Basic Internet skills

You need to learn how to use the specific Internet tools (e.g. e-mail, Web browser) on your computer, but you also need to understand the context in which they should be used, and how they should be used. These are addressed below:

sending e-mail messages - plain text

e-mail attachments allow to send any type of computer file (e.g. document, spreadsheet, presentation, photograph, drawing, sound or video recording) with the e-mail message - though remember to first check that the recipient has a software application (program) that can understand the format of the file you are going to send (here are some common file formats)

HTML e-mail messages allow you to send messages that include format information (e.g. font size, colour, bold, italic, page layout) - however you need to be sure that the recipient of the message has an e-mail program that can understand HTML

viewing Web sites with a Web browser

searching for information: search engines

time for a test?

E-mail is a powerful tool that offers considerable capabilities and benefits but you should consider how you send e-mail. There are many types of computers, and e-mail packages used on the Internet and so if you do not know what package your recipient has it would be wise to send messages in a commonly supported format - in the form of plain text. Here are some aspects to consider when sending plain text messages:

be aware that your e-mail programme will probably automatically wrap text onto the next line when you send a message (for example it may send up to a maximum of 78 characters on a line)

be aware that the recipient can set the size of their e-mail window to a range of sizes - so think about how the resulting e-mail may look (you could try resizing your e-mail window to see what effect it may have)

format your text into readable paragraphs - do not send a long message as one huge paragraph, as it is difficult to read

note that using capital letters may be regarded as SHOUTING and bad practice if you write entire sentences or paragraphs in capitals - limited use of capital letters for highlighting particular words and titles is acceptable

e-mails are often written much less formally than printed letters, however, do try to keep some etiquette (as you judge appropriate)

keep messages concise and to the point - remember that your recipient may receive a large number of messages on a daily basis and they need to quickly determine what relevance your message has to them

provide an incentive for new contacts to read your message by outlining your "offer/point" in the first paragraph

fill in the subject field and clearly describe what the message is about - people may file your message (electronically in a folder) and want to find it again quickly based on the subject description

avoid making your e-mails look un-professional and like they came from a spammer and/or scam scheme - check spelling, write clearly, format into paragraphs, do not use lots of exclamation marks like this!!!!!

be aware that some special (non-alphanumeric) characters such as quotes may not be sent / displayed properly - keep it simple

think about storing (useful) out-going and in-coming messages electronically so that you can search for messages at a later date - create folders in the e-mail application (or on the hard disk) that will help you to find messages later, such as folders by project or contact - note that you can also have a hierarchy of nested folders within folders

use the e-mail address book to record the e-mail addresses of people you frequently contact - you can also create groups of people to send a message to multiple people in one go

delete messages that are of no relevance / importance and old messages that are no longer valid because they have in effect expired

at the end of every message you can include a "signature" (file) that includes your contact details, your Web site URL, and a one-line slogan to promote what you do for example

emotions can be difficult to express in text compared to face to face conversations, so some icons exist to help a little: :-)  a smile ;-)  wink :-(  sad or disappointed <g>  grin there are others too

If you send a file electronically the recipient must have a software application (program) that understands that file format. If their program is unable to read the original file format think about saving it in a different format that is widely supported, or a format that you know their program supports. Here are some common file formats:

text - plain ASCII text files are understood by most applications, but you will lose the formatting (e.g. no bold, italic, font sizes, or colours to mention a few)

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language is used to define Web pages and so anyone with a Web browser should be able to read this - note though that images have to be sent as seperate files and the HTML should reference this file relative to its own location (e.g. assume the image file is saved in the same directory, say)

RTF - Rich Text Format can be used to send documents

GIF and JPEG (JPG) image files are a common format on the Web and widely supported by appropriate applications - JPEG is perhaps best suited for photographs

