Buffalo Free-Net Help PageIn order to get the most out of your time at The Buffalo Free-Net, it is strongly recommended that you become familiar with the BFN user interface. The more you know about this interface the more enjoyable and productive your time will be. The purpose of this document is to explain all the major features of this interface and how you can use it to explore the wealth of information available on the Information Superhighway.
To download this document as a text file from the Buffalo Free-Net web browser press the letter 'd' while this link is highlighted. You will be prompted to select a download protocol of your choice.
The Buffalo Free-Net uses a program called LYNX as its user interface. Lynx is a text-based World Wide Web Client, also known as a Web Browser.It was originally developed at The University of Kansas and is now maintained my Foteos McRides. Lynx provides the BFN user with access to all areas of the Free-Net system as well as the ability to explore the vast range of information available on the Internet. In addition to accessing the World Wide Web, Lynx is able to connect to systems using FTP, GOPHER, WAIS and NNTP protocols. This provides a consistent interface across all areas of the Internet. The BFN user, therefore, only needs to become familiar with one set of commands to access all these services.
The fact that lynx is text-based has several advantages. Whereas most graphical browsers require higher end machines running Windows, this text based approach allows even users of older computers with slow modems running under DOS to access the system. In addition, the low bandwidth of text pages allows these pages to load faster and frees the server to grant more user requests in a shorter period of time.
The main disadvantage of this system is that you will not be able to see the pictures and fancy formatting associated with the World Wide Web portion of the Internet. There is, however, a way to retrieve these images and sounds for use offline. This will be discussed in the section on downloading. In addition, certain advanced functions of some web pages will be unavailable to BFN users.
In spite of these disadvantages, this approach best serves BFN's mission of providing access to the widest range of users in the Western New York community. There are currently no plans to make a graphical interface available at BFN.
Throughout this document you will encounter words or letters enclosed in square brackets. The bracketed item represents a key which you are to press. For example, press [enter], means press the enter (or return) key. Press [g] means press the 'g' key. Sometimes you will see a word in which one of the letters is bracketed. The word is the name of the command. The bracketed letter is the key that you press to invoke that command. [j]ump means, that to execute a 'jump command', you press the letter 'j'. You do not, of course, press the bracket keys.
Keystroke commands are case sensitive, [g] and [G] do not mean the same thing.
There are a few cases where bracketed items do not refer to key strokes. Certain items are displayed on screen enclosed in square brackets. This will be clear from the context of the item.
The exact appearance of the Buffalo Free-Net screen will depend on your communications program. There are, however, certain elements of this screen of which you should be aware.
Near the bottom of your screen is the status line. This line provides system messages and other information. The status line is usually displayed in inverse video to make it stand out from the rest of the information on the screen. Below the status line you will usually find two lines of help information. You may configure this section of the screen to provide different information using the [u]ser mode section of the [o]ptions screen.
Immediately above this is the document window. At the top of this you will see the title of the document that you are viewing as well as information telling you how many (screen) pages are in the document and the number of the page you are currently viewing.
You may notice that certain sections of text appear differently in the document window. In most cases you will notice that text appears in one of four ways. Most text will appear using your terminal's NORMAL font. Some text might be EMPHASIZED, Others may appear as BOLD and one section of text might be HIGHLIGHTED. Again, exactly how this appears on your screen will depend on your communications program, but they should appear as their names do here.
Normal text is just what its name implies. Emphasized text is intended to add importance to certain items. Bold text usually indicates a link that you can follow to another section of the document or another document (or file) anywhere in the world. The Highlighted item indicates the position of your cursor or the link that you currently have selected.
It really doesn't matter how the text appears on your screen. The important thing is that some text items represent links, all other text attributes are embellishment. You can always tell a link because as you move your cursor down the page it will stop at each link.
Most navigation can be handled using just 6 keys, the four arrow keys, the [spacebar], and the minus key or dash [-]. They function as follows:
[right arrow] - follows the highlighted link. [enter] also does this. [left arrow] - takes you back where you came from. [up arrow] - moves you up one link in the current document. [down arrow] - moves you down one link in the current document. [space bar] - moves you ahead one screen in the current document. [-] - moves you back one screen in the current document.
