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INTERNET EXPLORER TUTORIAL

Good Morning,

It's me, BaddTeddy, and I'm in your mail box again. This time though it's no joke. It's a tutorial about browsers. Browsers are not dogs (Bowser is a dog). A browser is something on your computer. Today I'm going to teach you what a browser is, and how to get the best usage out of yours (fun stuff). It'll change the way you see the world (or at least the Internet).

At the mall, a browser is someone who walks slowly looking through the store windows without buying anything. When the salesperson asks, "Can I help you?" the browser replies, "No thank you, I'm just browsing". So why did I tell you something so stupid. Because it will help you understand what a browser is and what it does.

A browser is program (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc) that helps you see things on the Internet. Windows is the software that many of you are using to run your computer. So think of a browser as something that you can look through windows with to see the Internet. A browser is your window to the online world.

A browser is the software program that determines what you see on your monitor.

The internet is a system that allows millions of computers (yours, mine and all the others) to share information back and forth (emails, uploads, downloads, viewing websites, searches) with each other. This information is shifted back and forth in various forms of computer code. Computer code makes perfect sense to computers. But for humans, ummm… well, let me ask you a question, "Would you rather a see a string of thousands of 1's and 0's on your monitor (computer code representing a rose) or a picture of the a rose?

1110101010101
0010101011010
1010010101101
0001110001100
0001110001000 <----Computer code for a rose

<---- Picture of a rose

A browser is a software program (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc) that converts computer code to text and images (words and pictures). That sounds pretty simple, but if you ever tried to explain to someone how to draw a picture of a rose only using 1's and 0's then you would understand how complicated the process is.

The problem with browsers is that they are basically interpreters. They read computer code and try to interpret what the creator of the files (website) was trying to say (text) and display (graphics). Again, it sounds easy, but there are three problems. One is that there are many different browsers. The second is that there are hundreds of companies that make web design software and each has a tendency to be different from the rest. The third problem is that there are millions of people creating websites. The millions of people making websites all have personalities that make them different, which makes the ways they try to display the files different, and of course they all make an occasional mistake or two or ten million (Hello…. BaddTeddy). Browsers are designed not only to interpret computer code that is done properly (following the rules) but they are also designed to try to figure out the intent of the website creator when the browser encounters mistakes on websites.

In some ways a browser is like a spell checker. Instead of checking spelling, it checks the way a website was designed, analyzes mistakes, and then "tries" to create the best possible display on your monitor.

Now here is the interesting part. Browsers are interpreters. They are different from each other (old browsers, new browsers, browsers created by different companies, etc). When they encounter mistakes on a website they can interpret them differently than other browsers. Meaning? That if you and I look at a website, we may see the same thing, or we may see something different. You may see a small font (text) and I may see a big font. I may see a picture of a rose, you may see an empty box with a little red X in the middle (graphic missing).

My guess is that after reading the last paragraph you are starting to understand how important is to have the best (newest version) browser available.

If you have ever seen the difference between a black and white television show and one in digital color then you have also see the difference between old browsers and new browsers. The oldest browsers were designed to handle only a small number of colors (Black and white is two colors), the ones a few years later handled more colors (Let's say… 256) and the most current can handle millions of colors. Looking at that you can see… Newer is better.

I want you to keep in mind that "old monitors" (I mean really old) may be limited in the number of colors they can display. But most modern monitors can display millions. Unfortunately, as newer technologies come out, many people don't know how to take advantage of them. They don't understand that you need to update your browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc) so that you have the best software that is available for your computer.

Using the example above (the rose) I can say, "In some instances when you are seeing what appears to be a missing graphic, you might have actually seen the rose if you had updated your browser." Newer browsers are better able to understand the mistakes of web designers (Such as BaddTeddy) and fix them so you see the picture "as it was intended."

1) Open your browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape)
2) HELP
3) ABOUT
4) It displays the version of browser you are using

Netscape 7.1 <--- (Very easy - It self installs)

DISPLAY SIZES

Your computer has the ability to display words, images, etc in different sizes. Think of your screen as magnifying glass. If you moved it closer to the words you see here they would "appear bigger". If you moved it away the words would "appear smaller". You can actually choose how big or small to make things on your screen (like moving the magnifying glass in or out) by changing your display settings.

1) START
2) SETTINGS
3) CONTROL PANEL
4) DISPLAY SETTINGS <---double click
5) SETTINGS <---Select this tab
6) Move the slider left for bigger images (less information on the screen)
right for smaller images (more information on the screen)

For instance on my computer I can choose from the following.

