Netscape Composer

This document is written assuming the user is on a PC platform, but Netscape Communicator’s Composer functions similarly on a Macintosh.  Differences when using a Macintosh are noted.

Creating Folders on the Unix Server
This first section creates a folder on the Unix server to store your pages and sets the rights so that others can read your pages.  No one will be able to change your pages without your username and password.  You will not need to do this operation again.

1. Telnet to your Unix account:
   • Open the Application Explorer folder on your desktop.
   • Then double-click the UNCG_Tree  icon
   • Now double-click the  UNCG Client Community icon
   • Locate the QVTnet icon and double-click it
   • Click the terminal button. (looks like a small computer monitor)
   • At "Host Name or IP Address" type "unix" and then click "OK"
   • Type your Unix username and password in the spaces provided
     
     
2. Create a UNIX directory for your WWW files and assign rights
   • At the prompt simply type the following command:
     ~gethornt/scripts/webgo
     
   • If you already have a directory, you will receive a message that the file exists. You will also be told where your files can be viewed after you have published your page.
3. Type "exit" to exit UNIX
   
4. Close QVTnet

Opening Netscape Composer and Saving the Page

1. Start Netscape Communicator by clicking the Netscape icon on your desktop.  If you do not see the icon, you can also select the start button and then launch Netscape Communicator from the Programs menu.
   
2. Click the File pull‑down menu.  Select New, then select Blank Page.  You will now begin to create your beginning or "home" page.
   
3. Go ahead and save this first page.  You will temporarily store it on a floppy disk in drive A.  (On your own computer, create a new folder on your hard drive for your Web pages.)  Click File on the menu bar and select Save As.
   
   Give your first page the file name index.html and be sure you are saving the file to your A drive or a folder on your hard‑drive that you can easily locate.  Be sure that the name is all lower case.  This first page file must be called index.html.  Additional pages may be given any file name.  However, the file name should not contain any spaces and the file name extension must either be html or htm.
   
4. You should give your page a name.  This is different from the file name and can be a longer name with spaces between the words.  This is the name that will appear at the top of the page when others look at your web page and will be the default name of your page if someone bookmarks your page.  If you are not prompted to give the page a name when you save it, select Format and Page Colors and Properties.  Now choose the General tab and you will see the window for entering the page name.  You can use this same method to change the name of your page. While you are at this page, you can enter a description that search engines will use to describe your page, and you can enter keywords that search engines can use to help locate your page.

Backgrounds

To change the background color of the page, go to the menu bar and choose Format.  From the next menu choose Page Colors and Properties (on the Mac, the selection reads Page Properties.)  Select Use Custom Colors.  Then click the Background button to choose a color for your background.

To choose a patterned or textured background, go to background image section of the window and check the use image box.  Then select Choose File or Browse to find the location of the background image file. Images should be saved is the same folder as your pages.  See "Inserting Images" below for instructions on capturing and saving image and backgrounds.

Creating Text

1. Text can be entered using the Netscape Composer as a standard word processing editor.  Besides the normal options of editors, the Netscape Composer allows for special features such as different text colors and blinking text.  Text can also be entered by copy and paste techniques.
   
2. Text elements are changed by highlighting the text, clicking the appropriate button or choosing Format and then selecting the element you want to change, such as color or alignment or select Character Properties for more detailed settings.
   
3. Text and text with special properties, such as links, can be assigned colors that will be consistent throughout the page.  Go to the menu bar and choose Format.  From the next menu choose Page Colors and Properties.  Be sure the Use Custom Colors is clicked on.  Select colors for each of the special types of text by clicking on the colored bars next to the type you wish to change.  Notice that your selects appear in the small preview box.  If you pick a text color the same as your background color, the text will disappear.  Click OK when you have finished.

Inserting a Table

1. Tables let you organize text and pictures into neat rows and columns.  Position the cursor where you want to insert a table.  Click on the Table icon.  Then enter the number of rows and columns that you want your table to have.  Then click OK.  Items can be inserted in the cells of the table in the same manner that they can be inserted on your page.
   
2. To eliminate the border of your table, set the border line width to zero.  Then click OK.
   
3. If you want to make changes in the table, put the cursor in the table and select Format and then Table Properties.  (For the Mac, select Table Info.)
   
4. Select the appropriate tab, either Table, Row, or Cell.  Selecting Table will allow you to make changes that affect the entire table, such as alignment. If you wish to make changes to a single row or cell, your cursor must be in the cell or row you wish to change.
   
5. To delete a table, row or cell, your cursor must be in the area you want to delete. Then select Edit, then Table, then the element you wish to delete.

Inserting Images

1. Images must be saved as files before they can be inserted in your page.  Remember to save the images in the same folder as your pages.  Images may be obtained by capturing images from other web pages, scanning existing pictures, or creating images using other software.
   
2. To capture an image from the web, use the web browser to locate an image.  Place the mouse pointer on the image you want to capture and click the right mouse button.  (For a Mac, simply press and hold the mouse button until a drop-down menu appears.) From the menu that appears, choose "Save image as".  Select the place you want to store the image, and then in the "Save as" window choose "Save".
   
