The internet is a worldwide network of computers that are all linked together via phone lines. This allows information to be exchanged between computers anywhere in the world.

How do I get on the Internet?

Your computer needs a modem to be linked to the Internet. The modem is connected to your phone line by a cable or wireless router. To view Web Pages you need a Browser.

The Internet is in simple terms, lots of computers joined together. This global network allows people to share all sorts of information. Anything stored on a computer's hard disk can be shared over the internet.

The internet is not just one technology it is made up of e-mail, videoconferencing, file transfer, newsgroups and the World Wide Web amongst others. The World Wide Web is one of the most useful and popular of these technologies.

World Wide Web

You can think of the World Wide Web (WWW), as the largest reference library in the World. Accessing the WWW gives you access to a vast amount of information in the form of text, graphics, diagrams, animations, sounds, videos and many other forms.

The piece of software you will use to access the WWW is a Web Browser. You can think of the Web Browser as a Window, through which you can look at things on other people's computers. There are two main versions of Web Browsers that you will be likely to come across: Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla. Both of these are freely available and do pretty much the same job.

Getting Started

Double click on the browser Icon on the Desktop. If you have an internet connection then the browser window will open and the computer will automatically connect itself to the Internet, which may take a moment or two. When the connection has been made you will see a window open, this will normally show a 'Web Page', this is known as the 'Home Page'.

A Website 'Home Page'

To search the WWW you will need to go to a dedicated 'Internet Search Engine' such as Google or use the Search Icon on the Toolbar.

You will notice as you move your curser around the screen that it changes from an arrow to a pointing finger. This means that there is an active Link or Button beneath available for you to click on. Links can be in the form of text, graphics or animated elements. Text links are traditionally underlined and in blue.

Web Pages

A web page is a text file that contains instructions which tell the Browser what files to get and how to display them in the browser window.

A Web Page is usually made up of more than one element, e.g. graphics, multimedia and text.

Websites

Websites are collections of Web Pages. You know that they are a collection by the menus available and the address line is usually quite long in length.

Visiting a Website

However good your own home page may be, it is not likely to have links to all the things you may want to look at. To access a website not on your home page, you have to know the address of the website and to type it into your browser.

The address of a web page is sometimes referred to as a URL; this is simply the address of the web page. Every web page element has its own unique address. This is technically called a Universal Resource Locator (URL) or web address.

A typical URL will look like this:http://www.bbc.co.uk

Entering a web address

Click inside the Address text entry area:

What is currently in the box will become highlighted in blue allowing you to simply overtype. Now type the following address: www.50connect.co.uk

Click onto the Green Arrow Go button, or alternatively press the Return/Enter key on your keyboard.

Your browser will now take you to the 50 connect website. Click on some of the links and see what you can find.

Surfing

Moving from one web page to another is a case of finding the links and clicking on them.

• Move your curser over a link (it should turn to a pointing finger)
• Click on the link
• What happens next will depend on what you clicked on. What is most likely to happen is that a different web page will begin loading into the window.
• Notice that the Back button is now full of colour and available for use.

Backwards/Forwards/Home

1. Click on the Back button

You should be taken back to the page you just came from.
The Back Button is probably the button you will use most often. When you get that "I'm Lost" feeling, you can use it to retrace your steps.

2. Click on the Forward button

You should be taken to the page you were on before you clicked the Back button.

3. Click on the Home button

You will be taken to your home page. This is the page you see when you first start up the Internet.

Believe it or not, you now have the majority of skills you'll need to surf the web. Simply clicking on links that exist in your home page will take you to most places that you're looking for.