Internet Explorer

Using IE browser to surf the net

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Entering Addresses (URL) l Buttons l Favorites l Tool Bar l Side Bar l Preferences l Start Page

Web browsers are software programs which allow you to navigate around the Internet. The two main browser available are Internet Explorer and Netscape. There are different versions of each browser, so if you have a different version than this, you may notices some differences. These instructions are specifically for Internet Explorer 4.5 however, they will be similar on other versions.

Check here for information on search techniques.

Down Loading new version:

You can download browsers for free. Go to Download.com for a choice of downloadable browsers. Click on the "Internet" link and then the "Browsers" link.

The latest version of Internet Explorer is version 5.0. It has a different look but basically works the same as version 4.5.

The most basic instruction is knowing how to enter an Internet address (also called a URL). After opening Internet Explorer, highlight (by dragging across with your mouse) the address in the "address" window at the top of the screen and retype the address URL you wish to visit. Note; you may only have to replace part of the address as most addresses start with http://www...

After entering address, press your return key. Remember, addresses must be typed exact, computers don't understand "almost." You will make fewer mistakes if you copy and paste an address instead of retyping it.

The buttons at the top of the window are a convenient way to navigate around the web. Below are descriptions of some of the more useful buttons;

*If you don't have buttons at the top of your screen, pull down the "Edit" menu and choose "Preferences." At the dialog box, under "web browser," click on "Browser display." On the right, make sure the "Show button bar" box has a check mark in it, below that you can choose whether to show an icon, text, or both.

When you find websites that you would like to come back to easily, you will want to bookmark them and add them to your Favorites. While on the site you wish to bookmark, pull down the "Favorites" menu at the top menu bar and choose "Add Page to Favorites." The next time you wish to go to that page, pull down the "Favorites" menu again and go down the list until you find the site you wish to revisit. New favorites are added to the bottom of the list. There is also a "Favorites" tab on the left side of the window where you can go to favorites you have bookmarked. For more on managing Favorites.

Note: Netscape calls them "Bookmarks," Internet Explorer calls them "Favorites."

It can be very handy to put a Favorite website link up on the tool bar so that it is always accessible with a click off the mouse. This is very easy to do in Internet Explorer. You will probably notice that there are already Toolbar Favorites already on your toolbar which you may or may not want to keep.

• To add a website to your Toolbar Favorites, pull down the "Favorites" menu and choose "Add to Toolbar Favorites." You will see it appear on your toolbar. Click on it any time you want to go there.
  
  
• You can get rid of the toolbar favorites that you don't want by pulling down the "Favorites" menu and choosing "Organize Favorites." Click on the triangle in front of the "Toolbar Favorites" folder so that it is pointing down. You will see the contents of that folder which are the toolbar favorites. Simply drag the ones you don't want into the trash.
  
  
• You can also rearrange the others by dragging them up or down.

 

 Managing Bookmarks/Favorite:

After awhile you acquire many bookmarks or favorites and you need to be able to manage them. You can easily delete unwanted ones, nest others within folders for organization purposes, rename bookmarks, rearrange the order of bookmarks, or copy them to another computer.

Pull down the "Favorites" menu and choose "Organize Favorites." You will get a window with all of your bookmarks/favorites in it. Or, you can click on the "Favorites" tab on the left.

• To delete an unwanted bookmark - Drag it to the trash can.
  
  
• To organize bookmarks in folders - Make a new folder by pulling down the "Favorites" menu and choosing "New Folder." Name it what you wish. Then you can drag any bookmarks you want into the folder(s). You can have folders inside of folders as you set up an organized system. Later, when you want to go to your nested bookmarks, pull down the "Bookmarks" menu and go down to the folder (folders will be at top) of choice (without letting go), you will see the contents of the folder to the right. Move to the bookmark you with and let go.
  
  
• To rearrange the bookmark order - Click and hold on a bookmark, then drag it up or down to where ever you want it to be located (in between two other bookmarks) and let go. You can also add separator lines between groups of bookmarks by pulling down the "File" menu.
  
  
• To copy bookmarks to another computer - While in your "Organize Favorites" window, simply drag the favorites/bookmarks to another folder or disk to be copied to another computer.
  
  
• To make a quick link to a website - You can also drag a bookmark onto your desktop or into your Apple Menu so that you can quickly and directly go to that website by double clicking on the icon or selecting it from your Apple Menu.

You will notice Side Bar tabs on the left side of your Internet Explorer window. By clicking on one of them, you can open it up (making the regular window frame smaller). Click again to close it. Below are descriptions of the 4 tabs.

You can personalize your preferences for many of the features in Internet Explorer. Changing colors, buttons, text size, start page are just some of the customized preferences you may wish to choose. To change preferences, pull down the "Edit" menu and choose "Preferences" or click on the "Preferences" button.

On the left, you will see the preferences menu. Clicking on any one of the topics will bring up a different dialog box on the right. Notice that the topics are nested. By double clicking the triangle in front of a topic will show it's contents. Double clicking again will hide it's contents.

Start page:

What page does your browser start on every time you log onto the Internet? Is this the page you would like it to start on. If not, there is an easy solution. Find the page you wish to be your start page. There is a Lewis Teacher start page:

Which is a good choice. You may have another page or may want to create your own start page.

Pull down the "Edit" menu and choose "Preferences." Make sure the "Web Browser" topic is open and click on "Home/Search." You will see the following dialog box. Fill it in as shown or as you wish to choose another start page.

Within the "Browser Display" menu, you can select various settings:

Colors, Buttons, etc:

You have the choice of many preference which can personalize your browser window;

• You can change the colors of the links both before they are view as well as the indicator color after the link has been visited.
• You can change the size of the type on the page.
• You can choose to have the buttons at the top of the window showing or not, with icons or just text.
• You can choose to have the Favorites bar, address bar, status bar show or not.

Web Page by Steve Christensen - rev 5/01