Microsoft Office applications are widely used, though you need to check what version your recipient has - usually a new program can read all the older file formats for earlier versions of the same program (if your recipient has, say, version 6 and you have version 7 you should save the file in the version 6 format before sending it; if the recipient then sent you a file (version 6) your program should be able to read that automatically)

TIP - look in the File Open or File Save As dialogue boxes to see what file types (and versions) your program supports

To view Web pages you use a program, or application, called a Web Browser.  Each manufacturer's browser works slightly differently and the specific details of your browser can be found in the Help included in your program.  Two popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. However they all provide the same basic levels of functionality.  These are described below:

A typical Web browser (e.g. running on a PC with Windows 95/98) will behave in a similar way to other applications - you can resize the window, have multiple sessions running at once, etc.

The top (blue) bar displays the Web page title currently being viewed, and the name of the Web browser.  This title is defined when you create a Web page.  If you use a development tool it may be specified under page properties for example.  In HTML, the underlying language of Web pages, it is actually defined by what appears between the tags <title> and </title>.

Below the title the browser will probably display a menu and below that a toolbar.  The menu contains all the commands and options that the browser supports and the toolbar list the most frequently used ones (in theory).

The toolbar will probably contain Back and Forward buttons.  These allow you to navigate through the pages you have visited in the current session.  So for example if you visited pages A, B and C in that order and you are currently viewing C, pressing Back would go to page B, pressing it again will take you to A.  Similarly, Forward would allow you to revisit B and C again.

In addition to Back and Forward your browser may support a list of visited pages under a Go option on the menu.

The more powerful option for navigating through pages you have visited in the current session or a previous session is the History facility.  This allows you to revisit pages you visited a few days (or weeks) ago - and you can often do this off-line (not connected to the Internet) as recently visited pages are stored on your computers hard disk (referred to as the cache or temporary files folder).  This is a great way of keeping your telephone calls to a minimum - quickly visit all pages on-line (clicking the links to pages of interest) then disconnect from the Internet and select Off-line (from the menu) then read the files in your own time.  Note, however, that some files are not stored in the cache or you may have difficulty viewing some pages.  This may be because the page was part of a "frame" Web page, or because the page has an attribute set to prevent it being stored in the cache.

If a Web page fails to download correctly (perhaps because the Internet or the particular Web server you are visiting is too busy) you may want to try displaying it again.  The Refresh or reload button will allow you to do this.

When you install a browser it normally sets up a Home page setting that points to the providers own Web site (e.g. Microsoft or Netscape).  You can change this to point anywhere you like (look in the menu for options/preferences and Home page settings).  This is also the first page the browser shows when you open it, but this setting can be disabled in the options too.

If you decide you want to stop a new page downloading (perhaps because it is too slow or the wrong page) just click the Stop button.

You may also have other buttons on the toolbar that take you to other Web sites offering a particular service (e.g. search facilities).  You may be able to assign some of these buttons to sites you wish to visit on a regular basis.  (See also: bookmarks)

Bookmarks (or Favourites) allow you to remember the URL (Internet address) of pages you have visited and may want to return to at a later date.  Initially there will be a predefined list of bookmarks, but you can create your own and edit and delete existing ones.  As the number of Web sites you bookmark may be quite a lot you should think about creating a hierarchy of folders (perhaps by topic).

Location or URL shows you the Internet address of the Web site you are currently viewing.  If you know the address you can type it directly into this field to go to your chosen Web page.  This also indicates the type of resource / protocol - http: refers to a Web page; https: is a secure Web page (if you enter any details on this page when they are sent back they are encrypted); ftp: is a site that allows files to be downloaded or uploaded.

The document window is the main area of the browser window that shows the contents of the Web page.  If the page is longer (or wider) than this window then you will see a scroll bar - this works the same way as in all Windows programs.  You may be able to move up and down the screen using key presses too - top of page (Home key or Ctrl+Home), bottom of page (End or Ctrl+End), up / down one page (Page Up / Down).

