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Netscape--Navigating, Customizing, and Saving 

Browsing and Navigating Basics
The Title and the URL (1)  |   Pull-Down Menus (2)  |  Navigating Toolbar ( )   |  Personal Toolbar ( )
Tabbed Browsing ( )    |  Links ( )  |  Entering Text in Forms (  )

Essential Settings in Netscape Preferences
Home Page (  )  |  Cookie Controls (  )  |   Desired Passwords Settings (  )  |  Forms (  )  |  Popup Window Controls (  )

Bookmarks
General Rule on Saving (  )  |  To Bookmark a Page (  )  |  Managing Bookmarks: Folders (  )
Organize Your Bookmarks (  )   |  Exporting Bookmarks (  )  |  Importing Bookmarks (  )
Creating Groupmarks (Under Tabbed Browsing) (  )

Saving and E-Mailing Pages and Images
General Rule on Saving (  )  |  Saving a Page in HTML Format (  )  |  Saving a Page in Plain Text Format (  )
Saving Images (  )  |  E-Mailing Pages (  )  |   E-Mailing Images (  )

Printing Pages (Preview First!)
How to Print (  )  |  Print-Preview Features (  )  |  Print-Preview Troubleshooting (  )

Netscape "Secrets"   (Features You Did Not Know Were There)
Open a Page From Your Floppy Drive (  )  |  Finding Pages You Have Visited (  )
Finding Words/Phrases in a Page (  )  |  View Text Bigger or Smaller (  )  |  Find When a Page was Last Modified (  )
Searching the Web (  )  |  Creating a Web Page (  )  |  View Programming Behind a Page (  )  |  Help!  (  )
Tabbed Browsing (  )

Downloading Netscape

NOTE: In this class, we will be using  Netscape 7 or above (Having Mozilla 1 or above at home is acceptable).  If you do not have Netscape 7 or Mozilla at home, you will want to download a free copy onto your computer.      While you could get by with Internet Explorer (there are many similarities), you will need Netscape Composer to create web pages (IE does NOT provide a free web page editor).  Internet Explorer also does NOT provide you the ability to recognize some Frames' URL (see "Recognizing the Structure of the Web Page") nor does it give you Page Info that tells you when a web page was last updated. I strongly recommend you practice browsing Netscape 7 or Mozilla 1.


Browsing and Navigating Basics

What is the Title of the page I'm on?

The title of the web page is stated always on the top left, above the pull down menus, in dark blue (usually followed by a dash and then "Netscape").  That's what a search engine picks up.  When you state the title of the web page in your citations, THIS is what you put down.  NOT what's stated INSIDE the page.  It does not matter what text appears inside the web page, itself.  You can see inside the page, towards its top, words in bold, and in capital letters, and in a very large size-- but it is NOT  the title of the web page. 

What is the URL (Web Address) of the Page I'm on?

Right below the tool bar, look at the text box toward the right.  That long address indicated is the URL (Universal Resource Locator), also known as a "web address."  If you click inside once, the entire address is highlighted.  If you hit the Backspace button on your keyboard, the address is deleted and you are ready to enter a new URL.  When you click on the arrow on the right, you get a pull-down menu of all URL's you have entered and can select a previously entered URL.

The Elements of Browsing: Menu Bar, The Navigating Bar, the Personal Toolbar and Tabbed Browsing

When it comes to navigating through your browser, you mainly have one pull-down menu, two toolbars, and then the option to have multiple pages appear as folder tabs.  This section goes over how to use the first three types of tools for browsing.  Tabbed Browsing is discussed underneath Netscape Secrets.

Pull-Down Menus

Pull-Down menus is a universal function in any programs operating in the Windows Interface.  Below is a legend of each pull-down menu and what is available.  The rest of this handout discusses some of the more important features that will make you a smart browser, knowing how to make the most out of Netscape!

File  Open, Close, Save, and Print Files (web pages) in your browser.	Edit  Copy, cut or paste information you find in your browser.  Find words in a page.  Customize your Preferences for your browser.	View Determine how you want your browser and pages viewed, show and hide tool bars, view original HTML source code and other information about a page.	Go Go back to pages you have previously viewed.