An alternate method of basic navigation is through the use of the numeric keypad on your keyboard. This can be set up to function in one of two ways, depending on the [o]ptions you have selected. If you have the "key pad as arrows" option set, it will function as follows:
[right arrow] - follows the highlighted link. [left arrow] - takes you back where you came from. [up arrow] - moves you up one link in the current document. [down arrow] - moves you down one link in the current document. [end] - advances you to the end of the current document. [home] - returns you to the beginning of the current document. [pg dn] - moves you ahead one screen in the current document. [pg up] - moves you back one screen in the current document.
The numeric keypad can also be configured in such a way as to cause all links to be numbered. To follow a particular link you type in it's number. To do this see [k]eypad as arrows in the [o]ptions section below.
Another useful basic navigation aid is the [m]ain command. Just hit the [m] key anytime you wish to return to the BFN main screen.
There are a few other features available to aid in your navigation along the Information Superhighway. They are the [j]ump command, the [g]oto command, The History Page, and your Bookmark file.
A [j]ump command is simply a shortcut to some area of the Buffalo Free-Net. It will lead you to certain pre-set areas within the Free-Net system. To execute a jump command, press the letter [j]. You will then be prompted for a jump word. If you are unsure of the jump word, press [?] you will then be presented with a list of all possible destinations. If you want to return to the page you were on before you executed the jump, just keep pressing the [left arrow] until you return.
The jump command employs a small "circular buffer". Each time you execute a jump, the keyword is stored in memory. The previous entries may be cycled through by pressing your up or down arrow keys. Any of these entries are fully editable. Use your left and right arrow keys to move back and forth and your [backspace] (or [delete]) key to erase.
Every resource on the Internet has a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). This is simply a pointer to a specific file. A URL consists of several parts that tell BFN, or any host system, how to access the specific information that you are interested in. If you would like to learn more about URLs you can find information by pressing [h], This will bring you to the Lynx Help Page. For now, lets assume that you know the URL of a site that you are interested in visiting. To do this you simply press [g]. You will then be prompted to enter the URL. Do so, and you will be presented with the information you requested. For example, the URL http://bfn.org/ will take you to the BFN homepage from anywhere in the world.
If you simply wish to make an HTTP connection, it is not necessary to include the "protocol" portion of the URL (http://). The browser has been specially modified to insert this for you. Additionally, if the host name begins with the characters 'ftp.' then instead of an HTTP connection the browser will try to make an FTP connection to the host. If the host name begins with 'gopher.' then it will try to make a GOPHER (gopher://) connection to the host. Should you wish to make an HTTP, to a host whose name begins with 'ftp' or 'gopher' (if it supports HTTP) then you will need to include the (http://) protocol.
Additionally, if you wish to [g]oto a page at The Buffalo Free-Net, you may substitute the alias "bfn" for the hostname (bfn.org). The URL for this page is http://bfn.org/help/browserhlp.html. You may omit the protocol and use the alias and just type bfn/help/browserhlp.html. This will only work at BFN and only from the [g]oto prompt. Do not include it in any web page that you might write.
The Goto command also employs a "circular buffer". Each time you execute a Goto the URL is stored in memory. The previous entries may be cycled through by pressing your up or down arrow keys. Any of these entries are fully editable. Use your left and right arrow keys to move back and forth and your [backspace] (or [delete]) key to erase.
There are also two variations of the Goto command, ELGOTO and ECGOTO:
It is possible to skip forward or backward in a document, using either the page or link numbers as a reference.
NOTE: If you have the "numbers act as arrows" option set, you must first press [0](zero) to invoke this command.
Press [backspace] or [delete], depending on the way your environment is set, and you will see The History Page. The History Page contains a record of the links that you have followed to reach your present location. This makes it very easy for you to return to some previous point along your journey. Just highlight the desired link and follow it.
