Definitions

Application, or Application Program - A software program that processes data for the user. Database programs, spreadsheets, web browsers, and word processors are examples of applications.

A Bookmark is a quick and permanent reference to a Web page. You can bookmark pages you think you will be referring to again by selecting Add Bookmark in the Bookmarks menu while viewing the page you want to bookmark (or by typing Command D). You can return to any bookmarked page by selecting it from the Bookmark menu.

Button - Buttons come in different sizes and shapes (usually square or rectangular). You single click on a button to tell the computer to do something.

Click - To place the pointer on something, then press and quickly release. To open a link or activate a button, you should only single click, not double click. In this guide, "click" refers to a single click.

Client - A personal computer or workstation that uses the files that are stored in another computer, called a server.

The Close Box, when you click on it, closes the window you are viewing. This is not the same thing as quitting or exiting the application. There are several ways to open the window again. Perhaps the easiest is to open the File menu in the menu bar and select Open New Browser.

The Content Area contains the Web page you are viewing, or, if the page is larger than the content area, a portion of the page. You can see more of the page by scrolling up or down using the vertical scroll bar to the right of the content area, or left and right using the horizontal scroll bar below the content area. The horizontal scroll bar is unnecessary, and will disappear, if you make your window large enough by using the zoom box or the size box.

The Cover Page of a Web site is your gateway to the rest of the site. It is something like a table of contents in which you can instantly go to the chapter you want by clicking on the chapter title. The cover page is often called a site's home page.

Dialog Box - A box that appears on the screen to ask for information from the user.

Distribution List - An e-mail message can be sent to a group of people as designated in a distribution list. You need only enter the name of the list and everyone on it will receive your message.

Download - To transfer a file from one computer to another.

Drag - To place the pointer on an object, press and hold the mouse button, and move the mouse. This moves the object you have placed the pointer on.

E-mail, or electronic mail, is perhaps the most widely used feature of the Internet. You can use it to send messages to, or receive messages from, anyone on the Internet.

Exit, or Quit - To close the Netscape browser application, select the Exit item in the File menu if you are using Windows or the Quit item in the File menu if you are using Macintosh.

A Form is any Web page that allows the user to enter information.

Home Page - This term has three meanings. It is sometimes used (1) as a synonym for Web site, as in "Visit NBC's home page at www.nbc.com!". It can also mean (2) the Web page you choose to come up whenever you open your Web browser, or (3) the first page of a Web site. In order to avoid confusion, we prefer the term cover page for the third meaning.

Host - Every Web site must be hosted by a computer. The computer stores the files that make up the site and allows clients, like your Web browser, to access them. The host computer is also known as the Web server.

Icon - an on-screen symbol that represents an object, such as a file, a program, or a disk.

Images are pictures and graphics that can be included on Web pages. The Images button loads images onto the Web pages. Images are loaded automatically unless you have specified the contrary by de-selecting the Auto Load Images item in the Options menu.

The Internet consists of several million interconnected computers. The computer you are using now is part of that vast network. The Internet has many uses. You can send messages to individuals over the Internet via e-mail. You can also send the same message to several or many people by using a distribution list with your e-mail. And you can broadcast to millions by creating a Web site. Or you can see what other people have to say or show by "surfing the Net." There is a huge amount of information and entertainment available on the World Wide Web.

A Link is a connection from one Web page to another. A link may be in the form of an underlined word or phrase, an icon, or a graphic. You can tell you are positioned over a link when your pointer turns into a pointing hand. Click once on the link and the connection should be made.

The Location Field is located directly below the toolbar. If you can't see the location field select Show Location in the Options menu in the menu bar. The location field shows the URL of the Web page you are viewing. You can use the location field to open a different page by deleting all or part of the URL in the field and typing in the new URL.

Macintosh is one of the two principal operating systems (the other is Windows) that employ a Graphical User Interface (GUI), that is, an interface where you give commands to the computer by clicking on objects on the screen. Macintosh is used in Macintosh-compatible computers, Windows on IBM-compatibles.There are small differences in the way the two systems interface with the user. These differences are noted in the text.

A Menu is a list of choices you may select from. The menus available to you are listed in the menu bar at the top of your screen. If you are using a Macintosh operating system, you can open any menu by placing your pointer on the menu title (e.g., the File menu, the Edit menu, etc.), pressing on the mouse and not releasing. You select a menu item by moving your pointer onto it and releasing the mouse clicker. If you are using a Windows system, simply click on the menu to open it, then click on the menu item you desire.

The Menu Bar is the white bar at the very top of your screen. If you are using a Macintosh operating system, you can open any menu by placing your pointer on the menu title (e.g., the File menu, the Edit menu, etc.), pressing on the mouse and not releasing. You select a menu item by moving your pointer onto it and releasing the mouse clicker. If you are using a Windows system, simply click on the menu to open it, then click on the menu item you desire.

