Becoming Firefox Friendly

Mozilla Firefox was one of the first freeware web browser alternatives to Internet Explorer, and is still a popular option today. Although no computer comes with Firefox pre-installed, it is easy to download and install on your own home computer.  To download Firefox, visit http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ and click Firefox Free Download, this should begin the installation of Firefox automatically, and the setup instructions are easy to follow and will walk you through the process.  

Once Firefox has been downloaded and installed, to start up Firefox you can simply double-click the shortcut  that has embedded itself onto you desktop, or go into your Start Menu and click Mozilla Firefox.

Now that Firefox has been launched, you can begin browsing the internet however you would like.  The first function that you need to know is how to enter the address of a website you would like to visit.

Entering an Address
1) Click on the Firefox address bar which will highlight the current address
2) Type the address of the website that you wish to visit (eg. www.google.ca) and press Enter
This will then take you to the website you wish to view.  If you do not end up on the website you were trying to access, please make sure that you have spelled everything correctly and that all parts of the website address are included (i.e. www.google.ca, not just google)

Once you’ve located a website that you visit often, you can add the site to your Bookmarks so that you only need to click a link to retrieve it, as opposed to typing in the website address every time.  

To add a website to Bookmarks (or Favorites):
1) Navigate to the website that you wish to Bookmark by entering the address into the address bar and pressing Enter.
2) Once on the correct website, click Bookmarks in the top left-hand corner of the web browser, and then scroll down to Bookmark This Page.
3) Click Bookmark This Page (CTRL + D). This will bookmark the page, and allow you to enter information about that page (i.e. Name and the folder you wish to store the bookmark in).
4) Once you have entered the information, click Done. Ta-da! The website has now been added to your Bookmarks, and can be accessed simply by clicking Bookmarks and scrolling down to the correct page.

Adding and Deleting Toolbars
A Toolbar is a strip of icons that are located underneath or above the address bar in your web browser that, when clicked, allow you to access different functions or commands. In Firefox, you have 3 toolbar options - Menu Bar, Navigation Toolbar, and Bookmarks Toolbar.

Menu Bar:  This brings your File, Edit, View, History, Bookmarks, Tools, and Help options into a tool bar above your address bar for easier access.  Normally, this toolbar is already showing.  If not, to add this toolbar simply click View, then scroll down to Toolbars, and then over to Menu Bar and click it.  To remove it, follow the same process and un-check Menu Bar.
Navigation Toolbar: This is the bar that allows you to enter in web addresses to navigate from website to website.  Normally, this toolbar is already showing. If not, to add this toolbar simply click View, then scroll down to Toolbars, and then over to Navigation Toolbar and click it. To remove it, follow the same process and un-check Navigation Toolbar.

Bookmarks Toolbar: This is the toolbar that shows you what websites have been bookmarked, and allow you to access those websites without having to enter in the web address. The toolbar will appear underneath your address bar, and will provide you with the name of your bookmark as well as an icon.

In this image you can see Fantastic Fiction is bookmarked underneath the navigation toolbar with not only the name of the website but its icon  as well.

Toolbars that are created by websites or programs can also be added to your web browser (e.g. AVG Anti-virus Software Toolbar, Google Toolbar, Yahoo! Toolbar, Ask.com Toolbar etc).  Always read the information when downloading a program or software, because often a toolbar is included in that download.  This toolbar will be installed in your web browser unless you specifically un-click that option.

Setting Your Homepage

The first page that your internet browser brings up when you start it is called your Homepage .  Usually you want your homepage to be the website that you visit most, that way you don’t have to waste time navigating to it.

Setting your homepage is easy!  
1) Click Tools in you menu toolbar.
2) Scroll down and click Options.  This will open up a smaller window.
3) In the smaller window click the General tab.  Enter the address of the website you wish to set as your homepage next to homepage.
4) Click OK.

Clearing Your History

Another important function you should know about your web browser is how to clear your information from it.   When browsing web sites, your computer automatically saves information about each visit.  It is important to know how to clear this information so that anyone who uses your computer, lawfully or otherwise (i.e. friends, family or hackers), cannot access your important information.  To delete your browsing history:

1) Click Tools in your menu toolbar.

2) Scroll down to and click Clear Recent History.

3) Make sure that it will clear Everything and click Clear Now.