Section 48. Navigate to a Web Page

1.

Open the BlackBerry Web Browser

Scroll to the Browser icon on the Home screen and click the trackwheel. The Bookmarks screen appears and offers a list of websites you can visit using the BlackBerry web browser; in this case there is only one bookmark. Keep in mind that you can add your own bookmarked sites to this default list.

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The Convenience key on your device also serves as a shortcut to the Bookmarks screen. The Convenience key is the large key on the top of the keyboard between the Send and End keys.

2.

Navigate to an Existing Bookmark

The Bookmarks screen contains a list of bookmarks for existing websites that you can visit using the BlackBerry web browser. To navigate to one of the bookmarked sites, scroll the trackwheel to select a bookmark and double-click; you are actually selecting Get Link from the menu that appears on the first click. The website opens in the BlackBerry web browser. In this example, I'm simply accessing the default Home bookmark that links to the home page established by my wireless service provider. You will add your own bookmarks as you explore the wireless Web.

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The U I and M keys serve as Page Up and Page Down keys while viewing a web page in the browser. Additionally, the E R and C V keys serve as Home and End keys for jumping to the top and bottom of a page.

The Q W key enables you to switch between normal mode and full-screen mode, which effectively hides and shows the title bar in the browser.

3.

Navigate to a Specific URL

At some point, you'll want to travel beyond the predefined list of bookmarks and navigate directly to a website or web page of your own choosing. To navigate to a specific URL, click the trackwheel either from the Bookmarks screen or directly from the browser. Scroll the trackwheel to select Go To from the menu and then click. A dialog box appears and prompts you to enter the URL.

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You can quickly navigate to a new web page at any time by pressing the O P key.

4.

Enter the URL of the Website

The Go To URL text-entry screen automatically begins with the expected http://, which forms the start of most URLs. Begin typing the URL for the web page you want to visit following the http:// prefix. To help make entering the URL easier, you can hold down the Next key for a moment to switch into multitap mode; SureType can make URLs more difficult to enter.

You can use a few typing tricks while entering a URL. To enter a dot (.) in a URL, press the Space key. The other handy symbol shortcut is the Shift + Space combination, which enters a forward slash ( / ). Forward slashes often appear in URLs, and you can quickly enter one by pressing the Shift key followed by the Space key.

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As you enter additional URLs, the Go To dialog box expands to show a history of recently entered URLs. Scroll the trackwheel to select one of these URLs. An even handier trick is to hold down the Alt key when scrolling the trackwheel, which allows you to select and edit one of the previously entered URLs.

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You can copy the address of a web page and even send the address as a message to someone in an email, PIN, or SMS message. Just click the trackwheel on the page and select Page Address from the menu that appears. Click once more, and you are presented with a dialog box that allows you to copy or send the page address. You can also select Send Address directly from the menu as a shortcut for sending the page address.

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You can save a web page to the message list so it appears alongside your text messages. This can be a helpful way to remember a page if you don't want to create a bookmark. Just click the trackwheel on the page and select Save Page from the menu that appears. Click once more and you are prompted to confirm the saveclick the Save button to save the page. The page now appears as a new message on the Messages screen. If a page hasn't finished loading, you can save the page request instead of the completed page by clicking to open the menu and selecting Save Request ; the page continues loading in the background and appears in the message list when it finishes. Saving a page is different from copying a page address in that you are saving the actual contents of the page, not just its URL.

5.

Follow a Link on a Page

The main thing that makes the Web so great is the connectivity between pages. The browser on your device makes it easy to navigate between pages by following links. As you scroll the trackwheel and view a page, you automatically are guided from one link to the next. In other words, the browser automatically selects links for you as you view a pageimage links are shown with a dotted square around them and text links are highlighted in reverse-colored text.

To follow a link on a page, select the link using the trackwheel and double-click; you are actually selecting Get Link from the menu that appears after the first click. You can also follow a link by just clicking the trackwheel once but also holding it down. The browser opens the page referenced by the specified link.

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The Enter key serves as a shortcut to navigate to a page using a selected link. With the link selected, just press the Enter key to follow the link.

You can copy the address of a link and even send the link as a message to someone via an email, PIN, or SMS message. Just select the link with the trackwheel, click, and select Link Address from the menu that appears. Click once more and you are presented with a dialog box that allows you to copy or send the link address. Sending a link is similar to sending a page address, except in this case you're sending a link on a page as opposed to the URL of the page itself.

6.

View the Browser History

A handy way to quickly navigate back to pages you've already visited is to use the browser's history. The browser keeps track of all the websites you visit and stores them in a list known as the browser history . From that list, you can revisit any of the sites. To access the browser history, click the trackwheel from within the browser and select History . Click to display the History screen.

To visit a page listed on the History screen, scroll the trackwheel to select the page and click. The URL of the page is displayed in a dialog box. Click the OK button to accept the URL and navigate to that page in the browser.

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To move to the next page in the browser's history, press the J K key. Similarly, press the D F key to move to the previous page in the browser's history.

7.

Exit the Browser

Unlike most BlackBerry applications, the Escape button in the web browser returns you to the previously viewed page (much like the Back button does in a desktop web browser). However, after you back out to the first page you opened in the browser, the Escape button serves its expected role of exiting the browser application. You can also exit the browser at any time by clicking the trackwheel, selecting Close from the menu that appears, and then clicking again. You should close the browser when you're finished with it to preserve memorythis rule applies to all BlackBerry applications.