Pressing [V] will activate the "Visited Links Page". This is similar to the History Page, except that the History Page will not contain certain links that you may have activated (such as downloads etc.) Also if you back out of a document (by pressing the left arrow key) that link will be removed from the history stack but will remain on the Visited Links Page.
If we use the analogy of a journey along the Information Superhighway, think of The History Page as the directions necessary to get from your starting point to your destination, including all the landmarks along the way. The Visited Links Page is a list of all the places you stopped, including any side trips you made.
You will find your self returning to certain places time after time. They may suit your interests, or help you in your search for information, or just be fun places to visit. Fortunately, there is a way to make a list of these sites so that you can return to them easily. This list is called a Bookmark file. You can [v]iew your Bookmark file by pressing [v]. You may then access any of these items by highlighting them and following the link. To [a]dd a document to this list press [a] while viewing that document. You will then be asked if you want to add the [d]ocument or the highlighted [l]ink to your bookmarks. Respond by pressing the appropriate key and it will be added. You can now return at any time by pressing [v], highlighting the desired link, and following it.
Although the bookmark file says that it can be edited, this is not possible at BFN. You may, however, [r]emove any unwanted bookmarks by highlighting them and pressing [r].
If you wish, you may obtain a [l]ist of every link on a particular page. This is done by pressing [l]. You will then see a listing of every link on that page. You will see only the information that the browser would use to access this link (i.e. the URL of the link). The link text (or what you would see highlighted in the document) will not appear.
Sometimes it is helpful to know certain information about the document you are viewing. This is the purpose of the Information Page. You can view the Information Page by pressing [=]. The Information Page is divided into two parts. The first part gives you information about the document you are viewing. The second part concerns the link that is currently selected. The two most important pieces of information here are the URLs of the document and the selected link.
The line titled URL: in the first part, gives you the URL of the document. The 'Filename' in the second part gives the URL of the selected link. You may return at any time, to either of these, by simply entering them at the [g]oto command.
Another handy use for the Information Page is the ability to determine the file type of a link that can not be displayed. Not all links lead to viewable documents. Some may be pictures, sounds, or executable programs, etc. If you attempt to follow such a link you will be given the message that this file can not be displayed and asked if you would like to download it. If you cancel and check the Information page you should be able to determine the type of file by its extension. Just look at the Filename and decide whether or not you want to download this file.
All documents on the World Wide Web are written in HTML (HyperText Markup Language). An HTML document is simply an ASCII text file with HTML tags added to tell the browser how to render the document on the screen. The HTML tags are also responsible for the ability to create Hyperlinks. This is the true power of web documents. It is possible to view the source HTML document by pressing [/]. Pressing it again will return you to the rendered version.
There are two reasons why you might want to do this. First, by viewing the source document, you can find out how a particular effect was created. This can be helpful if you are trying to learn HTML. The second reason is that you can gain some information about certain items that are not displayable. Often there are all kinds of graphic devices on a web page that will be invisible to the BFN user. For example there are graphics on the BFN Main Page! You have probably never seen them or even knew that they were there.
The World Wide Web is a highly graphical environment. The Lynx browser is incapable of displaying anything other than text. It is still possible for you to access these graphics if you have suitable viewers on your PC. You must first, however, download the image files to your PC.
Inline images are simply graphics used to enhance the appearance of the document. These graphics may serve one of several purposes. Some images serve as links to other documents or larger versions of a picture which may be downloaded. In these cases the 'image' will appear on your screen as [link], [image] or some alternate text. In these cases they will be selectable and you may follow them. They usually appear in a graphical browser as some sort of button that may be clicked on. If they lead to a non-displayable item, you will be given the option of downloading it.
In many cases an image does not represent a link, it is there to provide visual information or as an embellishment to the page. These may appear on screen as [inline], some alternate text, or not at all. In these cases you can not access the image for downloading by following a link. There is, however a way to have any such images appear as links. By pressing [*] you can instruct the browser to include links to all inline images. You can then follow any of these links to download the image.
