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A web browser is a specific type of software that allows you to access resources on the World Wide Web. There are two basic types of web browsers, text-based and graphical.
Text-based browsers, such as Lynx, permit you to read the text of web pages, but they do not allow you access to the hypermedia elements of a web page, the images and sounds. Depending on how a web page is designed, it may be difficult to read the screens using Lynx.
Graphical web browsers, such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, enable you to experience the hypermedia elements found throughout the Web. Most graphical web browsers share common features, allowing you to access web links, view images, save or print web pages, and more. The following image of a web page, viewed using Netscape Navigator, version 4.6, illustrates the major parts of a web browser. Internet Explorer has similar elements.
Parts of a Graphical Web Browser
(North Lilly, Lilly GlassWorks)
Title of web page: the title of a web page is found at the top of the browser window. It represents the web page author's stated name for the page and usually reflects what the page is about. The words in this part of the web page are often used by search engines to index that page.
Menu bar: each of these menu selections provides access to a pull-down menu of commands.
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File - items under this menu allow you to open a new browser window or local web page, save a web page locally, send e-mail or web page, preview web pages before printing and print web pages, work in an offline mode, close that window, and exit the program.
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Edit - items under this menu allow you to copy, cut or paste information from a web page (very useful for URLs and e-mail addresses!), find specific words within a web page, search the web for information through the Netscape-supplied feature, Search Internet, and edit the default settings for Netscape Navigator by modifying the set up under Preferences.
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View - items under this menu allow you to suppress the toolbars, increase or decrease font size, reload and refresh the current web page, examine the HTML source code of the current page, learn information about the page, and set the encoding language for the page.
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Go - items under this menu allow you to navigate by going forward, back, or home. This menu also keeps temporary track of the web sites you've visited in the current session.
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Communicator - items under this menu allow you to access other programs in the Netscape Communicator suite, access your address book and bookmark lists, set certain security options, and see a list of web pages you've visited, with the one you are on right now checked.
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Help - items under this menu allow you explore the Netscape Navigator online help, learn more about security and net etiquette, and find out about browser plug-ins and software updates.
Navigation Toolbar - items on this toolbar are the most commonly used commands under the Menu bar selections.
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Back - go to previous web page already visited.
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Forward - go to next web page if you have already gone back to a page.
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Reload - reloads the current web page from its source; very helpful if the page didn't load properly the first time.
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Home - this is the page that you saw when Netscape Navigator first came up; this home page URL is set in the Preferences found under the Edit menu.
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Search - connects you to a page of web search tools that Netscape Navigator makes available for your searching convenience.
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Images - this button will be suppressed unless you've set your browser to automatically load only the text of a web page and not the images.
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Guide - this page, provided by Netscape, is a directory of selected web resources covering many topics.
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Print - allows you to print the current web page, in its entirety or selected portions.
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Security - this is the same option that appears under the Communicator menu item; it allows you to set a password, check page encryption about the current web page, and perform other security-related tasks.
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Stop - this button allows you to stop the loading of a current web page; this is particularly helpful if a page is taking a long time to download.
Location ToolBar - items on this toolbar allow to you input new URLs to visit and to access your bookmark list.
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Location field - this is where you type or paste a URL.
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Bookmarks - this feature permits you to save and file the URLs of web pages you want to visit again; the easy-to-follow menu options allow you to organize your bookmarks under categories that you choose.
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Bookmark Quick File icon - by dragging this small icon toward the Bookmarks label, you can bring up the Bookmarks menu to file the current page.
Personal Toolbar - lets you create buttons to your favorite web sites, discussion groups, address book entries, and e-mail folders. The Bookmarks menu contains an option entitled, Personal Toolbar Folder, which is the folder where you file items you want to be accessible from this toolbar. Netscape Navigator starts you off with the following items: Internet; Lookup; and New & Cool. These link to Netscape-produced web pages of useful resources.
Content area - this area of the browser window displays the most current web page based on the most recently requested hypertext link. If you hold down the right button of your mouse (if you are using a Windows computer or hold down the single mouse button on a Macintosh computer), a separate menu will pop up, giving you shortcut access to the most-used functions found on the Navigation and Location toolbars.
If you place the cursor over an image and press the right mouse button, the pop-up menu displays additional functions that allow you save that image to your local workstation.
Scroll bar - the vertical and horizontal scroll bars allow you to move through a web document that is more than one screen long or one screen wide.
Status line - this bar along the left bottom of the browser window lets you know the progress of your connection when you select a page link. You will see whether a site has been contacted and is responding, and the approximate speed at which the page is downloading.
