Netscape 3 Basics Under Windows 3.1 Anne L. Noss Drew University What is Netscape? What's a URL? How do I go to a particular Web page? How do I move around from page to page? What should I do if Netscape is taking too long to connect to a URL? But what if the "Stop" button is grayed out (not available) and/or the program seems frozen? What about error messages? How do I find information I want at a specific Web site? How do I search the Net? What are some good places to begin "surfing" or browsing? How do I save a page? How do I save an image? How can I save a page with all its images? What about downloading files? How do I print a page? How do I print part of a page? How do I bookmark a site I like? What does it mean if the page is divided up into little rectangles? What are some other interesting things about using Netscape? What is Netscape? Netscape is a software program called a "browser." Just as a word processor lets you view and interact with text documents, a browser lets you view and interact with the Internet documents and files stored on any computer which has an Internet "address." Netscape lets you view text and graphics, play sounds and video clips (if your computer is configured to do that), and transfer what you find to your own computer. Lynx, which is on the Drew CWIS, is a less-sophisticated "text browser." It can display text and transfer files, but it can't display graphics, play sounds, or carry out other multimedia functions. However, it's sometimes faster than a "graphical browser" like Netscape. What's a URL? The abbreviation URL, pronounced "You-are-ell," stands for "Uniform Resource Locator." A URL is the unique identifier of a single Web page. What is loosely called a "home page" often includes many associated but individual pages, each a separate document written with HTML coding, and each with its own URL. URLs are also called "Internet addresses." They have a consistent structure: In the URL http://www.drew.edu/infosys/library/library.html, http: is the protocol--a particular way to transfer computer information. FTP, telnet, and gopher are other protocols you may see. //www.drew.edu identifies the server, the particular large computer you're connecting to, which might be anywhere in the world. /infosys/library/ identifies file directories and subdirectories (storage areas) on the server. This element may not appear at all, or it may be several layers deep, depending on which document you're seeking and how that particular server is organized. library.html is the specific document you want to access with Netscape. How do I go to a particular Web page? There are several ways, including these: 1. Click in the white box that's left of the Netscape "N," near the top of the screen, so that the text that's already there is highlighted, and type in your desired URL. Hit the Enter key. 2. The area above this "Location Box" is called the Toolbar; it has a series of "buttons" which are essentially clickable shortcuts to frequently-used menu commands. Click the "Open" button, and a dialog box ("Open Location") will come up. Type the URL in the space, then click "open." 3. If you've previously saved the URL as a "bookmark," bring the bookmark list up on your screen, highlight your choice with the mouse, then release the mouse button. How do I move around from page to page? One way is by clicking on a link. Links are words on the screen which are generally underlined by the browser, and (usually) colored blue or purple, depending on whether or not they've been accessed recently. Some graphics, also, are links; you'll know this is the case if the mouse cursor changes to a hand when it contacts the graphic. Clicking on a link usually begins a transfer to another Web page. The linked page's contents are indicated by the wording of the underlined text or the subject of the image. You can stop the transfer by clicking "Stop" on the Toolbar. Some links transfer files, open forms, or initiate multimedia functions, rather than moving you to another page. The wording or context of the link generally makes this distinction clear, but you can always stop the transfer if you want to. Another way to move from page to page is by using the "Forward" and "Backward" buttons on the Toolbar. Their functions are fairly self-evident, but "Forward" will be "grayed out," or unavailable, unless you've previously backtracked; "Backward" will be grayed out if you haven't left the page where you started your session. These buttons are most useful when you're online for a while and want to retrace your steps in either direction. What should I do if Netscape is taking too long to connect to a URL? Look to see if there's any motion on the Netscape Icon in the upper right corner. If there is, Netscape is still functioning although it's not actively transferring data. The "Stop" button on the Toolbar should, therefore, be available; click on it. If you do, sometimes a part of the page you were seeking will appear on your screen. With luck, it will include the information you wanted. Otherwise, you can try again by hitting the "Reload" button, or go back to your prior page. But what if the "Stop" button is grayed out (not available) and/or the program seems frozen? If there's no motion on the Netscape Icon in the screen's upper right corner, and you can't select "Stop," the first thing to try is pushing the Control and Escape keys simultaneously. In