This can really clutter up a page as you will have not only the normal links, but also links to the images used as buttons to follow the links, and links to any other pictures contained on the page, as well as links to graphical lines, bullets etc. Normally you should leave this mode off unless you are interested in downloading these images. Pressing [*] again will toggle back and forth.
Image Maps are a special type of image. Certain areas of an image are mapped to allow a user with a graphical browser to select a link by clicking on a specific portion of the image. These will appear in Lynx as [ismap]. In some cases you will see the word [usemap] either alone or associated with the word [ismap]. if you select the [usemap] you will be presented with a list of all the links that would be contained in the image. Some image maps are simply not usable by Lynx. Selecting them will do nothing. In these cases you might look to see if a 'text only' version of the document is available.
You may come across files that you would like to download. Downloading simply means transferring a copy of the file to your computer for later access. As mentioned earlier, Web pages often contain links to files that can not be displayed by the BFN interface. If you attempt to access any of these links you will be told that it can not be displayed and given the option to download it. You can also [d]ownload any document you wish simply by highlighting its link and pressing [d].
When you elect to download a file you will be given several choices. You may download the file directly to your PC using one of the listed file transfer protocols or save the file to your BFN work directory.
Please note: The disk space available for the storage of user files at BFN is extremely limited. Each user is limited to 1 Megabyte of disk space (although for technical reasons the actual working limit is somewhat lower). It is your responsibility to maintain your files. If you exceed your quota you will be unable to save any additional files and your incoming mail may be refused. Additionally the total space available for all BFN users is inadequate for every user to use their full quota. If every user were to store 1 meg the disk would quickly fill to capacity. This is intended as temporary storage only, please delete all unnecessary files as soon as possible. (see Managing your files, in the help desk)
If you attempt to download a web document you will receive a copy of the HTML source document (see above). This will be virtually useless unless you have a Web browser on your PC to view this document. If you would like a copy of a web document, to read offline or print, you would be better off using the [p]rint command.
If you wish to have a copy of any web document, to view offline or print, the best way to do this is by using the [p]rint command. While viewing any document simply press [p]. You will then be given the choice to 'mail the file to yourself','print the file to the screen', or ' print directly to your printer'.
If you wish to have a copy of the rendered document that you can print later or open in a word processor or text editor, choose print to screen. Now turn on your communications text capture routine. How you do this will depend on your communications program. Next press [enter] and the entire document will scroll past. When you get to the end of the document turn off your text capture, and press [enter] to finish. You now have a copy of the document in standard ASCII text format. This may be opened by any word processor or even printed from the dos prompt.
If you would prefer to simply print the document, choose 'print directly to your printer'. Your printer must be connected and turned on and your communications program must support this function.
If for some reason either of these do not work, there is another way to do this. Select 'mail the file to yourself'. Use the Pine mail program to save or export the file to your work directory, and download this file to your PC. This will be an ASCII text file. See the FAQs on Pine and File transfers for help, [j]ump 'faq'.
It is possible to search any document for the occurrence of a particular string (word or set of words). This can save a lot of time when you are interested in only a particular subject which may be contained in a long document.
You begin a search by pressing [/]. You will then be asked to enter a search string. Type the words you want to find and hit [enter]. If this string appears in the document its first occurrence will be displayed. To search for the [n]ext occurrence press [n]. The search command also employs a fully editable circular buffer as with the Jump and Goto commands.
This search can be configured to be case sensitive or case insensitive. See [s]earching type in the [o]ptions section below for instructions.
Sometimes, due to traffic on the Internet, it will take a very long time to connect to a remote server or transfer a file back to BFN for your use. You may wish to cancel this process if you get tired of waiting. You do this by pressing [z] or [ctrl][g]. In the case of a connect attempt, the request will be cancelled. In the case of a file transfer, any data received before the cancellation will be displayed.
Sometimes the document that you are viewing will become garbled. This may be due to line noise or operating system messages. If you press [ctrl][W] the system will refresh the screen and remove the garbled text. Pressing [ctrl][r] will cause the system to reload a new copy of the document and also refresh the screen.
