INTERNET ENVIRONMENT

INTERNET ENVIRONMENT

INTRODUCTION

The Internet environment starts with the loading of the internet browser. Some common examples include the Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozila Firefox.

ICONS IN THE INTERNET ENVIRONMENT

An icon is a symbol on a computer screen representing a program or a command. All the Internet browsers discussed in this chapter have similar icons for choosing options depending on what you are using the internet to do. Over the years, the icons have been improved upon and therefore continue to change shape. Whether you are using the old or new browser, the icons still look similar and you can identify them.

Note: that while most icons are displayed on the browser immediately you load it, some icons may not appear until they are needed. A good example is the stop icon that comes on when you are encountering problems with the loading of a webpage and there may be the need to stop the loading of the page.

Each browser has a Navigation toolbar which is the most essential portion of a browser  and always at least contain the Back arrow and Address bar.

The icons displayed on buttons have the functions stated below:

1. Back: will re-display the previous page that you visited
2. Forward: will display the next page (assuming that you have first moved back a page)
3. History: Opens the list of recently visited web pages
4. Stop: stops the loading of website or webpage. This button may need to be used if the page is taking too long to load or encountering problems. The stop Icon contains a symbol similar to letter X.
5. Home: This button takes you back to your default web page ( Known as home page ). This is the page that loads when your browser is loaded from the beginning.
6. Refresh: This button can be used to reload a page that has been aborted because of an error.
7. Search: The search icon allows you search the Internet for websites containing information that is of interest to you. When you  enter a word or a phrase into search bar and you click the search icon, the browser will return a list of documents that match your search criteria.
8. Bookmark: Allows you store the links (website address) to your favourite websites, so that you can easily re-visit a website of interest.
9. Favourites: This icon open the list of bookmarks that you have saved as favourite websites.
10. Print: This icon allows you to print a webpage that is currently displayed on your screen
11. E-mail: Allows you access to your E-mail and newsgroup programs.