All web browsers work basically the same. This page will explain how to navigate the web with Netscape, however the same ideas apply for Internet Explorer or other browsers.

To begin with, the WWW is made up of countless servers located throughout the world that are all connected to eachother. When you connect your computer to the internet, you are able to access files on any of these computers. Each server on the internet has its own domain name (ie. yahoo.com, aol.com, nintendo.com, etc.). To access a specific web site, you must know its URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The URL is typed in the text box at the top of the screen labled either Location, Address, URL, etc., or you can go up to File, Open Page. When you press enter, the computer will access the URL and display the web page. See below:

 

Looking at the top of the screen, you will see various navigational buttons. Below I will explain what each button does:

Back
The back button is used to go back to the previous page you were at. This button is very useful when using search engines so you can return to the list and try another site.

Forward
The forward button is the opposite of the back button. If you go back and then decide you didn't want to, hitting forward will take you to the previous page.

Reload
The reload button is used to refresh the page. If you stopped the page before it finished loading, reload will load the page again.

Home
The home button is used to take you to your home page specified in preferences. By default, the home page is http://home.netscape.com/

Search
The search button will take you to Netscape's search page. This page has several popular search engines on it and is an easy way to find what you want on the internet without remembering URL's. Below you will find a list of various search engines.

Stop
The stop button stops the current page from loading. If the browser is in the middle of loading a graphic, the loading will stop as soon as this button is pressed.

 

Important Web Sites

Search Engines

Yahoo	Alta Vista
Web Crawler	Hot Bot
Infoseek	Lycos
Excite	Search.com
LookSmart	AOL Netfind

This page was created by Scott Andersen, Eric Schroeder, and Drew Viersen.