Web Browser

Activity 3

·  What is a web browser? How does it work?

A software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats.

·  What is a bookmark?

Internet browser feature that allows a user to go back to a previously visited website by clicking on the saved link - without retyping the site's address.

·  What is the purpose of a web [browser] cache?

Cache is a high speed memory which is basically used for the following reason:

As the speed of the main memory is not as much as the speed of the CPU. So just to compensate the speed mismatch between the CPU and main memory the cache is used in between the two. So whenever the CPU asks for any data its being checked with the cache memory and if present then "cache hit" occurs or else "cache miss" occurs where the CPU takes the data from the main memory and that data's copy is being send to the cache for any further operation where the CPU can request for the same data.

·  What is a web [browser] plugin?

Plug-in applications are programs that can easily be installed and used as part of your Web browser. Initially, the Netscape browser allowed you to download, install, and define supplementary programs that played sound or motion video or performed other functions. These were called helper applications. However, these applications run as a separate application and require that a second window be opened. A plug-in application is recognized automatically by the browser and its function is integrated into the main HTML file that is being presented.

·  Choose three types of web browsers and answer the following questions for each browser.

Internet Explorer

1.       How do you enable tabbed browsing? private browsing? Ctrl+T

2.       How do you set homepages? Press Alt + F then Click Tools then Click Internet Options and edit the Hompage box.

3.       How do you customize search providers? First install the desired search provider so that it will be available in the selection box.

4.       How do you bookmark a page? How do you organize your book marks? To bookmark a site click ctrl+D and to organized click Favorites then Click Organized Favorites.

5.       How do you clear the cache?

Click the "Tools" menu bar. Then Choose "Internet Options". Then On the "General" tab, click "Clear History". Then When it asks "Delete all items in your History folder?", click "OK". Then click "OK".

6.       How do you install a plugin? Press Ctrl+Shift+A

How do you save pages offline? File, Save As, just choose .html as your Save As Type.

Google Chrome

1.       How do you enable tabbed browsing? private browsing? Ctrl+T

2.       How do you set homepages?

Follow these steps to adjust your home page settings:

·         Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.

·         Select Options (Preferences on Mac and Linux; Settings on a Chromebook).

·         Click the Basics tab.

Ø  Set your home page
Pick the page you'd like to be your home page in the "Home page" section. You can select to use the New Tab Page as your home page. To use another page, select "Open this page" and enter the web address of the page you'd like to use.

Ø  Add the home button to the browser toolbar
Want a button on the browser toolbar that you can click to open your home page? Select the "Show Home button" checkbox in the "Toolbar" section. 

Ø  Set your home page as your startup page
To see your homepage whenever you open Google Chrome, go to the "On startup" section and select "Open the home page."

3.       How do you customize search providers?

Go to Settings (Symbol next to address bar) then go to Options then pick basics , You will Find "Default Search" and MANAGE Next to it.

4.       How do you bookmark a page? How do you organize your book marks?

·         Click the star next to the address of the page you are on or use Ctrl+D to bookmark it.

·         Open the bookmarks bar (ctrl+b) right click it and click add page

·         Drag a link up to the bookmarks bar (ctrl+b if it is not already open)

·         Go to Tools (the wrench icon) and click on Import Bookmarks if you want to import from firefox or explorer

5.       How do you clear the cache?

1. Click the Tools menu. (the wrench in the upper-right corner)

2. Select Options.

3. Click the Under the Hood option on the left pane.

4. Click Clear browsing data…

5. Check the boxes for the types of information you wish to delete.

·         Clear browsing history

·         Clear download history

·         Empty the cache

·         Delete cookies

·         Clear saved passwords

You can also choose the period of time you wish to delete cached information using the Clear data from this period drop down menu.

Click Clear Browsing Data when ready.

6.       How do you install a plugin?

First you should download and Dev Channel installer from the Chromium Developer page.

Next, right click on the chrome icon, click on properties and type the following” To Enable Plugins: –enable-plugins, To Enable Extensions: –enable-extensions, To Enable Greasemonkey Scripts: –enable-greasemonkey and click “Apply”                                                                                          

You have all three at a time for better compatibility like this – enable-plugins –enable-extension –enable-greasemonkey.

You are all set to install Plugins, Greasemonkey and Extensions in the Chrome Browser. Just start the browser and get sample extension page.

7.       How do you save pages offline?

Chrome also has a Save as option. You can access it from the Page icon that’s next to the address bar. You can also load the webpage and right click anywhere on the page to get to the context menu. Or do the quick keyboard thing with a press on Ctrl+S.

The same kind of Save As dialog window appears and lets you save the page as Web Page, complete in a location of your choice.

Mozilla Firefox

1.       How do you enable tabbed browsing? private browsing?  Ctrl+Z

2.       How do you set homepages?

·         Open up the website you want to be your home page. If you want a blank home page, open a new tab.

·         Click on the icon to the left of the web address, drag it to the Home button and then let go.

·         Click Yes to set this as your home page.

3.       How do you customize search providers?

4.       How do you bookmark a page? How do you organize your book marks? Ctrl+D and Ctrl+Shift+D

5.       How do you clear the cache?

·         At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button (Tools menu in Windows XP) and then click Options.

·         Select the Advanced panel.

·         Click on the Network tab.

·         In the Offline Storage section, click Clear Now.

·         Click OK to close the Options window.

6.       How do you install a plugin?

Open a new browser window using Firefox.

Go to the Firefox plugins Web page (see Resources below).

Browse through the list of plugins that are available. Choose from items such as Shockwave, Windows Media Player and Quicktime.

Look beneath the plugin you'd like to download. Find your operating system and click the version number link listed beneath it. You'll be re-routed to the downloads page for the specific plugin you wish to add.

Look for the 'Download' or 'Download Now' button and click it. You may be prompted to save a file. Click 'Save File.' A dialog box will show the download progress. When the download is complete, click 'Clean Up.'

Open the plugin after it finishes downloading. If you left the default setting in place, the plugin will be on your desktop. Simply clicking the icon will install it in Firefox.

How do you save pages offline?

From the menu, click on File ““ Save Page As”¦ (Or alternatively, press Ctrl+S). The Save As dialog window appears. Select Web Page, complete in the Save as type dropdown. The webpage is saved as a set of HTML file and a folder that holds the other elements of the page.