A O U

Newby Tips

If you're fairly new to the internet and/or computers I've got a few tips to pass along you may find useful. At this point they are in no particular order so just scan through till you see something that interests you.

(Note- these tips will be primarily only of interest to Win95/98 and Netscape (up to version 4) users. If you are using Window 3.11 or a different browser then not all may work for you. Keys shown in red like (ALT V) are to be depressed together when told.)

Index

  1. The BACK button
  2. Return to a previously visited page
  3. Bookmark -Return to a visited page from another day
  4. Searches - If you want to search on the Net
  5. Printing - Often you see something neat and want to print.
  6. Printing only a section(s) of an Net site.
    Copying a page to your Word Processor.
  7. Shift between Word & Netscape (or any programs) easily.
  8. You can speed up page loading times by
  9. WebTv & Browsers in general
  10. Valuable Real Estate or Screen Viewing area

  1. BACK - You will OFTEN find yourself wanting (or instructed) to return to a page you just left. To do that you click on the Go located on the gray command line (second line from the top) on the left. A menu will pop down (do it now to see what I mean). If you click on Back (Don't do it now!!! or I'll lose you {grin}) you'll will go back to the last page you were on before this.

    Now there's a faster way to go BACK. Right click your mouse and a small menu will open up right beside it and Back is right at the top. As you gain experience you will be able to GO BACK with one mouse click (open the menu and move the mouse over Back in on slick motion.

    And there's an even faster way from the keyboard, Alt GB (hold the ALT down and press gb).

    And those are not the ONLY ways but enough for now.

    Return to Index.

  2. Return to a previously visited page - To do that you click on the Go located on the gray command line (second line from the top) on the left. Notice at the bottom of the menu a list of the last few pages you have visited in this Internet session. Should you ever want to return to one of those pages (during this session only), you just click on it. (Note - you could do the same thing by continually going BACK as well) Netscape periodically cleans up the clutter in this list automatically so if you've been traveling, not all the pages will be on there, only the most recent.

    Return to Index.

  3. Bookmark -to Return to a previously visited page - If you like a page and think you might want to come back another time, you can BOOKMARK it (which means Netcape will save the address in a list for you). To do that you click on the Bookmark located on the gray command line. (Do it now). A menu will open up. Click on Add to add the address of the page you are currently on to your list. Do it now to see the AOU - Tips for Newbies page get added. Now anytime you want to return here, all you have to do is click on Bookmark, find the address and click on it.

    The Bookmark shortcut is CTRL B

    You can also add a Bookmark by right clicking and clicking on the Add bookmark or ALT BA The Add Bookmark shortcut is CTRL A
    Return to Index.

  4. Searches - If you want to search on the Net (and it can be fun and frustrating), click on the Directory located on the gray command line. (Do it now). A menu will open up.If you click on Internet Search, you will be taken to a Search Engine of Netscape's choice. (Note - In Net IV it under the Edit menu.)

    Searching is fun but it's also a skill that take practice to develope. Virtually all Search Engines have instructions on how to use them to best advantage. Some are simple and some are very sophisticated. When you find one you like, BOOKMARK it. Don't be afraid to play around with them though. You'll be amazed at where you'll be taken.

    NOTE -http://infind.inference.com/infind/infind.exe is the address of the Search Tool I use the most. There are literally 100's of Search "engines" on the net with YAHOO probably the biggest but I find Inference Find to be the fastest and easiest to use. But if it doesn't find what I'm looking for I try one of the others. (Note - to go to Inference Find, Clip and paste the address (in blue), then Click on File then Open then insert the address in the box.)
    Return to Index.

  5. Printing - Often you see something neat and want to print. Click on the "File"(ALT F ) located on the gray command line. (Do it now). A menu will open up. You can bypass the preview (I seldom do) if you want by clicking on Print (ALT FP ). I like to see what it looks like first so I usually click on Preview (ALT FV ) to see what it will look like before printing. On the gray command bar self explanatory buttons will appear. Click on Close to close the Print View function.
    Return to Index.

  6. ALT TAB is pretty handy when you want to shift between several programs in residence ("loaded") at the same time. The secret is holding the ALT key down (just like when using the Shift key for upper case letters) and then tapping (don't hold it down) the TAB key until the program you want shows up in the window.
    Return to Index.

  7. Printing only a section(s) of an Net site. Now this gets a little more hairy. There are two ways:

    1. Using Win95's print routine-

      ALT FV to bring up the view window. Scroll through and make a note of the page numbers you want to print. Press C or ESC to close it.

