HowTo: Find your way back to valued locations on the Web

Cyberspace is a really big place. The more we browse the web, the more web addresses (known technically as URL's for Uniform Resource Locators) we want to remember. The task quickly becomes overwhelming. As a result, a variety of methods have been developed to help us find our way back to pages that we have read in the past. A few of them are listed below. The steps in each method vary slightly between different brands of web browsing software, but are substantially similar in all of them. The options listed below describe the steps to be taken while using Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Beware that some information on the Internet cannot be directly recalled even if you know the address it came from. Some pages, such as those containing weather maps and stock quotes, are constructed dynamically each time you request them. So new fresh results will be produced each time the content is retrieved. The results of searches usually work this way. Another issue effecting the ability to directly recall a valued page is the structure of the web site on which it resides. Some sites (especially those that require a password to access them) do not allow browsers direct access to any page on the site other than the home (starting) page. Users must navigate their way to other desired pages through use of the links on the home page. With these sites, you may find that you can only return directly to the home page, but not pages beneath it. Another issue that effects your ability to return depends on whether the site you are viewing employs web page "frames", which are separate viewing panels that can be scrolled and manipulated independently. Commands executed from the main program menus at the top of the program window effect only the top/leftmost frame. To effect content within other frames, you must position your mouse pointer within the desired frame and produce a context-sensitive menu by right-clicking. Then select the action you want to perform.

Ways Back to Web pages

• Bookmark Web Addresses as Favorite Places
  One of the most direct approaches involves an action taken by the user while reading valued pages. You can record the title and URL of a valued page in a list (often called your "favorite places") on your computer and then later retrieve the list at any time in the form of a menu in your web browser. The action is called "bookmarking". The steps are as follows:
  1. While viewing a valued page, right-click on the content that you want to return to.
  2. When the context sensitive menu appears, left-click the choice "Add to Favorites...".
  3. A dialog box entitled "Add Favorite" will appear. Either revise or accept the web page title as the Name of the favorite place and select the folder in which it will be stored on your computer. Then click on the OK button.
  The name you selected will be stored in the Favorites menu. You can retrieve the web page at any time that you are connected to the Internet by using either the Favorites menu at the top of the screen or by clicking on the Favorites button on the button bar to open (or close) a panel listing the stored favorites on the left side of the screen. You also can toggle the Favorites panel open or closed with the keystroke combination Ctrl+I.
• Save the URL as a Windows Shortcut
  One quick and easy way to retain the address of valued web content is to create a shortcut from the URL on the address bar. This method involves a "drag and drop" action and requires the user to arrange the window in which the web browser is running such that it does not fill the screen and allows the user to see the Windows desktop or other folder in which the shortcut will be saved. The steps are as follows:
  1. First, decide where you want to store the shortcut. If you want to store the shortcut in a folder, open that folder using the My Computer window. If you want it on the desktop, then minimize all open windows so that you can see the desktop.
  2. Use Internet Explorer to retrieve the content that you want to bookmark.
  3. Position the browser's window such that you can see the folder (or desktop) in which you want to record the shortcut. If the browser window is maximized, then use the button in the upper righthand corner of the window to restore the window to its last manually sized position on the screen and use your mouse pointer to drag the edges of the window such that you can see the folder (or desktop) in which you want to record the shortcut.
  4. Finally, drag the icon displayed in front of the URL on the browser's address bar to the target folder (or desktop). To "drag" means to position the tip of the mouse pointer over the icon, then press and hold the left mouse button while you slide the mouse to position the mouse pointer over the target location. Finally release the mouse button.
  A new shortcut should appear in the target location. It can be used in the future to retrieve the valued content. This shortcut can be copied onto diskettes or other portable storage devices.
• Use the Internet Explorer History List - (Limited Time Frame)
  Internet Explorer automatically records a list of all web addresses it accesses. This list is called the History List and it can be managed by the user. The History List feature can be managed via the Internet Properties dialog box (by clicking menu choices: Tools, Internet Options, General.) It typically stores the addresses of all visited web addresses for 20 days, but can be adjusted to other durations. It can also be erased at any time (via the same dialog box). The History List can be retrieved via the browser's View, Explorer Bar menu or by pressing the clock-like button on the button bar. But the fastest way to reveal (or hide) the list is to press the keystroke combination: Ctrl+H. Recently visited addresses are listed grouped by date accessed and will be purged automatically when the preset duration is reached or whenever the user erases the History List manually by pressing the Clear History button on the Internet Options dialog box.
• Use the Internet Explorer Address Bar
  Internet Explorer also automatically records a list of all web addresses that users typed in its address bar. This feature also can be managed by the user via the Internet Properties dialog box (by clicking menu choices: Tools, Internet Options, General.) The Address bar is more than a text box. It is actually a drop-list. If you begin typing the URL of a site that you have recently entered on the Address bar, the browser will drop a list of similar addresses for you. To return to one of them, simply click on it. This feature is linked to the History List. If you clear the History List, the Address bar's drop list will be cleared too.