You can get [h]elp on several subjects related to Lynx, URLs and HTML by pressing [h] or [?]. This will bring up the Lynx Help Screen. Be aware that this information is generic in nature. This information may or may not apply to the way things are setup at BFN.
For help on various aspects of the Buffalo-Free-Net, you should visit the 'Help Desk', available from the main screen, [j]ump 'helpdesk'. To get answers to Frequently Asked Questions, [j]ump 'faq'. If after trying all these you still have a question that you can't find an answer to, you can post a question to the newsgroup 'wny.freenet.questions'. First look at the questions already there. Someone else might have just asked a similar question. See the section 'Usenet Newsgroups' for instructions on how to access the newsgroups.
Unfortunately you have to leave BFN sometime, actually at least once every hour. Your access to BFN is limited to one hour at a time. This is done to make it easier for all users to have a chance to connect. As your time expires you will be warned. If you do not [q]uit you will be disconnected. To quit press [q], you will then be asked if you are sure and if you answer yes the connection will be terminated. This is the proper way to log off. You should not just hang up the line.
Since your connection to The Buffalo Free-Net is limited, it can be helpful to know how much [t]ime remains in your current session. This is particularly helpful before beginning a lengthy download. By pressing [t] you can see how long you have been connected. It is then easy to determine how much time remains.
It is possible to reconfigure certain aspects of the way the interface works. This is done from the [o]ptions menu. Press [o] and you will be presented with a list of options. Several of these are fixed and may not be changed. A few more are really irrelevant to the average BFN user. Only those options that the average user might change will be discussed.
To change one of the options, press the letter associated with that option, then make the changes as described below. After you have set the option press [enter] to return to the options prompt. If you would like this change to apply only to the current session, press [r] to return and exit the options screen. If you want this change to be apply to future sessions as well, press [>] to save the changes.
This option determines which character set will be used to send text to your terminal. The default is 'Latin 1'. All users of Dos and Windows based communications should change this to 'IBM PC character set'. Macintosh users should select 'Macintosh'. This will prevent certain characters from appearing incorrectly on your screen. (the copyright symbol will appear as '(C)' or the symbol rather than 'copy')
To change the Character set, go to the [o]ptions screen and press [c]. You will then be presented with a drop down menu listing all possible choices. Use your arrow keys to highlight the desired selection and press [enter] to accept.
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is a method of accessing systems that store archives of files which may be downloaded. When you access an FTP site using BFN, you will see a list of files that you may download. See the section on downloading for instructions.
The [f] option allows you to decide how this directory list will be sorted when it appears on your screen. To change the sort criteria go to the [o]ptions screen and press [f]. You will then be presented with a drop down menu listing all possible choices. Use your arrow keys to highlight the desired selection and press [enter] to accept.
You must have this option set prior to the FTP directory being retrieved by BFN. If you get to an FTP site and then decide that you would like to have the directory resorted, first change the sort order as described, then return to the directory and press [ctrl][r] to reload it.
This applies to the type of search performed by the [/] command. The two possible types are 'case insensitive' and 'case sensitive'. They work just as you would expect. A case insensitive search of a document for the word 'HELP' will find 'HELP', 'Help', 'help' etc. A case sensitive search will only find 'HELP'.
To change the [s]earching type go to the [o]ptions screen and press [s]. The searching type will then highlight. Press any key to toggle between the two choices and press [enter] to accept.
The numeric keypad on your keyboard can be configured in one of three ways:
The last two options makes more sense for a document that is set up as a list. It can get confusing when the links are simple inline text.
To change this option go to the [o]ptions screen and press [k]. You will then be presented with a drop down menu listing all possible choices. Use your arrow keys to highlight the desired selection and press [enter] to accept.
The [u]ser mode allows you to decide what information the system will display at the bottom of your screen and in the status line. There are 3 possible choices: Novice, intermediate, and advanced.
To change the [u]ser mode go to the [o]ptions screen and press [u]. You will then be presented with a drop down menu listing all possible choices. Use your arrow keys to highlight the desired selection and press [enter] to accept.