Bookmarks Have your browser save in its memory pages you want to return to on the World Wide Web.	Tools Manage important settings or perform particular functions on Netscape.	Windows Open different functions in Netscape such as Navigator to view pages, Composer to create pages, and Communication interfaces such as E-Mail, groups, and chat (Instant Messenger).	Help Get answers and step-by-step instructions on how to perform certain functions in Netscape.

The Navigating Toolbar

This is the main toolbar you use while navigating through the World Wide Web.   You click on Refresh whenever you want to reload the page from its server again, you click on Stop whenever to stop loading a page, you enter a web address into the URL Location Toolbar and you can determine if a page is still loading if the animation of the Loading Status icon is still moving.
 

Back	Forward	Refresh	Stop	URL Location Bar	Loading Status

The Personal Toolbar

Put whatever additional navigating functions you want on your Personal Toolbar.  In Netscape's Preferences, you can activate a button to the Home page you have set for your browser, have a button for bookmarks, and more.  You can also make any bookmarks be a button on your toolbar.  For this class, I only ask you have the Home button (and maybe the Bookmarks button) active on your Personal Toolbar

Tabbed Browsing

For detail of Tabbed Browsing, go to Tabbed Browsing under Netscape Secrets.  The main function of tabbed browsing is to be able to view multiple pages without having to open a separate Netscape window.

Navigating and Understanding Links

A Hyperlink is either text or an image set up to link to another page.

Hypertext links are usually (but not always) text that are underlined and either in blue or in purple.

Blue  links mean that you have never visited that page before.  Purple links mean you have recently visited that page.

Sometimes text is not underlined and sometimes in neither of those two colors, so you have to be prepared for that possibility.

For images and non-traditional text that are hyperlinks, you need to move your mouse over the image or text in question.
If the cursor changes from an arrow into a hand, you have found a hyperlink.

To know you are on a hyperlink so you can click:  Unless you are on a button, the arrow will change into a hand.  Once you see a hand you are on the link and ready to click.  For buttons, you'll see the image of the button change as if highlighted, meaning you are on the button.

 Entering Text on a Form in a Web Page

 The Essential Settings (Preferences)

Begin customizing your browser so that you have a desired Home Page, essential settings that protect your privacy, and block out annoying pop-up advertisements. 

 Setting the Home Page

Follow the instructions under "Making the Library Web Page your home" only instead of the Library page being your home, make it your course web page, which is: http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/iskills.html

 

To make the Course page your home page in the Netscape or Mozilla Browser:

Setting up Cookie Controls

A Cookie is basically an identifier a Web Site places on your browser when you visit that site.  When you later return to the site it "identifies" you through the cookies it has placed on your browser.  Cookies are necessary components when it comes to accessing many web pages including E-Mail, Library Subscription Databases, online course sites such as those through Blackborad, and on-line stores.  However, sites that have continual access to cookies on your browser can and will track  your searching or shopping habits, and could be interpreted as an invasion of your privacy.  Some sites would know whether you often check for current news or whether you shop for books often.  They can even have cookies tell the site which city you live in (based on your server's IP address).  While sites cannot read other sites' cookies (for example Amazon.com bookstore cannot know your activity on another web site), many pages you visit also feature advertisements that come from another server, and that other server can also collect your activity, while you are on that site (This is called third-party cookies).

It is recommended in this class that you have cookies last no more than the current session (when your browser is still active).  Try to have the life span of your cookies cease when you close out of your browser.

1. Go to the Edit pull-down menu and select Preferences.
2.  Double-click on  Privacy & Security to get to the options listed underneath. 3.  Select Cookies. 4.  Under Cookies, make sure Enable Cookies Based on Privacy Settings is selected.  Click on View for more information.  In general, you should have it set on either Medium or High. 5.  Check the box next to Limit Maximum Lifetime of Cookies to: and select Current Session. 6.  When done, click on OK.
To get an idea how long your cookies may be stored, otherwise, take a look at Manage Stored Cookies and you will be in for a surprise.  To the right, is an example of how long Google, the search engine, can track your search patterns-- thirty-five years.  Most search engines track your searching patterns for a long time and some stores like Amazon also track your information for thirty years.  Cookies are supposed to make your browsing easier (it takes less time for some sites to download when they have your cookie) and to have sites provide you with personalized information, but it is up to you to decide whether you want your searching or spending habits tracked.

