Tip Sheets

Using the Internet

Navigating the Web

Finding one's way around the World Wide Web (WWW) is sometime referred to as surfing the Web.
However, surfing the Web is much easier than real surfing.
There are several possible ways to navigate (move around) the web.

Click on hyperlinks.

Hyperlinks are usually shown as underlined text, often blue in colour. However they are not always blue and underlined. In using this training resource you would have noticed that the hyperlinks are purple and often not underlined (notice the items in the contents list to the left of this page). Hypertext is the main feature of the World Wide Web. You will identify a hyperlink by the fact that the cursor's arrow changes to a pointing hand on the screen as you move your mouse pointer over that area of the screen. When this happens, you can click on the left-hand mouse button and information from another web page or web site will appear on your screen.

Sometimes a picture, or parts of a picture, can also be a link to other sources of information.

The Back and Forward buttons on the left hand side of the icon bar allow you to move backwards and forwards amongst pages which you have already opened in the current session of browsing.

Type in the Web Site address (URL)

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a technical name for a web site address.

The address line appears at the top of the page. Once you know the address of a web site you can type it in this line and press the Enter key. You do not have to type in the http://

» Click here for an explanation of a web site address.

Use the history list of addresses of sites you have visited recently in two ways.

Firstly, next to the address bar you will see a drop down arrow (circled below). Click on this and you will see a list of recently-visited web sites. Click on the one you want to re-visit.

Secondly, the back and forward buttons have a little arrow to the right. Click on that arrow and you will see the most recently visited pages in the current browsing session displayed. Select the History button to see a list of recently used web sites.