At the bottom of the screen there may be a status bar that may indicate if you are on or off-line, if it is a secure page (closed padlock), the download status (how much of the page has been received).

The Internet is the largest information resource in the world, but you need to use search engines (and directories) to find things.  How do you find that needle in a haystack?  You need to use effective queries.  Some tips are provided below:

first the bad news - not all search engines work the same way and the technology is always changing so what is illustrated here may be true for some search engines today - though there are some fairly common standards fortunately...

take 15 or 20 minutes to learn how to use your chosen search engines effectively - a worth while investment of your time!

start off with a broad query and only focus it down if there are too many matches to your query - if you start off with a precise query you may miss information sources of value and relevance

use the following tips, combining them step by step, to focus your query down to a manageable number of matches (e.g. 20 to 30)

specify words that must be and must not be included in the matched Web pages by using the + and - operators (e.g. to search for information on fruits but not apples use: +fruits -apples

use phrases to search for exact word patterns (all the words in the specified order) - put the pattern in quotes: "red fruits"

remember that these searches have little in-built intelligence and so if the Web page contains a different word with similar meaning it may not be found

to search for a range of words with similar spellings (or the singular and plural equivalents) you can use an asterisk to mean any range of characters - so event* may find pages with any of the following words: event events eventually

if you still can't find what you are looking for: read the help on advanced search options try another search engine try a meta search engine or semi-intelligent search engine use a Web directory service try an intelligent search agent use the Acro Logic search service ask someone or an online forum give up

Now it is time to test your skills.  Simply send an e-mail back with the letter of the question and the number of the answer that you think is the correct answer (e.g. A1):

e-mail messages A.  What is regarded as shouting in the text of a message? A large font size Red text Capital letters Exclamation marks Insults and bad language B.  What is the best way to store messages that you may want to use later? Printed out and held in a ring binder In my paper based in-tray Stored in a ZIP file In electronic format within folders In the recycle bin C.  What is one of the safest and most acceptable ways of advertising your Web site and organisation? Sending adverts by e-mail to every e-mail address you can get your hands on - whether they have asked for it or not Using a signature file at the end of all e-mail messages Blatantly talking about your Web site in online forums Sending frequent repeat messages to your target audience Using bulk e-mail software packages / services to send to thousands of unknown recipients

e-mail attachments  D.  What is an e-mail attachment? A link between e-mail message and sender The URL of the Web site The Internet Service Provider of the sender A file included with the e-mail The recipient of an e-mail E.  What file format is most widely supported / readable? A plain ASCII text file Office 2000 documents Word documents Adobe Acrobat PDF files Rich text files (RTF)

HTML e-mail  F.  When would you send HTML messages? To an unknown user To a known user A user known to have an e-mail program that can read HTML messages A user known to have an e-mail program that can read HTML messages and you want to format your message All the time

viewing Web sites  G.  What is the purpose of the Browser cache / temporary files folder? to hold files and pages downloaded off the Internet to speed up access to them next time you visit to remember the URL of the sites and pages you visit to remember the title of the Web page for compatibility with other Web browsers to upgrade your software H.  What is the purpose of the History function in a browser? to hold files and pages downloaded off the Internet to speed up access to them next time you visit to remember the URL of the sites and pages you visit look up Web sites that have historical content upgrade your browser speed up the viewing of images I.  What is the point of an off-line mode? to allow you to re-visit recent Web pages (automatically stored on your hard disk) so that you don't have to spend time reading them while you are connected to the Internet to save files before turning the computer off to protect files from hackers hide files from other users of your computer saves you having to log on to your computer J.  What would you use to remember the URL of a Web page that you may want to visit again on the Internet? a piece of paper bookmark URL atomiser cache address book

searching  K.  What might you use, with a search engine, to look for Web pages that contain some words but not others? the plus (+) and minus (-) prefixes quotation marks full stops and exclamation marks URL meta filters includes and excludes keyword statements

Answers available from Acro Logic.