Netscape Communicator Tips

TABBING LINKS

Press Tab when in a Web page or frame to move around the links in the page.

COLUMN ARRANGEMENT

The Netscape Communicator Message Center makes it very easy for you to change the order of the columns in the mail Inbox. Simply grab the column header and move it back or forth in the header row. The messages sort on the first column, so this makes it easy to change the way you want to see the messages, say, by priority this time but by sender the next.

HIDDEN HEADER

If you have a column that obscures your mail message's subject, you don't have to resize the column in order to see the full subject. Just move your cursor over the subject and hold it. A pop-up appears with the entire text of the subject.

QUICK SORT

Netscape Communicator allows you to get a threaded view of your mail messages in a flash. Click the little horizontal line button in the top left corner of the Inbox window, and the messages immediately organize by topic.

BOOKMARKING MESSAGES

Communicator allows you to create bookmarks for e-mail or newsgroup messages, just as you can with Web pages. This makes it easy for you to keep track of and access important messages, as they appear in the Bookmark file and menu. Here's how: With the message open, choose Communicator|Bookmarks|Add Bookmark from the Communicator menu. That's it--you've got yourself a brand-new bookmark.

MIXED MESSAGES

Communicator lets you easily combine your e-mail and newsgroup messages. Just drag a message from one folder and drop it into the other. This means you can create a single folder that contains all messages relating to a particular subject, no matter which window they originated in.

APPLETS OF YOUR EYE

Here's a good way to test Java applets you're working on. If you're developing Java applets and have recompiled the class files, hold down theShift key when you hit Reload. This reloads the applets from your harddisk onto the page, meaning that you can see any changes without having to restart Communicator.

VERY COMPOSED

Netscape Communicator's Composer component is one of the best and easiest ways for you to create, edit, and publish online documents. Forget messing with HTML code--Composer is a full WYSIWYG environment, that uses features like drag and drop to allow you to create those pages in no time.

To get started, all you have to do is select Communicator|Page Composer from the Netscape menu or click the Composer icon from the Component bar. The Composer window opens with a blank page. The Composer window is separate from the browser window, which remains open behind.

TEMPLATE, TEMPLATE

Creating Web pages is easy enough in Composer, but in order to get you going even more quickly, Composer allows you to use template pages as the basis of your new page. From the Composer window, choose File|New, then click on Page From Template from the floating menu box that appears. This brings up a dialog box that allows you to select the template file to be used. You can select either a local or remote file, or choose a template file from the Netscape Template File site. Once you've selected the template, you can make it your own. To do this, choose File|Edit Page, and away you go.

NOBODY BEATS THE WIZARD

So, you don't want to use a template to create that page, but you're not too comfortable with a blank page either. No problem; Composer includes a Page Wizard to help you along. To use it, select File|New from the Composer menu, then click on Page >From Wizard from the floating menu box. A new Navigator window (half-size) opens with the Page Wizard. This is a page on the Netscape site that takes you through page creation step by step.

SAME OLD COLOR SCHEME

If you want a standard look for all the Web pages you create, you can set Composer to use the same background image and colors for every page you create. To set this, choose Format|Page Colors And Properties from the Composer menu. In the Page Properties dialog box, click the Colors And Background tab. Choose the settings you want, check the box marked Save these settings for new pages, and click OK. Now each new page you create uses these settings.

FOLLOW THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE YOU

You look at the slickest site on the Web and say to yourself, "There's no way I could create the same thing." Not necessarily so. Composer makes it very easy for you to see the structure of Web pages and use what you can from them. To do this, open that favorite page in Navigator, then choose File|Edit Page from the main menu. This opens Composer with the page displayed in the window. From here you can see the page's underlying structure, save it to your computer's hard drive, or edit it (though you won't be able to post your changes back to the original site's server unless that server is actually yours).

LEGAL NICETIES

The last tip showed you how easy Composer makes it for you to look at the structure of your favorite Web page. This is a great way to get ideas about things you want for your own pages, but tread on careful legal ground. No one can copyright a basic page design, but text, graphics, and even HTML code can and often are copyrighted. Make sure you get written permission before using any of these in your own pages. Even if the site says you can use the images or text, some of these sites may not have proper permission to give you the permission. Bottom line: be very careful.

