If certain words are being ignored by the search engine, how can I get them included in my search?

I have searched for a page but then found that it no longer exists. How can I find it again?

Does case sensitivity also apply in Altavista's basic search?

How can I find out the date & time at which a certain web page was last updated?

How can I search directly from the address bar in Internet Explorer?

How can I add a specific web page to my list of Favorites?

Is there a way of finding out automatically when a certain web page has been updated without having to go and check?

How can I find out which pages have been updated on a specific website since a certain date?

When you run a search in, say, Google for:

"la vie en rose"
(whereby the quotation marks indicate a phrase)

Google will inform you that the words "la" and "en" were ignored in the search. This is because these words are either very common words or stop words (words that have a special meaning to the search engine, as do Boolean operators).

To force the search engine to accept these words in your search, put a "+" in front of each word. In Google you would therefore be searching for:

"+la +vie +en +rose"

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I have searched for a page but then found that it no longer exists. How can I find it again?

1) Using Google

If the page that you are looking for has been indexed by Google, then you will be able to find a previous copy of the page in Google's cache (a copy of the page stored on Google's server).

When you run a search in Google, you will get a list of results. If you happen to click on one of these and obtain a message telling you that the page no longer exists, click on "Cached" (or "Im Archiv") to obtain a previous copy of the page (not necessarily up-to-date), which Google has stored in its cache.

If you were searching for the page in question using a different search engine, you may still be able to make use of Google's cache feature (if the page is in Google's index):
Go to Google, paste the entire URL into the search bar and hit Search.

If the page is available, click on Cache in the results list to view a previous copy.

If you then need to navigate on the page in Google's cache, copy the destination URL of the link that you wish to visit and carry out a new search as described above.

2) Using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine

Paste the entire URL in question into the search box and you will find a list of copies (throughout the years) of the page in question (providing it is in the archive).

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Does case sensitivity also apply in Altavista's basic search?

Not automatically: To specify a particular combination of lower case and upper case letters, you need to enclose your word or phrase in quotation marks ("...").

E.g. (in Altavista's basic search:)

• excursion        finds 238'261 pages
• eXcursion        finds 238'261 pages
• "eXcursion"    finds 857 pages

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How can I find out the date & time at which a certain web page was last updated?

1. Open the page you wish to check;
2. In the address bar where you usually enter the Web site URL, type the following:
   
   javascript:alert(document.lastModified)
   
   without spaces and hit Enter. A window will pop up, telling you the time and date when the page was last revised.

To use this method without having to type or copy the text above each time:

1. In Internet Explorer, add any web page to your Favorites:
   - Open a web page;
   - Select Favorites/Add to Favorites;
   - Under "Name", enter for example: "This page was last modified on ...";
   - Click on OK.
2. Select Organize Favorites and select the page you have just added to your Favorites;
3. Right click on it and select Properties;
4. Select Web Document, and under "URL" replace the existing path (http:// etc.) with the following text:
   javascript:alert(document.lastModified)
5. You may choose a different icon by clicking on Change Icon;
6. If asked whether you want to keep the target you have just entered, answer YES;
7. Click on Close;
8. From now on, to find out the date & time at which a page was last modified, simply open the page in question, then call up the This page was last modified on ... command from your list of Favorites.

ALTERNATIVELY, simply open THIS BLANK PAGE and add it to your Favorites (Favorites/Add to Favorites), naming it for example "Page last updated on..." by overwriting the existing text "javascriptalert(document.lastModified)".

Subsequently you can call up this command at any time from your list of Favorites as you would any normal web page.

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How can I search directly from the address bar in Internet Explorer?

Internet Explorer allows you to search the internet directly from the browser's address bar. All you have to do is enter:

go, find or ?

followed by the word you are looking for and then hit Enter.

Example: go Dätwyler England
Finds: Dätwyler's UK website, http://www.datwyler.co.uk

This will take your query directly to Microsoft's search engine MSN, where a RealNames search technology called RealSearch is used to find the website you are looking for.

