URL - definition
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It is the Web Address of a web page, or some other kind of document, that is available on the Internet. It is the instruction to your browser regarding the exact location on the Internet of the page you want to visit.
This tutorial will use the middle URL to explain the basic structure of a Uniform Resource Locator.
URL - dissection
The address of an index that contained a link to the page like the one you are reading now is:
http://www.mcsk12.net/admin/tlapages/entry_level_pc_index.htm
Using URL's
A URL can be typed into the location box on your browser. Type carefully, if one character is wrong you will not get to the page. After typing in the URL press the Enter key to go to the page.
Usually you will use a URL by following a link on another web page. After reading these instructions you will go to the cnn URL at the top of this page. When you get there put your cursor over the CNN URL, but do not click. Your mouse pointer will change to a hand indicating that the words are a link to another page. Look in the status bar, the gray bar at the bottom of your browser window. You will see the URL of the place those words link to. Go to the CNN URL and try this. What you see will look similar to the image below:
If you click gently one time on the cnn URL (on the page, not the status bar) with the left mouse button the browser will take you to the CNN page.
404 - File Not Found
For a variety of reasons, web pages disappear from the Internet. If the page has been moved to another server most webmasters provide a link redirecting you to the new page. If there is no link to send you to the new location, try working backward in the URL. One step at a time remove items up to the next slash then press the Enter key. If you continue to get "404 - File not found" each time, give up on the URL and search for another.
Example: If the link http://www.mcsk12.net/admin/tlapages/entry_level_pc_index.htm did not work, try working backward in the URL.
Using the Standard Button toolbar
The image below is a clickable image map. Place the tip of your mouse pointer on any button in the image below. If your mouse pointer turns to a finger, a single click with the left side of your mouse button will carry you to an explanation of how to use the button. Some buttons have been removed from the list because they are not as commonly used. This tutorial will show you how to remove buttons later.
Back - Gently click one time with the left side of your mouse button to go back to the page that you were looking at before you followed the link to take you to the current page.
Back history - Gently click one time with the left side of your mouse button on the down arrow just to the right of the Back button. That brings up a list of the sites you have visited using this browser window. To avoid clicking the Back button three times to get back to "Entry Level Computer Skills for Windows," slide the mouse pointer down to that entry and click one time with the button on the left side of your mouse. These entries are in chronological order with the most recently visited site at the top of the list.
Forward - This button will not be available unless you have used the Back button at least once. If you have used the back button, and the forward button is not grayed out, clicking one time on the Forward button will take you to the page you just left when you clicked on the Back button.
Forward history - Gently click one time with the left side of your mouse button on the down arrow just to the right of the Forward button. That brings up a list of the sites you have visited and then used the Back button to return from using this browser window. To avoid clicking the Forward button three times to get back to "A tutorial on saving for new users," slide the mouse pointer down to that entry and click one time with the button on the left side of your mouse. These entries are in chronological order with the most recently visited site at the top of the list.
Stop - Select this button to stop the current download. If you tried to follow a link and the IE logo in the top right corner of your window is still spinning, the browser is still trying to complete your request. If too many seconds pass and you do not get to the page, put the tip of your mouse pointer on the Stop button and click one time with the left side of your mouse. Try the link again. Often this allows you to see the page quicker than if you just waited for your first click on the link to finish.
Refresh - Place the tip of your mouse pointer on the Refresh button and click one time with the left side of your mouse. This asks for the most recent version of the page that you are on. There are several reasons for using this button
Home - The page that is displayed when you first launch Internet Explorer is known as the Home page. No matter how many pages you have visited in your Internet session, you can instantly get back to that first page by placing the tip of your mouse pointer on the Home button and clicking one time with the left side of your mouse. "Home again, home again! Jiggedy Jig!"
Favorites - This toolbar button opens a pane of sites on the left side of your browser window. Placing the tip of your mouse pointer on a listing in the favorites sites and clicking one time with the left side of your mouse will take you to that Internet page. An entire page will be devoted to instructions regarding this feature of Internet Explorer. If you want to get rid of the pane and see Internet pages full size, click one time on the X in the top right of the Favorites pane with the left side of your mouse. That closes the Favorites pane.
History - To see where you have been on the Internet place the tip of your mouse pointer on the History button and gently click one time with the left side of your mouse button. That opens a pane of sites on the left side of your browser window. Clicking one time with your left mouse button on any domain folder in the list causes the folder to display all of the sites visited at that Internet domain. Clicking one time with your left mouse button on any link within a domain folder causes IE to return to that page.
Print - Select this button to print a copy of the Internet page you are viewing.
Making Changes to the toolbar
Removing items from the Toolbar
Not all of the toolbar buttons included with Internet Explorer are appropriate for the classroom. Some are not necessary and some could be distracting. You decide which buttons that would be on your computer and remove them from the toolbar. To make those changes move your mouse pointer to the View menu and click one time with the left mouse button. Slide the pointer down to Toolbars, then over and down to Customize. Click on the word Customize.