A CONTEXT-SENSITIVE BUTTON OF THE '90s

Remember to make judicious use of the right-mouse button in Composer. When you click the right-mouse button once in Composer, a floating menu appears with certain commands, based on where you are or what you're doing.

DO IT OFFLINE

Why spend all your time online? Composer allows you to save entire Web pages, including text, graphics, and everything, on your computer to be viewed whenever you want. To do this, go to the site in Navigator, then choose File|Edit Page from the main menu. Composer opens with the page in the window. Choose File|Save As from the Composer menu, then select where you want to save the page and click on Save. The entire page copies to your computer. When you want to view the page later, open Composer and choose File|Open Page, which opens the Open Page dialog box. Click on Choose File and select the saved file. Double-click on Open, and the page opens in the Composer window.

THE LINK'S A REAL DRAG

If you have a text link on a Web page that you'd like to include in a document you're creating in Composer, you can drag it from the browser into Composer. Watch out--this can get a little tricky; you must click and hold the mouse button on the link. If you let go, Netscape follows the link. Now just drag it from Navigator into Composer. The cursor shows an icon that looks like a chain link with a plus sign (+) if the drag is going as it should. When you let go of the mouse button, the link and associated text are out in Composer.

MORE LINKAGE

You can use the drag-and-drop method to create links in any HTML file. Just drag the file from your desktop or Windows Explorer right onto the page you're creating in Composer. If you drag a file from a folder other than the one containing the current page, Composer automatically copies it into the same directory as the current HTML file. This means your links work correctly when you send the file to a Web server.

TWO TOOLBARS

Composer includes two toolbars that let you execute menu commands without going to the menus. One is the Composition toolbar, which controls actions for the Web page, such as creating, opening, or saving, uploading files to a remote server (publish), viewing the page in the browser, editing the page, creating links and targets, inserting images and tables, and checking spelling. The other is the Formatting toolbar, which you use to execute text commands, such as paragraph formatting; setting font type, style and size; setting color; and aligning the text. You can hide or display each toolbar by clicking on the tab on the extreme left.

FACT FINDER

Use the Composer's Find feature to locate text on the Web page your working on. You can click the Find icon from the composition toolbar, or choose Edit|Find In Page, which opens the Find dialog box. Enter the characters you want to search for, set the direction of the search (up or down), then click on Find Next. You can also specify a case-sensitive search.

ON THE HORIZON

Horizontal lines are nice things to add to Web pages because they add form to the page and can break up blocks of text and images. It couldn't be easier to add a line in Composer. Click on the on H. Line icon from the Composition toolbar, and a thin line appears spanning the width of the page. If you want to make the line larger or smaller, grab an edge (top, bottom, left, or right) with the mouse and drag it until you reach the size you want. If you want to set the line properties, click on the line to select it (a black bar appears inside the line), then click on the H. Line icon. This opens the Horizontal Line Properties box.

IMAGE INSERTION

What would a Web page be without images, right? The easiest and quickest way to get the right image onto your Web page is through Composer. Just copy the image you want to your clipboard, open the page in Composer, place the cursor on the spot where you want the image, then choose Edit|Paste from the menu. The image is immediately inserted onto the page.

IMAGE MANAGEMENT

Once you've inserted an image in the Web page you're working on in Composer, you can set some properties. To do this, click on the image once to select it, and then press the right-mouse button and select Image Properties from the floating menu. Here you can set the size, alignment, and more. If you want to edit the image, click on Edit Image. However, you must have the image saved to your computer's hard drive before you can do this. You can't edit an image that's stored on a remote server (although you can resize it, or move it around the page, etc.).

INVISIBLE TABLES

Tables are a great way to order your Web page, and often the page looks even better if you use a table but hide the borders. Because Composer gives all tables a border by default, you need to change the table settings to make it invisible. To change the settings, click on the table to select it, and then select Format|Table Properties (or right-click on the table and select Table Properties from the floating menu). Enter 0 in the Border Line Width box. Composer displays dotted lines on the page that indicates the table is there, but the table's borders will be invisible to anyone who views it with a browser.

TABLES IN TABLES

Composer also allows you to insert tables within tables. To do this, insert the cursor within the cell where you want to place the "inside" table. Click on Table, then choose the settings in the New Table Properties dialog box, as you would with any other table. The new table appears in the cell. As with any other table, you can edit it after it has been created.

