AOL HELP: How the casual internet user can fix some of AOL's numerous browsing problems.

close AOL completely and reopen the site directly in Internet Explorer or Netscape or one of the newer browsers. (However, it appears that if you use AOL for your internet connection, you may have some problems--like slow loading--even if you do this.) If you need help doing this, click HERE.

You may have poor image quality: AOL saves money (for itself, not for you) by using an extra image compression function that, unless disabled, produces very poor image quality and image flaws. Since this site is all about images, for maximum enjoyment you should not use AOL, unless you have deactivated this function. If you need help disabling this function, click HERE.

You may not see important information: When you browse the internet, AOL encloses everything on your screen within its own window. This may hide important information at the bottom of some pages in this site that are programmed to open fullscreen in regular browsers. The only solution is to increase your screen resolution so that all the site windows will fit in the AOL window. The site is intended to be viewed at 800 x 600 pixels (or higher), but AOL users will usually have to set their screen resolutions to at least 1024 x 768. Although this will reduce the size of text and images, everything will be visible within the browser window. If you need help doing this, click HERE.

The pages may load slowly: It is the experience of many web designers and users that AOL loads pages more slowly than other browsers. There's nothing you can do about this except not use AOL.

The site may be difficult and confusing to use: At least some versions of AOL cannot properly handle multiple windows, causing page resizing, incorrect URLs displayed, not being able to see how many windows you have open, etc. Combined with AOL's complex and distracting appearance, this makes normally simple activities very confusing. There's nothing you can do about this except not use AOL.

More instructions for improving your view of this website are found by clicking the appropriate platform and browser:

Good news! It is likely that you already have icons for Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) and/or Netscape (NS) on your desktop, since often one will come free with a new computer. If so, simply close AOL (while retaining your internet connection) and search your desktop for one of those icons. The icon appearance varies a little by version, but the Internet Explorer icon usually includes a small letter "e."

Even if you do not have the icons on your desktop, you still probably have at least one of these programs (usually IE) on your computer. You can find them either with your operating system's FIND function, or by locating them yourself among your program files. After you find them, it is easy to put their icons on your desktop for future access.

In Windows, to find Internet Explorer, go to START>FIND>FILES OR FOLDERS, and type in "Internet Explorer" (in quotes). If you see an .exe file there with a name like "Iexplore.exe" (may vary depending on version), with an icon of a small letter "e", that is the execute file for Internet Explorer, and you can open IE by clicking it. If you do not see this icon, click the folder called "Internet Explorer (in the folder called "C:\Program Files), and there you will find the .exe file. If you prefer to locate the file yourself, go to a file manager such as "My Computer" in Windows. The IE execute file is probably located in C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer.

In Windows, to find Netscape, go to START>FIND>FILES OR FOLDERS, and type in "Netscape." If you see the "Netscape.exe" file there, that is the execute file for Netscape, and you can open Netscape by clicking it. If you do not see this icon, the fastest way to find it is to locate it yourself using a file manager such as "My Computer" in Windows. The Netscape execute file is probably in C:\Program Files\Netscape, probably in a subfolder with a name like "Communicator." If you can't find Netscape or want to update, you can download Netscape for free from their site.

In Windows, you can easily make a desktop icon (shortcut) to either of these execute files by right-clicking the file, dragging it to the desktop, and choosing "Create shortcut here" when you release the mouse button.

AOL's default in Internet Explorer for Web Graphics is "Compressed," which means extra-compressed. To deactivate this, you have to find the place to deactive the extra compression, which will vary by AOL version. It will be in a menu with a label something like "My AOL" or "Preferences," or "WWW," or "Internet," or "Web Graphics." You have to uncheck the box that offers the graphics compression preference. (All web graphics are already compressed, so when you deactivate AOL's compression, you are only deactivating the extra compression and seeing the already-compressed image the web designer created.) You then may have to clear your cache to get rid of the cached, overcompressed images you have already downloaded.

For a PC:

In Windows, set your resolution by right-clicking on the monitor icon (if you have one) next to the clock, or right click anywhere on the desktop and go to PROPERTIES>SETTINGS>SCREEN AREA, or go to START>SETTINGS>CONTROL PANEL>DISPLAY>SETTINGS, and adjust the Screen Area to (at least) 1024 x 768 pixels. You may have to reload the page or even restart the browser after adjusting the screen resolution.

For a MAC:

This varies by version, and I don't have all the information, but to set your resolution, you may do something like: click the APPLE in the upper left corner of your screen, go to CONTROL PANEL>MONITORS AND SOUND>MONITOR or RESOLUTION, and adjust the resolution to (at least) 1024 x 768 pixels. You may have to reload the page or even restart the browser after adjusting the screen resolution.