      Now ALT FP to bring up the print window. In the "Print Range" enter the number(s) of the pages you want to print.

    2. Using your word processor-

      Minimize Netscape (click on the box with the dash in it on the upper top right of the screen, third one over ).

      Load your Word Processor. When it is finished loading, hold down the ALT key and tap the TAB key (keeping the ALT key depressed) and a small window will pop up. If it doesn't say "Netscape" then tap the TAB key again (but keep the ALT key depressed). Keep doing that until Netscape shows up in the window then release the ALT key. Netscape will pop up where you left it.

      Now using your mouse, highlight the entire section you want to print (or copy) then press CTRL C and what has been highlighted will be copied to your "clipboard".

      Now hold down the ALT key and tap TAB until your word processor shows up. When you let go of the ALT key you will be back in your word processor. SHIFT INSERT to insert the contents of the clipboard in your word processor where you can do with it what you will. Pretty neat huh?

    Return to Index.

  8. You can speed up loading times by turning off the Autoload Images function. Click on the Options located on the gray command line. (Do it now). A menu will open up. Click on the Autoload. What will happen is that now when you load a page all the images will be replaced with gray boxes with a red triangle and a couple blue balls in each. If you want to see the image underneath, just click on the box.

    The Autoload function is a toggle. If it's on when you activate it, it will turn off and vice versa. I usually keep mine turned off when I'm surfing as it speeds up load times significantly. If I want to see any images (pictures, etc.) I just click on them.

    A speedy way is ALT OA
    Return to Index.

  9. WebTV
    >I purchased WEBTV for my family at Xmas. I have a Phillips Magnavox >wireless key board. there was no book that came with it . I was >wondering if you could tell me what runs it? because different sites are >always asking if you are netscape or one of the other ones. I just don't >know what all that means.

    I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Not being familiar at all with Web Tv about all I can do is guess at the answer. Netscape, IE Explorer, Mosaic, etc. are all browsers ("software" resident on a computer) that are designed specifically to access the Internet. While all are similar and share many/most characteristics there are (subtle) differences in the way each does that and what "languages" it uses or can understand.

    I'm a Netscape (NS) user and so will use that as the illustrative example. NS is used in several versions (II, III, IV, etc.). The larger the number the later (more improved) the version. I use III (often) because there are features (or lack of) in IV that I don't care for. The reasons are not important to this discussion nor would affect you.

    NS III can understand more "languages" (examples Hyper-Text-Markup-Language (HTML) 1,2,3,4..., ActiveX, JavaScript, etc) than NS II or supports later versions or supports more features or supports .... For example NS III may support a higher (better) video standard than NS II, allowing you to view in higher detail (or at all) a video clip or sound or ... IE Explorer may support more stuff than NS. You get the idea.

    All those websites are asking you is which browser you are using. It's no big deal. It just means that if they know they will offer a version of their pages that is *more* compatible with your browser. If your browser (WebTV) supports (understands) the code the site is using, everything is fine. If not then things may look or react funny, that's all. On the rare occasion, it may "hang" your browser (causing you to have to leave that site in some manner - Close the browser, close the window, go "back" until you get clear, or even shut down and start again. Those conditions are not your fault they are the fault of the site (sloppy programming).

    >I have all of the function keys and was >wondering if they work with WEBTV? Thank you for you help.

    Only way to find out is to try them. Generally function keys aren't used by the websites, only to activate specific functions on the particular browser.
    Return to Index.

  10. Real Estate (Screen Viewing Area) is clearly limited. After you've gotten a little used to your browser, you can free up a lot more viewing area by reducing annoying and unnecessary clutter. (It's the same reason I don't use "Frames" on any of my pages.)

    Click on View (or ALT V) and you'll see lines for 3 (or more) "toolbars". By clicking on a toolbar you can toggle it either on or off. I find it much more pleasing to keep the toolbars clicked off and keep as much of the screen available for content as possible. The toolbars are merely on screen shortcuts for some of the functions available from the options (File Edit View ...) at the top of the screen.

    The absolute worst clutter I've ever seen was on an AOL browser. More junk than Sanford on there. The most uncluttered is IE4 (Microsoft), it uses a key (F11) that toggles everything off and only leaves one small icon bar at the top.

    Return to Index.

End of Newby Tips (for now)

This document is Copyrighted by G. H. Lovgren.
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