This help section should assist you if you are having difficulty using our web site or finding what you need.

If, after reading this, you are still having difficulty, then email the Website Manager, who will be happy to help.

How do I move around the site?
To access the different sections on this site you can use the menu options provided along the middle of the screen. All the sections – Virtual Tour, Gallery, Vignettes and Links are available.

After you click on one of the section links, you will be taken to the page you have requested. You will be presented with additional navigation to help you explore the selected section.

As you move your mouse over the options available, the cursor will change to a hand-shape signaling a link within the relevant web page. Then just click your mouse button and you will move to your selection. Images such as photographs or logos are also sometimes click able links to further information. To find out, hover your mouse over images and a short description will appear and explain where the link will take you.

What do the buttons on the top of the page do?

The navigation buttons on the top right hand side of the screen are from every section to allow you to perform special functions from wherever you are in the site.

HELP - clicking on this will bring you to this Help page.

SITEMAP - clicking on this will take you to the Sitemap page.

SEARCH - clicking on this will take you to the Search page.

CONTACT - clicking on this will take you to a list of Heritage Winnipeg contacts.

HOME – clicking on this will take you to the Home Page.

PRINT PAGE - makes the page you are viewing suitable for printing: it will make the page fit a normal A4 page and remove the navigation elements so that you just get the main content when you print it out.

ADD FAVOURITES select this on your toolbar (Internet Explorer) menu, so that you can bookmark the page.

How can I search for what I want?

Search using keywords, a year or street within a category, by using the advanced image search pull down list or within the categories on the left. If you are currently in a category, this will be the default selection in the advanced image search. Click on "Begin Search" and wait for your results to be displayed.

When searching for a street, omit the use of street extensions. The streets are registered in the database by name only, ie. Main Street, or Main St., is registered as just Main.

When searching for a keyword, use specific keywords avoid plurals. For example when looking for stores use the keyword Hudson, Bay or Eaton. 

To get more accurate search results, use the side categories on the left and search within that category with the year displayed.

Questions

Q1. Why are there no results of my search?

A1. It could be that the information you are searching is not included in our database. Or it could be the way the information you are searching is entered, is slightly different from what is written in our database.

Q2. How can I read the description if the text is too small?

A2. Using the ‘larger’ link on that page, you can increase the size of the font to make it more readable. If the text in the entire website is too small, you will have to adjust your settings by going under the browser category "VIEW" then select Text Size and change it to a larger font then the default.

Note: this website has been made to fit a MEDIUM font size. Any changes to this can change the look of the webpage.

Q3. I am receiving an error message, mysql_fetch_array?

A3. This is an error coming from the database. Try refreshing your webpage by pressing the F5 or click on the refresh button located on the toolbar of the browser window. If this does not help please contact our Website Manager.

File Formats
Most of this site is viewable in an ordinary browser, like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. These browsers will display information from files which are coded in the language of the web, such as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and ASP (Active Server Pages) which are used extensively on the site. You do not need anything more to see pages built this way.

PDF files
Some of the documents are in Portable Document Format (PDF): To read these documents, you will need to have on your computer a program called a plug-in, which enables your browser software to display the document so you can see it on screen. To read PDF's you need Acrobat Reader, which is available free. You can download the latest version from: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html

If you are a reader with visual impairment, go to Access Adobe site access.adobe.com/simple_form.html to have the PDF document instantly converted and shown in your browser as HTML, for your speech reader to interpret (you will need to supply the full URL of the document).

RTF files
Some of the documents are in Rich Text Format (RTF): This is a generic format of Microsoft Word, which should be readable by people with most versions of Microsoft Word. However, if you are having trouble with this, visit the Microsoft web site to obtain a free viewer for your particular version of Word. The viewer will also allow you to see the file even if you do not have any version of Word at all.

Word files
Some of the documents are Word Documents (DOC): Most of these will have been created using the version of Word which is contained in Office97, and should be readable by most people who have Microsoft Word on their computer. However, if you are having trouble with this, visit the Microsoft web site to obtain a free viewer for your particular version of Word. The viewer will also allow you to see the file even if you do not have any version of Word at all.

Quicktime files
Some of our documents are Quicktime presentations: Quicktime can be downloaded at: www.apple.com/quicktime

Browser, platform and screen compatibility
This site is optimized for the following:

• Internet Explorer for Windows
• Internet Explorer for Mac
• a screen resolution of 800x600 pixels

Feedback
We appreciate your views on our web site, particularly if you are having difficulty, as we want to improve it.