3. To insert an image, move your cursor to the position that you want the image located. Press the Image icon.  At the "Enter a remote URL or local file" (A Mac will display Image File Name or Location) select Browse or Choose File.  Select the location of the image file that you wish to insert on your Web page and click OK.
   
4. Background images can be captured in the same manner as other images.  After choosing a background image, right-click the mouse and select Save Background as… (For a Mac, select Save Image.)
   
5. Some good sources for images and backgrounds are:
   • http://www.uncg.edu/images
   • http://www.coe.uh.edu/archive/
   • http://www.pedagonet.com/clipart/clipart.eht

Inserting Horizontal Lines

Position the cursor at location you wish to insert horizontal line and push the Insert Line icon.

Creating Links

1.  Linking to another web page that you have created

• Highlight the text to be linked and select the Insert Link icon.
• Click Choose File and locate the name of the file to be linked.  Highlight the name of the file and click OK. Then click OK in the next window. This is the way to create a link from one of your web pages to another web page. Remember, the place to which you are finking must already exist. For instance, if you want to link from your first page to a second page, you must first create and save the second page before you can create a link to that page.

2.  Linking to an existing URL (a web page that you or someone else has published)

If the link is to a URL, type in the URL or use your Web browser, visit the site, copy the URL, and paste it into the link window.  Click OK.

3.  Linking to an email address

To link to an e-mail address type: mailto:email address (for example: mailto:rcpurdom@uncg.edu)

4.  Creating a Target within a page

A Target is a special type of link that serves as a navigation aid.  If you have a page that covers several topics, you can create Targets so that a person viewing the page can "jump" from the top of the page to specific areas of interest.

• Highlight a word or phrase in the body of the page that is to be the "target".
• Click the Target icon.
• You will see a name assigned to the target.  You can change this name or leave it as it is.
• Go to the top of the page and type in a word or phrase that would let a viewer know that you have created a target.  Typically these words are arranged across the top of the page, in a table, or down the side of the page.
• Highlight the word or phrase that will be the link to the target that you just created.
• Click the Link icon.
• You will see the name of your target in a box at the bottom of the window.  Click on the target name and say OK.
• A target icon will appear on your page.  This icon will not be visible on the published page, but the text will be the color you have chosen for links.

Inserting Documents

Text can be moved or copied by using standard cut and paste or copy and paste procedures. Unfortunately, much of the formatting of the document will probably not transfer. Therefore, if you are creating new text in another editor and want to transfer it to the Netscape Composer, you should delay the formatting until after it is transferred.

Viewing your Web page in the Browser

1. To view your page in the Netscape Browser before you publish your page, press the Preview icon.  If you had not already saved your page, you will be prompted to do so.
   
2. To return to your Composer page, look on the Windows95 task bar at the bottom of your screen.  Your Composer page will have a small blue triangle in the left corner and will show the name you gave your page. Simply click on your page and it will re-appear.
   
3. Notice that the preview of the page is now on the task bar with a ship's wheel icon.  If you make changes to your page in Composer and then select the Preview page from the task bar, the changes will not appear until you select Reload from the Netscape menu.

Publishing Web Pages

1. To send your Web page to your UNIX directory for publishing on the Web, press the Publish icon.  In the Publishing Location, type in the following in the "Upload files to this location" box:
   
   ftp://unix/afs/uncg.edu/user/first letter in username/username/public_html
   
   For a Mac, add a / and the name of the file you are publishing at the end of the line as in ftp://unix/afs/uncg.edu/user/first letter in username/username/public_html/filename.html
   
2. Enter your UNIX user name and password in the boxes under the publication address.
   
3. Do not check the "Save Password" box.  When you return to your own computer, you will need to repeat this step every time you publish.  If you are the only one using the computer, you may check the "Save Password" box.  If others use your computer they could accidentally erase your web pages.

   If you are publishing from home, the publication address should look like this sample with your initial and username replacing the x characters:

   ftp://unix.uncg.edu/afs/uncg.edu/user/x/xxxxxxxx/public_html

   Remember to add the name of the file you are publishing if you are using a Mac.

Viewing your Web Page on the WWW

Your Web page will be located at:  http://www.uncg.edu/~username

for example:  http://www.uncg.edu/~jjdoe

Additional Notes

1. When you return to your own computer and you want to edit the Web pages that you have created, load Netscape and select File and then Open. Select Open in Composer and locate the Web page file that you want to edit.  When you re-publish this page, you will automatically over-write the old pages on the web server so that you new pages will appear.
   
   
2. If you have lost your files you can retrieve them from the Web. Select File and select Edit Page.  You will see the screen change and you will be in Composer mode and you will be editing a copy of the page that is on the Web.  In order to make changes to the pages residing on the Unix machine, you will need to publish the changes.  Be sure that the name of the file is correct when you save it.  Always use Save as so that you can change the name if necessary.  Composer will not automatically save the pages with the original file names.  You should always have a copy of your files on your hard drive to use in editing.