Windows 3.1, this usually brings up a box called the "Task List," which lists every program currently running on your machine. Netscape will be on the list. Use the arrow keys or the mouse to highlight the line including Netscape, then click on "End Task" at the bottom of the box. This will close Netscape. You can then try re-entering Netscape, but experience indicates that rebooting your computer first will improve the odds for an unfrozen Netscape session. You may be able to go in and save any work from other programs, in this instance, before rebooting. If Cntrl-Esc doesn't work (and it won't, often, if the computer's having trouble), try another simultaneous key combination: Control-Alt-Delete. It may, after a pause, bring up a blue screen saying that your program has lost contact with Windows and you can either return to it and wait, or repeat Control-Alt-Delete and reboot. Rebooting is advisable in this situation. If the first Control-Alt-Delete doesn't bring up the blue screen after a short wait, you definitely need to reboot. Either repeat the three-key combination, or hit the reboot button on your computer if you have one. If you don't have a reboot button and the key combination repeatedly fails, you have no choice but to turn off your computer. What about error messages? Some of these are reasonably clear: "Not Found: The requested object does not exist on this server. The link you followed is either outdated, inaccurate, or the server has been instructed not to let you have it." In this case, you might want to check your source for the address, and/or try a search engine (see below) to see if the information you're seeking has been relocated. "Error 401, Unauthorized to access the document" means that this file can only be accessed by individuals with particular, authorized accounts. Other error messages are less straightforward. "The server does not have a DNS entry" may, in fact be true--you've tried to access a server that doesn't exist. But there are other possibilities. First, it could also mean that you made a typing error in entering the address, or got a not-quite-correct address from your source. Second, it could indicate a problem with your current connection; see if you can reach other addresses you know to be valid. If you can't, exit Netscape, reboot, and then see if you can connect; a failure at this point needs to be reported to Academic Technology. Third, the address may be valid but the server is temporarily unreachable (although in theory you should get a different error message in such an instance). Give it a few tries, perhaps at different times of the day or week, before concluding that the server is indeed defunct (or renamed). How do I find information I want at a specific Web site? The Netscape "Find" button will allow you to search for text strings, going either forward or backward in the document, and specifying case sensitivity if you wish. It can be very useful, but keep in mind that a Web site or "home page" often consists of more than one HTML document, and this function will only search the current document. Some sites have their own search forms, which are always a logical place to start, although many of them offer no guidance as to case sensitivity, truncation, Boolean operators, etc. (they weren't designed by librarians!). If the site is too large for repeated "Find" searches, a search engine might be a more effective way to locate the information you're seeking. How do I search the Net? The fast answer to this is that there is no way for you to search every single document on the Internet (which includes the World Wide Web). The best available mechanisms are online tools called "search engines." Each of these indexes a certain portion of the Net; but these portions vary in size and in domain. The best strategy is to use more than one search engine, unless the first one turns up exactly what you need, and to read the Help sections for each one. Explaining particular search engines is beyond the scope of this handout, but if you click on "Net Search" on Netscape's "Directory Bar" (found below the Location Box), you will go to a page which lists many (not all) of the available search tools. You can also try http://www.albany.net/allinone, the "All-in-One Search Page," which is a more extensive, well organized collection, with both links to each search tool and its own input boxes if you'd rather remain on the page. What are some good places to begin "surfing" or browsing? Web indexes are organized collections of links, designed to start you in a useful direction. They are helpful if you're browsing or searching by topic; search engines are more effective if you're looking for a particular page/file or more specific information. (Although the distinction isn't clear-cut--some search engines also have a categorical index, and some indexes, Yahoo for instance, have their own search engine.) The following are a few good indexes, each with its own strengths, and you'll find others. BUBL Information Service (for librarians), http://bubl.ac.uk/ Yahoo, http://www.yahoo.com The WWW Virtual Library, http://www.w3.org/pub/DataSources/bySubject/Overview.html Librarians' Index to the Internet, http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/ Essential Links, http://www.el.com The Whole Internet Catalog, http://www-e1c.gnn.com/gnn/wic/wics/index.html How do I save a page? To download text (or a page where only the text is of interest): 1. If you want to save to a floppy, be sure you have a formatted disk in the A: drive, with sufficient empty space for your file. If you're saving to your hard drive or a network drive, decide where you'll want to put the file. 2. Click on "File" on the Netscape menu, then click on "Save As." A dialog box will appear. 