640 by 480 TEXT <--- is very large (This is great for people with poor eyesight)
800 by 600 TEXT <--- Normal (This is what most people set their computers for)
1024 x 768 TEXT <--- is slightly smaller (Allows you to display more information)
1152 x 864 TEXT <--- is a lot smaller
1280 x 960 TEXT <--- is even smaller

Take a few minutes and play with your display settings until you find the screen size that makes you the happiest. Keep in mind that you can change these settings when you visit different websites. For instance one website might have very small text in which case you could change your display to make it easier (bigger) to read. Another website might have material that goes off the edges of your screen, in which case you change the display on your computer to make the material all fit on the screen at once. It would be nice if all webmasters designed their websites to display at the same size, but they don't. But at least now you can change your display settings to make it easier for you to view their websites.

Starting Internet explorer is simple. You just click the little icon (Netscape or Internet Explorer) and you're off on a magical adventure to see the world.

AOL OR INTERNET EXPLORER?

If you use American Online you have probably used their browser to visit websites. You use their browser every time you enter a web address while using AOL. It's nice that they include a browser, but it's not so nice that their browser has a tendency to try to control your Internet experience (sometimes in a negative way) so that they sound good in their commercials, etc. What is the old ball of fur saying? AOL and some of it's competitors try to score points with potential users by advertising how much faster websites load on their browser than on anyone else's browser.. Faster is better. Right? Not necessarily.

AOL and some other Internet Service Providers try to create short cuts in how a browser is designed to work to make it "appear" that their browser is faster. Unfortunately, these short cuts don't appear to save users (you) more than a second or two on website load times. Even worse, these short cuts can cause you to view websites in a way that they were not intended by the websites designers.

Websites are basically just files (Pictures and text are files) that are stored on one computer (the host) and then copied to a folder on yours. A browser interprets the instructions in these files and displays an image (pictures and text) on your monitor that represents what the website designer wanted you to see. That's fine, unless the website is in the process of changing. Most browsers automatically load the most current version of a website every time you access that site. However, AOL designed it's browser to save a copy of each website in a folder on your computer so that if you looked at a website now, and then again in an hour AOL's browser could take a short cut (not download a fresh copy of the website) and just show you the copy of the website that it already saved to a folder on your computer. That works fine if the website does not change. But, if the website has changed, on AOL you can only see the old copy. Why would this be a problem? Imagine you are going to a news website watching for an update on a big news story. You keep going there for hours but nothing seems to change. That's because AOL just keeps loading the old copy of the website into your computer over and over again. In essence, AOL has blocked your ability to see changes in the website and therefore changes in the news stories etc.

My advice? AOL's browser can bite me! I recommend not using AOL's browser. Instead, use the icons for Internet Explorer or Netscape that are located either at the bottom of your screen or on your desktop. This way you will always get a fresh copy of the websites you want to visit and you will always get today's news and the most up to date information from your favorite websites.

HOME PAGE

Speaking of favorite websites the first webpage that opens up when you start your browser (IE or Netscape) is called your home page. The bad news is that your homepage was probably programmed into your browser by some greedy software manufacturer at the computer factory. For years you may have had to look at some annoying website that promises all kinds of things but is really just a dressed up advertisement. You may have gotten sick and tired of looking at this same page over and over again. The good news is that it only takes a few seconds to change your homepage.

TO CHANGE YOUR HOMEPAGE

1) Start Internet Explorer (or Netscape)
2) TOOLS
3) INTERNET OPTIONS
4) Delete the current internet address shown in the box that says HOME PAGE
5) Type in the address of your favorite webpage
For instance;
www.knightsofkindness.com or www.baddteddy.com or www.myclicker.com
6) Click USE CURRENT

Now every time you start your browser you will see your favorite website rather than someone else's advertisement. In fact, I designed "MyClicker.com" to be the perfect homepage. It lists all your favorite links on one page which saves you time.

DANGEROUS COOKIES

1) Open Internet Explorer (or Netscape)
2) Click ' TOOLS
3) Click INTERNET OPTIONS
4) Click DELETE COOKIES
5) Click DELETE FILES

Your computer is now a safer and happier place

Over the years some of you have complained the text on our websites is to big. Others have complained it is too small. My suggestion is that you can change the size of the text on every website you see with a just a click or two.

HOW TO CHANGE TEXT SIZE
1) Start Internet Explorer
2) Click -'VIEW
3) Click -'TEXT SIZE
4) Select larger or smaller text

For those of you with poor eyesight this will be a blessing. All those hard to read pages will now be easy to read. Even with your glasses off

Well, I was going to write another 20 0r 30 pages, but I think you deserve a break. So go have fun and explore your world using your favorite Internet Browser.

Great Bigg Teddy Bear Huggs…
BaddTeddy

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Copyright 1994 - 2009 Steven W. Nunnally, BaddTeddy, 479 Pine Ave, Naples, FL 34108