Selecting a category of topics:
The built-in list of how-to topics are separated into categories as indicated by the tabs at the top of the interface:
Click a tab to display that category of how-to topics in the topic list (which appears along the left side of the interface).
Selecting or entering a topic:
At any time, you may select a how-to topic from the built-in list. Doing so will automatically set that topic as the currently active topic as shown in the Active Topic Box.
You may also manually enter your own topic into the Active Topic Box.
Discovering how-to content:
All links on the interface are instantly configured whenever a new topic appears within the the Active Topic Box. Clicking a link allows you to explore the Web for content as described by the link.
Links always open in a new window/tab (see notes below). This allows you to take advantage of tabbed browsing, as made possible by most modern browsers. Remember, a simple keyboard shortcut for closing tabs that are open is Ctrl + W.
*The links identified as Google + are special links that are designed to return fewer results that tend to be more relevant rather than every single page that may be even slightly relevant. Be sure to make use of these links, they can be extremely useful.
Using the Favorites feature:
In addition to the built-in topics available, the application contains a Favorites feature that allows you to easily create a custom list of how-to topics that you can access quickly.
A topic can be added to your Favorites by making sure it is the current topic displayed in the Active Topic Box, then clicking the Favorites button:
This will automatically add that topic to your Favorites as well as open the Favorites tab (which displays the newly added favorite as well as any previously added).
When the Favorites tab is active, you'll find buttons at the bottom of the topic list that allow you to delete favorites at any time:
Local search:
An important aspect to learning how to do most things are local resources. The application helps you easily find local resources via its Local Search functionality.
Simply enter your US zip code (obviously, if you're in the US) or your city, country (for example: Berlin, Germany or Sydney, Australia) then click the Local link:
This will open Google Maps, highlighting resources/services in the location you specified for the selected topic.
* Important notes and support info:
- This application makes use of the Adobe Flash Player. If you experience any issues, please make sure you have the latest version of the player installed.
- This application opens links in a new window. If links aren't opening, please make sure you have configured your pop-up blocker to allow this site to open new windows. If you need help with this, the following searches will point you to the information you need: For Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Google Toolbar.
- In a few rare cases, due to a bug within the Flash Player, links will not open at all within the Firefox browser. This is a known bug (known by Adobe). This issue should be fixed soon, as a result of an update to the Flash Player. Please make sure you have the latest version of the player installed. If you do, and links still don't open, please use a different browser for now, such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, or Safari.
- This application uses what are commonly called 'Flash cookies' in order to save your Favorites data. There are some browsers, and computer cleaner-type software tools out there that will delete this data file during it's 'cleaning', or cache emptying process. To prevent this from happening, set your browser, or cleaner software to leave Flash cookies alone.
