, and generally on your left hand side you will have your

Status bar: Again this is the box or area at the bottom of your browser window. The status bar displays all sorts of information, depending on what you're doing at the time, but mostly it's for showing load speed and the URL of whatever address your mouse is hovering over.

For example in mine currently it says 'done' because the page is done loading. If I move to a different web page it will tell me the loading speed, or display the website. Next time you move to a different page LOOK there, and view what I'm talking about!

 

Keep in mind some of the newer web browsers do not have this.

Lastly, in a web browser you have the scroll bar!

Scroll Bars: If you've ever been to a website that you had to "scroll down" to read something, then you've used the scroll bars. They're just navigational/directional aids.



That is all I have for today for Learning computer basics, and Getting to KNOW your Web Browser! As always please use the comment section if you don't understand something, or if you think I missed an area! We will go into more detail in further computer online lessons!





what is a web browser, display window, start menu, starting page, home page, title bar, toolbar icon, back button, forward button, refresh button, reload button, stop button, home button, printer button, address bar, URL, status bar, scroll bars

Start Button On Computer? Where is the Start Menu?

When I started to help some friends and family with their computer skills one of the first questions they asked was, “What is a start button?”

 

That is when I realized I need to slow down, because some of the computer stuff maybe second nature to me!  It hardly is the case with the person I was speaking to.

 

The Start Button and the Start Menu are something you will be using on a regular basis when using your computer.

 

Today’s How-To Guide for the Computer beginning is: What is the start button?  Where is the Start Menu?

 

What is a Start Button

This is what the Windows 7 Start Button looks like

 

 

What are Menu Options? Sub Menus?

Windows have TONS of menus! What is a menu option?

Today’s How-To Guide for the Computer Beginner is our explanation of Menu Options.

Compare the term menu options to when you go out to eat at a restaurant.    You tell the wait staff what meal you would like to have, and they tell you that you have  MENU OPTIONS for your choice of potatoes.  You have a choice between mashed, hash browns, French fries, or baked.

The concept of menu options is pretty much the same, and YES I realize the wait staff ISN’T going to use ‘menu options’ at your table (giggles).

For example, lets click your start menu.  I have pictured here a older operating system, Called Windows 98.

Notice next to PROGRAMS, DOCUMENTS, SETTINGS, FIND

you have an arrow.  I have circled and pointed to the ‘documents’ example in our picture today.

That arrow will tell you that you will get a submenu when you click on it (remember our potatoes example).

In this example with this Windows 98 picture the Documents arrow will open up a list of documents that you have saved on your computer.

Menus, Menu Options, and SUB Menus!

Sometimes your MENUS that have SUBMENUS even have MENUS themselves like our example of this Windows XP choice.

Notice the computer user first clicked on ‘settings’, and then on ‘control panel’, and moved on to ‘sounds and audio devices’.

If we use our potatoes example again?  Our First menu option would have been the type of potatoes as we mentioned above. 

Lets say you made your choice of ‘mashed potatoes’. 

A SUB menu option window would ask you:  Butter, Sour cream, Chives as you choices of what you would LIKE on your mashed potatoes.

You can always tell if you have additional choices, or another menu – submenu by noticing the arrow again.  I pointed to them in this pictured of the Windows XP machine.

Menu Options NOT available! Menu Options that require user information!

Now if you notice some menus have odd appearances!

For example look at this screenshot, and you will notice that some of the options are greyed out!

Those greyed out options means they are NOT currently available for use at this time.

Other menu options have the ‘…’ like the RUN pictured here!

Normally, if you click this you will get a dialog box that opens, and the computer user will have to enter some information.

Explanation of the FIND menu option!

the Find Menu Option is a great example of the computer user having the to enter information.

The find menu option (pictured is older operating system) opens into a dialog box.

If you notice in the upper right hand corner next to the X you will see a question mark.  That is your help section in case you are NOT sure what the dialog box is asking you for.

Find Menu Options

Window Element	Element Type	Description
Find What	Required Text File	Enter the text that you want to find.
Match Whole words only	Checkbox	If you select this box, the system does not find a string if it is contained in a longer word. For example, if your search criteria is "Some," it would not find the word "Sometimes".
Match Case	Checkbox	Select to distinguish between upper case and lower case letters in a search.
Direction	Radio button	Choose the direction of the search. (up or down the document)
Find Next	Button	Click to highlight the requested text.
Cancel	Button	Click to close the window.

Menu Options Already in Use!

Another option is you may see a checkmark that indicates you are using an option that is currently active.

You notice in the is picture the menu options ‘play sounds’ and ‘automatically show deals’ are checked.  They are in use currently.


In conclusion, Menu Options, or Sub Menus are basically used to narrow down your choices.

Next time you go to breakfast?  Think MENU OPTIONS!

Eggs – scrambled, sunny side up, sunny side down, fried, etc.

Toast – wheat, rye, white or biscuit.

Orange juice – small, medium or large

Coffee – regular or Decaf?

We deal with menu options and sub menus in life all the time.

If you have ANY questions or comments about our How-To Guide for the Computer Beginner on “Computer Menu Options” please feel free to leave us a note in the box supplied below.

Also make sure you leave your email address in our subscription we have supplied to received future lessons sent your email box!

Technorati Tags: sub menus,menu options,options menu,option menu,what are menu options,what are sub menus

What do they mean by 'desktop'?

There are two terms that I can see people getting confused about when someone mentions 'desktop'! It’s easy to figure out the two when someone explains it to you!

Once you grasp this it will be pretty plain which they are referring to! They are completely different! When people talk about 'desktop' they could be referring to either 'desktop computer' or 'computer desktop'.

When you turn on your computer, and you look at the monitor you will see an image. My children used to call the monitor the computer's TV screen! The image inside that TV Screen is the 'computer desktop'.






These are examples of computer desktops. Your computer desktop may not look the same, because there are to many themes to mention! You could be using one that came with the computer, or something placed on there for you! 'Desktop Theme' if you haven't guessed is the look of your desktop! A times you can get themes with custom icons, background pictures, and even customize your cursor!



The other term is called 'desktop computer'. It’s literally a computer that you can place on your DESK! I believe they call it desktop computer because of they different types of computers. Laptop computer will be another type that you may have heard of!

Below is a ‘desktop computer’



Just for the sake of visuals laptops are all in one, and as you can see from the picture everything is contained within one unit. It’s compact and folds up, and could fit on your LAP! Notice the keyboard, monitor and everything else that is needed is ONE unit, and not different ones like the desktop!



As you can see now you have a 'computer desktop', and a 'desktop computer'.

The easiest way you can remember the difference is the desktop computer SITS on your desk (laptop computer can sit on your lap)!

The ‘computer desktop’ is the image ON your computer monitor!





See the difference? That wasn't so hard was it? NOW you are a pro!

The next lesson will try to break down into sections. We will show you the different parts of the computer desktop, so you will know what they are and how you can use them!

definition of a theme, definition of theme, desktop background, desktop computer, desktop computers, microsoft windows tutorial, what is a desktop computer, what is a theme, windows 95 tutorial, windows desktop, windows xp tutorial