Browsing the Web

Cyberspace Explorations ClassCyberspace Explorations ClassBOLLI – Fall 2005BOLLI – Fall 2005

The Process of Using a “Browser”

Startup your browser program (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.).

Enter the address (aka “URL”) of a specific Web page such as www.brandeis.edu/bolli

The browser sends a message directly to that address requesting a response.

The requested response is returned to your computer and is displayed by the browser.

How Does Web Browsing Work?

How Does Web Browsing Work?

THE INTERNET

WEBSERVER

DNS - DomainName Server

ISP

SMTP POP

SMTP POP

ISP

Email PC

Email PC

Browser PC

What’s in a Web Address?

All Web Sites Have a Unique “Domain” Name For Brandeis University, enter: www.brandeis.edu The domain name is “brandeis.edu”

Most Web Sites Have Several “Sub Domains” For BOLLI public site, enter: www.brandeis.edu/bolli For Brandeis Arts, enter: www.brandeis.edu/arts

Subdomains Are Often Further Subdivided For the BOLLI private members-only Web site, enter:

www.brandeis.edu/bolli/members

Each Page in a Site Has a Unique “URL” The BOLLI members Web site photo page is identified

as: www.brandeis.edu/bolli/members/photos

What’s in a Web Address?

URL – Uniform Resource Locator Every one of the billions of Web pages has its own unique

URL. URLs are “case insensitive” and comprise letters, numbers

and certain special characters.

Format Rules URLs contain a minimum of three parts, each separated

by a period “.” (aka “dot”) Last part must be one of

following: .com, .edu, .gov, .mil, .net, .us, .ca, .il, .fr, .de, .ru, .name, .info, etc.

Cannot contain: spaces Permitted special characters: “-”, “_” “/” and “.”

Web Address Samples (http:// prefix is optional and implicit)

www.heier.us/photos www.irs.gov finance.yahoo.com www.knesset.gov.il

Major Web Browsers

Internet Explorer (Microsoft Corp.)

Netscape Navigator (Netscape Corp.)

Firefox (The Mozilla Organization)

Opera (Opera Software)

AOL (America Online)

Internet Explorer

Netscape Navigator

Mozilla Firefox

Opera

AOL

Major Browser Components

Toolbars

Sidebar

Main Window

Important Toolbar Features

Prev PgNext Pg

Stop

Refresh

Home Pg

FavoritesOn/Off History

On/Off

Email Page

PrintPage

More Toolbar Features

GoogleSearchField

RequestedWeb Page

StartGoogleSearch

GetRequestedWeb Page

More Toolbar Features

More Toolbar Features (cont’d)

Toolbar Shortcuts

Sidebar Palettes

Favorites

History

Exercise: Web Search

Exercise: Web Search Go to Google (www.google.com) Obtain the following information:

Dates of Louis D. Brandeis’ birth & death His wife’s maiden name The date he was appointed to the Supreme

Court and by whom What does the “D.” stand for? The name of his first law firm Locate a photo of Brandeis dressed in his

Supreme Court robe. Bonus #1: What was the composition of the

Supreme Court when Brandeis appointed? Bonus #2: What was the “Brandeis Brief”

Exercise: Download & Install Google Toolbar

Exercise: Download & Install Google Toolbar

Go to Google home page.

Using Google, locate the page to download the Google “toolbar”.

Install the Google toolbar on your computer.

Go to Toolbar Download Page

Go to:Toolbar.google.com

Then ClickHere

Download Toolbar File

1. Click on Save to start the download

2. Select “Desktop” and click on Save

Install Toolbar File

1. Double click the program icon on the desktop

2. Click on the Run button

3. Click on the Agree button

Install Toolbar File (cont’d)

4. Select the “Enable Advance Features” option

5. Accept all entries and click Next

Exercise: Use the Google Toolbar

Exercise: Use the Google Toolbar

Use the Google toolbar to lookup your home address and find a map to your location using only your phone number.

Enter phone number in Enter phone number in Google toolbar and press Google toolbar and press “Search Web”“Search Web”

Click on the Click on the MapQuest link to get MapQuest link to get additional detailsadditional details

Exercise: Take the Google Toolbar Tour

Go to: http://toolbar.google.com/tour/toolbar.html

ClickClickHere

Here

Exercise: Take the Google Toolbar Tour

Exercise: Reset Browser Home Page

Exercise: Reset Browser Home Page

Open Internet Explorer. Go to Google home page. Select “Tools”, “Internet Options”

from the Browser menu. Select “Use Current”. Click “OK”. Go to another Web page and test

the home page button

Exercise: Reset Browser Home Page

2. Select “Tools”, “Internet Options” from the browser menu

3. Click on “Use Current” and select “OK”

1. Locate the desired new home page in your browser

Exercise: Save a Favorite Web Site

Exercise: Save a Favorite Web Site

2. Turn on Favorites sidebar

1. Visit desired “favorite” Web site

3. Click on “Add” in Favorites sidebar

4. Optionally change Name field and click on OK

5. Optionally click on “Organize” in Favorites Sidebar for more advanced functions

Exercise: Search Within a Web Page

Exercise: Search Within a Web Page

1. Select Edit, Find (on This Page) from Browser menu

2. Enter desired search word(s) in “Find what” box

3. Locate highlighted occurrence of search word(s)

Work with multiple browsers Reorganize the toolbar Use Shortcuts – e.g., Ctl/Enter,

Spacebar scrolling Use mouse scroll wheel Block pop ups Control character size

Some Additional Exercises

How Does Email Work?

THE INTERNET

WEBSERVER

WEBSERVER

ISP

SMTP POP

SMTP POP

ISP

Email PC

Email PC

Download & Install Google Toolbar