Chapter 5
Using Composer

This chapter provides basic information about using Composer to create, edit, and publish your own web pages.

 

What's the difference between browsing and editing web pages?

You use the Navigator browser to find and view web pages on the World Wide Web. When you are browsing, you don't need to know about the components that make up a web page.

 When you browse the Web, the pages you see are typically organized into separate collections of pages called web sites. Each web site consists of several pages linked together in an organized way to create a consistent presentation of the information available at that web site.

To create or edit your own web pages and place them on the Web, you use Netscape Composer. You use Composer just as easily as you would use a word processing program. The files that Composer creates are called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) files because they contain HTML formatting codes. Navigator knows how to interpret these HTML codes to display Composer files as formatted web pages containing images and links.

 

Creating and publishing a web page

Here are the basic steps you'll follow to create and publish a web page. You'll find details on each step throughout the rest of this chapter.

 

  1. Start Netscape Communicator.

  2. Choose Page Composer from the Communicator menu.

  3. Create a web page using basic editing tasks, such as entering text, and formatting characters and paragraphs.

  4. Put the finishing touches on your web page by adding a table or inserting an image.

  5. Create links to other places in your page, and to other web pages.

  6. Publish your web page so that others can view it.

What can a web page contain?

A web page can include some or all of the following elements:

 

Starting Netscape Composer

There are several ways to open the Composer window, depending on which of the following you want to do:

 

Creating a new web page

To create a new web page, you can choose one of the following starting points:

 

Starting with a blank page

  1. From the File menu choose New, and then choose Blank Page, or choose Page Composer from the Communicator menu.

  2. Enter text. See "Basic editing" for more information.

Creating a page using a template

Note The Netscape templates are located on the Netscape home site. You must be connected to the Internet to access them.
  1. From the File menu choose New, and then choose Page From Template.

  2. To use a remote page as your template, enter the page's URL. To use a file stored on your hard disk, click Choose File. To choose from a list of custom-designed templates, click Netscape Templates. After clicking Netscape Templates, choose a template (to see a list of templates, you might have to scroll down).

  3. To work with a Netscape template, choose Edit Page from the File menu to use the template as the basis for a new web page.

  4. Edit the text. See "Basic editing" for more information.

  5. From the File menu, choose Save.

Creating a page using the Page Wizard

The Page Wizard is a special page on the Netscape home site that walks you through the steps of creating a web page. When you've completed the following steps, you'll have a page that you can open in Composer for entering and editing text.

 

Note The Page Wizard is located on the Netscape home site. To access it, you must be connected to the Internet.
  1. From the File menu choose New, and then choose Page From Wizard.

  2. Follow the instructions provided to create a page.

  3. From the File menu, choose Edit Page.

  4. Continue entering and editing text. See "Basic editing" for more information.

  5. From the File menu, choose Save.

Editing the page you are browsing

To edit the page you are browsing, you have to be able to access the page's HTML file (called the source file). If you don't have the proper access (called write access) to the server where the source file is stored, then you can only browse the web pages on that server.

 Most often you'll edit pages that are stored on your own computer. However, you might be able to directly edit your own web pages stored on your Internet Service Provider's server.

 

  1. Display the page you want to edit in Netscape Navigator.

  2. From the File menu, choose Edit Page.

  3. Enter or edit text. See "Basic editing" for more information.

  4. From the File menu, choose Save.

Editing an HTML file stored on your computer

  1. (Windows and Unix) From the File menu choose Open Page. (Macintosh) From the File menu, choose Open, then choose Page in Composer.

  2. Click Choose File.

  3. Select the file you want to edit.

  4. (Windows and Macintosh) Click Open. (Unix) Click OK.

  5. (Windows and Unix only) Click Open again.

  6. Enter text. See "Basic editing" for more information.

  7. From the File menu, choose Save.

Basic editing

You enter and edit text in the Composer window just as you would in a word-processing program.

 

Tip For information about designing web pages, see Composer's online help.

Using the toolbars

The toolbars contain buttons corresponding to frequently used commands. Use the Composition toolbar to work with files. Use the Formatting toolbar to apply text styles.

