Using Internet Explorer

1. Important Notes
2. Opening Internet Explorer
3. Quitting Internet Explorer
4. The Help Menu
5. Using the Scrollbar
6. Links
7. Connecting to a Specific Site
8. Going to a Recently Visited Page
9. The Status Bar
10. Printing
11. Back, Forward, and Home Buttons
12. Creating Bookmarks
13. Finding Words in a Document
14. The Refresh Button
15. Viewing the Source Code
16. Other Buttons
17. Using FTP with Netscape
18. Improving Performance

1. Some Important Notes:
   • Anything of the form "ALT+X" means that you should press the ALT key and the letter "X" key at the same time
   • To select something, simply point to it with the mouse, and click the mouse button
   • Sometimes there will be too much information to fit entirely in the window. In these cases, a scrollbar will appear along the right side of the window (and sometimes along the bottom as well). Please see the section on "Using the Scrollbar" in order to learn how to use the scrollbar.
   • To select a command from the menus; for example, the "Exit" command from the "File" menu, point to the menu you want and select it, and a scroll-down menu will appear. From this menu, select the command you wish to execute (in this case, "Exit").
2. Opening Internet Explorer:
   To open Internet Explorer, double-click on the "The Internet" icon on your desktop. After you have opened Internet Explorer, the MAGMA home page will load.
3. Quitting Internet Explorer:
   To quit Internet Explorer, go to the "File" menu (at the top left of the Internet Explorer window) and select "Close".
4. The Help Menu:
   If you are having problems or have questions, sometimes the "Help" menu (at the top right of the Internet Explorer window) may have the information you need. Try looking in it to see what types of information are available.
5. Using the Scrollbar:
   To move up/down one line at a time, click on the small up/down arrows at either end of the scrollbar. To move up/down one screen at a time, click in the dark gray area of the scrollbar. To move up/down more than one screen at a time, click and hold the mouse button on the scrollbar while dragging it up or down releasing the mouse button when you are done.
6. Links:
   Links are one of the most important features of the World Wide Web. In Internet Explorer, links are represented by text (or pictures) which are underlined (or outlined) in blue - as long as you are using a colour monitor. By pointing at a link (the pointer will change to hand) and clicking, you will connect to another web page or another location within the same page. Anything underlined in a dark purple represents a link you have already visited.
7. Connecting to a Specific Site:
   If you know the exact address of a site you wish to connect to (example, http://www.enicola.com), you can connect to it in a number of different ways.
   • In the "File" menu, click on "Open...". In the text box that pops up, type in the location and click on "Open", OR
   • type ALT+L and type in the location, OR
   • in the "Location:" bar at the top of the window, type in the new location.
8. Going to a Recently Visited Page:
   To connect to a page you have been to recently, in the "Go" menu you can see a list of the last five pages you have visited most recently. Simply select the one you want to revisit. If the page you wanted to visit is not listed, try clicking on "Open History Folder" in the "Go" menu. This will list not only the most recent pages you've connected to, but all the pages you've connected to during your current session with Internet Explorer.
9. The Status Bar:
   At the bottom left of the Internet Explorer window, there is a status bar. This shows you how much of the page you have attempted to connect to has been loaded.
10. Printing:
    To print the page you are currently connected to, either choose "Print..." from the "File" menu, click on the "Print..." button, or type ALT+P. The print options window will appear, at which point you can choose the appropriate options, and when you are ready to print, click on "Print".
11. Back, Forward, and Home Buttons:
    These three buttons at the top left of the Internet Explorer window are very useful for navigating back and forth through the web pages. By clicking on the "Back" button, you will be connected directly to the page you last visited.

    The "Forward" button is the opposite of the back button. Try it out!

    Lastly, the "Home" button will bring you directly to the MAGMA home page. You can also choose "Back", "Forward", and "Start Page" from the "Go" menu if you prefer.

12. Creating Bookmarks:
    If you visit a particular page often, you may want to create a bookmark for it. Similar to placing a bookmark in a book for easy reference, an Internet Explorer bookmark will mark the current page so you can refer to it easily in the future. To do this, go to the "Favorites" menu and select "Add To Favourites...".

    To go back to this page in the future, go to the "Favorites" menu and you will see your bookmark listed at the bottom. Simply click on the name of the page you want to go to.

13. Finding Words in a Document:
    To find particular word on the current page type ALT+F, or go to the "Edit" menu and select "Find(on this page)...". Enter the word you want to find in the text box. Select "Match Case" if you wish. When you are ready, click on "Find Next". Internet Explorer will then find the next occurance of the word that was entered.
14. The Refresh Button:
    If a page does not load (i.e., only half of an image is loaded), try clicking on the "Refresh" button and Internet Explorer will attempt to load the page again.
15. Viewing the Source Code:
    If you are interested in looking at the html code used to generate a page (this may be good if you are thinking of creating your own web pages and you want to see some examples), go to the "View" menu and select "Source". This will open a Notepad window containing the source code of the current page. Select the "File" menu of the Notepad window and then click on "Exit" when you are finished.
16. Other Buttons:
    At the top of the Internet Explorer window you can also see a number of other buttons, labeled "Search", "Favourites", "Print", "Font", and "Mail".
    • "Search" - will take to you a Microsoft Search page, so you can look up anything on the web. Click on Search and try it out.
    • "Favorites" - lists all your bookmarks.
    • "Font" - will increase or decrease the size of the font on the page you are currently viewing.
    • "Mail" - will drop down a menu that will allow you to chose to read your email, news or compose a new email message. Just select your choice.
17. Using FTP with Internet Explorer:
    To FTP with Internet Explorer, you first need to connect to the proper FTP site. Go to the location (see "Connecting to a Specific Site" section) of the form "ftp://.../". This will automatically log you in as an anonymous user, and you can now retrieve files using FTP.

    To retrieve a file, simply click on the name of the file you wish to transfer. You will then either be asked if you want to save the file to disk (at which point you choose "Save to Disk" and then choose where you want to save it and what file name you want to give it), OR you will connect directly to the file (at which point you choose "Save As..." from the "File" menu, choose where you want to save it, and give the file a name).

18. Improving Performance:
    To improve the performance of Internet Explorer you may want to try increasing the disk cache in the "View/Options" menu, then click on the Advanced tab. On that window there is a section called "Internet Temporary Files", click the "Settings..." button. Then increase the disc space allowed for that folder. You should only do this if you have a lot of free drive space and if you visit the same web pages often.