By Nancie Meng
WashingtonPost.com Staff
February 20, 1997

When it comes to handling a browser, experience and knowledge separate the amateur Web travelers from the professionals. Most browsers package the same features with different buttons and menus. If you know how to find them when you need them, your trip across the Web will be less bumpy. Here's a tour of the basic and advanced features almost all browsers share.

Browsers have location and status indicators that tell you where you are, what's happening, and the progess of your current task — whether you're trying to make a connection or download files.

There are also navigational tools which move users between pages:

• The Home button brings you back to a starting page of your choice. You can specify which page you'd like to see in the "preferences" menu.

  To make WashingtonPost.com your home page in Netscape Navigator 2.0 or above, click on the Options menu and choose General Preferences. Then click on the Appearance tab. In the Startup portion of the screen, there is a box called Location; type http://www.washingtonpost.com there. If you are using an earlier version of Netscape's browser, just click on Options, choose Preferences and type http://www.washingtonpost.com in the Styles field.

  AOL users can set their default home page to WashingtonPost.com by clicking on the Prefs button in the AOL browser and typing http://www.washingtonpost.com in the home page box.

• The Back button takes you through pages you have already seen. Try clicking on this link and after the page loads. Then click the Back button to return to this page.

• You'll use the Forward button along with the Back button. For instance, when you use the Back button to retrace your steps, just click on the Forward button to return to the place you started.

• The Stop button is handy when pages load too slowly or you decide you want to visit a different page.

• The History or Go feature keeps track of the pages you visit during a web session. Use this feature to avoid having to click repeatedly on the Back button.

• Most browsers have a Bookmark or Favorite Places function for keeping track of the Web pages you plan to visit again. You can create a convenient list of your favorite URLs to choose from whenever you log on. Many browsers provide ways of organizing bookmarks by categories, too.

Here are a few simple things you can do to enhance your browser's performance:

• Increase the size of your cache. Most browsers archive on your hard drive the pages you visit so they load faster the next time. Your browser may allow you to change the size of the cache. The more space you allocate, the more pages your browser can store on your computer.

• "Purge" or clear your cache every now and then. This activity removes old pages.

• Add "Helper Apps." To take advantage of special image, video, audio, and other media on the Web you need helper applications. You can keep up with the latest helper apps and programs on Web Exploration page.

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