The Online World resources handbook
Chapter 3:
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The term 'user interface' refers to how information is displayed on your screen when you call an online service. It is about graphics, menus and help screens, and various options to tailor the service to your personal preferences.
is essentially a vast repository of files (or documents) stored on computers
(often called Web sites) connected to the Internet. The service that lets
you get to these files is built to be used by a computer running in a windows
environment, but it can also be accessed by non-graphics programs (like
Lynx), and by electronic
mail.
Most of the things you can
do on the Internet take place in two places at once - your computer and the
computer it is connected to over the network.
In general, the software program
that you are running on your computer is called the client (or,
browser), and that on the remote computer is the server. Do
something on your computer, and the client software translates it into a
form that the server can understand.
Tell your client to retrieve
information at a given World Wide Web server address,
and it will go get it for you. A World Wide Web page can look like anything.
It can be a text, like the one you read now, with some words highlighted
in a special way. You can "click" on these emphasized words with your mouse
to jump off to another track.
Example: If the term
"World Wide Web" in the paragraph above is highlighted, and you click
on this term, then you will receive a definition of this Internet service.
Many people think this method is easier than having to "page forward to
appendix 6 for a definition." (Yes, appendix 6
does contain general information about the Web.)
In the online hypertext version
of this handbook, the term "appendix 6" above is highlighted. Click on it
to get there. When you are done browsing the appendix, you can "click back"
to this chapter to continue reading. In most browsers, you can do this either
by clicking at an arrow pointing leftwards or a similar icon, or by using
the browsers' menus.
Some World Wide Web services
have hypertext links imbedded in pictures or other graphics. These pointers
are impossible to see unless you use a windows program to access the service.
However, they work in the same way. Click on these pointers to get to the
other tracks, which may be serving text, video, sound, a picture, or whatever.
are identified by a coded address called an URL
(Uniform Resource Locator), or Web Page Address. These addressses typically
look something like this: http://www.site.com.
The prefix
"http://" must be used to tell the Internet that you want to
use the HyperText Transfer Protocol. The
rest,"www.site.com," is the actual address identifying the
web site, and the document you want to retrieve.
Your computer's browser activates
embedded graphics designed into the document, unless you have turned this
feature off in your software. Some documents even offer motion video clips
and sound bites.
One document may have any
number of hyperlinks creating an inter-woven system of infinite size and
depth. This is how the World Wide Web got its name.
Many online services use menus to make them easier for novices to use. In its simplest form, a menu may look like this:
R)ead messages
Q)uick search available messages
W)rite messages
C)omments to Sysop
D)ownload programs
?) for help
G)oodbye. This is enough!
Enter a letter (or ?) to select a function. Enter R to read messages. There
is hardly any need to read the documentation to use this service.
Internet's
Gopher services use the following type of menus:
The Online World resources handbook (de Presno)
--> 1. Introduction.
2. The Online World resources handbook/
3. Retrieving the handbook/
4. Printed versions/
5. The Online World Monitor newsletters/
6. The TOW mailing list/
7. Press here if you have a Web-browser.
Press ? for Help, q to Quit, u to go up a menu
The "/" at the end of a menu item shows that this choice will give
you another menu. Enter '2' to get another menu. Failing the
"/", the item will give you a file.
If you access a gopher service
using a Web browser, then the item numbers are replaced by icons. The numbers
are not needed in a graphical environment. The icons tell you whether the
choices are files, directories, graphics, search services, or other things.
Click on the item to make your choice.
Similar codes and commands
are used on several other online services. Some services also offer commands
like "go service-name," "join service-name" (or just
J), "delta service-name," or just the code or name of the offering
as in 'mail'.
On some services, and especially
if a selection requires just a letter or a number, you do not need to press
return to make it happen. This method is used on many bulletin boards. Some
codes are standard. This is particularly the case with '?',
'H', or Help for more information. Case seldom matters.
Several commercial systems let you try the service for free, or at lower rates. You can check it out without paying for the exploratory connect time, and get some free training in how to use the service. Examples: CompuServe's Practice Forum (GO PRACTICE).
Note: You must go to the 'real' databases for results. You cannot retrieve actual information during a test drive.
Most services regard all new users as novices. The software designers assume
that users do not want (or are unable) to read lengthy explanations. They
think that most users prefer navigation by going from menu to menu.
