Quick Tip:
A Site Map is a map of the
website, like the index to a book. If you can't find
something, look for the sitemap! |
According to the Dictionary for
Yiddish Slang and Idioms, "blondjen" means lost, as in wandering around
the woods. And while the World Wide Web is usually compared to a needle in a haystack, the
analogy is not that far off. For the uninitiated, wandering the web can be quite as confusing.
Here are a few basic tips to get you started on finding your way.
Using the mouse
There are two buttons on the mouse. The right mouse button is for shortcuts. If you point at something
and click with the right mouse button, a little menu will open with a list of things usually done.
What pops up in that menu depends on what you're pointing at. If you are new to computers,
you want to stick with the left mouse button. Double-clicking: If you point at an icon and click twice,
quickly, with the left mouse button, you can open the window that the icon represents. Most of the time, you
only need to click once. Clicking once and hitting the Enter key will usually
do the trick as well.
The Desktop:
When you turn on your computer, you see what is called the Desktop, and it helps if you imagine it as an actual desktop.
The little pictures are called icons and these represent the items on the top of your desk. Some of these
depend on your particular computer, but on most computers, this is standardized.
So, on your desk is your Word Processing Program (Microsoft Word, etc), and also your Internet
Access. All you have to do is double-click on that to open it. Most computers will prompt you
for any additional information they want from you. You can also access these programs from the Start Menu on the bottom
of your screen to the left.
Browser Navigation:
When you open your Internet program, you see what is called a Browser. This is
just another way of saying your internet program is open. There are different programs (Netscape, Internet
Explorer, etc), but they all operate the same way. Across the top of your Browser window,
you will see a number of buttons, most of which you don't need.
These are for your convenience. The first two, back and
forward, are for visiting the pages where you've been before.
Stop is the button you use when the webpage is taking too long to
load or you've changed your mind about visiting that site. To print, click the button labeled
Print. When it prompts you, click ok.
Across the bottom of the browser window screen is what is called a status bar. It tells you what the
computer is doing. It reports when it found the site you requested, how much of it
has been downloaded, and when it is done. Another way to be sure your computer is working on something is
to look at the arrow that is following your mouse on the screen. An hour-glass will
appear on or near it when the computer is doing something. This usually goes by so fast that you don't notice
and what you wanted has already come up. If this is taking a while, you must just be patient, depending on the speed
of your computer and the method you are using to access the internet, it can be slow.
Understanding Internet Addresses
All websites have an address. You type it into a long blank white space just under
those 10 buttons (with the word "address" next to it). Most
start with http ://www and get more specific, separated by periods or forward slashes.
If you know the address of the site you want to visit, just click in the window labeled
ADDRESS: (once, with the left mouse button) and type it in. Then hit the Enter key. If
nothing happens or you get an error page, this usually means you made a typo. The address has
to be exactly right. One wrong space or letter and it won't come up. Sometimes capitals or
lower-case letters matter.
If you know what the addresses mean, you can use that information to help you find a site you might be
interested in. Let's break down an address. Http stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is
just the way the information travels over the web; www is for world wide
web. The .com tells you that the website belongs to a company. If it is a .org, it's an organization.
If it is a governmental website, it will say .gov. and .edu for educational institution.
Sometimes you'll see an address with forward slashes following the actual address.
This is a webpage inside the website, like a chapter in a book. The next word will provide
more detail. For example,
http://www.shomreitorahwcc.org/simchagallery/simcha3.html will take you to the 3rd simcha
page in the simcha gallery of the Shomrei Torah website.
Search Engines:
If you are looking for information on a certain subject, you need to find what is called
a search engine. These are services that index information on the Internet. Different
search engines index different information, so you may find things on one that
aren't in another. To get Yahoo!, you can type in its address in the window,
http://www.yahoo.com.
You will see a screen come up with lots of advertising. The important thing to look for
is another empty box, with a button near it that says "Search."
Click in the box with your left
mouse button, type in keywords for your topic, and then click the Search button.
It will take a few moments to respond, but it will return with a list of sites that should match your topic.
Once you get a list of results for your search, you can see them all by looking at the right side of your
browser window. Running up and down the right side of the screen is a scroll bar with arrows on either end.
On the top is an arrow pointing up; on the bottom is an arrow pointing down. Aim the mouse at the down
arrow and click a few times, or hold the mouse button down on the arrow. You will notice that the page moves down.
The up arrow will move you back up. Between the two arrows is what is called a scroll bar, it has a square that looks
like a button or a handle. You can grab the handle with the mouse button (point at it, and hold the mouse button down)
and move up and down the page.
Navigating Websites:
You'll notice that some
of the text on the screen is a different color, and underlined. These are called hyperlinks, because they
link you to another page. All you have to do is point to them, and click (once) with the left mouse button.
Sometimes pictures can be links also. You'll know if something is a link, by pointing at it with the mouse.
If the white arrow that turns around turns into a pointing hand, then you can click on it and follow the link to
wherever it leads. Don't worry if the text is not blue and underlined; some web designers like to change that. The trick is,
if that little pointing hand shows up when the mouse is hovering over a picture or some text. Then it is a link. For example,
look at our home page and hover the mouse over the mezuzah. That's right, it's a link. Click on it!
Every website has standard structure, just like a book has a cover, a table of contents and an
index. The cover will usually be the first page you see when you get into the website. This
is called the Home Page. The table of contents is called Navigation, and you
will usually see a row of links down one side or across the top or bottom of each page in the site.
They may be plain links or buttons, depending on the style of the site. Each website also has
a Site Map. This is the map of the site, sort of like the index to a book.
If you have trouble finding something on a website, go to the Site Map; it should list every
page on the site.
Having trouble?
Relax, take a deep breath.
If you're new to computers, you're probably taking out your frustration on the mouse.
If you want to click on a button or a link, remember that you only have to click once,
lightly. One common mistake is to move the mouse while you're clicking. Just hold
it still and give it a light tap. You may also be double-clicking, or clicking too hard.
The mouse takes a light touch.
If you see the hour-glass or the status bar reports that
something is being downloaded, don't click again. That'll just
open another window, which will slow the Internet further, and may cause the
computer to freeze. Sometimes, usually because there is too much information
being downloaded, the computer freezes, it just stops responding
to you. If this happens, you can press the Control, Alt and Delete Keys simultaneously. A window will
pop open, choose Task Manager. A list of open programs will come up. If one of themm says
"Not Responding," click once on that one, then click the button that says, End Task. This
should shut off the offending program, which will then be restarted. For this reason, you should
always save your work as you proceed.
Interested in learning more about computers and searching the web on your own?
Try calling your local library. Most libraries have free internet and computer
classes for residents of the town. They often have informative books and videos as
well.
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