Internet 101

What is the Internet?
The Internet is a collection of information stored in computers physically located throughout the world. Much of the information on the Internet is organized onto electronic pages. When you view one page on your computer screen, and discover its contents, you have the option of bringing more pages of information.

Viewing the Internet:
The electronic pages of the Internet are viewed using an Internet browser. Some commonly used browsers for the Macintosh are Safari, Firefox, Mozilla and Opera. Internet Explorer is no longer being developed for the Macintosh platform. When you launch or open a web browser, the first page you see is considered the "home page."

Safari screen view

To view Web pages:
Click highlighted words (colored or underlined) in a page to bring another page of related information to your screen. Click Back and Forward toolbar buttons to go back (or forward) to a page you have previously seen. The entire network of pages can be potentially interlinked, one pointing to another.back button

 

To move back and forth between pages:

  1. Click any highlighted words to view a new page.
  2. Click the toolbar's Back button (left arrow) or, from the History menu, select Back.
  3. Repeat step 1 and notice the changes in the location field (which shows the page's network location) and the status message area (which shows a link's location or a transfer's progress).


How to read a URL:

URL example

A URL or Uniform Resource Locator address contains four basic parts.

  1. A protocol (examples are http://, ftp://, telnet://).
  2. A domain or location (The name of a location might require several subparts to identify the server (a host name and zero or more subdomains), each separated by dots ) The end of the domain location indicates the type of site you have connected to.
    * .com (commercial)
    * .edu (educational)
    * .gov (government)
    * .mil (military)
    * .net (networking)
    * .org (noncommercial)
  3. Directory and/or subdirectory which holds the webpage (separated by slashes).
  4. The name of the webpage (ends in .html) &endash; which does not always appear.

To “go to” or “Point your browser” to a specific URL:
Type the complete URL address in the location bar and press the Return or Enter key. Be careful to use capital letters and lower case exactly as listed. If the site is a commercial (ends with .com) location, the browser will understand if you just type the single word between www. and .com -- try it! In many newer browsers you can eliminate the protocol, and still get to the website.

To set your Home Page options:
You may view any page as the home page by typing the desired URL address in the Preferences menu. Preferences on the Macintosh are usually located in the "Application" menu. From the Safari menu, select Preferences. Type the URL address for the website that you would like to see each time you start Safari.

To go "Home"

Home button

The Home icon on the toolbar provides a one-click access back to your homepage. If you do not see a "house" icon, you can turn it on from the View menu, by selecting Home.

       View menu

 

To “Bookmark” a location:
Bookmarks allow you to return to a site without having to retype the URL. If you frequently visit certain websites or webpages, bookmark its location so you can return to it easily (you don't really want to keep typing out the URL or searching Google every time you want to visit, do you?). To bookmark a site or webpage that you're currently viewing, choose Add Bookmark from the Bookmarks menu. In the dialog window, type a name for your bookmark, choose where you want to keep it from the pop-up menu, and click Add.

 

 

To search for information over the Internet:

A number of web search tools or "search engines" are available to help you locate information on the World Wide Web. Safari provides a search portal to the Google search engine. Type the item you are looking for in the Google bar at the top right of the browser and press the Return or Enter key. For more advanced searching options, visit the Google a guide at: http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html

More Safari "features"

Block Pop-Up Windows
Some websites feature pop-up windows that open automatically when you visit. Some sites use pop-up windows to display ads, some of which can be objectionable material, depending on the types of websites you visit. Other sites use pop-up windows to display more information about a selected item, or as a way for you to navigate to other areas on its site.

You can choose to block pop-up windows to keep unwanted advertisements from cluttering your Desktop. From the Safari menu, choose Block Pop-Up Windows. Do keep in mind that this may also block pop-up windows that may be useful.

 

Using Tabbed Browsing
1. To enable tabbed browsing, from the Safari menu, choose Preferences.
2. In the resulting dialog, click the Tabs button.
3. Select the "Enable Tabbed Browsing" checkbox.
4. Select any other options you wish, then close the window.
5. To use tabs, instead of opening a new browser window to display another webpage without losing your current one, Command-click a link to open the page in a new tab. You can switch back and forth between tabs by simply clicking the tabs.
6. If you want to create a new tab to enter a URL, choose New Tab from the File menu (or press Command-T), then type a URL or select a bookmark.

 

INTERNET 101
Charlene Chausis, Technology Trainer
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Lincolnshire, IL

Return to "Tutorials On Line!" index