Netscape

Although Microsoft Internet Explorer is a popular browser, people also use Netscape Navigator to surf the Web. These browsers are actually quite similar. Just log on to the Internet and then launch Netscape Navigator.

In order to get familiar with the various options that exist with Netscape Navigator, it is important to understand how it is configured. The Netscape Navigator window is set up as follows (from top to bottom) the Title Bar shows you the name of the Web page you are currently viewing, the Toolbar provides quick access to the most commonly used commands and options, the Location Bar gives you the address (URL) of the Web document you are viewing in the bottom pane, and the Directory Buttons link you to useful collections of Web resources. To see where a link will take you, hold your mouse pointer over a link without clicking and a URL will appear in the bottom left corner of your browser window.

Back - Takes you to the preceding page

Forward - Takes you to the next page

Home - Reloads your default Home Page

Reload - Reloads the page you are viewing

Images - Allows you to view the images on the current page if they were not automatically loaded

Open - Opens a dialog box which allows you to type an address

Print - Prints the Web page you are viewing

Find - Finds text in the current page

Stop - Stops downloading the current page

NAVIGATING THE WEB

To go to another page, either click hyper linked text or graphics on the Web page you are viewing, or manually type it in to the Address Bar (for example "http://www.netscape.com") and hit Return. Once you have visited several Web pages, you can quickly return to them by using the Back and Forward buttons, or by selecting a website from the Go menu.

SAVING YOUR FAVORITE PAGES

Just pull down Windows/Bookmarks and a graphical listing of your bookmarks will appear. This listing contains your bookmarks inside "folders," which allows you to structure the bookmarks however you like. The Item menu lets you create new folders and separators, and can alphabetically sort a group of bookmarks. After you've created the folders you want, simply select and drag the bookmarks into the appropriate folder. When you close the Bookmarks window and return to your browser, pulling down Bookmarks will reveal the titles of your new folders, each acting as a submenu for that category of links!

CUSTOMIZING YOUR DISPLAY

1. Fonts: HTML, the Web's descriptive language, is font-independent. That means it is the viewer of a page, not it's creator, who determines the fonts used. There are two classes of fonts: proportional and fixed. By selecting Options then Preferences then Fonts, you, the user, get to specify a font of your choice for each class. It's better to leave the fixed font as Courier or another monospaced font, but feel free to experiment with the proportional font. Just keep in mind that the text on every Web page you see will be displayed in this font. You can also change the default font sizes. If you have a small monitor, you can view more text in it by selecting a smaller font size.

2. Colors: Anyone with a color monitor should take advantage of modifying Netscape's colors to suit their own needs. From the Options menu, return to Preferences, but this time choose Colors. From here you can change the color of text, links and followed links (links that you've already visited). So if you've had it with black, blue and purple, feel free to invent your own color scheme! And if you think underlined links are a bit redundant, feel free to remove them. You can also change the background color of Web pages by clicking the Custom button and clicking the colored box beside it. If you want your preferences to take affect on every Web page you visit, just click the Always Use Mine button.

3. The Navigator Window: To customize your browser window, go to the Options and try unchecking Show Toolbar, Show Location and Show Directory Buttons. These get rid of the row of buttons which duplicate widely used menu items. If you have a small screen, eliminating them will add almost another vertical inch to your browser window. You can also modify the Toolbar to display pictures, text or both. And while you're there, feel free to change your default home page.

4. Images: If you find Web pages are loading too slowly, you can surf faster by turning off images. Go to the Options menu and uncheck Auto Load Images. If you really want to see the image behind the broken link box, just click on it to load the image manually. You can also click the Images button on the Toolbar to simultaneously load every image on the current page.

5. Opening Multiple Windows: Just because Navigator starts you off with one window, there's no reason to stop there. Go to File and select New Window. You will now have two windows open, each displaying a separate Web page.

DOWNLOADING UPDATED VERSIONS & MORE INFORMATION

Netscape comes out with a new version of Navigator every few months. To download a new version, just visit http://www.netscape.com . Note the file is very large and may take a few hours to download to your hard drive. Netscape publishes a user manual for Navigator on the Web at http://help.netscape.com/index/html .