Some Members in searching for new or revised information on pages of the WCOA web site may be led to concluding that either they were misled as to its presence, or that the information is not in the place described, or that they can not locate it due to some failing on their part!

What is more likely is that they have discovered that their web browser software [Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator] is configured to speed up their web surfing experience by displaying an 'old' version of a previously visited web page [e.g. WCOA web site] that it has stored locally on your computer's hard disk.  Obviously retrieving and displaying this page is much quicker than accessing the web server, were the latest page is stored, and fetching that page for display.  This feature is known as 'caching' and can be extremely useful when visiting sites where content changes very infrequently or the pages contain lots of graphic images - notorious for slowing up page downloads etc.

So how can you check to see if the page currently being viewed, while you are online, is the latest version?  Fortunately this is easily resolved in a couple of ways as described in the following narrative:-

I am assuming you are using Internet Explorer v 4 or higher.  Although not described here other makes of web browser will have similar controls and settings and it shouldn't be too tricky to locate them.  Firstly the quickest way to check that you are viewing the most current content on any web page, while online, is to do one of two things:-

1.  Locate the 'Refresh' icon on the 'tool bar' [2nd bar down from top] at the top of the browser window [about 4th icon in from left] it looks like a little page with the top right corner folded over and has two little arrows on it facing in opposite directions. It has the word, strangely enough, "refresh" under it!  Once you have located this icon if you 'left click' this 'refresh' icon, at any time, it will force the browser to fetch the latest version of this page from the web server and display on your screen.  The same function is available as a 'menu command'  available in the dropdown 'View' menu on the menu bar.  It is listed in the menu as 'refresh' and left clicking on this will achieve the same action.  Even quicker is to hit the 'F5' shortcut key located along the top row of your keyboard or,

2. A local refresh can also be achieved by 'right clicking' on the relevant page [avoiding hypertext links or hotspot links on any pictures] and selecting 'refresh' from the pop up context sensitive menu that appears after right clicking.  This will also force the page concerned to be reloaded or fetched from the web server thereby ensuring you see the latest version.

Of these two methods I recommend you use the 'right click > 'refresh' method because the Wanderer web site uses a technique called 'frames' which effectively divide the screen into 3 simultaneously displayed pages [left is 'contents', top is 'logo' and right is the dynamic content where all other pages are displayed.  The 'contents' and 'logo' frames remain static.  Make sure you right click on the appropriate frame page or section of your screen - as all the pages such as 'Boats For Sale' display in the largest right hand page or frame you shouldn't have any trouble.  After a few seconds you should then see the latest copy of the page in question fetched for you from the Wanderer web site by your obedient browser.

3. You can, if you wish, effect a more permanent fix to this browser display 'problem' if you are paranoid about 'missing' any content. This requires that you 'tweak' some of Internet Explorer's ["IE"] settings.  You can easily do this offline by starting IE and selecting the 'Tools' menu at the top of the page and from this drop down menu select 'Internet Options'.  A 'tabbed' dialogue box will open - it should open with the 'general' tab already selected but if not then left click the 'General' tab at the top of this box.  

Locate the 'History' pane [should be the bottom one] and click on the 'Clear History' button. Note that this will remove all history associated with all previously visited web sites/pages.  Now locate the 'Temporary Internet Files' pane [middle one] and click on the 'Settings' button. A separate 'Settings' dialogue box will open.  The top section of this box contains the setting options for 'Check for newer versions of stored pages'.  Use the ? button at top right of this box to click on the various options and find out what they do.  You can then decide which option suits your requirements best.  If its any help mine is set for the second option - 'Every time you start IE'. This only checks for new page versions once you revisit a page in a new internet session.  After selecting the option, click 'OK' to close the 'Settings' box and again to close the 'Options' box.

You should now ensure that every time you start a new session with IE it will get the latest page, [always supposing that you opted for this setting], however if you have any doubts then always use the refresh button or right click>refresh as described above.  F5 is useful for single [no frames] web pages.

Another alternative would be to leave IE's settings alone and just get used to carrying out a local refresh using one or a combination of the mouse clicking options described.

You can always tweak IE's internet option settings at any time and experiment until you get a result that suits your own browsing preferences..

Hope this all helps - if successful you should never be in any doubt that you are viewing the very latest version of the page in question.  Any queries then email me with the details and I will try and help.

Regards


Terry Pullen
W863 'Nebula'
Cruising Secretary/Web Site Manager