Viewing and Printing Web Pages

Websites are updated frequently with new features, and so are the most popular Internet browsers. To give you the best use of the Internet, you should use the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Note: Internet Explorer is recommended for use with Moodle courses.

Update Your Browser

If you have not updated your browser recently, click Help at the top of your screen. Next, click on About Internet Explorer or About IE to see your version. As of August 2009, the latest reliable browser is Internet Explorer 8.0.

Screen Resolution

To make sure that your screen resolution is best, you should minimize all of your open programs by clicking on the "minus" button in the upper right corner of all open programs until you return to your opening desktop screen (the one with icons on it). To change the screen resolution right click on the Desktop and click Properties from the pop-up menu. Next, click the Settings tab at the top of the Display Properties dialog box. You should have a minimum screen resolution of 800 X 600, and your "color palette" should be set to its highest setting.

Refresh Browser

To view the latest version of the pages on any online site, hold down the Control (Ctrl) key and click on Refresh if you are using Internet Explorer.

Enable Javascript and Style Sheets

If you have disabled Javascript or style sheets you will not be able to fully appreciate an website's design. With Internet Explorer, click on Tools/Internet Options/Accessibility to make sure you have not checked any boxes.

Tips for Printing Online Documents

Websites often display their pages in frames. A navigation or table of contents frame is often placed on the left side of the page (screen) with links to other pages within the website. The content pages are usually displayed on the right or center section of the screen.

To print a copy of any page, follow these steps:

Click in the content area that you wish to print and then click on the Print button near the top of your Internet browser screen. If you prefer, click File on the menu bar. When the File menu appears, click Print.
When the Print dialog box appears, click the OK button to print the text in the browser window.

If you want the page that you print to display the title of the Internet page, the page numbers of the pages, the URL (web address) and the date that you printed the document (all of which you will need for documenting borrowed information in a research report), use the "Page Setup" feature in Internet Explorer, as explained below:

Click on the down-arrow next to the printer icon on the Menu bar of Internet Explorer, and then click on "Page Setup" on the File menu.
When the "Page Setup" dialog box appears, enter the header and footer symbols shown below. Note: The setting below directs the printer to align the title and URL to the left margin and align the page numbers and the date to the right margin.
You can also enter your own information as headers and footers on any printed web page, or you can display standard information such as dates and web page information in other formats. To change how a web page looks when it prints:

On the File menu, click Page Setup.
In the Margins boxes, type the margin measurements in inches.
Under Page Options, click either Portrait or Landscape to specify whether you want the page printed vertically or horizontally.