Help
If you are new to the internet, then we hope the following information will be useful. If you experience difficulties and the solution to your problems is not printed below, then please contact us. We will try and answer your questions or point you in the direction of someone who can. You can also visit the glossary of terms page for an A/Z index of computer terminology.
On this page:
- How do I move about the site?
- How do I remember your address?
- How do I visit other sites?
- Everything looks too big / too small
- Is this site like others?
- Getting the latest pages
- Other information
- Viewing pdf files with Adobe Acrobat Reader
How do I move about the site?
To go to the different sections of this website you need to click one of the menu items on the left hand side. Another type of link is a text link, which again will take you to another part of the site. Text links are generally highlighted in blue and underlined. (e.g. Link ) If you've already visited a web page, the text link's colour will change to look something like this.
A way of finding out whether something is a link or not is to place your pointer over the picture or text. If your pointer turns into a hand then you've found a link. Click your mouse pointer once over the link to go to that area of the site.
If you find you've gone to the wrong place, then simply click on the back or forward buttons on the menu bar at the top of your screen. These will move you a page at a time through the parts of the site you have already visited. You can keep clicking until you reach the page you want or simply use a picture link or text link to get back.
Alternatively you can simply click on the Home Page button to take you back to the start of our site and then navigate your way from there.
How do I remember your address?
You can visit this site any time you like by typing our address into the address bar or location bar in your web browser, towards the top of your screen and then clicking the "go" button or pressing the return key on your keyboard. Our address is www.manchester-housing.org.uk/tpu
Alternatively you can add to favourites or bookmark our site which will save you having to type out our address each time you visit. To bookmark any web page you want to return to:
In Internet Explorer - click either your Favourites button or the word Favourites on the menu bar at the top of your screen. Then click on the option add to Favourites. You can keep the title name offered or change it to something you will remember more easily. Another way to bookmark a web page is to simply press the Control + D buttons on your keyboard.
In Netscape Communicator click the Bookmarks button and select Add Bookmark. Or select the Communicator option on the menu across the top of your screen and go down to the Bookmarks option.
How do I visit other sites ?
If you know the site's address (called an URL) you simply need to type this into your address or location bar and click on the "go" button or press the return key on your keyboard. Remember you can then always save the address as a favourite or bookmark it if you think you will want to view the site again in the future.
Everything looks too big / too small
If the site's web pages and text appear too large or too small for your computer's monitor, there are a number of things you can do.
Using Internet Explorer - On the menu bar at the top of your
screen is a button labelled Font or Size with big letter A's.
Clicking this button will cycle you through different text size
options. Stop at the one that looks best for your screen.
Alternatively you can click on View on the top menu bar then click
on Fonts or Text Size (depending on your version of Internet
Explorer) and choose the size of font you prefer.
Using Netscape Communicator - Click View on the menu at the top of
your browser and choose either the Increase Font or Decrease Font
options.
Another problem may be your screen settings which can also affect the size of text and images - called the resolution. To change the resolution on a PC that runs on Windows 95 or above, click with your right mouse button on an empty space on your main Desktop area (with all programmes minimised or closed). Select the properties option, then the settings tab and use the desktop area slider to change the resolution.
As a rule: the higher the numbers, the higher the resolution and
the more condensed and small the text and images on your screen will
appear. Note: generally only more modern PC's with a 17 inch monitor
or larger, will run resolutions above 800 x 600.
Once you've selected the changes you wish to try, it is always a
good idea to use the Test button to make sure they will work on your
system before clicking the apply or OK buttons.
On Apple Mac's you can make your changes from the Monitor and Sound Control Panel.
Is this site like others ?
We have tried to make this site as simple as possible so that it is accessible to as many computer owners as possible. That means we don't have lots of flashy moving images and sound files etc. Sites that do use these techniques often require you to have special programs on your computer called plugins e.g. Macromedia Flash. These can often be downloaded free off the Internet. A site will normally direct you to the appropriate websites should they be needed.
Getting the latest pages
If you don't always get the latest version of a page on the Internet you can click on the Refresh button or Reload button to update it. However this can become tedious and a better solution is to make your Web Browser check for newer versions of pages and download them automatically for you. To do this:
Click on Tools in Internet Explorer (IE) version 5 or View in versions 3 or 4, from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
For IE Versions 4 & 5:
After clicking Tools select Internet Options from the bottom of the list to open the Options Dialogue Box
About halfway down the dialogue box is a section called Temporary Internet Files click the Settings button to open the Settings Dialogue Box
Select Every visit to the page, click the OK button to close the Settings Dialogue Box, then click the OK button to close the Options Dialogue Box and return to the Browser.
For Netscape Communicator - Click the Edit menu, choose Preferences and click the Advanced category and then Cache. Choose between Once Per Session or Every Time. Selecting Every Time ensures you always view the latest pages.
For IE Version 3:
After clicking View select Options from the bottom of the list to
open the Options Dialogue Box
The Options Dialogue Box has six tabs at the top, click on the
Advanced tab.
About halfway down the dialogue box is a section called Temporary Internet Files click the Settings button to open the Settings Dialogue Box
Select Every visit to the page, click the OK button to close the Settings Dialogue Box, then click the OK button to close the Options Dialogue Box and return to the Browser.
Other information:
If it seems to take for ever for a site to download on to your screen, there could be a number of reasons. Firstly it could be that the Internet, generally, is very busy or that a site is proving popular and is being viewed by lots of people. Also loading times will increase when a website uses large pictures, photos, audio or video files. Another problem could be that you are using a slow modem and therefore your internet connection is not so quick. It may help to surf the Internet at quieter times ( e.g. when everyone in America is in bed !) or opt to view a website as text only by "turning off" pictures.
Viewing pdf files with Adobe Acrobat Reader
Certain forms and documents are presented on this website in a
special way, that allows them to be viewed and printed as they were
originally created. To view these files your computer needs to have
a programme call Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on its hard disk. If
you don't already have Acrobat Reader, you can download and install
it for free from the Adobe website (
www.adobe.com). Wherever the Acrobat Reader is needed to view
documents on the TPU site, you will see the image below (which is a
link to take you to the Adobe Reader website downloads page).
Viewers with visual impairment may find the Accessibility section of
Adobe's website at:
http://access.adobe.com of assistance.
Please note that if you wish to print out a .pdf file you will
need to click on the print icon within Adobe Acrobat Reader and NOT
the print button on your web browser / within File on the menu bar
at the top of your screen. If you print from the wrong place the
paper will appear blank.
