Web Site Help FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions)

Welcome to Tourism Victoria's web site, launched March 1, 2002. We hope this website becomes a very useful tool that you will use often when making vacation plans to visit Victoria and the Islands. In order to ensure that you have the best possible experience using the Tourism Victoria web site, we have created this Help section to help answer any questions you may have.

Our Homepage
The Victoria Home button always returns you to the main page for this site.

Links
Click on links in the blue navigation bar at the left of most pages to move around this site. Many pages have additional links you can recognize because they are blue and underlined. For example, if you need to find a specific staff person with Tourism Victoria, click on Contact Us at the top of the page to find a complete list of Tourism Victoria staff and departments. Position your cursor over text or a graphic you think may be a link. If your cursor becomes a hand, you'll know that text or graphic is a link.

Returning to Previous Pages
Click on your browser's back button. If you do not see a back button on your browser toolbar, PC users can right-click and select Back, or hit the Backspace key on your keyboard. If your "Back" button does not seem to work, it may be because you have opened a link to another web site. If this occurs, simply close the page that you are viewing and you will be returned to the page that you were viewing before opening the new web browser.

I'm having trouble with viewing the pages on your site. What should I do?
The best way to view our site is to set your monitor display setting to 1024x768 pixel resolution, however we have made every effort to make sure that the majority of pages on this site can also easily be viewed at 800x600 pixel resolution.

How can I reduce the download times for the Tourism Victoria web site pages?
We recommend using a connection speed of a 56k modem and up.

My browser is having difficulty reading your pages. What should I do?
We suggest using a browser which supports Dynamic HTML and JavaScript. Tourism Victoria's web site is designed to work best using Internet Explorer 5+. Please visit our Browsers & Plug-Ins section for more information about browsers and links to upgrade browser versions. Please note that there is no cost to upgrade a browser and only takes a few minutes to complete.

I am having difficulty logging on to your site. What should I do?
Please note that "cookies" must be enabled in your browser if you want to log on to the Tourism Victoria site and access its advanced features. The Tourism Victoria site use cookies so that it can identify you as a registered user and give you the proper access to the Web site. The information stored in the cookie can only be seen by the Tourism Victoria server and does not contain any personally identifiable information.

What are "cookies"?
Cookies are small data structures used by a web site to deliver data to a user; request that the client store the information; and in certain circumstances, return the information to the web site. Web sites can thus "remember" information about users to facilitate their preferences for a particular site and allow the use of user passwords.

Enable "cookies" ?
Most likely cookies are already enabled on your browser. However, if they are not enabled, you can easily enable them.

For Internet Explorer users:
You can order your browser to accept all cookies or to alert you every time a cookie is offered. Then you can decide whether to accept one or not.

If you're using Internet Explorer 6.0: Choose Tools, then Internet Options, click the Privacy tab. The default setting is medium. Move the slider to determine which setting you prefer. You can also click on Advanced for specialized cookie treatment.

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0: Choose Tools, then Internet Options, click the Security tab, click Internet, then Custom Level. Scroll down to Cookies and choose one of the two options.

For Netscape Navigator users:
Beginning with version 4.0, Netscape Navigator began giving users the power to control cookies. In version 4.0 and higher, you can activate your "Cookie Alert" by pulling down the Edit menu and clicking Preferences. Click Advanced Settings at the bottom of the dialog box, and choose from the following: Accept all cookies, accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server, or disable cookies.

Another option is for Navigator to warn you before accepting a cookie. Every time there is an incoming cookie, a dialog box will ask if you want to accept it.

What is a PDF?
Some of the documents on the Tourism Victoria site are posted in Portable Document Format (PDF), a format which allows Tourism Victoria to maintain the integrity of the document and speed download time of lengthy reports. Links leading to PDF's will be noted withthe PDF icon . To download and view copies of a PDF, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader application. This software may be downloaded for free.

Adobe recommends users view PDFs with the 3.0 or higher version of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator or AOL browser. Once you have downloaded and installed Adobe Acrobat Reader, you should be able to view the PDF automatically in the browser window when you click on the PDF link on a Web site. For more detailed information about PDF technical requirements and troubleshooting Visit Adobe's site.

I have suggestions for Tourism Victoria's web site content or ideas about ways to improve the current site. Who should I contact?
We are always looking for ways to bring new and improved services to those who use our site - be it visitors, trade partners or our members. If you have any comments on any aspect of the website, we welcome your feedback. Please Contact Us.

Quick Search Tips:

Searching on tourismvictoria.com
If you cannot find the information you are seeking by browsing the site, you could try searching the site. Click on the SEARCH icon at the top left of the browser window, and enter a word(s) to search for. Specific sections of the site (e.g. Business Directory) can also be searched seperately.

Using the Search Function
To begin a search, simply type in one or more keywords. After you've typed your search words into the query box click on the "Go" button to generate your search results. You are presented with a Search Results page displaying matches in a ranked list. The ranking is based upon a number of factors, with higher ranking going to pages with the word in the title of the page.

• Searches are not case-sensitive (it doesn't matter whether you capitalize words or not).
• The search will look for "like" terms i.e. bike = bike, bikes etc. to make your search more specific.
• Phrase-searching is not currently available.
  

There are a few different ways to submit your search. Here are some examples that may help:

Type a single keyword: whales

Remember that every word on a page is indexed, (using Microsoft's Internet Information Server IIS), so try to choose a word that will be fairly specific to your area of interest. If matches to your query are found, a list of matching pages will be displayed.

Search by more than one word: fishing tours in Victoria

The current search engine only allows for searching by words, rather than by phrases. For example, if you search for "fishing tours in Victoria", the search engine will show all pages containing "fishing", "tours", or "Victoria", regardless of the word order. (The word "for" will be ignored because it is a common word and not indexed.) The search results will also include relevant documents even if they include only one word from your original query.

If you receive too many or too few results, you can alter your search method by using some of the options described below.

Other ways to find information on the Tourism Victoria web site: Site Map, Advanced Search, Amenity Search.

General tips to improve searching.
When you receive too many results, try the following tips to reduce the number of results:

• Use more words in your query. Some words are used frequently and so are found on many pages. By increasing the number of words, you reduce the chance that those same words are on the same page, resulting in fewer pages for you to review.
• Limit the area of Tourism Victoria's site to be searched. The results page provides a "Limit Search to" drop-down list allowing you to search just one area of the site. Search options include searching the Entire Site, Frequently Asked Questions, News Releases, Business Directory (Member Businesses), Events, and Editorial. Only pages found in those areas that match your query will be returned.
  1. "Entire Site" means all pages in the normal navigation.
  2. "Frequently Asked Questions" represents questions and answers found in the FAQ's section of the site.
  3. "News Relases" means Company News, and Press Releases found primarily in the Media section of the site.
  4. "Events" means events found within the Calendar of Events section.
• View results from a specific area. The number of returned results will be displayed under the Category heading i.e. "Showing 1 of …". If more than 5 results are returned, the words "More…" will be displayed that when clicked will reveal additional results.

When you receive too few results, try to follow these tips to increase the number of results:

• Check the spelling of your words.
• If you've limited your search to a specific area of the site, such as "News Releases", change the "Limit Search to" option to "Entire Site," then click the "Search" button.

How do I get live help with this web site?
Contact Tourism Victoria at 250-414-6999 during regular business hours.