Our mailbox is a fairly good barometer by which we can judge the comfort level of our readers in navigating the Internet. A few are experts, and most have at least a good working knowledge of getting onilne, and finding their way around in cyberspace. But there is another group we're seeing too. These are the RVers who may only recently have taken on the challenge of learning to use a computer, and then learning how to use email and the Internet. It is this last group to whom this article is directed. For those RVers who have friends who are at the starting point on the learning curve, please feel free to refer them here for a bit of help.
For purposes of this article, we're going to assume that you have at least a basic knowledge of your computer, whether Windows or Mac; and that you've at least learned how to "get online". (These assumptions seem reasonable since otherwise you'd not be here!). But just getting here is only scratching the surface, because unless you know at least the basics, you'll be missing more than you'll be finding. We often find readers asking questions which are thoroughly discussed elsehwere at our website, which suggests they may not fully understand some of the basic concepts needed to navigate the Internet. We'll refer to our own website, RVers Online, as an example of a place you can practice the fundamentals. Besides, we'd like to see you back here often!
"Navigating" a Website: If the Internet is the "superhighway", then the "vehicle" that you'll be driving it on is your mouse. It's a point and click world here. But you need to know what to point at, and when to click. The magic of the internet is its ability to connect you to ("link") any other part of the same page, the same website, or even a completely different website. When we create a website such as RVers Online, we make some of the words (or graphics) into "links", meaning that if you move the mouse so that the arrow points at one or more of those words and then "click", you'll be taken to another "place". You can easily spot which words are "links", because they'll always be in a different color than the rest of the text, and usually underlined. Don't bother to click on the last word in this sentence, but it will always look like this.
If you look at our Main Menu at RVers Online (that's the page you see when you go to our home page -- "http://www.rversonline.org"), you'll notice that there are several words which you can click on. For instance, if you click on the words "Bulletin Board", you'll be taken to a different place at our site where we offer continually updated information about additions and changes elsewhere at our website, along with comments of general interest. If you choose instead to click on the words "Information Resources", you'll go to another "menu" type page which has another set of "links" to various types of RV information, such as our list of "favorite" RV parks; our listing of "modem friendly" RV parks, and our extensive "Topical Index" to class notes from more than 50 courses offered by the Life on Wheels Conference.
Keep in mind that when you point to, then click on a link, it can take you to three possible new locations: (1) another place on the same page you're viewing (usually some place farther down a relatively long page; (2) another place in the same website; or (3) to a completely different website.
Sometimes you'll click on a link, but then decide that's not where you really want to go. You probably decided you'd rather be where you'd just been, rather than going in this direction. There are always two, and sometimes three ways to do that. The easiest is to locate the "back" button on your browser. The "browser" is the software you're using to move around the Internet. Most RVers will be using Netscape, Microsoft's Internet Explorer, or AOL software. While they're all slightly different, they all offer the same basic features -- and the "back" button is one of them. Another basic feature of the browsers is keeping a record of all the places you've recently visited. For example, in Microsoft Internet Explorer under the heading "GO", you'll always see a list of each of the pages you've already looked at. By clicking on "GO", and dragging the mouse down the list, you can go back not only to the page you had most recently come from, but jump back any number of pages to get back to where you'd like to go. This is a handy way to go back to something you'd found of interest "way back" in your online session. Finally, many websites (including ours) will always offer an option to go back by simply putting the word "back" (as a link) at the bottom of each page.
So, now we've discussed going forward and going backward -- the two fundamental techniques you'll use to "surf" the web. There's another type of "link" that you'll need to know about. Those of us who create websites call them "mailto"s. They look exactly like the type of link that you click on to go to another "place", but these links are different. The purpose of "mailto" links is to provide you with a way to send email to a particular person or place. There are two types of "mailto" links.
At RVers Online when you click on the name of a person whose name looks like a "link", what you'll get is a preaddressed email message which uses the same email software you otherwise use to send email to someone. The only difference is that the "addressee" will already be filled in for you. Since its using your own email software, your own return email address will always be automatically incluced. All you have to do is enter a "subject" (not actually required), type in your message, and hit the "send" button. As soon as the message has been sent, you'll be right back on the same website page you were just visiting.
