Last night I talked to my aunt in Somerset, and I learned that my she doesn't know what hyperlinks are, so this post is a tutorial for her and anyone else who doesn't know what they are. Dad? Are you reading this?

Basically, Aunt Annie, when you're reading a web page, there are certain words or phrases that you can click on and you'll be taken to a new web page, or sometimes just to a different part of the same page. These clickable phrases and words are called hyperlinks.

On some web sites, different colors of words and phrases signify hyperlinks. On my blog, hyperlinks are underlined. Pretty much every time you see words underlined on my page, if you click on them, you'll be taken somewhere else. Why do I have underlined links instead of a color change? Personal preference. I wanted my blog to look more like this than this. On some blogs, you'll find the hyperlinks are not only a different color, but underlined as well. Why? Personal preference. Haagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's. Mastercard or Visa. Stripes or polka-dots. Winter or summer. Train, plane, or automoblile.

When you're surfing the net, if you run your cursor over a word or phrase and it changes colors, then that's most likely a hyperlink. The purpose of hyperlinking is to add content (pictures and text) to a site without really having to add content to a site. Also, think of a spider web. The World Wide Web is not just about connectivity, but also about interconnectedness, right?

So here's a quick tutorial for you.

Run your cursor over these underlined words and click! See how they turn red when your cursor is over them?

Neat, huh? Now try that for everything underlined in the first half of this post. Aha!

Ok. I set that up so that the Fortier Boats page opened in a new window. I can also set it up so that it replaces this window. Let's try that. The next time you click, this page will be replaced with your web site, so be sure to hit the Back button so you return here.

Ready? Click here!

I usually don't do it this way because then people have left my web page, and even though I might want people to see something on another page, I want them to stay on my page.

Now if you look at the top of this page, you'll see a bar with links. The first one says "Home." That's this page. The second one says "Raffa's CV," and that will take you to R's Curriculum Vitae. The next link is her theatre resume (it's not done - I'm still working on it), then my CV, and then the next three links are under construction, which is web talk for "I'm working on it, get off my back!" These links replace the current page, but I'm cool with that because I'm replacing them with my own pages, and the "Home" button on every page can bring readers back here to the main page.

Some simple exercises:

Next, scroll down and look at the Sept 19 post, "Channeling Martha." Go down to the place where I talk about the Kitchen-Aid Mixer and click.

Then go over to the On the Job Front colum on the right, and click on the part where I say that Tom's of Maine put my article on the web, and you'll be able to read it.

If you look at my reviews on the left, you can click anywhere that it says "Read Past Reviews" and you'll go to another page where my reviews are archived.

I'm so glad you told me that you didn't know what I was talking about when I was telling you my Tom's article was posted on the web and that you could see it; now I understand why my dad gets confused sometimes when I email him links of things to print for my mother. Hyperlinks are a neat part of the blogging experience, and now you will really see everything that I'm saying because I use links to add meaning and context.

Here's your homework (C'mon! I'm a teacher. You didn't really think I wouldn't assign homework, did you?):
At the bottom of this post you should see the word "comments" underlined. Click on it, and leave a comment for me. Tell me if it makes sense now or if I've confused to more! After you've left a comment, the number of comments will go from 0 to 1 (or up 1 from whatever was previously there).

Happy clicking!