Commercial services may support
this view for financial reasons, and especially when charging for access
by the minute. (Some of them let you read their help screens for free, though.)
Menus are important when browsing
new offerings, or accessing services that we seldom use. Frequent users of
a service, however, quickly learn how to do things. Menus may soon begin
to annoy rather than please. Reading them costs money, and it slows our
communications down.
We do not need menus when
accessing online services in fully automated mode. Your communications program
remembers exactly what to do, and does all the typing for you.
There is no point in paying
extra for having menus. You'll not read them anyway. The aim is to access
the service at maximum speed and the lowest possible cost.
Most online services can be
tailored to your personal needs and preferences. Many let you choose between:
If concerned about costs, note that you can use expert mode without being
a true expert. Just print the menus, and keep them by your keyboard while
moving around.
Some users draw 'road maps'
of the services to navigate more quickly. Others automate the process using
automatic communications scripts.
On the Web, we're speeding
up things by creating bookmarks in our browser programs. This allows us to
return to a given page directly rather than "click down to it" from the service's
home (top or welcome) page.
Many online services let you to tailor the way information is sent to you.
Some communications programs,
like Internet browsers, also lets you change the way things happen. For example:
The need to tailor the online service's prompts and menus differs considerably
from user to user. We have all kinds of needs, and use all kinds of computers
for communication.
Some screens are large. Other
screens can only display a few lines of text at a time. Some users even use
pocket calculators and handheld computers with tiny, tiny screens.
If you are satisfied with
how things are, skip the next couple of pages and read from "Connecting the
first time." If curious of your options, read on for a brief technical overview.
Besides a selection of various
types of menus, some online services also let you set the following preferences:
Users of Web browsers can usually do this within their software. For example, users of Netscape Navigator may click on Options, General Preferences, select the Appearance page, mark off "Browser starts with Home page", and put in any Web page of choice in this field. They may even let Netscape display a file on their local disks.
An 'A' is not an 'A' no matter what service you use. When I called Tocolo BBS in Japan with a non-Japanese MS-DOS computer, the welcome text came up like this on my screen:
D0:[ BBS (<^/9] 7.8)
62>] =3 ---> 3 (@^2K.3 03-205-9315)
3]V3 <^6] ---> 24 <^6] 6D^3 C=D A-3
(Wed 9:00-17:00 J R]C I @R 5T=P C^=)
You'll need a Japanese ROM (Read-Only Memory) in your computer, a special
graphics program, or a Japanese language operating system to have Kanji
characters properly displayed on your screen.
The characters you see on
your computer's screen are based on a code. The computer finds the characters
to display from a table built into your system's hardware or software.
Most personal computers can
be preset to use various tables depending on your needs. When communicating
in English, you may want it to show Latin characters. When writing in Japanese,
you may want it to display Kanji characters.
Those writing in Norwegian,
often want to use the special Scandinavian characters
øØæÆåÅ. If the first two of these Nordic
characters read like the symbols for Yen and Cent, you are not set up for
Scandinavian characters. If your system is set up correctly, they should
look like an 'o' and an 'O' overwritten by a '/'.
To read or create non-Roman
web pages or email, you may be required to have these special
fonts installed in your computer.
The code telling your computer
what to display, may also contain information about where to put characters
and what colors to use.
An online service may order
your computer to display a given character in column 10 on line 2, and to
print it in blinking red color. If you are not set up correctly, these codes
may show as garbage on your screen rather than as a colorful character in
a given position.
If you call a service set
to display text in VT-52 format, and your communications program is set
accordingly, then you should be OK. VT-52 is a setup that makes a program
or a service 'behave' like a DEC VT-52 terminal.
Being able to view VT-52 coded
text on your screen, does not guarantee that you can capture this 'picture'
to a file on your disk. Your communications program may need special features
to do that. If these features are missing, you are in for a surprise. The
text in your capture file may look like in this example (on my computer,
it came on a single, long line ):
--------------------------------------------------
**H*J*Y"4 Innhold*Y%>
*Y&4Emneoversikt 1 Brukerprofil 6*Y)
4Stikkord A-] 2 Bruker- *Y*4 veile
dning 7*Y,4Informasjons-
*Y-4leverand|rer A-] 3 Teledatanytt*Y.W
8*Y04Personlig indeks 4*Y2H *Y3
4Meldingstjenesten 5 Avslutte9*Y64 ]pningsside
*00# *Y 4TELEDATA 880823-1538*
Y74 NTA01-00a*Y74
*Y74*Y74
---------------------------------------------------
The character '*' in this example refers to the ESCape character (ASCII
number 27). ESC is used to tell your computer that what follows is
a VT-52 display command. The codes following ESC say where text is to be
printed on your screen (from line number x and column number y).