A popup dialog box named Customize Toolbar opens. To remove an element from the toolbar, click on the name of the button or item in the right side of the window. Click one time on the <-Remove button to take an item off the toolbar.
Items to remove from the toolbar - (Reading from left to right on the Standard Button toolbar)
Adding items to the Toolbar
If you still have the popup dialog box named Customize Toolbar open, changes can be made immediately. If not, follow the instructions above to reopen the dialog box (View/Toolbars/Customize). To add an element to the toolbar, click on the name of the button or item in the left side of the window. Click one time on the Add-> button to add an item to the toolbar. There are three excellent toolbar buttons which could be of use in classroom projects.
Customized Toolbar
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Quite a few commands in the menus can be used to improve your Internet session |
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New - Select Window
to open a new browser window. You can also use the keyboard
combination Ctrl + N (hold down Ctrl while you tap N) Open - Use this option to open a web page on the Internet, or one stored on your computer. However, IE can be used to open any type of document stored on your computer; PowerPoint shows, Excel spreadsheets, Word documents and many more. Edit With ... - Perfect for editing the WebQuest or WebGuide templates. Some versions of IE are set to edit with Netscape Composer, others are set to use MS Word. Save As... all images associated with the page are saved in the same place as the web page text. Page Setup... - Use this option to change from Portrait to landscape, add a header or footer, or change the margins. Print Preview... - See what the page will look like before printing. Send - Send the page you are viewing, or the URL of the page, by Email. Import and Export... - Use this option to Import favorites you saved on a disk from another computer. |
| Copy - Copy
highlighted images or text to paste into another application;
MS Word, PowerPoint or other applications. You can also use the
keyboard combination Ctrl + C (hold down Ctrl while you tap
C) Find (on This Page)... - You have done a search and know that somewhere on the page you are viewing, you will find kudzu recipes. Choose Find then type the word "kudzu", or even a part of the word. You can also use the keyboard combination Ctrl + F (hold down Ctrl while you tap F) |
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Toolbars - Choose
this option to view, or hide, the buttons, address bar or links.
This is also the option to use to customize the button toolbar. Status Bar - Choose this option to hide, or view, the gray bar at the bottom of the browser window. Explorer Bar - This allows you to quickly open the Favorites or History pane to the left of the browser window. Go To - This opens a window of the most recently visited web sites, listed in chronological order. Use this choice to jump past a redirect page. Text Size - <sigh> I miss Netscape's almost infinite range of text sizes. Oh well, use this menu to select one of five text sizes. Full Screen - Use this choice, or the F11 key, to remove all but the window content from your screen. Remember F11 to bring the toolbars back. |
| Add to Favorites... -
Use this menu to add an Internet page to your favorites list. You
can also use the keyboard combination Ctrl + D (hold down Ctrl while
you tap D). I realize that keyboard shortcuts are usually
spelled out to the right of the menu choice, but this one works Organize Favorites... - Use this menu to delete listings, to move them into folders, or to move them up or down in the list. Moving them is done by clicking on a favorite, holding the mouse button down and then moving the mouse pointer up or down in the list. This is known as clicking and dragging. Links - Placing a favorite in this folder then choosing Toolbars and then Links from the View menu, places favorites on the browser window.. |
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Internet Options... - The uses of Internet Options are described immediately below. |
| General Tab Home page - The home page is the Internet location which is displayed when you first launch Internet Explorer. It is also the page which is displayed when you select the Home toolbar button. The best method to follow is to have the web page open that you want to change to the home page to. If the page is open, select Use Current, and the change is made. Temporary Internet Files -. IE saves a copy of each page you visit. The next time you attempt to visit that same page IE will look in the Temporary Internet files first and will display the page quicker. History - Change the number of days that pages are kept in the history or entirely clear the History list. If you use this feature for classroom management, have students sign a log sheet whenever they use the Internet. Compare their log-in time to the History to determine inappropriate access. Colors... - Some backgrounds are absolutely horrible. The page content may be good, but it might be impossible to concentrate on the content. Select the Colors... button, deselect the choice to Use Windows colors, then click on Background. Choose a color which will allow you to see the page content. Another use of this area is to set the hover color. Place a check mark in the "Use hover color" box, then click OK. Close internet Options. Place your cursor over a link and it turns red (unless you select a different hover color). Accessibility - If changing colors at the Colors button does not get rid of the horrible background, placed a checkmark in the first box in the Accessibility pop up window, "Ignore colors specified on Web pages." That gets rid of the background and overrides all color instructions. |
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Contents and Index - If
you have ever used the Windows help menu, or MS Office help menu, you
will feel right at home. Enter a word to describe what you are looking
for and read the answer. |
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The Links toolbar is often hidden. In the image below all that you can see is the word Links. You know that there are some links on this toolbar because you see the double arrows pointing right. If you click on the arrows, the list of links on this Links toolbar will be displayed. Look immediately to the left of the word Links below. There is a vertical white line which indicates that the toolbars are locked.
