The World Wide Web is an information retrieval system that allows you to access information located on computers connected to the Internet using an interactive user interface called a web browser.
Definitions
The following are definitions of terms you will encounter as you use the web browser:
URL: Uniform Resource Locator -- the Internet address for documents located on the Internet.
Hypertext: a text link to other documents containing more information on the same or a related topic. Hypertext links are identified as different colored text with an underline. To retrieve the related document, click on the hypertext.
Hypergraphic: a graphic image link to other documents containing more information on the same or a related topic. To retrieve the related document, click on the hypergraphic.
HTML: Hypertext Markup Language -- a language (or format) used for creating hypertext documents on the World Wide Web.
HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- an information retrieval mechanism for HTML documents.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol -- the standard protocol for transferring files from one computer to another over the Internet.
Using the Web Browser
To use the America Online Web Browser:
1. Sign on to America Online.
2. Go to Keyword Internet.
3. Click the World Wide Web icon. The web browser will connect to the America Online Home Page.
From the America Online Home Page, you can move around on the World Wide Web by pointing to and clicking on the hypergraphic and hypertext links.
See Configuring the Web Browser below for information on changing your default home page.
Hot Lists
As you browse the World Wide Web, no doubt you will locate sites you want to return to. You can save the location in a hot list and when you want to return, you won’t have to navigate through the web browser again to connect to the site.
To add a site to your Main Hot List:
1. Use the Web Browser to navigate to a site you would like to save in your Main Hot List.
2. Select Add to Hot List from the Services menu. The current site will be added to the Main Hot List.
You can organize your favorite sites by creating different hot lists related to different topics (politics, travel, sports, etc.).
To create a new hot list:
1. Select New Hot List from the web browser Services menu.
2. Type a name for the list in the Name of new hot list field.
3. Click on Save.
To add a site to a hot list you created:
1. Navigate to a site to add to the hot list.
2. Select Hot Lists ... and the hot list you want to add to. The hot list window will open.
3. Drag the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) from the Current URL field in the web browser and drop it into the hot list window.
To change the title or URL of an item in a hot list:
1. Select Hot Lists ... and the hot list containing the item you want to change. The hot list window will open.
2. Select the item you want to change.
3. Click on the Edit Item icon.
4. Type the changes to the title or URL address for the item.
5. Click on OK.
To connect to a site on a hot list:
1. Sign on to America Online.
2. Select Switch to Browser from the America Online Windows menu. You will connect to your default home page.
3. Select Hot Lists.. and the particular hot list you want from the Services menu. The hot list window will open.
4. Double-click on the name of the site you want to connect to.
If you know the URL address for a particular site, you can go directly to the site by selecting Open URL from the Services menu, and typing in the URL. You can also type the URL into the Current URL field in the web browser and press Enter to go directly to a site.
Web Browser Configuration
To configure the web browser:
1. Select Switch to Browser from the America Online Windows menu.
2. Select Configure from the Edit menu.
3. Click on the Web icon.
4. Type the URL of the site you want as your default home page in the Home Page field.
5. Select the colors you want for the web browser page:
Read Links -- the color for the hyperlinks you have already clicked.
Unread Links -- the color for the hyperlinks you have not yet clicked.
Text -- the color for normal text.
Background -- the color for the background.
Text Size -- the font size for the text on the web pages.
6. Select the rest of the configurable parameters:
Display Active URL -- to display the URL for the active page at the top of the web browser window.
Display Hyperlink URLs -- to display the URL when you point to a hyperlink.
Download Images -- to automatically view the images in all web pages you open. (Note: If you have a slow link, you can improve the speed by not selecting this check box. The images will then be represented by icons on the page that you can click to view.)
Open a new window for each user-specified URL -- to display a new web browser window each time you open a new page using Web... or Open URL... from the Services menu.
Expire read links -- the number of days you want the browser to display a link in the Read Links color.
Maximum simultaneous connections for image retrieval -- the maximum number of images you want the web browser to download at one time. The minimum value is 1 and the maximum value is 16. The default value is 4. (Note: do not raise the number if you have a slow link or if you often access small servers.)
