Web browser basics
A web browser is the software you use to view the web. Below is a screen grab of the Internet Explorer browser along with descriptions of the main functions.
- Back and forward
- Your browser will remember the pages that you have viewed. Use
the Back and Forward buttons to move
between recent pages.
- Stop
- Cancels a page request - particularly useful if a page is taking a
long time to load.
- Refresh or reload
- Occasionally a page doesn't load completely and some parts are missing.
Sometimes you want the latest version of a page that is constantly updated.
In either case, this button reloads the page.
- Home
- Takes you to your 'home page'. This is the page that loads first when
you start your browser.
- Address bar
- The area where you type a web address. You do not need to enter the
'http://' part as the browser will automatically include
this. Make sure you include the 'www.' part of the
address.
- Go button
- Once you have typed the address, use Go and your
chosen web page will be loaded. Alternatively press Enter
on your keyboard.
- Scroll bar
- The scroll bar appears when a web page is longer than the screen.
Use the scroll bar to move up and down within a web page. Either drag
the box along the bar or click the arrow on the top or bottom of the
bar. If your mouse has a wheel you can also use this to move up and
down the page. There may also be a scroll bar to help you view pages
wider than the screen.
