Why Won't The Back Button Work?
Ever wonder why sometimes the Back button doesn't work?
Website owners have the ability to temporarily disable the Back button.
They hope to catch new and inexperienced users and make them stay at their website. Why they think this is a good idea is beyond me; and the practice is generally frowned upon.
Part of the reason it is such a stupid idea is that it is so easily overcome.
A Disabled Back Button Is Easily Fixed
You may have noticed that there is a downward facing triangle to the left of the Back button (as shown on the diagram to the left). (Depending on your computer, your back button may vary slightly from the one that is shown here. For the most part the back button will have an arrow pointing to the left.)
Take your mouse and move the pointer to the real one on your screen (not the diagram) and click.
You should see a list of the last few web pages you have visited.
Using the Back Button to Travel Directly to a Website
If you take your mouse and move the pointer down the list, you should see each entry become highlighted (displayed in light letters on a dark background) as shown in the picture to the left.
Keep in mind your list may be slightly different from mine.
To return to a page in the list, simply click when the page you wish to go to is highlighted.
If you change your mind and want to remain at the page you were viewing, simply tap the ESC key to make the list disappear from the screen.
The Back Button Has A Long Memory
The list displayed by the back button is limited to a few entries. What makes this feature extra powerful is that it remembers all of the sites you have visited. Try it sometime. After you've been on the Internet for a while, use your back button history list and go back to the last place listed and then look at the list. You should notice that the list is totally different and reflects the places on the Internet you visited prior to the one you selected.
Ain't it cool?
Be sure to check out Help For Web Beginners other Beginner Internet Tutorials.
HelpForWebBeginners.com is a website dedicated to providing free, easy to understand, online How To's for true web beginners. While the materials are not free or available for reprints, they are offered freely for individual use. Please use the contact page to let Michele know if this tutorial has been helpful or if there are any other beginner web programming related tutorials you would like to see.
