|
Here are a few tips and
tricks to make using your computer a bit easier.
Using Your Web Browser
Your web browser is the
software that allows you to access web pages on the Internet. The most
popular ones are Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. The methods
shown here are for Internet Explorer. They are both fairly similar.
Web browsers have an address
bar at the top of the screen where you enter the URL of a web page you
want to visit. If you enter the web page URL of a search engine such as
http://www.yahoo.com, and press enter you will be taken to Yahoo's home
page. From there you can search for any page on the Internet using key
words.
It is possible to work in
multiple browser windows at once by opening your browser and pressing
"Ctrl N". You can also open a webpage in a new window by clicking your
right mouse button on a hyperlink and choosing the option "Open in New
Window". This makes it possible to work in several places at once
saving you a lot of time. To move between browser windows, just click
the boxes in the tool bar at the bottom of your screen.
If you want to save webpages
to view at a later date, you can add them to the Favorites or
Bookmark folder. These folders are located in a drop down menu at the
top of your screen. To save webpages in different categories, choose
"Organize Favorites" from the "Favorites" drop down menu, then click
"create folder". To add a webpage to your favorites, choose "Add to
Favorites" from the "Favorites" drop down menu and pick the
folder/category that you want to put it in.
To set the "home page" that
loads every time you open your browser, click the "tools" drop down
menu and select "Internet Options". From there you can enter the
website URL of your choice.
Cutting, pasting and
saving text
To select all or part of the
text on a web page either hold your left mouse button down and drag the
cursor over the text you want to select, or press "Ctrl A" to select
all of the text on a web page. To copy the text press "Ctrl C". Then
open a text editor such as Word or Notepad, and press "Ctrl V" to
paste. To save the file, press "Alt F"; choose "save as" from the menu;
name your file; choose the folder you want to put it in and click
"Save".
Organizing folders
It is wise to have a folder
on your computer specifically for your business files where you can
save all your information. To do this; click the "My Computer" icon on
your desk top; choose your hard drive directory (usually C:); press
"Alt F"; hover over "new" and choose "folder" from the menu. You can
also put different categories in this new folder clicking on the new
folder and following the same procedure.
Email
It is a good idea to have 3
email addresses when doing business on the Internet - a personal email
address, a business email address and a junk email address.
Use your personal email
address for friends and people you trust. Use your business address to
save important information such as membership details and business
emails. Use your junk email address for advertising sites and places
that ask for your email address to access their site. These type of
sites may sell your email address or send you bulk automatic emails,
which can lead to your email box filling up with junk mail and being
cancelled.
I recommend getting a few
free web based email addresses from Yahoo or Hotmail. Yahoo has 6mb of storage and Hotmail has
2mb.
You can add folders to these
web based email websites in order to store messages that you want to
keep. It's a good idea to put your emails in several different
categories to make them easier to find.
You will need to log into
your free web based email accounts at least once per month to avoid
your address being cancelled and your stored messages deleted.
|
