The Online World by Odd De Presno
Chapter 3: How to use the online services
347 words | Chapter 36
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The user interface refers to what you get on your computer screen
and how, when you call an online service. It includes menus and
help screens, and various options to tailor the service to your
personal preferences.
Navigating by menus is simpler
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Most online services have menus to make them easier for novices to
use. A typical menu looks 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.
CompuServe greets European users with this menu:
CompuServe Europe EUROPE
COMPUSERVE EUROPE MAIN MENU
1 About CompuServe
2 What's New
3 Member Assistance
4 Electronic Mail
5 Personal Computer Support
6 Company Information
7 Logon Instructions (Europe)
8 CompuServe Information Service (U.S.)
Enter '8' to get another menu:
CompuServe TOP
1 Member Assistance (FREE)
2 Find a Topic (FREE)
3 Communications/Bulletin Bds.
4 News/Weather/Sports
5 Travel
6 The Electronic MALL/Shopping
7 Money Matters/Markets
8 Entertainment/Games
9 Hobbies/Lifestyles/Education
10 Reference
11 Computers/Technology
12 Business/Other Interests
You can "go" to Associated Press' newswires or the section for
home-schooling in the Education Forum by entering numbers listed in
menus. The service is like a tree with menus by every set of
branches.
A code in the upper right-hand corner of each screen tells you
exactly where you are. The last menu has the code 'TOP' meaning
that this menu is at the 'top of the tree'.
By each CompuServe system prompt, the command GO followed by a
destination code will take you directly to a desired location.
Enter GO IBMHW to go directly to the IBM Hardware Forum.
The GO command will save you time and money. Similar codes and
commands are used on several other online services.
On many systems, the first menu encountered when logging on is
a list of announcements and new offerings. The following is from
GEnie, General Electric's Consumer Information Service (U.S.A.):
GEnie Announcements (FREE)
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