Entering and editing text

  1. Position the cursor over the Composer window.

  2. Click to mark an insertion point.

  3. Begin typing your text.

Typing special symbols

To insert special symbols, such as the copyright (©) symbol, run the Windows Character Map application or the Macintosh Key Caps program.
  1. Open your character mapping program.

  2. Change the font to Times Roman.

  3. Select the symbol you want.

  4. Copy the symbol.

  5. From the Edit menu choose Paste in the Composer window.

Selecting text

Displaying paragraph marks

Composer also displays a short horizontal line to indicate the end of the document.

 

Copying and pasting text

You can paste text into your document from almost any source. For example, you can select text on a page you are viewing in Netscape Navigator and copy it using Navigator's Copy command from the Edit menu. You can then switch to the Composer window and paste the text into the Composer window by choosing Paste from the Edit menu.

 

Note Text that you copy from a web page that you're viewing in Netscape Navigator does not retain formatting information when you paste it into the Composer window. However, text that you copy and paste within the Composer window, or from one Composer document to another, does retain its formatting.

Canceling or repeating your last action or command

Note Not all actions or commands can be undone.

Formatting text

Formatting text consists of applying fonts, sizes, styles (bold, italic, and so on), colors, alignment, and other options to text. Composer provides two types of formatting:

 

Formatting paragraphs

  1. Click the paragraph you want to format, or drag to select more than one paragraph. Composer will apply the chosen paragraph style to the paragraph that contains the insertion point or to all paragraphs in the selection.

  2. From the Formatting toolbar, choose a paragraph style, list style, or alignment option.

For more information about the paragraph styles that Composer provides, see "Paragraph Formats" in Composer's online help.

 

Formatting characters

  1. Select the word or characters that you want to format.

  2. Choose a font, size, color, or style from the Formatting toolbar.

    3.  

    Tip Additional text styles (superscript, subscript, blink, and others) are available by choosing Style from the Format menu.
For more information about working with fonts and adding color, see Composer's online help.

 

Searching for text (Windows)

  1. From the Edit menu, choose Find in Page.

  2. Enter the characters you want to search for.

  3. Choose the search options.

  4. Click Find Next to begin the search.

  5. Click Find Next again to continue the search.

  6. Click the Find dialog box's close box when you are done searching.

  7. From the Edit menu, choose Find Again to find the next occurrence.

Searching for text (Macintosh and Unix)

  1. From the Edit menu, choose Find in Page.

  2. Type the word or phrase you're looking for.

  3. Choose the search options you want.

  4. (Macintosh) Click Find to find the next occurrence. (Unix) Click Find to start or continue searching.

  5. (Unix only) Click the close box when you are done searching.

  6. From the Edit menu, choose Find Again to find the next occurrence.

Spell-checking your document

  1. From the Tools menu, choose Check Spelling, or click the Spelling button in the Composer window. Composer checks for spelling errors using its main dictionary, which contains the most common words. If Composer finds a word that is not in the main dictionary, it displays the word in the Spelling dialog box and gives you choices for correcting the possible misspelling.

  2. For each word that Composer displays in the Spelling dialog box, choose whether to correct it, ignore it, or add it to the dictionary.

  3. Click Stop to stop checking spelling before Composer has finished checking the entire document.

  4. Click Done to close the dialog box.

Inserting a horizontal line

You can insert one or more horizontal lines in your web page to help create visual breaks between page sections. This is especially useful if your page is a long one.

 

  1. Click the location in the Composer window where you want to insert the line.

  2. Click the H. Line button in the Composition toolbar, or from the Insert menu, choose Horizontal Line.

  3. (Windows only) To increase the line's height, position the cursor over the line so that the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow, and drag the line upward.

  4. To change line properties such as line height, alignment, or 3D shading, double-click the line to display the Horizontal Line Properties dialog box.

Deleting a horizontal line

  1. Click the line to select it.

  2. Press Delete.

Creating a table

Tables let you present information such as financial data or a calendar of events in a grid of columns and rows. You can also use one or more tables on a page whenever you want to have greater control over the layout of your text and images. For example, you could create a table that's the size of the entire page, and then add text and insert images into the table's columns and rows.

