Searching on the Web

The worldwide web is one of the most popular components parts of the Internet that provides information to users when they search on the web. The Web is made up of hypertext documents stored on many servers around the world.

Since the Internet is a vast collection of information, it is difficult to find the information you actually need. Therefore, the search feature in the browser provides easy access to a special facility called a search engine.

To use the search feature, click the Search button. the search information appears in the Search Explorer bar. search engines scan the internet for the words or topics you are looking for.

To use the Search Feature do this:

To choose a search engine click the customize button in the window.
Choose the desired category for your search.
Click in the text box in the Search Explorer bar, and type the words or topics you are trying to find.
Click the Search button (The name of the button varies from search engine to search engine).
The results of your query appear at the bottom of the Search Explorer bar.
Click one of the result links, and the page appears.

How to search on the web efficiently?

Searching on the internet – for information can be somewhat tricky. Following are some simple tips to help you find what you are looking for:

Be specific – Whenever you type a query, use as many detailed words as possible. The more words you use, the more likely you will find good results.

Try Different Search Engines – Each search engine has its own algorithms and techniques for finding the best pages to match your query. The results you get from one engine might be completely different from another. so if you are having trouble with one search engine, try a different search engine.

The Home Page – While browsing, it is easy to get lost wandering around the Web. Therefore, you should designate one page as your home page. The home page is the page you return to when you click the Home button on the toolbar and it is also the page you open when you start the browser.

How to specify the location of the home page in a browser?

To specify the location of the home page in the browser click the view menu and choose internet options and then fill in the full address of the home page, and click ok.

Hypertext documents contain links you can click on to move to another section of the page, to different documents, or to another type of Internet resource, such as electronic mail (e-mail) or newsgroups.

Web pages include text, graphics, animation, sound, and sometimes movies also. the rich content, along with the ability to jump from one page to another page using links, has contributed to the explosive growth of the Web.

Moving on to the World Wide Web

Internet Explorer offers several ways to navigate the World Wide Web. you can navigate the Web as follows:

Click a link to go to a page
Enter an Internet address to go to a specific page.
Use the Forward and Back commands to revisit previously viewed pages.
Go back into your Web browsing history using the History Explorer Bar.
Return to a favorite page by selecting it from the Favorites menu.
Use a search engine to find a page of interest.

Using Links to Get to Other Pages

The web works much like the HTML-based Windows 98 Help system. In help, you can click any word that is underlined or highlighted to get more information. The web works the same way, on the Web these underlined items are called links.

Web browser keyboard shortcuts

Enter – Activate the selected link.
Shift + F10 – Display the context menu for the current link.
Tab – Select the next link.
Ctrl + Tab – Cycled between frames.
Shift + Tab – Select the previous page.
Alt + > – Moves to the next page.
Alt + < – Return to the previous page.
F5 – Refreshes display of the current page.
Esc – Stops the display of the current page.
Ctrl + N – Opens a new window.
Ctrl + O – Opens a document.
Ctrl + P – Prints the current page.
Ctrl + S – Saves the current page as a file.

you can identify a link by moving the mouse pointer over a text or graphic item on-page. If the pointer icon changes to a hand when you pass over the item, then the item is a link. Once you click a link and go to its linked page, the web browser remembers that you used that link. web browser changes the color to the text for that link, so that you know about using the link.

Back and Forward Buttons

Web browser keeps a list of the pages you have already viewed. the Back and Forward buttons on the toolbar provide a simple way to move through that list of pages you have already seen. Thus, you can easily return to places you have already viewed. choosing a page from this list jumps directly to that page.

History Button

To return to a site you visited in a previous session or to a site that is many steps back from your current location, you will need to use history features. to review your browsing history, display the history explorer bar by clicking the history button. A panel on the left side of the browser window shows a list of pages you have visited, that are stored by date and then by the site.

The top of the History Explorer bar hierarchy lists the beginning date of the past week and each day in the current week. when you click a date or day, the History Explorer bar shows the sites that you visited during that week or day.

Deleting items from History

You can delete an individual page, a site, or a date. Right-click the item you want to delete and choose Delete. Click the Tools menu and choose Options. The options dialog box appears. you can remove the entire browsing history through the Internet Options dialog box. On the General tab click the Clear History button to remove the entire browsing history.

Favorites Button

Web browsers provide a series of Favorites commands and a Favorite Explorer bar for surfing the Web pages you like most. Using Favorites commands, you can create a list of favorite pages and organize them into folders. Then, to go to a favorite page, you simply select the page you want from the Favorites menu.