OPENING NETSCAPE COMPOSER

Open the application, Netscape.
Under "File", select "New", and then "Blank page".
 

Type information as you normally would in preparing an MS-Word document except as noted below.

FONT TYPES, SIZES, AND COLORS

To select a font, go to Format and then "font" and select from the list of available fonts.

To change the font size, select a different size from the lower left toolbar, or under "Format" select "Size" and then the number desired.

To change the font color, highlight the word(s) and click on the font color symbol on the lower tool bar (Multicolored square).  A dialogue box containing a color wheel will appear.  Select the color by clicking on the location of the color on the color wheel.  To return to black, move the sliding arrow to  0.
 

Different sized bold headings can be selected from the pull-down menu located adjacent to "Normal" on the lower tool bar.  Heading 1 is the largest, and Heading 6, the smallest.  (The heading of this document is Heading 3)

Different locations of headings can be obtained by highlighting the heading and then selecting the location (left, center, right) from the pull-down menu at the end of the lower toolbar.

Highlight the letters to be changed, and then click on the appropriate letter A on the lower toolbar.  A, A, A.

To remove underline, italics, or bold; highlight the letters to be changed, and then on the lower toolbar click on the symbol for "Remove all Styles" which is the letter A with the eraser slanting through it.
 

To increase indentation, click on the right arrow indentation symbol located in the top tool bar.

To decrease indentation, click on the left arrow indention symbol located in the top tool bar.
 

To insert a horizontal line starting at the indented location and going across the remainder of the screen, position the cursor where the line is to go, and then depress the line symbol in the upper toolbar.  The following indented line will appear.

---

To change the length of an existing line, place the cursor at the beginning or end of the line and click on the symbol to increase or decrease the indentation.

To remove a horizontal line, place the cursor at the end of the line and strike the delete key.

SUPERSCRIPTS AND SUBSCRIPTS

For a subscript, under "Format", select "Style", then "Subscript".  Type the subscript.    Then from the lower tool bar, select "Remove all styles" (letter A with slant eraser)  and continue typing.

Li₂O,  Ni(NO₃)₂

For a superscript, under "Format", select "Style", then "Superscript".  Type the superscript.    Then from the lower toolbar, select "Remove all styles" (letter A with slant eraser), and continue typing.

X²
 

1. To obtain a bulleted or numbered list of items, select "List item" from the left end of lower tool bar for the paragraph style.

 
2. Click on the symbol for a bulleted list or the symbol for a numbered list on the lower tool bar.

 
3. Type the first item.  Each time you depress the return key, a new bullet or number symbol (#) will appear.  [The number symbol (#) will be converted to a serial number when viewed on a browser.]

 
4. To interconvert between a bulleted list and a numbered list, highlight the first line of the list and click on the bullet symbol or the number symbol on the lower tool bar.

 
5. To remove bullet(s) or number(s), highlight the line(s) and select "Normal" from the left end of lower tool bar for the paragraph style.

Save file by clicking on the symbol for a disk in the top row of the tool bar.  Chose a name followed by a period followed by the extension, "html" as "Intro.html".  Files will be labelled automatically as Netscape files.

To open a file for modification of  its contents, open Netscape Composer, click on the symbol of an open folder on the top row of the tool bar.  A dialog box will open, select the file you want to modify, and select open.

 A Netscape file can also be opened and altered using MS Word.  (Opening an HTML file in Word 5.1 allows you to see and alter the actual HTML markers.  This allows you to make global changes using the find and replace function of Word.)
 
 

To see what an active composer file will look like when it is accessed by a browser, save the file and then click on the steering wheel symbol located in the upper toolbar or the small tool bar located in the bottom right hand corner.

To return to composer, use the small tool bar located in the bottom right hand corner and click on the symbol of a page with a pen slanting through it.
 

INSTALLING ACTIVE LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES

1. Using your Netscape browser, open the site to which you propose to link.  Highlight the address of the site (URL) and depress command C (for copy).  This places a copy of the address (URL) on the clipboard which you can retrieve by depressing control V (for paste) such as this web site which gives detailed instruction on writing HTML code:

http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerP1.html

2. Open, in Netscape Composer, the document in which you want to install the link.

3. Place the cursor in front of the word(s) that you want to highlight as the link , such as in front of the word "here" in the the following:

Further information on HTML is available here.

4. From the top tool bar, under Insert, select HTML tag.  A dialogue box will open.  In the blank space in the box, type the following, including the quotation mark,

<A HREF = "

then depress control V to paste in the URL of the site to which you are establishing the link, then type a second quotation mark, and finally terminate with  >.  It should then look like this.

<A HREF = "http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerP1.html">

Click on OK.  A large colored marker containing an open-bracket, < , will appear in front of the word, "here".

5. Place the cursor after the last word you want to be highlighted as a link, such as after the word, "here", in our example.

6. From the top bar, under Insert, again select HTML tag.  A dialogue box will open.  In the blank space in the box, type the following:

</A>

 Click on OK.  A second large colored marker containing a forward slant and a close-bracket, />, will appear after the word, "here".

7. Save the file, toggle to the navigator browser by clicking on the steering wheel in the bottom tool bar.  You should now see the word "here" in color and underlined indicating it is a link.  Click on the link and you should get to a web site containing detailed information on writing HTML.

Further information on HTML is available here.