FIND A GOOD HOST

Netscape Communicator's Composer module is a terrific tool for creating Web pages, as the previous tips have shown. Once you have a Web site ready to go, you'll want to put it on the Web for all the world to see. You need space on a Web server to do this, and many ISPs provide this for free (or a small storage fee).

NO MORE FREE STORAGE

As we said in the last tip, many ISP's provide space for Web pages at little or no extra cost. Some, however, will start charging you after certain space allotments are exceeded. This is usually not a problem because HTML files tend to be pretty small. A standard-issue personal Web site with a few family photographs, for example, usually takes up less than 2MB of space. But if you include lots of graphics, video, or audio files, you may find yourself over the limit before you know it. Make sure you know your ISP's space requirements before you put your Web page up, lest you get stuck with an unexpected storage bill.

A LETTER-PERFECT EXTERNAL EDITOR

Composer allows you to manipulate your HTML file with an external HTML editor. Wait just a minute, you say, isn't Composer an HTML editor? The answer is yes, but you still may need an external editor. You see, Composer acts as a graphically based HTML editor, in which you manipulate the page by selecting text and graphics right on the screen. All the coding gobbledygook happens in the background. Of course, however, there may be times when you want or need to massage the source code directly--which means you need to have your external editor specified. No problem doing this. First open Composer and choose Edit|Preferences|Composer, which opens the Composer Preferences window. In the section External Editors, enter the HTML editor you want in the HTML Source field. Click on OK to close the box and save your preferences.

A PICTURE-PERFECT EXTERNAL EDITOR

In the last tip, we told you how to specify an external HTML editor in the Composer preferences. Composer also lets you choose your own program to work on graphics files. To specify this, first open Composer and choose Edit|Preferences|Composer, which opens the Composer Preferences window. In the section External Editors, enter the graphics editor you want in the Images field. Click on OK to close the box and save your preferences. The specified graphics editor now launches whenever you click on the Edit Images button to edit the image (by right-clicking the image, or clicking the Insert Image button). Note: Some versions of Composer leave a blank line on the pop-up menu where the Edit Image command should be. Clicking on the blank line still brings up the image editor you specified, however.

FONTS OF VARIOUS SIZES

When you work with text in Composer, you have many style and size options. Before you begin to work with text, however, you can select the way Composer expresses the font size in the drop-down list when you choose Format|Size. The numbers on this list depend on options that you can choose in the Composer preferences.

To set these, open Composer and select Edit|Preferences|Composer, which opens the Composer Preferences window. You select the number options from one of the three buttons that appear in the Font Size Mode section. "Show relative size as points" means that the numbers on the list indicate the actual point sizes of the text (which may vary according to the font style). "Show relative HTML font scale" means that the numbers show the relative font size using a standard scale. The scale shows 0 as the size of the text in Normal style, with negative numbers progressively smaller and positive numbers progressively larger. "Show relative HTML scale and absolute 'point-size' attributes" means that the list displays both point sizes and HTML scale sizes.

PUT THE INDEX FIRST

Be very careful when you name your files if you intend to put your Web pages up on a public Web server. Specifically, you should name the top level file--the one that people see first, before they click on any links--either index.html or index.htm. (The extension depends on what system your ISP uses.) This is because the Web server treats files with these names a little differently, displaying them first automatically when someone browses to your site. If there's no index.html or index.htm file, the user may get a "File not found" error message.

SAVE RIGHT FROM THE START

Sometimes the most obvious things are those we overlook. With this in mind, if you're going to create a Web document in Composer--either from a template or by your own hand--make sure you save the thing right off the bat onto your hard drive. Just click on Composer's Save button or press Ctrl-S, and then name the location to save it to. This means you shouldn't lose any work if anything happens when you're working on the files.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Working with Composer is like working with any other Windows text editor, which means that there are many ways you can quickly perform editing tasks directly from the keyboard. For example, if you press the Home key, the cursor moves to the beginning of a line. When you press Ctrl-Home, the cursor moves to the beginning of the document. Look for more keyboard shortcuts in the next few tips.

THIS IS THE END

Here are more keyboard shortcuts for Composer. When you press End, the cursor moves to the end of a line. When you press Ctrl-End, the cursor moves to the end of the document.

