Chapter 7
Using Netcaster

• subscribe to just the channels you want and get just the information you need
• choose from a ready-made list of interesting web channels in Netcaster's Channel Finder
• make any channel into a full-screen webtop. A webtop is an automatically updated channel that always remains on your screen underneath other windows that you're working in. With a webtop, you can easily see late-breaking information on the channel while you're working on other tasks.
• download any web site and browse it when you're offline (disconnected from the Internet)

Starting Netscape Netcaster

• From the Communicator menu, choose Netcaster.
• (Windows only) Double-click the Netcaster icon on your desktop.

About Channel Finder

Adding a channel to My Channels

1. If Channel Finder isn't already open in the Netcaster window, click the Channel Finder bar.
2. To see a channel's description, move your mouse pointer over the channel's bar.
3. To preview the channel, click its bar or description.
4. To add the channel to My Channels, click the Add Channel button in the preview window. After you add the channel to My Channels, its link appears on a bar in My Channels.

About My Channels

 Follow these steps to view a channel listed in My Channels:

1. If My Channels isn't already open in the Netcaster window, click the My Channels bar.
2. Click the channel you want to view. The channel opens in a Navigator window.
3. To close the channel, choose Close from the File menu in the channel's Navigator window.

Deleting a channel from My Channels

1. In the Netcaster window, click Options.
2. In the dialog box, select the channel you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.

Setting the default channel

 Follow these steps to change your default channel:

1. In the Netcaster window, click Options.
2. In the dialog box, click the Layout tab.
3. Under Default Channel, select Set Default to, then select the channel you want to open when Netcaster starts. If you don't want a channel to open automatically, select None.
4. Click OK.

Making a channel into a webtop

 Although some channels are more suitable than others for displaying as webtops, you can display any channel or web site as a webtop.

 Follow these steps to set a channel as a webtop:

1. If you haven't already done so, add the channel to My Channels.
2. In My Channels, move your mouse pointer over the channel's name.
3. On the bar that appears, click the Properties button.
4. In the Properties dialog box, click the Display tab.
5. Select Webtop Mode.
6. Click OK.

Opening a webtop

1. Click My Channels in Netcaster. Channels that can run as webtops have a small square webtop indicator located to the right of the channel's name. When a channel is running as a webtop, its webtop indicator glows.
2. Click the webtop you want to open. As the webtop opens, it appears in front of all other windows for a few seconds before moving behind, becoming the backmost window on your screen. When a webtop is open, a Netscape "N" logo appears in the lower- right screen, and webtop controls appear below it.

Changing webtops

• Open My Channels and select the webtop you want to open. The new webtop appears and replaces the previous one.

Hiding and showing a webtop

• To hide a webtop, click the Desktop/Webtop button (small square with outline) in the Netcaster window, or at the bottom of the webtop window.
• To display the webtop again, click Desktop/Webtop again.

Closing a webtop

• Click the Close Webtop button either in Netcaster or at the bottom of the webtop itself.

Viewing a site while you're offline

 Before you can view a site offline, Netcaster must download or update the site at least once. When Netcaster downloads or updates a site, it stores the site's content on your hard disk.

 Netcaster automatically downloads a site when you do one of the following while you're online (connected to the Internet):

• Start Netcaster for the first time.
• Add a site to My Channels.
• Move your mouse pointer over a channel's name. When a bar appears underneath the name, click the Update button (small square with outline) on the bar.
• In the Channel Properties dialog box, select the site you want to update and click the Update Now button.
• Right-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) a site's link in Netcaster, then choose Update from the menu that appears.

Setting download options

 You can control whether or not Netcaster downloads a site, how often Netcaster downloads a site, how much of a site Netcaster downloads, and how much disk space (cache size) you want to allocate for the site.

 Follow these steps to set a site's download options:

1. Click Options at the bottom of the Netcaster window.
2. Select a site from the list.
3. Click the Properties button.
4. In the General panel, make sure that the checkbox is selected next to "Update this channel or site."
5. Enter the update frequency.
6. Enter a time for the download.
7. Click the Cache tab.
8. Enter the number of levels you want Netcaster to download. One level downloads the site's main page. Two levels includes the pages that the main page links to. Three levels includes the pages that the second- level pages link to. The more levels you download, the more room the site occupies in its cache on your hard disk.
9. Enter the size (in kilobytes) you want to allocate for the site's disk cache. Each site uses its own disk cache, which takes up room on your hard disk. Most sites specify a cache size that you can adjust lower if you have limited hard disk space, or higher if the site is too large to fit in its cache.
10. Click OK.

Clearing the disk cache

To clear a site's disk cache and erase its content from your hard disk:

1. Click Options at the bottom of the Netcaster window.
2. Select the site.
3. Click the Properties button.
4. Click the Cache tab.
5. Click Clear Cache.
6. Click OK.

Working offline

• To disconnect and work offline in Communicator, open Navigator or Messenger and choose Go Offline from the File menu.

Viewing a site offline

1. Make sure that Netcaster has downloaded the site at least once.
2. Start Netcaster.
3. Open My Channels.
4. Click the site's link.

Exiting Netcaster

• Click Exit near the bottom of the Netcaster window. If you have a webtop open, clicking Exit also closes the webtop.