Four Easy Steps and Five Minutes to
Surfing the Web

1. Web addresses
2. Links
3. Back page button
4. Directories and search engines

1. Web addresses

Every web site has an address which is called a URL. All URL's begin with http:// and most begin with http://www. such as FolksOnline's address of http://www.folksonline.com. So to get to any web site, you just type in the address in the URL entry in your web browser like this:



Red arrow indicates where to type in a URL address

2. Links

Once you're at a site, the two main ways to cruise around are:

1. Click on an icon button link
2. Click on a text link - A text link is a word or phrase which is underlined and is usually in a different color than the surrounding text.

A sure way to tell if something is a link is to place your cursor over the graphic icon or text. If it changes into a hand, then you know it is a live link.


"Live or Hot Link"

Often, when you click on a link you will be linked to another web site. That is one of the beauties of the web; you can click from one site to another within minutes to follow whatever topics that pique your interest.

3. Back page button

Now you're several levels down the same web site or you've clicked through several different web sites. What are your navigation options? If you are in the same web site, you can choose the Home Page link or one of the section icons to take you back to the Home Page or another section.

If you're at another site and wish to go back to a previous site, you can enter the desired site's URL address. Or you can just click on the back page button in your browser which will lead you back through the exact same page route you've traversed so far.


Back Page Button on Browser

4. Directories and search engines

To get to your topics of interest, you could use one of the web directories or search engines. Once you are at their Home Page, all you need to do is to enter the key words for the topic and you will instantaneously receive a list of links to sites related to your request.

These are the most popular directories and search engines:

• Yahoo
• Infoseek
• Lycos
• Alta Vista
• Excite
• Webcrawler

Now you are ready to surf to your heart's content. Perhaps the easiest way to get started is to surf the links listed in FolksOnline's "Resources" section. We have selected the best Newbie sites and places for cyberfolks such as sites for women, business proprietors, seniors and families. There is also a list of the basic sites such as news, travel, jobs, etc. Or you could just sit back and relax by going on a cyberfolks hosted web tour. Enjoy!