Netscape Composer:  An Introduction

Tutorial 1:  Netscape Composer (editor) vs. Netscape Navigator (browser)

Editing vs. viewing

    Netscape Communicator (v. 4) is actually a suite of programs.  So far, we have used only Netscape Navigator as our web browser.  This program is a VIEWER - we can look at web pages, but we can't change them by typing in them or adding pictures, for example.  The symbol for the browser (Netscape Navigator) is a ship's wheel: 

    A second part of the suite is a web page editor, called Netscape Composer.  This is a WYSIWIG ("what you see is what you get") web page editor.  Using this program, we can create our own web pages that we can later view in Navigator.  Because it is easy to learn, simple to use and displays results visually (unlike HTML code), Netscape Composer is a perfect choice for web page beginners.  The symbol for Netscape Composer is a pad and pen: 

Moving back and forth

    When you create a web page, you will need BOTH Netscape Navigator and Netscape Composer.  You will create your masterpiece in Composer  and then view the results in Navigator .  Look now at the lower right-hand corner of the Netscape Navigator screen.  You should see a small toolbar that looks like this: .  On the left is the wheel symbol for Navigator (browser).  On the right is the pen and pad symbol for Composer.  You can move from one to the other simply by clicking on the appropriate symbol.  For example, you are in Navigator now.  Click on the pen symbol and you will open up Composer to a blank page.  Come back!  This toolbar appears in the lower right-hand corner of both Navigator and Composer so that you can move back and forth easily by clicking on the appropriate symbol.

Review of the basics

Minimizing and recalling

    Since you will be going back and forth between two programs, it might be useful to review how to keep two balls in the air at the same time.  Let's assume you are in Navigator.  Now you click on Composer, and thus have two programs open at the same time.  To return to Navigator without closing Composer, simply click on the "_" symbol in the upper right-hand corner.  This will minimize Composer and return you to Navigator.  To minimize Navigator, again click on the "_" symbol in the upper right-hand corner.  You should now be looking at the Windows 95 desktop.  To restore Composer, just click on the "Composer" bar at the bottom of your screen.  Bingo!  Composer is back in view.  You should still see a Composer bar at the bottom of the screen.  At this point, it should say "Untitled."

    Remember, the "_" symbol will minimize a program (drop it to the bottom of the screen, temporarily out of view).  You have not closed the program, just set it aside for the time being.  You can close any program by clicking on the "X" in the upper-right hand corner.  You can restore any minimized program by clicking on its bar at the bottom of your screen.  For example, right now, this is what the bars at the bottom of my screen look like:

The Windows 95 Start button is on the left, then I have a "Dial-up" button (I'm connected to the Internet via modem at the moment), then I have a Navigator window open showing the MFL 195 home page, then I have a Composer window open with a tutorial that I'm working on for MFL 195, then a second Composer window with yet another tutorial I'm working on, and then PaintShop Pro, the program I'm using to capture the screen images I'm using on this page.  At the moment, I have five balls in the air, with the Start button available if I need it.  I'm no juggler, so this whole thing could come crashing down on my head at any moment!  But if I wanted to restore any one of these, all I would need to do would be to click on the one I want.

Cut, copy and paste

    Many of the techniques you learned in MSWord will also work the same way in Netscape Composer.  Perhaps the most useful of these are the cut, copy and paste functions.

TO CUT:  Highlight the section you want to move.  (Remember, "cut" will take something such as text or an image, remove it from where it is and place it temporarily on the clipboard, a "holding area" in the memory of your computer.  It's gone, but not forgotten!).  Then click once on the "cut" icon at the top of the page.  (If you are a keyboarder and prefer to use keyboard commands, instead of clicking on the icon, you can highlight the section, then press CTRL + X to cut a section.  Or if you like words instead of pictures, you can highlight the section, then click on "Edit" then "Cut" from the menu at the top of the page.  Three ways to do exactly the same thing.)

TO PASTE:  Click your cursor once on the page where you want to put what you just cut.  Then click on the "paste" icon at the top of the page.  Bingo!  It magically reappears in its new location.  Alternatively, you can position your cursor in the new location, hold down the control key and press V (CTRL + V) to paste.  Or, you can click on "Edit" then "Paste."  It's your call.

TO COPY:  Same procedure.  Highlight the section you want to copy, then click on the "Copy" icon (or press CTRL + C or click on "Edit" then "Copy.").  When you copy, you will make a second version that you will then insert in a new location, leaving the original where it is.  To paste the second version, see instructions above.

Undo

Nothing is carved in stone.  If you should try something and not particularly appreciate the results, you can "undo" what you just did by clicking on "Edit" and then "Undo".  However, you must invoke this command immediately after the goof.  "Undo" will only undo the last operation.
 

SAVE and RELOAD

As you work on your web page, do a little bit at a time, save it (click on the save icon), and then view the results in Navigator.  Each time you add to your web page in Composer, then switch to Navigator to view it, you will need to click on the RELOAD icon in Navigator to view the changes.
 
 

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