Setting your Desired Passwords Settings

For your convenience, Netscape has your browser set-up to remember the passwords you enter into your browser.  However, you would not want this set-up if you are at a publicly accessible computer such as in the classroom or the Student Computer Lab, and if you leave a password's memory active in your own home browser, anyone who gets into your computer can have access to such web sites as your E-Mail accounts and even your banking accounts.  While each time you enter a new site that asks for a password, the browser will send you a pop-up window asking if you want it stored, it is very easy to forget what you are doing at the time and by habit, click on OK.  This class recommends you have the browser not remember your passwords.
 

1. Go to the Edit pull-down menu and select Preferences.
2.  Double-click on  Privacy & Security to get to the options listed underneath. 3.  Select Passwords. 4.  Under Password Manager, un-check the box next to Remember Passwords. Click on OK.

Forms

To protect yourself when it comes to filling out forms, you may want to change the default settings.  Go to the Edit pull down menu, select Preferences, and then double click on Privacy & Security. Select Forms, and make sure Save Form Data . . . is not selected.  Even on your personal computer, it is best that someone does not have addresses, phone numbers, or also typical elements you fill out in a form.

Popup Blocker on Netscape 7

Special comment on Ads:  You know those images.  You've seen them on your Email program  They're usually at the top of the screen with flashy animation.  You click on it and you may not only find one but several different ads on different windows.  You go to close out of an ad (To close out, you click on the box-- in MACS the top left, in PC's, the top right on the "X") and yet another ad opens up.  Those are called pop-up ads.  For this class, PLEASE DO NOT CLICK ON ADS.  The good news is that Netscape 7 now features the blocking of popup windows.

In Netscape 7.01 and Mozilla 1 and above, you are able to prevent pop-up windows from appearing on sites that you visit.  While suppressing all pop-ups can prevent some log-in windows for shopping and financial sites, it pretty much works with almost all research sites!
 

1.  Open the Edit pull-down menu and choose Preferences. 2.  Select Privacy & Security and then click on Popup Window Controls. 3.  In the Popup Window Controls window, select Suppress Groups.  Click on the Exceptions button, to select any sites that would have an impact.  For example, if you have AOL Mail, you will want to list www.aol.com as an exception, otherwise you will not get into AOL Mail.  4.  Click on Play a Sound and/or Display an Icon if you want to be alerted whenever a popup has been suppressed. 5.  Click on OK when done.

Saving Information You Find on the Web

GENERAL RULE: Whenever saving a bookmark, a web page, or an image, do NOT leave spaces in between words, especially if you ever plan to post or send any of the files in the online world.  For example, if you have saved a web page and want to name it "World Wide Web" you need to name it as a file as either worldwideweb.html or world_wide_web.html but NOT world wide web.html  

Bookmarks      Saving Pages and Images 

BookMarks-- Your "place-markers" on the Web

A Bookmark (known as a Favorite in Internet Explorer and AOL) is a "place marker" you set in your browser to direct you to a particular page you have found in the World Wide Web.  When you create a bookmark, you are basically storing the web address into your browser's memory.  You can then select from a pull down of "place markers" to the desired page you want to go.  Let's practice by making the Library web page a bookmark

To Bookmark a Page:

Notice that the Bookmark contains the Web Page Title.  To look at more information of your saved Bookmark, you can look at Manage Bookmarks.  Along with the Web Page Title, you will also get the Web Page URL.

As time goes by, you will have so many Bookmarks, you will want to organize them.  In this case you will want to Manage Bookmarks.

Managing Bookmarks: Folders

Create Folders and click and drag your bookmarks into particular folders that fit the category that has meaning to you.  For example, if you were working on a term project about Pesticides, you would have created Bookmarks on the best web sites you have found on this topic, and then may want to move them into a folder.  You could then create new folders inside this folder for any sub-topics.  Meanwhile, your list of bookmarks remains uncluttered.