 

  1. Place the insertion point where you want the table to appear in your document.

  2. From the Insert menu, choose Table, and then choose Table..., or click the Table button on the Composition toolbar.

  3. Choose the settings you want.

  4. Click OK to confirm your settings. If you click Apply, you can preview the settings and make further changes to them before clicking OK.

Selecting and deleting tables

Follow these steps to select a table:
  1. Place the insertion point inside the table.

  2. From the Edit menu, choose Select Table. You can cut or copy the table and paste it somewhere else in your document.
Follow these steps to delete a table:

 

  1. Place the insertion point inside the table.

  2. From the Edit menu, choose Delete Table, then Table.

Adding and deleting rows, columns, and cells

Follow these steps to add a row, column, or cell:

 

  1. Place the insertion point in the table where you want the new item to appear.

  2. From the Insert menu, choose Table, then choose Row, Column, or Cell.
Follow these steps to delete a row, column, or cell:

 

  1. Place the insertion point inside the row, column, or cell you want to delete.

  2. From the Edit menu, choose Delete Table, then choose Row, Column, or Cell.

Setting table properties

After you've created a table, you can change the table, row, or cell properties at any time.
  1. Place the insertion point inside the table.

  2. (Windows) From the Format menu, choose Table Properties. (Macintosh) From the Format menu, choose Table Attributes.

    3. (Unix) From the Format menu, choose Object Properties.

  3. Choose the settings you want.

  4. Click OK when you are done.
Note The settings you choose override the settings used when you first created the table.

Working with images

Composer allows you to work with the two kinds of images that most current web browsers support:

 

art lack the higher quality of JPEG files, but they're more compact and display more quickly in web browsers.

 You can get images by creating them yourself, scanning them, or buying them as part of a commercial clip art package. You can also find GIF images in the Internet's many image archives. See "Saving an image" in Chapter 2, "Using Navigator," for information on saving web page images on your hard disk.

 

Note If you intend to use images in your own web pages, make sure you get permission from the owner of the image, or use royalty-free clip art so you don't infringe on a possible copyright.

Inserting an image in your document

Follow these steps to insert an image file located on your hard disk into the document you're editing:

 

  1. Click where you want the image to appear in your document.

  2. From the Insert menu, choose Image, or click the Image button in the Composition toolbar.

  3. (Windows and Macintosh) Click Choose File to locate the image file on your hard disk. (Unix) Click Browse to locate the image file on your hard disk.

    4. An image is actually a separate file that does not "live" in your Composer document; the image file can be located on your hard disk or on a remote computer.

  4. (Windows and Macintosh) Select the file and click Open. (Unix) Click OK.

  5. Choose the options you want.

  6. (Windows and Unix) Click OK. (Macintosh) Click Insert.
By default, Composer saves a copy of the image in the page's location on your hard disk, so that the image always appears with your document.

 

Important If you move the image file from its current location on your hard disk, it will no longer appear in your document.
Tip You can drag an image from a folder on your desktop or from your Navigator browser window and drop it into your document. Composer places the image at the insertion point location. To change the image's properties, double-click the image.
(Windows) If you paste or drag a BMP (Windows bitmap) image into your document, Composer converts it to JPEG format. You can convert to other formats, such as the popular GIF format, by using the appropriate plug-in.

Resizing an image (Windows only)

  1. Position the pointer over the image's highlighted border so that the pointer changes to a double-arrow shape.

  2. Drag the border to resize the image.

Moving an image to a new location (Windows only)

Creating a link

A link (also known as a hyperlink) is an active part of a document. Clicking a link can take you to:

 

Every link contains the web address for the page that the link refers to. This web address is called the page's URL (Uniform Resource Locator). See "What's a URL?" in Chapter 2, "Using Navigator," or refer to Composer's online help for more information about URLs.

 Follow these steps to create links from text or images in your page to other web pages:

 

  1. In the Composer window, select the text or image that you want to create a link for.

  2. From the Insert menu, choose Link, or click the Link button in the Composition toolbar.

  3. (Windows and Macintosh) To link to a file on your hard disk, click Choose File. (Unix) To link to a file on your hard disk, click Browse File.