In addition to setting the browser options, there are a few other things that you can change about your account at BFN. This is the purpose of the USER SERVICES area. From this area you will be able to:
All users are encouraged to change their password on a regular basis.
This choice allows you to set certain characteristics of your terminal, including the action of the [delete] and [backspace] keys and the terminal size. This is also where you can specify your default editor.
A signature file is a short text file that you can have appended to all your outgoing mail and news posts. It usually consists of your name and a few lines of information about your various affiliations, or may contain a quote etc. You should keep this short and clean as it will be appended to everything you write.
To access the User Services area, [j]ump 'userservices'. For help with any of these, visit the Help Desk and see the Frequently Asked Questions or [j]ump 'faq'
So far most of the discussion has pertained to 'passive' use of the BFN system. That is, how you get set up to navigate and view objects that others have prepared. It is, however, possible for you to interact with other systems and users. There are several ways to do this.
Electronic mail or e-mail is a way to communicate with other individuals over the Internet. At BFN all e-mail is handled by the PINE mail program. For instructions on how to use PINE [j]ump 'faq' and see the section on using Pine for e-mail and newsgroups. To use Pine, [j]ump 'mail'.
You may wish to send a [c]omment to the person who is responsible for the document that you are viewing. pressing [c] will allow you to do this if the document owner has set things up to allow this. If not you will be told. Also most documents have a 'Mailto' link at the end. This will usually look like an e-mail address, such as, (bfn@bfn.org) or may just be the person's name. Either way if you attempt to follow this link you will be given instructions for mailing your comments. If you elect not to do this, press [ctrl][g] to cancel.
Usenet newsgroups are discussion groups. They cover a wide range of subjects. There are two ways to access these newsgroups at BFN. You may access them using the standard interface or through the PINE mail program that you use for e-mail. To access the news groups [j]ump 'news'. For instructions [j]ump 'faq' and choose the appropriate category.
There are certain advantages to accessing the news groups with one method rather than the other. If you use the browser rather than PINE, the browser will attempt to make any URL contained in a news post live (that is, it will become a link that you can follow). You can also browse through all the news groups available at BFN. Pine allows you to make a list of only the news groups you wish to access, also the editor is much more powerful than the one used by the browser.
Forms are a way that you can provide information to another system or person. There are many uses for forms. You can fill in surveys, request information, purchase products, or use search engines to locate documents that interest you. All forms have a few items in common.
Check boxes - these appear as ( ). To check the box press [right arrow] or [enter] when your cursor is in the box. it will then appear as (*).
Radio buttons - these are like check boxes except that only one may be checked.
Selection fields - these are like drop down menus. They appear as square brackets enclosing the default choice [default]. Press the [right arrow] when your cursor is in the box. use [up arrow] or [down arrow] to move, and [right arrow] to select.
Text Entry Fields - this is where you type in text. Use the [up arrow] [down arrow] and [tab] to move between fields. [enter] will not move you to the next field.
Buttons - these appear as links. There will be one of these with a word like Submit, Send, or Search etc. This is used to transmit the information you have entered. You 'press' the button by pressing the [right arrow] or [enter].
You can erase any line of input by pressing [ctrl][u], This applies not only to forms but also input to the [g]oto and [j]ump commands etc.
Some sites use small amounts of data popularly known as "cookies" to maintain various 'state' or usage information about your connection. For example, a site may send one or more cookies to the web browser indicating which pages or pieces of information you have viewed, or a query string containing a search request.
If you need to accept a cookie in order to properly use a web site, you can enable cookie support by pressing the letter [C]. When a cookie is received you will then be prompted by the browser to allow it to accept the cookie, reject it, accept all cookies from that particular site or to reject all cookies from that site. Pressing [C] again will disable cookie support.
Since you will prompted to accept each cookie the browser receives this feature is OFF by default and you must enable it any time you want to use it. Any cookies that you accept are maintained only for the length of your current BFN login. They will not persist between logins.
