Access the Internet
Internet browsers
What is a browser?
What are some of the most common browsers?
How do I open my Internet browser?
What is a home page?
How do I adjust the display of my Internet browser?
Web addresses
What is a uniform resource locator (URL)?
How are URLs structured?
Summary
Check your progress
Internet browsers
What is a browser?
A browser is a computer program which allows you to view and interact with web pages. If you did not have a browser to view web pages, it would be a cumbersome and tedious task to access information on the Internet. Think of a browser as you would a word processing program, or any other type of program you are familiar with on your computer. If you want to carry out a task on a computer you need some kind of computer program. If you want to view web pages, you need a browser program.
What are some of the most common browsers?
There are a variety of companies that make browsers, many of which are free. The main browsers used today include: Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Mozilla and Linux. Other less common browsers include: Opera, Galeon, Pheonix, Konqueror and Safari.
How do I open my Internet browser?
You will most likely find your Internet browser on your desktop. Look for the shortcut icon and then double-click to open your browser.
Alternatively, you may need to click on the Start button and from the pop up menu choose Programs. From this list you should be able to find your Internet browser and click once on it to open it. You can then access a website by entering its web address or URL.
Please note that it is important to read the privacy and other conditions of use for the websites you access.
What is a home page?
Your browser’s home page is the screen you see first when you load/open your browser program. Usually this is the home page of your Internet service provider’s website, or the home page of your organisation’s intranet if you are accessing the Internet from a server in your workplace.
You can change the home page for your browser. First you need to use your browser to go to the website page you wish to have as your browser home page. Then, in Internet Explorer (IE):
- Go to the Tools menu.
- Choose Internet Options.
- Choose General Tab.
- Click on Use Current.
In Netscape, you also need to first use your browser to go to the website page you wish to have as your browser home page. Then:
- Click on Edit menu.
- Choose Preferences.
- Click on the Home page option.
- Click on Use CurrentPage.
In other browsers, you can check the Help menu to find out how to do this.
How do I adjust the display of my Internet browser?
There are a number of features of your browser display which you can adjust.
To change the fonts and colour in Internet Explorer (IE):
- Click on Tools menu.
- Choose Internet Options.
- Choose Colours and change text and background colours rather than windows colours, or change visited and unvisited sites colour, or hover colour as required.
- Choose Fonts and choose a font of your choice. (Remember this will only change fonts on web pages which do not have a specified text font.)
To change the fonts and colour in Netscape:
- Click on Edit menu.
- Choose Preferences.
- Choose Appearance.
- Change Fonts, Colours or Themes as required. (Remember this will only change fonts and colours on web pages which do not have a specified text font.)
To adjust the available space on the screen to display information in IE:
- Choose View menu.
- Click on Full Screen option.
- To revert to showing menus, toolbars and status bar, use the shortcut F11 key.
To remove toolbars in Netscape:
- Choose View menu.
- Remove the ticks (by clicking) on those toolbars you do not want to see.
- To revert to showing toolbars, choose View menu and replace the ticks beside the toolbars you wish to see.
Web addresses
What is a uniform resource locator (URL)?
A uniform resource location (URL) is a web address, or, the location of a specific website or web page. You need to have a URL entered in the address bar of your browser in order to go to that website. This acts as an instruction to go to a particular site on the Internet and display the information that is there.
How are URLs structured?
A URL is made up of three parts as follows:
1the set of rules (protocol) used to transfer information from the remote computer (the one you are connecting to) to your computer
2the name of the server (computer) where the information is held
3the file name you need.
So, the URL, or address, is made up like this:
1 — the protocol used to transfer information
2 — the name of the server
3default — the page you will first access at this website.
More information is available from the URL when you look at it as five separate elements as follows:
1 — the transfer protocol
2www — the type of server you are accessing (sometimes this element is not shown and you know you are accessing a server that is not available world wide, probably only available on an intranet to people inside your organisation)
3tafensw — the name of the organisation
4edu — the type of organisation (in this case educational)
5au — the country where the server is located.
Variations on this type of URL are:
- Transfer protocols might also include ftp:// or .
- The name of the organisation might be the full name, eg: microsoft or intel, or might be abbreviated, eg: hp for Hewlett-Packard or nla for National Library of Australia.
- The type of organisation might be com for commercial; gov for government; asn for association; org for organisation.
- The country where the service is located might be uk for the United Kingdom; fr for France or nz for New Zealand. Where no country is shown the server is located in the United States. Since the USA was the first country to use the Internet no country descriptor was initially needed.
Summary
In this reading we’ve looked at the software that is used to access the Internet. This type of software is called a browser to allow you to browse information on the World Wide Web or on intranets. We’ve looked at the common browsers and how to adjust some aspects of the way the browser displays information. By now, you should be able to identify your own home page and the structure of a URL you might see on the World Wide Web.
Check your progress
Now you should try and do the Practice activities in this topic. If you’ve already tried them, have another go and see if you can improve your responses.
When you feel ready, try the ‘Check your understanding’ activity in the Preview section of this topic. This will help you decide if you’re ready for assessment.
Reading: Access the Internet1
2005