Beginner's Guide to the Internet
First and foremost, Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative would like to welcome you to the World Wide Web. This guide is for anyone wanting to learn the basics of the Internet.
One of the first applications that you will use on the internet is a browser. There are many different browsers available and all of them are free. On Windows, the default web browser is Internet Explorer (IE). This is the most widely used browser in the world. Although there are many other browsers available, this tutorial will focus on IE.
It is always a good idea to get the latest browser available so that your web experience will not be limited to the old version of the browser's capability. You can obtain the latest version of your preferred browser by clicking one of the options below:
Quick Links:
Internet Explorer Basics
You can easily access IE from Windows by pressing Start → Programs → Internet Explorer.
You can also access it from your task bar if you have the Quick Launch toolbar enabled for your task bar:
More IE Information
More information on Internet Explorer can be found by clicking here.
Web Page Basics
When you first navigate to a page it is through manually typing the address (www.twlakes.net) or whether you do a search through a search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, Excite, Ask, etc.)
So assuming you have made it to a web page, you will see a format that should be easy to figure out. We will use our website to instuct an easy example layout of websites.
Header: This is the place where most people put the information that titles them much similar to a letterhead on a business.
Navigation: This should be easy to find. Navigation allows the user to go from page to page inside and related information on other websites. There will almost always be navigation to get back to the main page of the website on every page.
Content: This is the "meat" that the visitor is really trying to see. This is where most of the information that you want from a page will be displayed.
Footer: This is the area where more information about the company or person will be. Many times this is where you see the copyright information.
Compatible DSL Equipment
Modems: Any modem that is compatible with ADSL should work.
Routers: Any Ethernet router will work.