To make this toolbar more useful you can display the toolbar area below the web address. However, you must first unlock the toolbar. From the View menu select Toolbars and then slide down to Lock the Toolbars. Click there to remove the check mark and your toolbars will be unlocked.
After unlocking the Links toolbar you should notice a change to the left of the words Links. On the toolbar in this example you now see four vertical dots. On some computers you will see a vertical bar. The Links toolbar is now ready to be moved down.
Put your mouse pointer directly over the vertical dots or vertical bar. Your mouse cursor should change from an arrow to a double headed horizontal arrow. On some computers the mouse pointer turns into a four headed arrow. Either cursor will allow you to move the Links toolbar down.
Click once with the left side of your mouse, leave the mouse button depressed and drag straight down. The toolbar should be displayed below the address bar of Internet Explorer.
If this is the first time you have used the Links toolbar, you will find four links already stored there. To remove a link, put your mouse cursor over the link and click with the right side button of your mouse. From the pop-up menu that opens, slide down and select Delete. Internet Explorer will ask you if you really do want to delete the link. Say yes.
On the image below, notice that the Free Hotmail is gone, but also notice that a new link has been placed there. Placing a link on the Links toolbar provides one click access to web sites that you place there. The question in your mind at this point is probably, "How do I place a link on the Links toolbar?"
Notice the blue Internet Explorer just to the
left of the web address (URL). It looks like a document with a blue e
pasted on it. 
With the
left mouse button, click on the blue IE icon and drag it down onto the Links
toolbar. If you drag it to a place where something else is sitting, your mouse
pointer becomes the International symbol for No, a circle with
a diagonal slash in it. That means, "No, you can't let go of your mouse button
yet."
If you drag the blue E icon to a space between other links, your mouse pointer turns into an I beam, a black vertical line. This means, "Yes, you can let go of your mouse button."
A second or two after you release the left mouse button, the new link will pop up. In the example below the name of the link is much too long. Put your cursor over the link and click on the right mouse button [right-click]. From the pop-up menu, select Rename and type a new name.
After you have finished with the activity, remove the link to make room for your next activity. If you have forgotten how to remove a link, review the steps above.
Favorites are Internet sites that you want to be able to get back to easily without searching. This tutorial is about how to add sites to the Favorites list, and how to manage and use that list most effectively.
Adding Internet sites to the Favorites list - There are three ways to add Favorites to the list.
From the
Menu bar select Favorites, then Add to Favorites... 
From the
Standard Button Toolbar select Favorites, 
then from the Favorites
pane that opens on the left side of your screen select Add... 
Use the
keyboard shortcut - Hold down the Ctrl key and tap the D key.
Organizing the Favorites list - Three actions that will be most helpful to you are: renaming, deleting, and placing into folders. All of those actions will be accomplished in the Organize Favorites box.
Rename - When a web page is written the title of the page is put into a part of the page that is not seen in the browser window. However, that title is displayed in the Application title bar - the colored bar that fills the top of the window. Look at that part of the screen right now. You should see "Using Favorites Effectively - Microsoft Internet Explorer." Not all web authors are careful about placing a title that makes sense in that area.
Look at the web page posted by an elementary school in Texas (chosen at random from Web 66). A new browser window will open. After you see the title of the page, close the window to return to this page. If you had added that page to the Favorites, it would be a prime candidate for renaming.
Delete - If you are developing a student project or looking for sites to use in a WebQuest, add an entry into the Favorites list for anything that you think you might use. After the student project or WebQuest has been written, go back to the Favorites list and delete all unneeded bookmarks. If you do not clean out your Favorites list it become less useful. Deleting entries from the list is easily done.
Placing Favorites into Folders - If you have entries in the Favorites list that you want to keep, consider creating a folder to put them into. I created one named Daily Dose and drug a listing into the folder. If you have already created the folder, there are two ways to move favorites into the folder.
Another way to move entries into folders
Using the Links Folder - One of the most useful features of the Netscape browser application is the personal toolbar. IE has the same capability. Immediately below the Address bar in the image below you will see the Links toolbar. Links is actually a folder in the Favorites. The Links folder has a lot of listings that are not needed in the classroom. My recommendation is that you clean out the entire folder. Any page that you go to quite a bit should be stored in the links folder.
Saving Favorites to a disk - Place your disk in the floppy port (A drive). From the File menu select Import and Export ...
When the Import/Export Wizard opens select Next > Import Favorites is the default choice. Click on Export Favorites then select Next >
The default choice on the next window is Favorites. That means that all of the favorites on the computer will be saved to your disk. If you have created a folder of favorites, and have been sure that you moved any favorites you made into the folder, you can export a single folder.
On the Export Favorites Destination window, select Browse and browse to find your disk (3.5 floppy). After locating the floppy, click on the Save button to come back to the Export Favorites Destination window.
Select Next, then select Finish on the next window, and select OK when IE tells you that you successfully exported your Favorites. When you get to the computer where you want to store your favorites, repeat this process to Import your favorites. Importing favorites does not remove anything from your favorites. The process simply adds the new favorites to your list.
