Welcome to the Virtual Channel 4
Channel4.com is a diverse site reflecting the Channel and its cutting edge approach to entertaining and informing.
Technically Speaking
To get the all-singing, all-dancing channel4.com you should have either Internet Explorer version 5 or above or Netscape Navigator version 4.5 or above installed.
To install the newest version of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator go to:
Navigating around the channel4.com World
The site has a static global navigation split into two distinct areas:
- The very top navigation takes you through to TV Listings (what's on Channel 4, E4 and FilmFour) Community (live chat and forums), Shop (for the best Channel 4 merchandise), A-Z of Channel 4 Sites (a comprehensive list of channel4.com content) and Search the Web.
- All channel4.com sites can be accessed from landing pages listed on the subject-area navigation bar. Choose from News, Sport, Entertainment (which in turn has a sub-navigation bar), Culture, History, Science, Health, Learning, Life and Films (which takes you through to FilmFour.com).
Plug-Ins
Plug-ins are small pieces of software which work with your browser to give you extra functionality - like live sound, animation and interactive games. You should download the following plug-ins, if you have not got them already.
Shockwave and Flash are plug-ins that allow multi-media and animation to play within your web browser.
The RealPlayer v8 plug-in allows video and sound to play back in your browser in real time - but don't bother if you haven't got a sound card! Very occasionally we use Quicktime clips instead.
Once you have downloaded the plug-ins just put them in your plug-ins directory (which is inside your browser's directory) and restart your browser. The plug-ins should be active and you can enjoy our site to the max.
Compression
In order to download and run almost any software on the web, for example our screensavers and desktop gadgets, you will need a tool which uncompresses files that have been made as small as possible for quick and easy downloads.
Tips
There isn't much to know, just point and click and everything should work, but there are a few recommendations we would make to help you view the site at its best. These tips involve adjusting the options or preferences in your browser which are accessible via the menus at the top of the screen. Shorten this to explore!
Is our site too chunky for your monitor?
If you are using a small or low resolution monitor or just want to give yourself a larger viewing area, you can turn off the toolbars by selecting View/Toolbars in IE, or go through Edit/Preferences in Netscape.
Concerned Parent?
With the web growing at a rate of megabytes a minute you may want to keep up-to-date with what can be uploaded, downloaded or run on your computer. Many commercial online services provide access to the web via gateways which can prohibit access to certain sites and chat rooms. There are also access control products which either list or block access to certain sites. More information on parental control is available at:
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