A. WHAT’S "COMMUNICATOR" AND WHAT’S "COMPOSER"?

Netscape Communicator is a web browser (viewer). It is used to view pages on the Internet. It is also used by you to view your finished pages and to check your links to see if they work. You cannot change or edit your pages in Communicator!

Netscape Composer is the word processing program used to compose new pages and edit existing pages. Your links will not work in Composer!

B. HOW TO MAKE A FOLDER FOR YOUR PAGES

Your pages must be stored in the same folder. To make a folder for your pages, click once on the desktop. Then choose Fileà New Folder. Click once under the folder icon (in the little rectangle), enter your last name, then press the"return" key. From now on you will save your web pages in this folder.

C. HOW TO SAVE YOUR PAGES

The first time you save your page, choose Fileà Save As… and enter default.html or index.html in the rectangular "save" field below the box. Next, click the "desktop" button on the right. Scroll down (if necessary) until you see the name of your folder. Click once on your folder in the box. Click the "open" button. Once the name of the folder in which you want to save your work is displayed above the box, click the "save" button. Click twice on your folder on the desktop to open it. Check to make sure your page is in your folder. If not, repeat the above steps.

The second and subsequent times you save your page, simply select Fileà Save.

To save your page under a different name (that is, to change its name), select Fileà Save As… and enter a new name in the rectangular "save" field below the box.

1. HOW TO MAKE A NEW PAGE

Fileà Newà Blank Page. Start typing. Use the word processing buttons in the tool bars to make your page visually attractive. Make sure to save often as you go along!!

2. HOW TO MAKE A COLORED BACKGROUND FOR YOUR PAGE

Formatà Page Propertiesà Use custom color. Then, click twice on the little rectangle to the right of the word "background." Choose "Crayon Picker" in the left frame (scroll if you don’t see it!), and click once on the crayon that matches the color you want for your page background. Do not choose dark blues and purples! They are incompatible with the blue color used for links.

You can also add textured backgrounds for your pages instead of solid colors. Find a background on the internet (try patternland.com). Save a background as a .jpg or .gif (see #8). Go to Formatà Page Propertiesà . At the bottom you’ll see a box that says "Page Background." Check "Image" and enter the name of your background (example: sandy.jpg). Click OK. Your background will now be the color and texture of the background you chose off the internet.

3. HOW TO EDIT AN EXISTING PAGE

Fileà Openà Page in Composer… Start typing.

4. HOW TO VIEW YOUR PAGE AND SEE IF IT WORKS

Fileà Openà Page in Navigator… OR….click on the little yellow riverboat steering wheel button on the tool bar.

5. HOW TO ADD A LINK TO A ANOTHER PAGE YOU MADE

Highlight the text you want linked. Click once on the little chain link icon on upper tool bar. Enter the name (name.html) of the page you want to link to. Click OK. Example: school.html, where school.html is the name of a page you already made and saved in your folder.

6. HOW TO ADD A LINK TO ANOTHER WEB SITE

Highlight the text you want linked. Click once on the little chain link icon on upper tool bar. Enter the full URL or web address of the site you want to link to. It should start with http://.

Example: http://www.zes.aps.edu/zia/zia.html

7. HOW TO LINK TO YOUR E-MAIL (so people can write to you)

Highlight the text you want linked. Example: Bo Diddley. Click once on the little chain link icon on upper tool bar. Enter "mailto:" followed by the full e-mail address of the person to will be receiving the messages. Example: mailto:bodiddley@rootsofrock.com

8. HOW TO FIND AND SAVE A GRAPHIC FOR YOUR PAGE

You can get images from anywhere: photos, scanned art, drawing programs, CDs, etc. Just make sure you save them as ".jpg" or ".gif" if you can.

One of the best ways to get graphics is to cruise the Internet and copy and save images. This is usually legal unless stated otherwise. It’s customary to give credit when possible. Here’s how:

Find a web image you like. Click and hold on the image until a menu appears. Choose "Save this image as…." In the file name field, enter a simple name for the image followed by ".jpg" or ".gif." Example: If I find a little elephant image I like, I click and hold on it, select "Save this image as…", then type in "elephant.jpg" as the file name. Make sure you’re saving to your web folder before clicking "Save"!

9. HOW TO ADD A GRAPHIC TO YOUR PAGE

You must have the graphic already saved in your folder (see #8)!! Usually it will have the suffix ".jpg" or ".gif." This could be a photo, a drawing or other image. Whatever it is, it is not text!

Choose where on the page you want to place the image and click once on that spot. Next, click the image icon in the upper tool bar. (It is a little white square with a reddish triangle, a green diamond and an orange square in it.) In the long, narrow rectangle labeled "Image File Name or Location," enter the exact name of the file. Example: trip.jpg. Finally, go down to the other little image icon (identical to the one you just clicked on in the tool bar except it has "xyz" to the right of it), click and hold, then decide how you want the text wrapped around your image by selecting one of the seven text wrap choices. Click OK.

June 2000