Netscape Composer 4.01& up (Revised 10/11/01)
Frequently Asked Questions

1.  How do I create a new web page?  back to the top
  Open Netscape; go to the Communicator option and choose Page Composer - This will open a blank page for you to begin entering data - Save your document onto your hard drive or a disk using .html as the extension (Example: for your home page, it should be index.html - other pages can be saved as name.html such as, links.html, reference.html, etc - do not use spaces in the name of the document) - You may cut and paste from other documents or type directly into this document - It is recommended that you save your document on disk or your hard drive frequently while creating your web page- To save your document, go to the File option and choose Save As, select your directory, name your document using the extension of .html or .htm - To change the alignment of the text or images, go to the Format option and choose Align (left, center, right)

2.  How can I edit an existing page?  back to the top
  Open Netscape; go to the url of the web page that you wish to edit (i.e. http://www.cbu.edu/~username*) - Go to the File option and choose Edit Page - When editing, be sure to save  your document onto your hard drive or a disk using .html as the extension (Example: for your home page, it should be index.html - other pages can be saved as name.html such as, links.html, reference.html, etc - do not use spaces in the name of the document) - Now you may begin making the necessary changes - *NOTE: Make sure that your url is listed in the location toolbar, otherwise, you will not be editing your web page.This is a common error when accessing your pages through framed web pages.

3.  How do I change the color scheme of my web page?  back to the top
  Go to the Format option and choose Page Colors and Properties - Choose Colors and Background - Click the option "Use custom colors (Save colors in pages)" - Click on the colored box beside the attribute you wish to change (Normal Text, Link Text, Active Link Text, Followed Link Text, Background) - Choose a color option or click Other for more color options - The view box allows you to see the result as you experiment with colors (Note:  be sure that your text color is legible against the background your choose) Click Apply and then click OK and your changes are immediately effective -

4.  How do I use a background image?  back to the top
  Go to the Format option and choose Page Colors and Properties - Choose Colors and Background - Choose "Use Image:" located under Background Image - Click "Choose File" and locate the image file you wish to use (Netscape will automatically tile the image for a full background) - Click Apply and then click OK and your changes are immediately effective -

5.  How do I change the font type, style or color? back to the top
  To change your font, select the words that you want to change - Go to the Format option, and choose how you want to change the font (font type, size, style, color) - (NOTE: to change the color of a link, go to question #3)

6.  How do I insert an image into my web page? back to the top
  Go to the Insert option and choose Image - Select Image - Click "Choose File" and locate the image file you wish to use - If you are using text on the same line as the image, choose the format you like for text alignment and wrapping around images (examples are shown) - If the image is on a separate line, skip the above step - Click Apply and then click OK and your images have been inserted -

7.  How do I add or remove a link to another web page?  back to the top

ADDING a link: Select the image or text that you want to make an active link - Go to Insert and choose Link - Choose Link - Enter the url in the box "Enter text to display for a new link" (Ex. http://www.cbu.edu ) - Click Apply and then click OK and your links are active - (NOTE: typing immediately after a link will continue the linked address, so be sure to leave a space after the link to enter your data without continuing the link)

REMOVING a link: To remove a link, select the active link - Go to Insert and choose Link - Choose Link - Click "Remove Link" - Click Apply and then click OK and your links are de-activated -

8.  How do I add a table, add or delete rows and columns?  back to the top

ADD a table: Go to Insert and choose Table, Table - Choose the number of rows, columns, alignment, border line width, table width & height, equal column widths - If you wish to use a color in your table background, click "Use Color" and click on the gray box to select a color - Click Apply and then click OK to insert your table -

Add a row: Place your cursor in the last cell of the table and press enter - A row with the same attributes will be added to the table -

REMOVE a row, column or cell: Place your cursor in a cell of the row or column you wish to delete - Go to Edit and choose Delete Table, Table, Row, Column, Cell - The attribute will be deleted -

9.  How do I publish a web page to my personal WWW directory?  back to the top

Be sure to save your document onto your hard drive or a disk using .html as the extension before publishing the page (Example: for your home page, it should be index.html - other pages can be saved as name.html such as, links.html, reference.html, etc - do not use spaces in the name of the document) -

Publishing your web page is the process of transferring your document into your web directory.  The following are three methods of completing this task:

(9-1) For Students/Faculty/Staff ----- Use the publish function of Netscape Composer for the sheba or valhalla servers.  Sheba allows you to transfer files and kept the current permission properties.

• go to File and choose Publish
• Enter data in "Page Title:" (Ex. Welcome to Christian Brothers University Web Site)
• Enter data in "HTML filename:" (Ex. index.html or anothername.html)

(NOTE: you can overwrite documents in your web directory by using the same name, so BE CAREFUL)
• Enter data in "HTTP or FTP location to publish to:" ALWAYS use this format:
  [Student Example]  ftp://sheba/home/stu1/username/WWW/
  [Faculty/Staff Example]  ftp://valhalla/home/fac1/username/WWW/

(NOTE: Your ftp path is your user path, so a faculty or staff user path will be different than the student example.  To access your directory to verify your path,  you may use NetTerm or telnet through the Start/Run function of Windows 95/98.  Upon logging in, the data to the left of the prompt is your path.  It will look similar to /home/stu1/username/ or /home/fac1/username/, etc.)
• Enter your "User Name"
• Enter your "Password"

(NOTE: do not click on save your password)
• Click "Files associated with this page" and click "Select All" only if you used any type of image
• Click Ok
• If all your information is entered correctly, you will receive a message stating that "Your file was uploaded successfully."

(9-3) For Faculty/Staff only ----- Continue to publish and FTP using the valhalla server.  This will require the following additional steps after you publish or FTP.

• log into the valhalla server
• perform the command to change to your web directory < cd WWW >
• perform the command to change the permissions on the new or edited files < chmod 755 filename.html >
• logout of valhalla.
• Additional commands may be found at: http://www.cbu.edu/ietc/faq/unixfaq.html and http://www.cbu.edu/ietc/faq/webpagefaq.html .

11.  Are there shortcuts in Netscape Composer? back to the top

YES, they are located on the composition and formatting toolbars which look like:

If your view does not show these toolbars, go to View and click on "Show Composition Toolbar" and/or "Show Formatting Toolbar".