MAKE YOUR SELECTION

More keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl-A to select the entire contents of a document. Press Ctrl-C to copy to the clipboard. Press Ctrl-V to paste what you copied.

THE BOLD ONES

More keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl-B to change selected text to boldface. Press Ctrl-I to italicize it.

INDENTED SERVANT

More keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl = (Ctrl plus the equal sign) to increase the indentation of selected text. Press Ctrl -(Ctrl plus the minus sign) to decrease the indentation of selected text.

NEVER MIND

More keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl-Z to undo your last edit. Press it again to redo the last undone edit.

INSTANT LINKAGE

More keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl-Shift-L to insert a link at the spot where the cursor currently rests.

EVERYTHING FROM HERE ON IS SELECTED

More keyboard shortcuts. Press Shift-Ctrl-End to select all text from the cursor's current position to the end of the document.

A VARIETY OF STYLES

OK--everyone's familiar with the text styles bold, italic, and underline. But Composer has a bunch of other styles to choose from, which allows more flexibility in your text. To see these, select the text and choose Format|Style from the Composer menu. Click on the style you want to select, and the text immediately assumes the style.

NOT MY STYLE

Not happy with the style you just added to your text? Just select the text and choose Format|Remove All Styles (or press Ctrl-K). This removes the character styles and any HTML links in the selected text.

TOP TEN LIST

Lists are effective ways to present bite-size information on Web pages, and Composer makes it very easy to create lists. There are two basic list styles: bullets and numbers. You can add bullets or numbers to an existing list, or you can create the bullets or numbers as you go. Either begin your new list or select your existing list and click on either the bullet icon or the number icon from the text editor bar. Boom, instant list. If you create a numbered list, you won't see the numbers until you preview or browse the page. In Composer, you'll just see number signs (#).

A LINK IN A BLINK

Text and graphics are an integral part of any Web page, but the Web is really about links, those handy shortcuts to other Web pages. Adding links couldn't be easier in Composer. Enter or select the text that you want to make a link. For example, if you have a section called Favorite Links, you might enter the Web page name (not the file name) or description here. Next, click on the Link button from the Composition Toolbar or choose Insert|Link from the Composer menu. The Character Properties dialog box opens to the Link tab. Notice that the text you've selected is shown in the Linked Text field. Now just enter the full path and file name (such as http://resa2.k12.wv.us] of the page you want to link in the Link to a Page Location or Local File field. Click on OK to close the box and save your link. Notice now that the text assumes the link characteristics that you specified in Composer preferences.

SNEAK PREVIEWS

It makes a lot of sense to test your link before you finish your page. The Composer window gives you a way to lay out the Web page, but it doesn't actually contain real links. To do some testing, click on the Preview button from the Composition Toolbar. This brings up your page in the Navigator window (you must have the page saved locally before this works). This actually shows the page as your viewers will see it. Click on the links you've inserted to test them.

ADVANCED LISTS

Simply creating a bulleted or numbered list often isn't enough. Happily, Composer includes some advanced options for your list appearance. To set these, select all the text that encompasses the list, right-click, then choose Paragraph/List Properties from the floating dialog box. This opens the Character Properties dialog box, and you'll find the various list options in the middle section. Feel free to experiment with the various options to see what looks best for your page.

LINK EXTRAS

If you're pretty handy with HTML coding, you can add additional HTML commands to any link. To do this, open the Character Properties box for the link (select the link, right-click and select Link Properties). Click on the Extra HTML button and enter the extra HTML code in the dialog box that appears. Click on OK to close the Extra HTML box, and then click on OK again to close the Character Properties box. An example of extra HTML code might be HTML attributes or JavaScript code that you add to the HREF tag created by Composer.

TARGET SIGHTED

We know that links in Web pages bring you to other Web pages in a click. Well, Composer includes a neat feature called a "target," which allows you to create links within pages. Let's say you have a really long page with lots of separate sections. You can use targets to allow readers to click back and forth between the sections. Anything can be a target: text, pictures, links, and so on.

Here's how to make a target. First go to the section that you want to make a target, then place the cursor just to the left of this and click the Insert Target button. The Target Properties dialog box opens. Enter a name for the target (we'll cleverly call it "target"), then click OK. A target icon appears next to the target. Now go back to the page and place the cursor where you want to make the link, then click the Insert Link button. The Character Properties box opens to the Link tab. You'll see that "target" now appears in the bottom text box. Enter the text that you want for the link in the Link Source box, then select the target from the box. Click OK. Composer returns you to your page with the link inserted.