 

1.  Select either the Bookmarks pull-down menu or the Bookmarks button on your Personal Toolbar and select Manage Bookmarks.
2.  Click on New Folder (on the bar, top right) and name your folder.
3.  Once you have your Folder, you then want to move your Bookmarks into the Folder.  You do so by clicking on the Bookmark file and then, without letting go, drag it into the desired Folder.  You know you are in the Folder when the Folder is highlighted.
4.  Remember that any Bookmarks that are inside the Folder cannot be viewed when the Folder is closed.
5.  But once you open the Folder, you can then view all the Bookmarks that you have placed inside the Folder.  Notice that the Bookmark is indented to the right, along with a dotted pathway that states that the Bookmark, "Pesticides in Foods" is inside the "Pesticides" Bookmark Folder.
6.  As you continue to organize your bookmarks, you can eventually have a well-organized set-up that can be used for all your search needs.  For example, you can have a separate folder for another class, and you can have Folders inside another Folder.  Remember that any Bookmark or Folder that is inside a Folder will only be viewed once the Folder is Open, and will be clearly marked with a right indentation.
7.  When selecting either the Bookmarks pull-down menu or the Bookmarks button, you then select a desired Folder, follow the arrow of that Folder, and continue until you reach the Bookmark to the page you want to view.

Organizing The Order of Your Bookmarks

In the View pull-down menu of the Manage Bookmarks window you have many sorting options on how you want to organize your bookmarks.  They include by location, by name, by date, further enhanced with A-Z (or Z-A) alphabetical ordering.  The show columns option allows you to determine how you want to view your bookmarks in the full setting.  In addition to Name and Location, you can also choose the date and time last modified.

Exporting/Importing Bookmarks

There are times where you want to be able to have your bookmarks with you whether you are at home, in the classroom, in the Student Computer Lab, or at work.  You can export your bookmarks into a file that you put on your diskette and then import them onto your browser, the next time you are at a computer.  The key thing here is to remember to always get into the habit of exporting and importing, so you can best keep track of your work.

How To Export Bookmarks

 

1.  Before beginning, you may want to delete any bookmarks you do not want saved.  Go to Bookmarks, select Managed Bookmarks, select any files you want to delete and hit Delete on your keyboard.
2.  Before exporting, place all of your Bookmarks and Folders into one folder.  Having one main Folder will make it easier for you as you move from computer to computer.  As there will be other Bookmarks already sitting there.  For example, how about naming all the bookmarks for all your classes to Spring 2003?
3.  Once you are ready to export your Bookmarks, go to the Tools pull-down menu and select Export.
4.  A window will come up, asking you to save your Bookmarks file.  Make sure you save your file to your diskette, by having Save In to Floppy Drive (A:).  At  File Name, give your file a name you will remember, such as "Spr2003.html" and make sure that Save as Type is selected to HTML Files.

How to Import Bookmarks

1.  Before beginning, take a look at what is on the Bookmarks of the computer you are using.  If you are at a public computer station, you may want to be considerate and not delete any bookmarks.  You will recognize your Bookmarks easily if you have saved them all into one folder (see How to Export Bookmarks, above).
2.  Go into Bookmarks and select Managed Bookmarks.
3.  Select the Tools pull-down menu and select Import.
4.  A window will come up, asking you to open your Bookmarks file.  At Look In, make sure you select Floppy Drive (A:).  Click on the Bookmark file from the selections below and click on Open.
5.  The Bookmarks will contain both the Bookmarks that were already in the browser along with the ones you just imported.  The example on the right has the Bookmark File with all the Folders and Bookmarks in one big folder (Spring 2003).

If you are at a publicly accessible computer and wish no one to use your bookmarks when you are done, simply delete your bookmarks after you have successfully exported your Bookmark file.  In this class, you will want to be in the habit of Exporting and Importing bookmarks as other students will have access to these computers for other classes and can change the bookmarks.  Also computers are maintained regularly and all bookmarks can be erased.