Component bar - the icons on this toolbar represent the other programs that comprise the Netscape Navigator suite. These include e-mail, newsgroup, and web creation tools.
The Bookmarks feature of Netscape Navigator allows you to organize and save the web addresses that you'll want to visit more than once. The Bookmarks Menu includes the following items:
Add Bookmark - this is the first menu option. It allows you to add the URL and title of the current web page. This title is the entry name you'll see in the bookmark list. Once an item is in your bookmark list, you need only open your bookmarks to access it again, much like a placeholder in a book.
File Bookmark - this second menu option allows you to indicate in which folder you would like a bookmark to be filed. Organizing your bookmarks by individual project or interest will assist you in always being able to locate the exact bookmark you need.
Edit Bookmark - this is the third menu option. It allows you to create folders based on projects or interests for which you are searching the Web. When you select this item, a window with the hierarchy of current bookmarks appears. A menu bar similar to that of the browser window will appear at the top:
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File - options under this menu allow you create and name folders, new bookmarks, add separator lines, save your bookmark file, and add selections to your personal toolbar.
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Edit - options under this menu allow you to undo the addition of the most previous bookmark, delete unwanted bookmarks, cut, copy, or paste new bookmarks, and search for text within your bookmarks.
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View - options under this menu allow you to change how you view your bookmarks (by name, location, date last visited or date created), update your bookmarks, or create and set up additional bookmark files.
The Communicator and Help menus are the same as under the Browser Menu bar.
Folders and Non-filed Bookmarks - the folders that you create to hold bookmarks and unfiled bookmarks will appear under a separator bar below the three menu options.
Helper applications (also known as plug-ins) are pieces of software that allow Netscape Navigator to interpret and display different kinds of computer files. It has the built-in ability to read HTML-formatted web pages, including graphics files of the formats, .GIF, .JPEG, and .XBM.
Netscape Navigator keeps track of the file types that require helper applications by maintaining a mapping between the two that links the file to the helper application. When Netscape Navigator encounters a file type that it cannot automatically read, it looks to the mapping to find the correct helper application. For a list of file formats typically found on the Web,please consult The Programmer's File Format Collection  <http://www.wotsit.org/>.
Netscape Navigator comes with many helper applications already installed and configured. However, if you find you need to add a helper application, open the Edit menu, select Preferences, then choose the Applications panel found under Advanced. Select New or Edit. A dialogue box will appear that will let you add the helper application, or modify the file types or actions that should be taken when the browser encounters that file type.
You will need helper applications for the following categories of files:
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File compression software - software that translates and decompresses downloaded files
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Sound viewers - most sound files are not in formats your browser can automatically process; look for software than can interpret .au (ULAW), .AIFF, and .WAV files
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Pictures and moving pictures - although .GIF, .JPEG, and .XBM graphic file support is built into the browser, in order to look at other type of images files (e.g. TIFF), you will need a helper application that can interpret it. You'll need a movie play in order view .MPEG files
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Word processing utilities
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3-D and Animation
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Presentations
Not all helper applications are available for every kind of computer and some may not be free. Many companies other than Netscape develop helper applications. The Netscape site <http://home.netscape.com/plugins/index.html> provides extensive information about helper applications and plug-ins and where to find them.
During the course of your web surfing you may experience problems that will prevent you from accessing resources. The following are most commonly seen error messages and potential solutions to the problem.
Helper Application Missing:
Solution:
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obtain and load the specific software required
(e.g., Telnet, Acrobat, etc.)
File Not Found:
Solutions:
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check your spelling, punctation, capitalization
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the file may have moved and is not located
where the URL indicates
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the file may not exist any more
Server Location Unknown
Solutions:
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the server does not exist or is not registered with InterNIC
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error in typing the URL (spelling, punctuation, capitalization)
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the network is really busy right now -- try again anyway
Other Error Codes:
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error 401 - authorization required (password or other id may be required)
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error 403 - forbidden (only certain machines may have access)
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error 500 - server error (it's not YOUR fault!)
Additional Reading
North Hall Library, Mansfield University. (2003, June 4). Web Browsers and Plug-ins . Retrieved September 11, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://library.mansfield.edu/plugins.html
Includes suggestions for and access to useful plug-ins and downloads.
Yahoo!. (2000). Browser Information . Retrieved September 11, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Browsers/
Yahoo!'s extensive list of briefly annotated, occasionally reviewed resources about web browsers.
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