LINE 'EM UP

Web page design is a pretty open field, but one thing most pages share is a horizontal line. These aren't just there for decoration, but can really give order and shape to the page. Composer lets you get your Web page horizontal in a snap. Place the cursor on the page where you want the horizontal line to appear, then click the Insert Horizontal Line button (H. Line) from the Composition Toolbar. Bingo: The line appears in the page immediately.

PICTURE LINK

Pictures can make great links in Web pages. This is really easy to do in Composer. Select the image that you want to make a link, then right-click. A context menu appears, from which you select "Create Link Using Selected...". The Image Properties dialog box opens to the Link tab. Note that the image file name is shown in the Link Source box. Now just enter the URL or local file that the image links to in the "Link to" section. Click Apply and you're all set; the image becomes a clickable link.

FANCIER LINES

You say you don't like just a plain horizontal line? Go ahead and change the appearance if you want. Select the line, right-click, then choose Horizontal Line Properties from the context menu that appears. A Horizontal Line Properties dialog box appears that allows you to choose different settings for your line. You can change the height, width, alignment, and the 3D shading effect. You'll want to experiment here to get the line that you really want. When you're done click OK, and the line assumes the characteristics you just set.

LINE CHANGES ON THE FLY

The last tip showed you how to change line properties in Composer through the Horizontal Line Properties dialog box. This gives you a very precise way to set the line properties, but you can also change the line on the fly. Simply select the line, then hold down the mouse button. Move the mouse up, down, right, or left and the line gets bigger or smaller in the direction you move. You can also "pick it up" by holding down the mouse, then move it to another location on the page.

OPTIONS FOR GETTING THE MAIL: POP3 VERSION

Netscape Communicator's Messenger has a couple of options for getting your e-mail messages, depending on your mail server. If your incoming mail account is on a POP3 server, there are two options for handling retrieved mail messages. You can either delete them from the server after you've retrieved them, or you can leave them indefinitely on the server. If you choose to leave them on the server, you can access them at a later date. This can be really helpful if you get your mail on two different computers, such as work or home.

To set this option, open the message center and choose Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups-Mail Server. If you want to leave your messages on the server after you retrieve them, check the option, "Leave messages on server after retrieval." If you want them deleted, leave this option unchecked. Click on OK to close the Preferences box and save your settings.

OPTIONS FOR GETTING THE MAIL: IMAP VERSION

If you get your mail from an IMAP server, the messages are always kept on the server after you retrieve them. You re-access them every time you access the server. Your option here is to store copies of your messages on your own computer so that you can view them when you're not attached to the server. To do this, open the message center and choose Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups-Mail Server, then check the option "Keep copies of messages locally for offline reading." Click on OK to close the Preferences box and save your settings.

QUICK REPLY

Just received a message and need to reply right away? Right click on it, which opens a floating context menu, then select Reply to Sender or Reply to Sender and All Recipients. Compose the reply and fire it off.

AUTOMATIC MAILMAN

If you're getting tired of clicking on the Get Msg icon every time you want to check for new mail, you can have Communicator's Messenger do it automatically. To set this option, choose Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups-Mail Server, which opens the Mail Server window. Click on the More Options button and the More Mail Server Preferences dialog box opens. Now just check the option Check for Mail Every and enter the number of minutes (how often Messenger logs on to the mail server to check for new messages). Click on OK to close this dialog box, then click on OK again to close the Preferences box. Now, once this option is set, Messenger has three ways to let you know that the mail has arrived: Your computer makes a "ding" sound; you'll see a green down arrow next to the Messenger icon of the Component bar; you'll see an envelope icon in the Windows 95 or NT taskbar tray.

NO DING

In the last tip, we showed you how to set the option for Messenger to check automatically for new mail (Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups-Mail Server, More Options, Check for Mail Every). Once it receives the mail, it has to notify you, and one of the methods it uses is a "ding" sound. Some people like this audible notification, but many find it gets annoying pretty quickly. Thankfully, you can turn this off in Messenger. Choose Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups, which opens the Preferences dialog box to the Mail & Groups window, then uncheck the Enable Sound Alert When Messages Arrive option. Click on OK to close the Preferences box and save your settings.