3. You need to tell Netscape where to save the file, i.e., on which drive and in which directory. If you don't take this step, the program will generally put the file in the C:\Netscape directory. You may prefer to save to either A:, C:, F:, or G:. If you want to save to A:, for instance, click on the down-arrow under "Drives." You will see a list of available drives. Click on the up-arrow within that list until the A: drive listing is visible, then highlight it with the mouse and release the mouse button, to select it. Use this approach to select any of the available drives. Note that when you select a drive, there will often be a change in the "Directories" box, just above where you chose the drive. Under the word "Directories" you'll see which directory is currently being accessed on the drive you selected. If you want to save your file to a different directory, look at the directory structure, represented by little folder icons, in the Directories box. Double-clicking on the topmost folder (C:\, if you're on the hard drive) will display all the directories on the drive. Double-clicking any of these will select that directory as the location for your download, and also show any subdirectories which, in turn, you can select with a double-click if desired. Not everyone is comfortable with this process of moving among directories and drives. In such a case, the simplest approach is to save the file to a floppy disk (A:) and either keep it there, or consult with a colleague about moving it to another location. 4. The next step is deciding what type of format you want for your saved copy of the page. Netscape will save the file as an HTML document, coding included, unless you tell it to do otherwise. If that's what you want to do, skip this step and go to #5. You indicate your desired file type in the box under "Save File as Type." The words "HTML Files"will appear there initially--that's the default selection, as noted above. When you click on the down-arrow in the box you'll see two choices. "Plain Text" means ASCII format, and it is usually what you'll want to choose if you don't want HTML. ASCII is the most basic and universally accessible form of text, and Windows will assume any file whose name ends in .txt is an ASCII file. You can open and edit ASCII files in Windows' Notepad, or in any word processor. However, you may lose some of the structuring elements of the HTML page if you save in ASCII; possibly a problem for text appearing on the screen in tables or columns; generally not a problem for standard text. "All Files" lets you "tell" Windows that your download is a file type other than HTML or ASCII. You'll indicate the specific type in the next step, when you indicate the name of the downloaded file. The name's important because Windows "identifies" file types not by perusing their contents, but by looking at their filenames--specifically, the three letters or numbers following the dot. There will be times when you want to use this option, but they usually won't involve a standard HTML page. Your clue will be the description of what you're downloading, or the filename which appears by default in the "File Name" box. In any case, make your "Save File as Type" selection by highlighting it with the mouse, then releasing the mouse button. 5. Finally, you need to assign a name to the file you're going to save. Logically enough, you do this in the box under "File Name." The name assigned to the file by its author or a webmaster will already be visible in the box. If the name seems logical to you, or you simply want to maintain the integrity of the author's choice, you can accept this name and proceed to step #6. However, first be sure that the extension of the filename is compatible with the file type you selected in the prior step! Suppose you decide you want to save a particular page as an ASCII file, and you indicated that in step #4. The name you're seeing in the "File Name" box is "filename.htm," because the page is, of course, an HTML file, which Windows recognizes from its .htm or .html extension. If you don't change the last three letters of the file name to .txt, the ASCII extension, Netscape is not going to figure out from the prior step that you really wanted the file to be ASCII; it's going to save the file as HTML. So if you do need to change the extension to match your file type, and/or want to change a filename such as "OER8766" to something more meaningfully descriptive, click in the upper left part of the dialog box, under "File Name." Delete and replace as needed, keeping your filename no more than eight letters or numbers followed by a dot and the extension appropriate to your file format. 6. Click "OK" and the file will download. How do I save an image? As above, have a floppy disk ready or a drive/directory choice in mind. 1. Position your mouse on the graphic and click the right mouse key. This will bring up a menu. 2. Release the mouse when you've highlighted "Save this Image As." Doing so will bring up the same dialog box described in the previous section. Follow steps 3-6, above, but note that the File Types are different. The File type you see initially (almost always .gif or .jpg) is the correct one for the graphic and should be selected in place of the "All Files" option. You can change the filename if you need to, but don't change the extension. How can I save a page with all its images? If you want to be able to re-view a particular page and have it look exactly as it did online, you will need to save it as an HTML file. Then you'll be able to use the "File/Open File" command in your copy of Netscape to view the file, once you've selected its drive, directory, and name. Unfortunately, when a page has graphics, additional steps are required. For one thing, the graphics will all need to be downloaded separately, as described above. Once you've done that, take a look at your saved HTML file in Netscape. If it looks like the online version, you've been fortunate; more likely, you will see various generic "graphics" icons where the images ought to be. This happens because usually Web authors store their graphics files in a different directory than their HTML documents. Accordingly, the HTML coding for the graphics indicates not only their names, but in which directory they're stored. Since the graphics are now on your computer, Netscape can't find that directory. This is easily, if sometimes tediously, remedied if you are comfortable editing the HTML source code. All you need to do is remove the nonfunctional server addresses for the graphics. A find-and-replace function, if your word processor or HTML editor has one, can simplify the job. If you are not comfortable doing this, perhaps a colleague can assist you. There is another option for those using Netscape 3.1 Gold. Netscape Gold has a built-in HTML editor, whose primary function may or may not be of interest to you, but which allows you to save an HTML page with the graphics included and all the editing done automatically. The process is as follows: 1. While viewing the page of interest, select "File/Edit Document." 2. You'll probably see a box saying "Save Remote Document." Essentially this box is asking your permission to save a copy of the page to the drive/directory you designate, and to change the HTML in the document so it looks for its graphics in your designated location, rather than in their original location on someone's mainframe. This is what you're trying to do, so click "Save." 3. You may see a warning box commendably urging copyright awareness for the graphics. When you've exited that box, you'll see the same "Save As" dialog box which was discussed above. Follow exactly the same steps in naming your file, selecting its file type, and selecting its download location, and click "OK" when you're done. 4. You may see some progress indicators as the text and graphics files are saved, but ultimately you'll end up in Gold's Editor window, with the saved copy of the file loaded for any additional editing. The edits you want are already done, so you can return to the Netscape browser window by selecting "New Web Browser" on the "File" Menu, or exit the program altogether, as usual. What about downloading files? Downloading a file from the Web, with either FTP or HTTP, is a somewhat different process than the above. A file is listed by its name as "hot" link. Selecting the link may go directly into the setup for downloading it, and the steps for telling Netscape where to download are similar to those given above. Or Netscape may bring up a screen with a message beginning "You have started to download a file of type..." with various options, which most users would not find particularly clear. You get this screen when this particular copy of Netscape doesn't have a set of instructions for what to do with a file with this extension. Such instructions can be as simple as saving the file to your chosen location, or involve the extra step of starting up an additional software program on your computer to display or run the file you're downloading. An example of an additional software program would be an audio player so you can listen to a sound clip, or Adobe's Acrobat Reader so you can view a .PDF file. (These associated software programs are called "helpers" or "plug-ins," and their configuration process is beyond the scope of this handout.) Netscape tries to address your computer's apparent need for a plug-in with two of the other choices on the "You have started to download..." screen. The "More Info" button will take you to an additional Web page, from which you can download helper or plug-in software for your chosen file type. The "Pick App" button lets you browse your hard drive for software you already own which can handle this sort of file, so that you can integrate that information into your copy of Netscape. What the screen doesn't make clear, especially to beginning users, is that in performing a download these are options, not necessities. You can simply click on the remaining button--"Save File"--and save the file as usual. The only caveat is that having saved the file sometimes you will, in fact, ultimately need a particular type of software to make use of it. But how and when you deal with that is your choice; it doesn't have to be part of the downloading process. How do I print a page? Click the "Print" button on the Toolbar, or "File/Print" on the Menu bar, to bring up a dialog box. The default setup is to print one copy of the current Web page, on as many paper pages as that requires. You can adjust this to change the number of copies or range of paper pages you desire, or just click "OK" to print. The File Menu also has an option called "Print Preview." This is very useful if you only want to print a portion of a long Web page, because it allows you to see how many pieces of paper it will take to print the Web page and what will appear on each page. You can click the Preview Window's "Print" button at the top of the display to bring up the same dialog box as you'd get from the Toolbar's "Print" button, and specify if, for instance, you really only want pages 2 and 3. Or you can click on the Preview's "Close" button to bail out of the print job altogether. If your particular printer isn't capable of printing from Netscape, make note of the URL of your desired page, find one of the library's computers which runs Netscape and has a more versatile printer, and access/print the page. You can also save the page and retrieve it in someone else's copy of Netscape using the "File/Open File" command, although this may cause complications with the graphics (see How can I save a page with all its images?, above). How do I print part of a page? If you select text with your mouse, you will not be able to print only the selected text from Netscape; Netscape will print the entire page. Neither will you be able to save the selected text as a file; Netscape will save the whole page instead. What you can do is either print the paper page(s) that contain your desired text, or copy and paste the desired text into a word processor. You do this by highlighting the text in Netscape, then selecting "Edit/Copy" on the Menu bar. This process transfers the selected material into an area of memory which Windows calls the "Clipboard." You can then open the word processor of your choice, either a full-featured one like WordPerfect or a simple one like Windows' Notepad, select "Edit/Paste," and there will be your text, ready to print or save. If you want to wait until you've exited Netscape to paste the text, remember that each time you use the Copy command the new selection replaces whatever was previously in the Clipboard, and exiting Windows empties the Clipboard completely. How do I bookmark a site I like? While you're accessing that site, click "Bookmark/Add Bookmark" on the Menu Bar. This will add a bookmark for the site to the bottom of your existing list. The title of the bookmark will be whatever the page's author has chosen as the title of the page (although you can change this, if you'd like). You can arrange, edit, and otherwise manipulate your bookmarks by selecting "Bookmark/Go to Bookmarks." The menus in this separate window allow you to organize your bookmarks into folders, delete them, and edit their names or URLs. You can also tell Netscape (with "File/Open") to access another bookmark file---handy if you're using someone else's computer, and can direct Netscape to a bookmark file on F: or on a floppy disk. What does it mean if the page is divided up into little rectangles? You're viewing a page utilizing an HMTL structural option called "frames." Each frame functions as a discrete web page, which sometimes makes using them rather confusing. For example, the Print command will refer only to the content of the frame, not to what you would call "the page." The Backward and Forward buttons also work "within" the frame. What are some other interesting things about using Netscape? You don't actually need to type "http://" in the Location Box. You can start with the www.whatever.com section; Netscape will assign the protocol. You can open more than one browser window, thus being "on" several sites at once, by selecting "File/New Web Browser" from the Menu bar. This is useful if, for instance, you want to get several different search engines working at once on the same query. You can cycle between the windows by simultaneously pressing Control and Tab; or by using the "Window" selection on the Menu Bar, which will list all the windows open in Netscape. If you do have more than one window open, "File/Close" will close only the current window; but this command will close the entire program if you're only using a single window. "Exit," on the same menu, will always close the entire program, regardless of the number of windows in use. To see the HTML which underlies the screen display of your current Web page, select "View/Document Source" from the Menu Bar. You can't print the HTML display, but you can copy all or part of it, and paste it into a word processor. This is a great way to learn how a Web author made a particular page look the way it does. You can determine whether the page being displayed has special security protection by looking at the small "key" icon in the lower left corner of the screen. A "broken" key, which will usually be what you'll see there, denotes a page without special protection; a "whole" key has the protection enabled. If you've saved a file in HTML format on a hard, floppy, or network drive, you can view it in Netscape with the "File/Open" command. This is useful, for instance, if you're teaching yourself HTML or you're developing a particular page, and you want to see how your edits have changed the display. Anne L. Noss Acting Government Documents Librarian Drew University Library Madison, NJ