Another system, known as Global Keyword Namespaces, allows you to search as follows:

Enter the name of your favourite search engine (e.g. Google / Altavista / AOL / MSN / Excite) in the URL bar followed by a space and then the terms you are looking for.

Example: google polydron

This will perform a search in your favourite search engine, reducing the amount of clicks and typing in carrying out your search.

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How can I add a specific web page to my list of Favorites?

(in Internet Explorer) If you wish to bookmark the page you’re currently viewing for easy access in the future, simply go to the Favorites pull-down menu and select Add to Favorites.

Simply click on OK to put the site in the top level of your favorites list. Alternatively, select Create in>> if you want to create categories to organize your collection of Web sites. For example, you might create a Recipes folder to store all your links to food and recipe sites. You might then create a Desserts folder within the Recipes folder for references to after-dinner delights. Either click on an existing folder, or create a new one by clicking on New Folder and typing in a name.

To get to a page from your favorites list you can either use the Favorites pull-down menu and click on the page you want, or you can click on the large Favorites button to bring up a panel in the left-hand side with your favorites listed in it.

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Is there a way of finding out automatically when a certain web page has been updated without having to go and check?

Yes, this is possible with what is known as "push technology".

PUSH TECHNOLOGY

A form of media distribution where information is sent to the viewer automatically. Television is a prime example of push media. When a viewer turns on the television and selects a channel, information flows (is pushed) out until the television is turned off. The internet uses information channels to push topical information--such as news or sports--automatically to the viewer

PULL TECHNOLOGY

A form of media distribution where information is sent to the viewer only upon request. The Internet's World-Wide Web is an example of "pull" technology. A click on a hyperlink functions as a request for a particular page to be downloaded to the user's local drive.

There are basically two ways to do this:

1) Subscribe to web pages through your browser

If there’s a page you visit often, you may find it useful to subscribe to it. This means that your computer can check that page automatically and tell you if anything’s changed on it. You can even arrange for your computer to email you to notify you of changes, or download the page, ready for offline viewing later.

1. Open the Web page you want to subscribe to.
2. Add it to your Favorites by clicking on Favorites/Add to Favorites.
3. Select the Make available offline box then click on OK to close.
4. Click on Favorites and highlight the web page you have subscribed to. Do not left-click on it; Right-click on it instead. Select Properties.
5. If you want to be notified by email, select this on the Download tab and choose the email address to use.
6. You can specify the time and frequency to check your subscription by selecting a schedule on the Schedule tab. You can choose to do this manually, or let the computer check for you. You’ll have to make sure your computer is switched on and connected to the Internet at the time you specify, or the update will not take place.
   Don’t be tempted to try and download too many pages: this will take a long time and will quickly fill up your hard disk.
7. If the site requires a username and password, fill these in. Then click Finish.
8. If you have selected to synchronize the page manually, from time to time you will need to select Tools/Synchronize. Select the subscribed pages that you wish to synchronize, then select Favourites from the menu bar to see which pages have changed since the last time you visited them! A red star indicates an update.
   

2. Use a free web service

Profusion (click on "alerts")

1. Go to Profusion and create an account for yourself (free).
2. Click on "New Page Alert" and enter the exact internet address of the page you are interested in being informed about. You can set up to 10 alerts and select the frequency with which you wish to be updated.
3. You will receive an email every x days letting you know of any changes to the page in question.

Other page alert services include:

Netmind
Spyonit
EoMonitor
http://www.peacefire.org/tracerlock
http://informant.dartmouth.edu
http://www.company.sleuth.com

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How can I find out which pages have been updated on a specific website since a certain date?

Example: To find out which pages have been created or modified on the website www.siemens.com since 1.1.2001, go to Altavista's Advanced Search and enter the following search criteria:

NOTE: This presupposes that the pages you are looking for have been indexed by Altavista. Any pages that are not in Altavista's index will not be available with this method.

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