The
Navigator 3.02 toolbar.
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Going
Back and Forward
The
most basic elements of navigating with a browser include the
use of the Back and Forward buttons on the Netscape
Navigator toolbar. Back takes you to the previously
visited site, while Forward is only available after
you have used the Back button and want to move forward
from there.
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The
Back and Forward buttons on the Navigator .
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Using
the Go
menu
The
Go menu on Netscape Navigator reveals your browsing
trail for most of the current session. That is, it shows the
sites you've visited. It is in reverse chronological order:
the most recently visited site is on the top of the list.
What was the first place visited on the Go menu to the right?
Go
to any previously visited site by selecting it in this window.
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The
Go menu on the toolbar.
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Open
Location vs. a search string
Open
a location from the File menu (or use the Open
button on the toolbar) when you know the exact address
(also known as "location" or "URL"). For example, to go to
the National Public Radio site, whose address I know, I would
type the URL into the Open Location dialog box:
www.npr.org
Notice
that I do not need to type in http:// (this
is the protocol, which is assumed to be http in a browser
).
Use
a search string in a search engine, such as Yahoo,
Lycos, Excite, AltaVista. A search string is simply a group,
or string, of key words that sum up what you are looking for.
Use a search engine if you don't know the address of
what you're looking for.
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To
open a location in Navigator 4.
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The
Open button on the toolbar of Navigator 2 and 3.
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The
open location dialog box.
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Find
The
Find in Page command (or Find button on the
toolbar of Navigator 2 and 3) is very limited. It is not
an Internet search. It merely searches for the word or words
(search string) on the current web page. It operates like
a word search in a word processor.
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The
Find on Page command. |
The
Find button. |
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Using
different search engines
If
your search string does not yield what you're looking for,
change the search string (key words used) or change search
engines. To switch search engines, simple click the Open
button and type Lycos, Yahoo, Excite, AltaVista, or another
engine by name.
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Special
case of .com
sites
Remember
that if a URL is of the type,
www.sony.com
for
example, then all you need to type is sony using the
Open location button. The rest of the syntax is assumed.
This applies only to .com addresses. The table to the
right shows the domain designations.
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.com
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Commercial
sites
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.org
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Non-profit
sites
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.mil
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Military
sites
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.gov
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Government
sites
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.net
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Internet
Service Provider (ISP) sites
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.edu
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Educational
institutions
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The
main domains, or categories, of the web. |
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Boolean
operators
These
are logical operators, such as AND, OR, NOT. They help refine
your search in a search engine. For example, using AND between
your key words will give you results where only both or all
terms are present. For example, the search string
guacamole
AND salad AND recipe
will
likely produce more accurate and meaningful links than simply
guacamole
salad recipe
which
will produce links with any of these terms.
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Slow
connections
Some
connections are slow either because a server (computer) you're
accessing is busy or because there's other traffic on the
Internet interrupting your access to a site. Look at the status
line on the bottom of the browser window to see what's happening.
If it says "stalled," for example, then click the Stop
button and then click the Reload button (this stops
the search and initiates a new connection).
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The
status bar.
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The
Stop and Reload buttons from the toolbar.
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Getting
to the main page
If
a link takes you to the following URL, for example,
www.bu.edu/johndesz/projects/assignments/WebPrimer.html
which
is the page you're viewing now, then you can delete, from
the location line (below), any segment after the slashes to
go back in the directory of that site. If you deleted everything
through /johndesz, then pressed the Return key,
you would arrive at the main B.U. home page.
The
Locations field under the toolbar. 
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Using
Britannica
online from a B.U.
account
The
Encyclopedia
Britannica is a
vast collection of information on all areas of knowledge.
Enter a search string in a Britannica search and receive the
information itself, not just links to it.
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Using
the OED
online from a B.U.
account
The
Oxford
English Dictionary
is an authoritative source of definitions and etymology for
words in the English language.
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