Have you heard that statistic that says humans only use 10 percent of their brains? Well, use of the internet is no different. There’s so much possibility built into modern internet browsers that people (even us nerds at IntelliSites) sometimes can’t keep up. But here’s the inside info on five basic features everyone should know how to use.
1. Refreshing your browser. Websites are constantly changing. New content is uploaded, graphics are changed out, and news is posted. But sometimes your browser doesn’t notice these changes right away. You’ll often need to refresh your browser to get the updated version. You do that by clicking on the swirly little arrow up on your toolbar. They look a little different from browser to browser, but if you want to make sure you’ve got the right button, rest your cursor on it for a second and “Reload this page” or “Refresh” should pop up. If it does, that’s the button to click to see the most up-to-date version of the web page you’re viewing.
2. Smart addresses. In many modern browsers, if you know the website you want to visit, you can usually skip the “http://” and the “www” when you’re typing it in. In most cases, it’s enough to start with the name of the site (e.g. just type intellisites.com, not www.intellisites.com). Over time, all those extra seconds you’ll save will add up. (Incidentally, you should be typing those addresses into the address line of your browser, not into Google…)
3. Tabbed browsing. Instead of having multiple windows on top of each other, all modern browsers offer tabs, a way to see every window you have open as if you had a pile of clearly labeled folders in front of you. It’s multi-tasking made easier.
4. Code view. Looking at code view can be a confusing and disorienting experience for the non-programmer, but it can help you find some of the hidden things behind the scenes of a website. This isn’t something you’d do on an everyday web surf, but you might want to do it when you visit your competitors’ websites so you can take a peek at the keywords and title tags they’re using. To get there, usually you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+u or Shift+Ctrl+u, or just right click anywhere on the page and choose “View Source” or “View Page Source.”
5. Find on page. Ever clicked on a Google result and been confronted with an extremely long page page of text? Don’t waste your time and your eyes trying to scan the whole thing for the part you need. Use the find feature to locate exactly what you need. Press Ctrl+f (or Command+f on a mac) and type in the word or phrase you’re looking for. Voila! Your browser will find it and highlight it for you!
I hope these tips help to make your web experience just a little more super.