    4. To link to a file on a remote computer, type the file's URL.

  4. Click OK. 
    5. Tip (Windows and Unix only) To create a link to the page displayed in Netscape Navigator, go to Navigator and drag the page proxy icon located to the left of the Location (sometimes called "Netsite") field into the Composer window. You can also drag a file from your desktop or drag a link from Messenger or Collabra Discussions into the Composer window to add it to your document.
Note If you type new characters at the end of a link's text, Composer adds the new characters to the link's text. If this is not what you want, click the Remove all character styles button  in the Formatting toolbar before typing the new text.

Browsing a page you've created

It's a good idea to browse the pages you create so that you can test the links you've created.

 

  1. From the File menu, choose Browse Page to display the current page in the Navigator browser.

  2. Save the page if you haven't already done so.

  3. If you're connected to the Internet, click the links you created to make sure they go to the locations you want.

About publishing your page

Once you have finished creating your web page and have tested the links, you can publish your page on a web server computer. If your page exists only on your local hard disk, you can browse your page, but no one else can. When you publish your page on a server, you copy your page to a computer that lets others see your page.

 

What's a web server?

A web server is a computer that runs all the time and waits for web client programs like Netscape Navigator to connect to it and request a copy of a specific web page. When the web server receives a request for a page, it sends a copy of the page to the Navigator browser that made the request.

 

Finding a web server

Ideally, you can publish your web pages on the server owned by the same organization or Internet Service Provider that gives you access to the Internet. Ask your system administrator or Internet Service Provider about publishing your web pages on their server.

 

Tip See the Netscape Web Page Starter site for a list of service providers that offer web publishing accounts. From the Help menu, choose Product Information and Support. Scroll down if necessary and click the Web Page Starter link.

Naming your files

Filenames use different conventions and restrictions depending on the operating system (Windows, Macintosh, or Unix). Since a server computer may run a different operating system than yours, you'll want to name your files so that they can be used on the server computer. For example, if you're copying your files from a Macintosh computer to a Windows 3.1 computer, you'll need to name your files using filenames that are no longer than eight characters, followed by a three-character extension, for example: report.htm or resume.htm. Don't use spaces or other special symbols; use only lowercase letters and numbers.

 

Publishing your page (Windows)

  1. Open the file that you want to publish.

  2. From the File menu, choose Publish, or click the Publish button in the Composition toolbar.

  3. Type the page's title. The title appears in the browser's title bar and in bookmarks created for this page.

  4. Type the page's file name as you want it to appear on the server.

  5. Type the URL for the location of the remote site where you want to publish your page. If you're not sure what to type, contact your system administrator or Internet Service Provider.

  6. Type the user name you use when accessing the network where your web page will be located.

  7. Type the password for your user name.

  8. Choose Files associated with this page to include any image files your web page uses.

  9. Click OK.

  10. To see your page, choose Browse Page from the File menu. You may need to click Reload to see the page.

Publishing your page (Macintosh and Unix)

  1. Open the file that you want to publish.

  2. From the File menu, choose Publish, or click the Publish button in the Composition toolbar.

  3. Type the URL for the location of the remote site where you want to publish your page. If you're not sure what to type, contact your system administrator or Internet Service Provider.

  4. Type the user name you use when accessing the network where your web page will be located.

  5. Type the password for your user name.

  6. Choose the files you want to include.

  7. Click Publish.

  8. To see your page, choose Browse Page from the File menu. You may need to click Reload to see the page.

Setting publishing preferences

You can specify the settings Composer uses for publishing your pages, so that you don't have to enter them each time you want to publish a page.

 

  1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.

  2. (Windows) Click the + symbol next to Composer. (Macintosh and Unix) Click the triangle symbol next to Editor.

  3. (Windows) Click Publishing. (Macintosh and Unix) Click Publish.

  4. Choose the settings you want for links and images.

  5. Type the default publishing and browse locations.

  6. Click OK.

Telling others how to find your page

Tell others the URL for your weg page so that they can view it. If you send them an email message that contains the URL, Messenger automatically converts the URL into a link that they can click to go to your page.