Should you wish to examine the cookies you have accumulated during a session, press [ctrl][k] to view "The Cookie Jar". You can then "gobble" (delete) any of the cookies and/or change the 'allow' settings, should you wish to do so.
The Internet is a very large, busy and constantly changing place. Often you will attempt to follow a link unsuccessfully. There are several reasons for this.
Sometimes you will see a message on the status line 'alert! unable to connect to remote host' or 'unable to access document' These usually mean that the system you are attempting to contact is busy. You can try to access this a few times, you might get through. If not try again later.
Other times you might see a screen with some information indicating that the requested file was not found or that you do not have permission to access the requested file. The former usually means that the file has been removed. It might also mean that the URL/filename is incorrect. If you have typed this at the [g]oto prompt, recheck it. The Permission message means that certain restrictions have been placed on access to the requested file.
Most information on the Internet is free and available to anyone who has an interest in viewing it. There are, however, some sites that require fees or registration to access their data. If you link to such a site, you will be asked for a user ID and password. If you do not know them then you probably don't belong there, and forcing your way in may be a violation of the law. Just hit [enter] for both. Access will be denied and you will be asked if you want to try again. Answer no and you will be returned to the document that you came from.
Sometimes you will come across a site that is password protected but the document that links you to that site will provide you with information to access this site. These will often be words like 'guest' or 'anonymous' etc. In these cases it is probably OK to enter. You need to use your own discretion. If you access the document and it looks like you don't belong there, LEAVE!
Much has been said and published about the "dangers" of the Internet. The thing you must remember is that the "online world" is made up of people from the "real world". Not everyone is decent or honest, nor are they always what they appear to be. The "bad guys" can buy computers too.
You should always be very careful about giving out sensitive personal or financial information to someone you don't know.
[right arrow] - follows the highlighted link. [enter] also does this. [left arrow] - takes you back where you came from. [up arrow] - moves you up one link in the current document. [down arrow] - moves you down one link in the current document. [space bar] - moves you ahead one screen in the current document. [-] - moves you back one screen in the current document.
[right arrow] - follows the highlighted link. [left arrow] - takes you back where you came from. [up arrow] - moves you up one link in the current document. [down arrow] - moves you down one link in the current document. [end] - advances you to the end of the current document. [home] - returns you to the beginning of the current document. [pg dn] - moves you ahead one screen in the current document. [pg up] - moves you back one screen in the current document.
a - add a bookmark m - goto the BFN main screen c - send a comment n - search for next occurrence C - toggle cookie support o - set your options d - download current link p - print the current document E - edit link URL and goto q - quit the Buffalo Free-Net g - goto a specified URL r - remove a bookmark G - edit document URL and goto t - time on line h - get help v - view your bookmarks j - jump V - show the visited links page k - show key mappings z - cancel input/transfer l - show the list page 0 - invoke select/follow prompt = - show the information page \ - toggle source/rendered view / - search current document * - include links for all images ? - get help [backspace] - show the history page [tab] - move to next field on a form [ctrl]-g - cancel input or transfer [ctrl]-k - examine the cookie jar [ctrl]-r - reload document and refresh screen [ctrl]-w - refresh screen [ctrl]-u - erase input line
This summary only lists some of the more important or useful commands. A complete list of all available keystroke commands can be obtained be pressing [k].
For information on Lynx, HTML, and URLs, the best place to start is the LYNX HELP PAGE. This will lead you to several documents, each of which will lead you to many more.
For everything that you've ever wanted to know about LYNX (and probably a lot that you didn't want to know) visit lynx.browser.org
For a very complete Guide To The Buffalo Free-Net, see the excellent documents provided by the Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries.
For Information on HTML and how to create your own 'Home Page' at BFN, visit the 'Online Plaza and Teleport' from the Main Screen.
For all kinds of help, visit the BFN Help Desk . Here you will find answers to 'Frequently Asked Questions'. You might want to check out the section on Using Pine for email and news , or the general FAQs.
If you still have a question that you can't find an answer to, post it to the news group 'wny.freenet.questions.'
This site maintained by Paul R. Sadowski,
bfn@bfn.org