If your communications program
cannot save VT-52 coded text in a readable way, you'll need auxiliary programs
to remove or convert the codes. Some communication programs let you take
snapshots of the screen, and store the result in a file. This usually gives
good results, but it may be a cumbersome approach.
Minitel (in France and the U.S.) belongs
to a group of online services called videotex (or viewdata). They believe
that beautiful color graphics, large characters, and menus give them a
competitive advantage.
Viewdata services use graphical
display standards with names like CEPT, Captain (Character and Pattern Telephone
Access Information Network System), Telidon, Minitel, Teletel, GIF (the Graphics
Interchange Format), Viewdata, and NAPLPS (The North American Presentation
Level Protocol Syntax).
Often, you'll need special
terminal machines to use viewdata services. On other services, you must use
special software plus an emulator card in your computer.
Many MS-DOS based bulletin
boards let you set access defaults to colors and graphics. Most of them use
ANSI graphics in welcome texts and menus. Users must set their programs to
ANSI (or ANSI BBS) to take advantage.
Capture these welcome texts
and menus to a file on your hard disk, and view them with an editor. They
are filled with ANSI escape codes, and thus hard to read or search. The good
news is that most conference and forum mail rarely contain such codes.
Many users routinely keep
captured online information on their hard disks for later reference. If this
is your intention, make sure that text is sent to you in plain ASCII, or
in a mode that your software can handle.
If you want 'TTY' or 'ASCII',
and these are not on your online services' lists of options, try 'Others'
or 'Other computers'. These settings usually identify your computer as unable
to handle 'standard' colors, sound and graphics.
If you have low cost access to a local Internet provider, or unlimited financial
resources, go ahead and call up services all over the world. Learning by
doing is exciting.
If your resources are limited
and the service is expensive, start by reading user information manual. Go
online to capture key menus and help texts. Print them out on paper for further
study before going online again for 'real'.
I always hurry slowly during
my first visits to a commercial online service. I call up, quickly capture
information about how to use it, and disconnect. It may take days to study
the material. My goal is to find what the service offers so that I can plan
how to use it most efficiently.
The first important command
to look up is the logoff command. There is nothing more frustrating than
to get an error message after submitting BYE. If lost, try
"quit," "exit," "logoff," "off," "logout,"
and "G" in the hope of finding the correct command. These are the
most usual variations. You should also try ? or HELP.
If you really can't figure
out how to get off a system, just hang up on it (cut the connection). However,
be careful. Some systems will continue to charge for a period after you have
disconnected by hanging up.
Note: If you are using a dialup modem to connect to online services, make sure that it is always set to watch the presence of the carrier signal. On my modems, this is set by the command: AT &D2. If this feature is not set, then you may not get disconnected from the online service until the phone line is physically disconnected from your modem!
One of the first things that I do, is set my options to expert status, though
I am obviously an amateur at this stage.
Often, I also start automating
the process during my first visits. I write script files for automatic access
and quick navigation to key offerings. Another good strategy is to look for
automated offline readers or systems (see Chapter 16
for details).
Others prefer paper and pencil.
They write a list of required commands on a piece of paper, like this:
Call 0165
At CONNECT: ENTER @SP ENTER
At the NUI prompt: Nxxxxxppppp-a170041
At Enter 'dix' and <Enter>: dix
At -- More --: ENTER
At Your name: Odd de Presno
At Password: hemmelig
At What do you want to do:
- when no unread mail goodbye
- when mail to read ENTER
Put the list by your keyboard before calling the service. Follow it carefully. After a while you may remember the procedure, and can throw away your notes.
The Online World resources handbook's text on paper, disk and in any
other electronic form is © copyrighted 2000 by Odd
de Presno. |
Illustration by Anne-Tove Vestfossen