At RVers Online we use many, many mailto links. For example, if you click on the words "Ask Our Advisors" on our Main Menu page, you'll go to a list of RVers who have volunteered their time and expertise to answer questions on a wide range of RVing topics, ranging from technical questions like "Propane Appliances" to things like "Traveling with Pets". In each case we start with the "name" of our Online Advisor for that topic, with the name being a "mailto" link. If you click on the name of the person, you're presented with a pre-addressed email which you can use to send your question to our online expert for that topic. Similarly, in our "Mailbox", you'll always find a list of questions or comments sent in for our readers. At the end of each posting is the individual's name -- again as a "mailto" link. If you'd like to share your expertise or experience with the individual whose question we've posted, just click on the name (it's always a "mailto"). You'll be presented with a pre-addressed email to that person. Just type in your comments, and hit the send button. Lots and lots of RVers have been able to receive extremely valuable information by getting reader comments this way.
There's another type of "mailto" you'll find at other sites (not ours), which works a bit differently. When you click on the "mailto" link, instead of getting a preaddressed email message using the same software you always use to send email, you will see a form to fill out. The simplest ones just ask for your email address, provide a "text box" for you to type in a message, and a "send" button for you to click on to send the message. However, many of these "form" type mailto links ask for other information. For instance, you may be asked to provide a phone number, a postal mailing address, information about your age, interests, income, and so on. We've always been of the opinion that these types of mailto links are likely to be used to generate mailing lists, whether email or postal, and will ultimately lead to an increase in junk mail -- whether the electronic or hard copy type. We think a bit of caution should be exercised when you see this type of mailto link.
There's a related concept we'd like to mention in passing. Sometimes when you go to a website you'll find that you're asked to provide information about yourself before you're allowed to see the information you're looking for. Often this is couched as some sort of "free membership", where you end up with your own ID and password for accessing that website. Again, you'll frequently find that these "restricted" websites are collecting personal information for commercial purposes -- and we'd suggest caution in deciding whether to proceed.
Bookmarks and Favorites: The final "basic" we'd like to discuss is the use of "bookmarks" (Netscape) or "favorites" (Explorer). They have different "names", but they both do the same thing -- and they're really helpful. Consider this scenario: You've just spent an hour online looking for some really helpful RV related information, and at long last you find your way to RVers Online. "Wow", you say -- "I know I'll want to come back here lots of times in the future". You could, of course, take a pencil and a piece of paper and in longhand write down our Internet address, "http://www.rversonline.org". But there's a much easier way. All of the major browsers let you "remember" the internet address of RVers Online without having to write down anything. In Netscape for example, while you're looking at RVers Online you can click on the browser's "icon" which represents where all the bookmarks are stored, and drag down to the command "add bookmark". The if you "unclick" (i.e., stop pressing down on the mouse) while the arrow is over that command, Netscape will automatically add "RVers Online" to your own list of personal bookmarks. The next time you're online, you can again click on Netscape's bookmark icon, drag down through your bookmarks until the arrow is over "RVers Online", and "unclick". It will take you directly to RVers Online without your having to type in the actual Internet address.
In Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can do the same thing. In this case while you're at a website you'd like to save, you simply click on the browser's "Favorites" on the menu bar, drag the arrow down until it's over the words "Add Favorite", and it will be stored for you. Next time you're online, simply click on "Favorites" in the menu bar, and then locate and "unclick" on "RVers Online". You can create your own personalized set of bookmarks (Netscape) or favorites (Explorer) by adding to them each time you find a website that you'll want to return to later. My own set of bookmarks includes one which I use to give me what I consider the best weather report for our home area; one which provides tide information for our local waters; and another I can use to get road conditions over the mountain passes that we often drive. You'll need to edit your bookmarks occasionally to delete those which no longer are useful to you. But by creating and maintaining a good set of bookmarks -- or favorites -- you'll make your Internet surfing much faster and more efficient.
One final thought about bookmarks: At RVers Online, one of our objectives has always been to create the best possible set of RV-related "bookmarks" for you. What we've done is to create (and continually update) a comprehensive list of "links" to other websites which we think can be helpful to our RV readers. For instance, the website of every RV manufacturer on the Internet is listed on our links page. So too is every RV Club or Association which has a website. You'll find several other categories of RV-related websites there as well. You'll find it as follows: From our Main Menu, cliick on "Information Resources". That will take you to a new set of menu options, the very first one of which is "Internet Links for RVers". If you click on those words, you'll be taken to our carefully compiled list of websites which we think will be of interest to our online RVers.
There are many bells and whistles available for navigating the Internet. But we think that most RVers will find that if they learn and use the few simple fundamental concepts discussed here, they'll have plenty of horsepower for getting around on the Information Superhighway.
Copyright 1999, RVers Online (http://www.rversonline.org)