Saving Information on the Web: Pages and Images

If you plan to save a web page that you plan to open up again through a web browser, you will want to save the page in HTML format.  If you wanted to save a web page that you later wanted to view and edit the text through a Microsoft Word program, you then want to save the web page in Plain Text format.  Finally, if you want to save Images, you can save a Web page with Images or to save just one image from a page, you will want to follow the directions when it comes to saving images.  Saving a web page in Plain Text format means you are NOT saving any images.

Why would you want to save a web page?  Well, what if the page is down at a different time?  Having the web pages saved on your disk is for your convenience.

NOTE: If you are viewing a page through Adobe Acrobat Reader, saving from the browser will not work.  You will want to click on the Diskette button that is on the Adobe Acrobat toolbar, itself.  It looks like this:  .

To Save a Web Page that Will Be Viewed from a Web Browser (HTML Format)
 

1.  From the File pull-down menu, select Save Page As.

2.  At Save In, save your web page to your diskette at 3/12 Floppy (A:).  At File name, take given file or create a file name of your own and add the extension, .html at the end.  At Save as Type, select Web Page, complete if you want to save the page along with the images that are on the page.  If you want to only save the page and NOT the images, select Web Page, HTML only.  After selecting your Type, click on Save.

To save a Web Page that will be Viewed In a Word Processing Program (Plain Text Format)

If you just go ahead and save a page, and not pay attention to the format you are saving in, you could be asking for a major headache.  Web pages that are saved as HTML means that in text form, you get all the programming language which looks like this:

So if you want to view and edit content from a web page through a word processor such as Microsoft Word, you are going to need to save your file as Plain Text.

 

1.  From the File pull-down menu, select Save Page As.
2.  At Save In, save your web page to your diskette at 3/12 Floppy (A:).  At File name, take given file name or create a file name of your own and add the extension, .txt at the end.  At Save as Type, select Text File.  Click on Save.

To Save an Image

In older browsers, you used to have to save each image separately in addition to the page.  Nowadays, you can save the page and its images (Web Page, complete).  However, sometimes, you will want to only save just an image.  For example, when you are searching for images on the Web that you then want to put on the web page that you are creating, you may want to save only one image on the page, itself.  

 

1.  Move your cursor over the image you want to save.  2.  Click on the Right Mouse Button (In MACS hold down the Mouse).  A menu of items will appear next to the image. 3.  Select Save Image As.

4.  To save in your diskette, at Save in, select 3 1/2 Floppy (A:).  At File name, whether you take the same name or rename it, add an extension at the end.  The extension will be .gif if the Save as Type says GIF Image.  If Save as Type says JPEG Image, enter the extension .jpg instead.  If another file as type appears, look at the matching file types listed in our Library Research Guide on Finding Images on the Internet.  Click on Save.

To E-Mail a Page

To avoid headaches, do not go to "File" menu and select "Send Page" unless you're versed in HTML files.  Any work you've done, save it on your disk.  If you want to Email it as well, talk to me and I'll show you how to send it via a Web E-Mail program  as an Attachment.

    To E-Mail to Yourself a Plain Text Version of Your Web Page

 

1.  Go to the web page you want to send to yourself. 2.  Click inside the page itself so Netscape will know what you will want to save. 3.  If you want to save everything, go to the Edit pull down menu and select Select All. 4.  The text below should be highlighted. 5.  Select the Edit pull down menu again and select Copy.
6.  In another browsing window, where you have already gone into your E-Mail program and selected Compose a Message, click inside the Body of the message that you are going to send.
7.  Go to the Edit menu and select Paste. 8.  All of the text on the saved page will then appear.  Proofread the text and delete any text you do not want to send yourself. 9.  The same steps can be done up above for selecting a portion of the text.  Only instead, highlight the text you want to copy by holding down the left mouse button and continuing to scroll down to the last word.  Then do steps 5 to 8.

Mailing Images

They MUST first be saved on your floppy disk and then sent as attachments.  I hope to discuss a little more about attachments later in this course.  If you want to send as attachments now, please see me outside of class.  You can make an appointment with me.