A Menu Item is one of the choices in a menu, for example, General Preferences in the Option menu.

Operating System (OS) - The core program that determines how a computer operates.

Pane - A window is sometimes separated into several sections. These are called panes.

Quit, or Exit - To close the Netscape browser application, select the Quit item in the File menu in the menu bar if you are using Macintosh, or the Exit item if you are using Windows.

Radio Button - Buttons in the shape of small circles. Radio buttons always appear in a series. When you select one button, you de-select the others in the series. A black dot appears in the button when you select it.

The Reload Button allows one to reload the same page in case there have been any changes made to it since the original loading, or in case the transfer of the page has been interrupted.

The Scroll Bar is the narrow space in your browser window just to the right of the content area. It contains the scroll box and two scroll arrows, and enables you to move up and down the document. There is also a scroll bar below the content area, if your window is not wide enough to see the entire width of the document, that enables you to move left or right on the document.

The Scroll Box is the small box inside the scroll bar. You can move up or down the page you are viewing by dragging the scroll box up or down. The scroll box also lets you know how far down the page you are.

Search Engine - There are more than two and a half million Web sites on the World Wide Web. In order to help people find the type of Web sites they are interested in, search engines have been created. These allow you to type keywords related to a subject that you want to explore. The search engine then shows you all the links it has found that include your keywords.

Select - To choose an action, for example, an item in a menu. If you are using a Macintosh operating system, you can open any menu by placing your pointer on the menu title (e.g., the File menu, the Edit menu, etc.), pressing on the mouse and not releasing. You select a menu item by moving your pointer onto it and then releasing the mouse clicker. If you are using a Windows system, simply click on the menu to open it, then click on the menu item you desire.

The Size Box is in the extreme lower right of the window. Just drag it left or right, up or down, to get the size you want.

The Status Bar is at the bottom of the browser window. It shows the status of your current operation. For example, when you click on a link the status bar will indicate that it is contacting the host, waiting for a reply, transferring data, etc. The status bar also shows the URL of any link in the content area over which you pass your pointer.

Text Entry Field - An area in a dialog box or on a Web page where information may be typed.

The Title Bar contains the title of the page you are viewing. If you are using a Macintosh operating system, the title bar also contains the close box, on the left, and the zoom box, on the right. If you are using a Windows operating system, the box on the left of the title bar offers commands regarding the application. It also has a box to the right of the zoom box which minimizes and maximizes the application. That is, it closes the application and turns it into an icon.You can move the window by placing your pointer on the title bar and dragging.

The Toolbar is located directly below the title bar at the top of your web browser window. It may be hidden from your view. If you cannot see the toolbar, go to the Options menu in the menu bar and select Show Toolbar. The toolbar provides quick access to some of the most frequently used tools, like the Back, Forward, and Home commands. Other windows, such as the Message Composition window with which you send e-mail, may also have their own toolbar.

Transfer - Any time you click on a link or enter a URL, you initiate a transfer. That is, you are asking your Web browser to move you to another Web page or to another place on the page you are on.

URL - Every Web page has a distinct address. This is its URL, short for Uniform Resource Locator and often pronounced "Earl."

A Web Browser is a particular kind of software that allows you to navigate the World Wide Web. It is your interface with the Web. The most common browsers are Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Mosaic.

Web Page - Most Web sites are made up of several sections. Each of these is called a Web page, and has its own URL, but these "pages" may be as long as several typical printed pages.

A Web Server is a computer that hosts a Web site, that is, that stores the files that make up a Web site and allow access to the Web site by other computers.

Web Site - A Web site is something like a publication that appears on the World Wide Web. This "publication" can be as short as one page or as long as a whole shelf of books. If you printed out our Web site (and you can) you would find that it is about the size of a weekly news magazine. Anyone connected to the Internet can publish his or her own Web site, so there are millions of "sites" out there in "cyberspace" (2.5 million at the latest count).

Window - We use the term window in this guide to refer to a document window. (Other kinds of windows are dialog boxes and alert boxes, which warn the user in case he is planning to do something drastic.) A document window allows one to look at and interact with data. It has standard features like scroll bars and the toolbar. It really is a window in the sense that, if the document is bigger than the window, you only see a part of the document at any one time. It's a window onto the document.

Windows is one of the two principal operating systems (the other is Macintosh) that employ a Graphical User Interface (GUI), that is, an interface where you give commands to the computer by clicking on objects on the screen. Windows is used in IBM-compatible computers, Macintosh on Macintosh-compatibles.There are small differences in the way the two systems interface with the user. These differences are noted in the text.

World Wide Web - The World Wide Web (WWW, or "the Web") is the fastest-growing part of the Internet. It allows one to transmit information using a wide variety of fonts, styles, graphics, and even sound and motion pictures. It also allows for the links which let you jump from one location on the Web to another.

The Zoom Box instantly enlarges or reduces the size of the window when you single click on it.