Right-Mouse-Clicks ... produce the 'Context Menu'
The context menu ... is your friend
'Windows' computer mice used to have just one button, which launched actions.
Mouse-clicking things tends to produce nasty surprises from time to time: so we're conditioned not to experiment with mouse clicks ...
Now there's a second mouse button, this isn't so good. The right mouse button doesn't launch actions, it provides help in the form of a menu of choices - a context sensitive menu - what this menu contains depends on where you click.
Apple PCs and context menus
Apple PCs have just one mouse button - to see a context menu, go to your keyboard, hold down the 'Control' key and click with the mouse. Not all software makes use of this, so just try it and see.
Using the context menus
The context menu is very useful, even, or especially, when you are learning new software. Again, here is the difference between the two ...
- The left mouse button
- ... launches some action or other. That's why it can hurt if you get it wrong, as you inadvertently delete your files, put the cursor down in text, whatever - it starts an action, pleasant or unpleasant.
- The right hand mouse button
- ... a friendly helpful creature. Click it on something and up pops a context sensitive menu - containing things you are likely to need next.
You can try this now. Assuming you're reading this in a web browser, move the cursor to the text that you're reading - not on a link though - and right click on it. Up comes a helpful menu. The menu will allow you to choose from the most common tasks here, for instance, to send the page to someone via email.
Now move to a link on the page - a different context, and here's a sample link to NISS on which to practice - left-click on it and you'll go to NISS's site, but right click on it, and you get a menu: this time choices include things to do with links. The list includes the very useful 'Open link in new window' - you can keep this page open for reference and follow the link in a new browser window. Do try if you like and you can return here easily.
It follows that if you're a bit stuck as to how to get something done, in any program, right-mouse-clicking may well get you going. So when you are learning an unfamiliar piece of software, or just plain stuck, right-mouse-clicking is a good and risk-free way to find a hint on what to do next.
Mark Annand • Site updated April 12th 2013 • Site Counter:
All before you, in this world, is smoke and shadows.All before you, in this world, is smoke and shadows.
Words found on a door lintel in the garden of a house in the Cretan village of Argiroupolis.
The lintel is a fragment from the city state Lappa, which occupied the same site.
Fifteen hundred years later, when you use the web, from time to time you might well feel that the author was on to something. And if you work with particle physics, you'll know he was ...