Printing Pages

You'd think all you need to do is select the "Print" button from the Netscape bar and that's all you need to do, right?  Not always.  If you want to save paper, or if you are at a public area that charges printing per page (i.e. Kinko's, Cal State Hayward Library, etc.), you'll want to make sure your pages print!  Even here at Chabot Library, if what you sent to print is no longer on your screen and all you got was blank pages of paper, you have to find that page all over again!  Here's how to save time and make printing a breeze:

How to Print Web Pages

1.  Look for any "Print" options inside the page first.  Sometimes, you have to reformat your page so that it can be printed.  All you have to do is click on the link inside the page that says "Print" or "Print Friendly."  This option is necessary to clean up script on the page, miscellaneous buttons and graphics, and to make the page appear closer to plain text.

2.  Once the page is ready to be printed (whether you had to select a link from inside the page or not), you will then use Netscape browser to print the page.
 

3.  Go to the File pull down menu and select Print Preview.  Do NOT click on Print because you do not know for sure whether you are printing what you THINK are printing (see below).  Also, web pages can sometimes be more pages that you want to print and you may only want to print particular pages.  Do you want to print a 456 page document?
4.  A window will open up that will show you how your print job will appear when you Print.  If the Print Job appears to be okay, click on Print.  Print Preview will show you many features.  Notice at Page, where it says "1 of 1" in the example on the right, that states that you are on page one of one pages.
6.  After you select Print, a window comes up to ask you some questions regarding your print job.  Here you select the Printer you are going to send it to, select the pages you want to print, and when done, click on OK.  Notice in this example that the person selected the first seven pages.  If it turns out you have a 255 page document (sometimes happens on the Web!), select what pages you want to print. 7.  Go to the printer to see if your print job was sent successfully. 8.  When finished, click on Close of the Print Preview window.

Features in Print Preview:  You have the opportunity to change the way you want your page to print, too.  Click on Page Setup to change margins or to include any background images or colors.  Click on the options in Scale to determine how you want your page to print (by default, it is setup to Shrink to fit"  Determine whether you want your pages to print vertically (Portrait) or horizontally (Landscape).  You can also view particular pages.  For example, if you want to view page 9 of a 55 page document, enter nine, or click the right arrow until you get to page nine.

Print-Preview Troubleshooting

It is very easy to just click on Print and then end up paying for pages of blank paper.  By clicking on Print Preview for all of your print jobs, you can then see exactly what you are printing, let alone even make adjustments to the pages that your are printing.  Below are a few reasons why sometimes the page does not turn out the way it should.

1.  You have selected a Frame of the page and you are printing the wrong frame.  Click inside the Frame you want to print and try again.

2.  You forgot to click on a Print or Print Friendly link or button INSIDE the page.

3.  You are currently viewing a PDF file through Adobe Acrobat.  For pages through Adobe Acrobat Reader, you do not print from the Netscape browser, but from the print icon on the Adobe Acrobat Reader toolbar, itself.  The Print Icon looks like this:  .

4.  If you are using Netscape 4.8 and below or another older browser, and the background of the screen is in a dark color while the text is in white or a very light color, the browser was literally viewing the text in the original color.  Users had to select Page Setup to then select Black text.  Current versions of most browsers including Netscape and Internet Explorer now automatically view the text on the page as black text. 

If you do not see anything appearing on Print Preview, still.  Please save the page or take down the URL and I will take a look at it.

Netscape "Secrets"

Netscape has some nice features that you may not simply see right away.  Here's a reminder of those nifty features:

To Open a Web Page From Your Floppy Drive:

1.  Go to the File pull-down menu and select Open File

2.  On the pull down menu right of "Look In" select 3 1/2 inch floppy.  or in MACS, make sure the pull down menu is at "Desktop" and then select the file that has the diskette icon on the left. 3.  Select desired file (click on it and keep it highlighted).  You'll know it is a web page because it appears as a Netscape or Internet Explorer  file.  (Note: for conversions between MACs and PC's you will NOT see these symbols.  You will need to know the name you gave your file to recognize it, which should be easy if you put the extension, .htm or .html at the end) 4.  Make sure Files of Type is at HTML Files. 5.  Click on Open.

