During your class, your instructor will cover the basics of getting around in your browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape). Browsers and e-mail programs were created to work together, so ideally you should use Outlook Express and Internet Explorer together, or strictly Netscape. Additional features will be available to you if you do this.

Add Favorites / Bookmarks
What Internet Explorer calls favorites, Netscape calls bookmarks, but they operate the same way; they are your computer's equivalent of a post-it note with a Web site address scribbled on it. If there is a particular site you visit occasionally or often, you can have your computer remember the address - make a favorite or set a bookmark - so you don't have to type it in each time.

Bookmarks/favorites are excellent ways to keep track of the great things you find online. To set a bookmark or favorite:

Internet Explorer

1. Click on the Favorites button located above your address bar. This is the button that has a graphic image of a folder above the word Folder.
   
   
2. A panel will open up on the left of your screen. This is your Favorites list. If you usually do not use this list, it is probably empty aside from a few default folders that Internet Explorer comes with already in the Favorites list. You can adjust the width of this panel by hovering your mouse pointer over the right edge of the panel. When the pointer changes to a double arrow: , click the left mouse button and hold it down while you drag the edge to the desired width.
   
   
3. To add a site to your Favorites list, click the Add button located in the upper left of the Favorites panel. A dialog box will appear called Add Favorite. You can name the Web site anything you wish. To add this site to one of the folders in your Favorites list, click on the folder and then click OK. To create a new folder to place the site in, click on New Folder... , name the folder, and then click OK. Click OK again and the site will be added to the list in the Favorites panel.
   
   
4. To delete or organize favorites, select the Organize button located in the upper right of the Favorites panel.

Netscape

1. Click on the Bookmarks button to the left of your location box.
   
   
2. If you want to list this page as is, click Add Bookmark. If you have folders and want to file the bookmark in a folder, click File Bookmark and select the target folder.
   
   
3. To delete or organize bookmarks, select the option Edit Bookmarks after clicking the Bookmark button.

History
Your browser's history list is another way to access a Web site that you have previously visited. Your browser keeps up with every Web site you visit automatically. There is no special action by you required. You can, however, decide how long you want your history to continue to hold your visits. For example, you could set your history preference to go back only three weeks. This way, any given day, you could view the list of all the Web sites you have been to in the last three weeks in Internet Explorer by clicking the History button (located above your address bar and beside the Folder button) or in Netscape by clicking Communicator in the Toolbar, selecting Tools, and then clicking History.

To set your History preferences:

Internet Explorer

1. Click Tools in your Toolbar.
2. Select Internet Options.
3. Make sure the General tab is selected.
4. The General tab is divided into three sections - the bottom of which deals with History. You can choose how many days you want your history to go back and you can also clear your history list and start fresh. Make your choices and then click Apply and OK.
5. If there is an item listed on your history list that you would like to remove, simply right-click on it and select Delete from the menu that appears.

Netscape

1. Click Edit in the Toolbar.
2. Click Preferences...
3. The Preferences dialog box will open. On the right side of the dialog box you will notice that you can customize your browser by choosing what site you begin with when you launch Navigator, which site should be your home page, and how many days to keep up with your History. You can also clear your history to start fresh and clear your location bar which would clear the drop down list of recently visited Web sites: