Chapter 2. Web navigation

Go to a URL

This was covered in the previous section, in particular in the section called “Understand the make-up and structure of a Web address”.

Activate a hyperlink/image link

A hyperlink is a cross-reference to another web site. The hyperlink is attached to an icon or a phrase. When a user clicks on a hyperlink, the browser displays the cross-referenced site. It is possible to do this in the current window or in a new window.

When hyperlinks are attached to phrases, the phrases are usually displayed in underlined blue text.

Display the URL of a hyperlink

The following screen illustrates a number of hyperlinks.

The underlined headings all represent hyperlinks.

Right click on a hyperlink and select Properties. A window such as the one below will display details of the hyperlink.

Activate a hyperlink in the current window

Click on the hyperlink.

The currently displayed page will be replaced by the cross-referenced web page.

Activate a hyperlink in a new window

Right click on the hyperlink.

This will display a context menu.
Click Open Link in New Window.

Switch between open web sites

Click on the Window menu item.

A list of open web sites will be displayed at the bottom of the menu. The current page is marked with a dot.
Click on the web page you wish to revert to.

Navigate backwards and forwards between previously visited Web pages

Suppose you load three websites in the following order: www.google.com, www.cnn.com and www.bbc.co.uk. At this stage www.bbc.com would be displayed on your screen. If you wish to view any of the two previous sites, you can may use of the navigation bar.

Click the Back icon. This will take you back to www.cnn.com.
Click Back again to go to the first site www.google.com or Forward to go to www.bbc.com.

You will notice that the web sites are displayed immediately. This is because they have been stored in cache memory by Mozilla. If the sites have changed since you last visited them, you would still see the unchanged version. In most cases sites do not change that rapidly that it would be an issue. If, however, you were viewing online stock market information, it would be an issue.

Click Reload or Ctrl-Shift-R to refresh the screen with the latest information on the current web page.

Complete a Web-based form and enter information in order to carry out a transaction

Many web pages involve a transaction such as purchasing goods, registering for a course or creating a web based email account. Some of these involve a single form while others involve several forms and could include giving credit card information.

	Note
	Only supply credit card information over the Internet if you are sure of the web site that you are using and if the site uses a secure method of transferring the information.

The following example illustrates how to create a Lycos mail account. This will involve completing a form using the browser window.

Enter the following URL into the browser window: http://login.mail.lycos.com/ and press Enter.
Click the SIGN UP in the Free Email window.
Fill in your details on the form that appears.

In this case it is quite a long form so you will need to scroll down to complete all the details.
Scroll down to the end of the form.
Enter the confirmation code.

The confirmation code prevents automated sign ups by computers.
Open the Terms and Conditions hyperlink in a new window to read the conditions you will have to agree to.
Click the I Agree button if you agree to the terms and conditions.

	Note
	Although the entire process is electronic, it nevertheless represents a contract between yourself and Lycos mail. Clicking an I Agree button is typical of transactions that involve conditions. Only click this button if you are happy to agree to the conditions.

At this stage you might like to set up a web based email for yourself using this process. Apart from Lycos mail, you can also get free web based email at www.yahoo.com and www.hotmail.com.


Adjust Settings		Using Bookmarks