Finding Pages You Have Visited:

There's Five Different Ways to Find a Page you have visited Recently (during the same session)

 

1.  From the Toolbar click on Back or Forward until you get to the desired page.  If you click on the arrow below, you will get a listing of a previous set of pages (listed by web page title).  When you go to a previous link (either in back or forward) and hit one of the buttons again, you get the previous set.  Special Note:  Only a linear sequence.  Once you visit that previous page and click on New Links, you lose the previous set of pages that were in Forward. If you want to keep the current chain,  Open Link in New Tab, and begin the other sequence in the other tab (See Tab Browsing, below).
2.  Select the Go Pull down menu and click on the Web Page Title to the page you want to return.  Once again, if you want to go somewhere else and do not want to lose your previous chain of where you went since that page, Open New Tab  (See Tab Browsing, below).
3.  Go to the URL text box and click on the adjoining right arrow.  A pull-down menu of recent URL's (Web addresses) you have entered will appear.  Select the URL you want to return. NOTE: only RECENT URL's you have actually entered in the URL text book will appear in this option.
4.  To view all pages you have visited over a period of time, go to the Go pull down menu and select History.
Scroll down until you find your desired page.  For pages visited on a previous day, click the tab that states how many days ago, click the selection that matches the main domain where your page is located, and then click on the web page title that matches the page you are seeking.
Number of days links to pages are saved in your History is determined by the History option available in Preferences (in the Edit pull-down menu).  The default setting is 9 days and you can customize the number of days you want saved in your History.  If privacy is an issue for you, you may want to limit it to 1 or even 0 days.
5.  Finally, you can always bookmark a page to keep it in your browser's permanent memory (see Bookmarks)

Finding where particular words are in a page

You've just entered a search in a search engine, selected a page-- and you're wondering how can I quickly find if this page is related to my topic?  Or where are the terms I've entered?   You can quickly look up instances where your pages appear by using Edit and Find.

 

1.  Go to the Edit pull down menu and select Find in This Page.
2.  From the Find in This Page window, enter the word or phrase you want to find and click on Find.
3.  You will be taken directly to the word or phrase stated on the page, itself.  To Find the next instance, click on Find.

Wanting to View Text on a Web Page Bigger or Smaller
 

1.  Go to the View pull down menu and select Text Zoom. 2.  Click on the percentage size you want to view (page by default is at 100%).  So if you want the text be bigger you would go for a size larger.

View When a Page Was Last Modified

A unique feature in Netscape, and a very important tool to help you evaluate the quality of a web site, find out when the page was last modified.  For example, if you came across a web page that claims to have the latest news on Cloning and the page has not been updated since 1996, you may not want to use that page for your research. 

1.  Go to the View pull down menu and select Page Info.

2.  At Page Info, look at the line that states Modified.  This lets you know the last time the web page was actually updated. NOTE: Not all servers will let you know when a page is updated and instead give you, "Unknown."  If that happens, check to see if the author lets you know when a page is updated.  If not, watch out for broken links, outdated information, dated citations, or other clues that may alert you that the information is dated.  Also, some pages that may be dated may still be relevant to your research if currency does not matter as much or if the page is an online version of originally printed material from an authoritative source.

I want to search the Web

Netscape 7 provides many different options for you to search, from having a sidebar on the left, to placing a Search button, either to the right of the URL box, or on the toolbar below the bar of browsing buttons.  However, in this class, I want you to be aware of what tools you actually are searching and from where.  When you want to search in this class, go to this URL:  http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/onlineref/websearch.html

Do NOT enter keywords in the URL bar and hit "Enter" or use any Search option from the browser, itself.  

I want to Create a Web Page

You will have to wait this semester until I update the handout.  In the meantime, you can checkout a copy of the Netscape Guidebook from the Reserves Desk and go to Chapter 7, "Using Netscape Composer." 

To see the Programming behind the page (the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)):
Go to the pull down menu:

File        Edit        VIEW        Go        Bookmarks        Communicator        Help

Click on Page Source to view the HTML code.  Close out when finished viewing.

Help!
Go to the pull down menu for "Help" and select "Help and Support Center"-- Keep in mind you need to be on line to view the "Help" pages.  They're not on your hard drive!

