NIU Department of Mathematical SciencesUsing Web Browsers
NIU Department of Mathematical Sciences
There are three most popular Web browsers in use today: Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Lynx (for text-only displays). Lynx is not well suited for accessing complex Web pages. Microsoft's Explorer is not available under Unix. We will therefore focus on Netscape when it comes to details.
If you are sitting in front of a Unix workstation, you have to
start up X-Windows or OpenWindows. This is done by typing
xinit at the Unix prompt. Make sure to do it
only on the computer whose physical screen you have
in front of you, and only if X-Windows isn't running
yet! Otherwise things will get messed up.
When the interface starts up, you will see one or more shell windows, and a gray background. Move the mouse pointer over one of the windows and type netscape ∧ in it. If this is your first time, you will first see a window with a license agreement; click "Accept". After a while a standard X-Windows "wireframe" outline of a window will appear. Move the mouse where you want that window to be and click the left mouse button.
If you see a lot of errors and/or warnings when X-Windows or Netscape starts, you should report this to the system manager by mail or via the on-line report form. If you haven't used X-Windows before, you should probably read about it first.
If you use a Mac or a PC, you obviously must have some sort of a
network connection (direct or a special dialup link)
to access Web pages with a Web browser. If your computer is in
the office, it is in almost all cases directly connected to the
network. If it's at home, you must configure
suitable software,
and obtain a dialup account.
Once the basic connectivity software is up and running, just
double-click the Netscape icon to start the program.
If you are using a PC, you must also be running a graphical user
interface such as Windows 3.1 or 95. Netscape does not
run under DOS.
You tell the browser what to do by clicking on its controls (menus and buttons near the top of the window), and on Web links, using the left mouse button. Links are portions of the Web page which act like channels to other pages and material. They should be somehow highlighted (underlined, framed, colored blue, or some such). Moreover, the pointer on the screen will usually change its shape when it's over a link. When you click on one of them, the browser will receive the information "hiding behind" the link.
It is a good idea to configure your browser so it shows some major "starting point" page when it opens. You may want to use your own Web page if you have one, or the main departmental Web page. Pull down the "Options" menu and select "General Preferences". Go to the part called "Appearance". Click the button labeled "Home Page Location" and enter a suitable URL in the box next to it (for example, http://www.math.niu.edu/). Close the preferences window by clicking "OK".
The most common way of using the Web is "surfing", i.e. simply clicking on the highlighted Web links and following them wherever they lead. For example, you may want to start with the departmental page, then click "Search the Web", then "AltaVista" to find Web documents about a certain subject. If you go to some Web nook and want to back out, click the "Back" button near the top of the browser window.
Most browsers also have a menu such as "Go" which lists the sequence of pages you've seen: press the left mouse button on the "Go" menu title, then slide the pointer to the item you want to go to, and let go of the button.
You can tell which links you've already visited because those are highlighted in a slightly different way than "fresh" ones. This may be a bit hard to see on a monochrome screen.
If a link represents something that you want to download to local disk rather than view on the screen, you can do so by pressing one of the control keys while clicking on the link. The key differs from system to system and between browsers. For example, in Netscape under Unix hold down Shift; on a Mac press Option; under Windows the Alt key should work.
You can also explicitly specify a URL that the browser should connect to. If you don't see a field called "Location" near the top of the Netscape window, first pull down the "Options" menu and select "Show Location" (there is a similar menu in all other browsers). You should see the URL of the current Web page in that field. Move the mouse on top of that text and quickly click the left button twice without moving the mouse. The text should become white-on-black (highlighted). Now simply type the new URL over it, and hit the Return key.
To manipulate the bookmarks you've gathered, pull down the "Window" menu and select bookmarks. Use the mouse to move them, delete them etc.
To learn (much!) more about Netscape and all its capabilities, pull down the "Help" menu and select "Handbook".
An introduction to the language in which Web pages are created is available here.
To see how to set up your own Web pages on our system, follow this link.
Back to the NIU Math Department Web page