The search box and the address perform two different but related functions. The address box is at the top of your browser whether you use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc., and it is a large box. It is used to enter urls or specific addresses for websites. For instance, if you want to go to my web page you would type www.dwightwatt.com there. The www is optional, but some web sites start with a different word and adding www will result in the site not being found. You could also go to my website by going to dwight-watt.home.att.net, but there is no www on that.

The search box is usually to the right at the top of the browser and usually displays a grayed font telling which search engine is being used. Usually you would see Google or Yahoo or Bing, but there are others. Typing information here results in looking for it in that search engine’s database. If you wanted to find my web site but did not know its address, you could type dwight watt (case is not significant) in the search box and you would get back a number of results including a link to my web page, which you could click on. Typing an address here will usually return a link to that site, and you can click on it (but notice putting the address in the address bar is only one action not two as here.) Or, if that address is not specifically indexed you may find that the search engine tells you it is not found and gives related entries, even though the site really exists.

On many of the latest versions of the browsers, typing something in the address bar that is not a specifically-known site will result in it being sent to the default search engine and give you a list of results.

If it is a specific address (url) then type it in the address box. If it is general information then type in the search box. Following these will get you more quickly and more accurately to the information you want.

Thanks, Sheba, for the question this week.

Dwight Watt is a computer instructor at a technical college in northwest Georgia and also does computer work for businesses, individuals and organizations in the Swainsboro area. His webpage is www.dwightwatt.com.