Tabbed Browsing   
 

Mozilla 1 and Netscape 7 have introduced a revolutionary approach to browsing the Web, called Tabbed Browsing.  Instead of having to constantly maximize and minimize windows for different activities and have to contend with going back and forward, you can create a new session in your browser, indicated by a tab on top.  You can easily go back and forth between tabs to look at different pages.  This is an effective tool for you when it comes to evaluating different sites on your topic and determining which ones you will want to use for your term project.  Finally, you can save a group of tabs into what is called a Groupmark, or a Folder of bookmarks right into your Bookmarks File!

Opening Tabs

There are different methods to open a new tab onto your Tab Bar.  Here are two methods to start out with.
 

Opening Link into New Tab: Move your mouse over to the link and right click.  Select Open Link in New Tab.
From the File Menu: Go to the File pull down menu, select New, and then select Navigator Tab.  You will have a blank page until you enter a URL, click on Home, or select a Bookmark.

Closing Tabs

To close a Tab, move your Mouse over the Tab you want to close, and right click.  Select Close Tab.

Creating Groupmarks
 

1.  Go to the Bookmarks pull down menu or button and select Bookmark this Group of Tabs
2.  At the Add Bookmark window, give a name to your Groupmark and either save it as a New Folder, put it in a regular Folder or simply click OK.
3.  To view your saved groupmark, go to Bookmarks, view any Folders you saved the Groupmark in, and select the Groupmark.  Notice that the Groupmark's icon contains a picture of multiple bookmarks on the left.
4.  When you open a Groupmark, all the web pages you have tabbed load onto your page in the same exact order you have saved them.

Downloading Netscape

1.  How much does it cost to get Netscape?

In this class it does not cost you a cent.  You can download Netscape for free at this address:  http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html , however to get to that address you need to be using a web browser, whether Netscape, Internet Explorer, or from your Internet Service Provider's browsing software (such as AOL's.  Just enter the URL in the text box towards the top).  You can also check-out the CD-ROMs we have available at the Reserves desk (Ideal if you do not have a fast internet connection).

Keep in mind that before you can even begin, you need to already have on your home computer access to an Internet Services Provider and either a Cable, DSL, or Modem connection.  A web browser does not automatically connect you on its own.

3.  I have Netscape but it is not version 7x.  What can I do?  (Note: x after 7 means 7.0 and above)

Download the most recent version of 7x at this following website available to he general public:  http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html 

4.  Is there any other software I should download?

Install Netscape 7x, first.  When you install Netscape 7x, you will be asked if you want to download Java Sun and WinAmp and other plug-ins.  Say yes to all of them.  If you were not asked to download Adobe Acrobat Reader, be sure to download that plug-in as well, available at this web address:  http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.   This course also recommends you also have Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 on your machine.  It is available at this address: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1e1550cb-5e5d-48f5-b02b-20b602228de6&displaylang=en 

5.  Okay, how do I download?

From the Web, save it onto your Desktop.  And after downloading is completed, click on the icon titled NSSetup.EXE

Check out the Guidebook along with the CD-ROM and follow the directions.   I will provide photocopies of how to install on Windows from the Guidebook at the first class.  Anyone having a MAC should check out the Guidebook and follow its directions.

6.  I've downloaded it from the Web and I cannot find the icon and I do not see it running.

Silly you.  You have to Install the program first.  If you do not know how to install, get your computer manual and follow the directions to install a program you have on your hard drive.

7.  I need more information!  I need help!

I'll do my best to help you, but since computers have many different platforms, I may not know every one (I hardly know Macs as is!   :)  ).  I will be happy to show you how to install using Microsoft Windows 95 and above.  See me after class or make an appointment so I can show you.  Keep in mind, you should NOT download Netscape from a public terminal, but for your personal computer at home, which if it belongs to someone else, you SHOULD get their consent!

Mozilla is really the same browser as Netscape, but without the AOL features, including Instant Messenger.  In fact, some prefer the newest version of Mozilla, because it has newer features than the most reason version of Netscape.  To download Mozilla, go to http://www.mozilla.org.