PUT IT IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK

Like most e-mail applications, Messenger includes an Address Book function that allows you to address the mail without typing in full names and addresses all the time. The Address Book is like an electronic Rolodex file, where you can flip through the files and select the addressees. Before you can do any flipping, however, you must put addresses in the book. There are several ways to do this, but here's the easiest:

Open the Message Center and select a message from the Message List pane. After the full content appears in the Message Content pane, you'll see a blue underlined link in the To, From, and Cc headers at the top of the message. Click on any of these that you want to add to your Address Book and a Card For dialog box appears. Fill in all the fields that you want in the name tab, then click on OK. The card is complete, and you've just made an entry in your Address Book.

GROUP ADDRESSING

If you have a group of users that you want to send e-mail to, Communicator allows you to create a Mailing List. Your mailing list group can be represented in the Address Book by one nickname, making addressing even easier for a group. To create a mailing list, select Address Book from the Communicator menu, which opens the Address Book window. Click on the New List button and the Mailing List dialog box opens. You can give the list an "official" name in the List Name field, a nickname in the List Nickname field, and add a description. Now just add the entries in the mailing list field. The easiest way to do this is to enter the nickname, as the rest of the e-mail address fills in automatically. When you're finished, click on OK to close the Mailing List dialog box. Lists are distinguished from single entries in the Address Book by having a two-card icon, rather than the one card.

IMPORTED ADDRESSES

If you already have an address book file--say from another mail application--you can import this into Communicator as your Address Book. To do this, open the Messenger Address Book, then select File, Import, which opens the Import Address Book File dialog box. Just find the file you want to import, click on Open, and the file is converted to the Messenger Address Book.

HERE'S MY CARD

Here's a very handy way to let everyone know who you are when you send an e-mail message: Attach an Address Book card to the message. First you need to create the card in your Address Book, which is just the same as creating one for anyone else. Now after you have the card, you need to attach it to your outgoing messages. You can attach to every message you send or to individual messages. To attach to every message, select Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups-Identity, and select the option Always Attach Address Book Card to Outgoing Messages. If you want to just attach messages individually, leave this option unchecked. When you create a new message, click on the Attach button and choose My Address Book Card from the menu. Be warned that not all mail programs handle attachments well, also if your on a mailing list it would good idea to keep it turned off, because everybody on the list would get it.

DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT

Normally when you reply to a message, the text of the original message is quoted--that is, distinguished from your reply text. The quoted text is identified by the > symbol before each line. Messenger actually gives you the option to not quote the original message every time you reply. To set this, choose Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups-Messages, which opens the Messages window of the Preferences dialog box. Uncheck the option Automatically Quote Original Message When Replying, and click on OK to close the Preferences box.

DRAFT BOARD

We've all started to write messages that we can't finish or don't want to send right away (like that letter of resignation, perhaps!). If you have such a message in Communicator's Messenger, just click on the Save button from the Message Composition menu. This message is immediately placed in a folder called Drafts, which you can see from the drop-down folder list. If you want to get back to the message, just select it from the Drafts folder. You can edit it or simply click on the Send button if and when it's ready to go.

SEARCHING FOR THAT GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

Communicator's Address Book function is not just for your own entries. You can also use it to search for e-mail addresses that are stored in Internet directories. So if you've been looking for that old long-lost college buddy who moved to Gettysburg, here's one way to try to track down his e-mail address. In Communicator, go to the Communicator drop-down menu and select Address Book to open the Address Book window. Enter the name of the person you're looking for in the text box. You don't have to enter the full name; for example, you could enter Abraham Lincoln, Abe Lincoln, A. Lincoln, or another variation. Go to the field at the right (the one that currently reads "Personal Address Book"), and click on the drop-down arrow to select a directory from the list. Click on the Search button. In a few seconds, a list of matching names and near matches will appear in the address window.

A MORE ROBUST ADDRESS SEARCH

The last tip taught you how to search for e-mail addresses using the Address Book. Communicator also includes a more robust method for complex searches. To get started, go to Communicator, Address Book to open the Address Book window. Click on the Directory icon to open a Search dialog box. Select the directory you want to search from the Search For Items field (you can click on the down arrow to see more directories). Now use the search criteria boxes to hone your search with additional information. The first two boxes contain predetermined keywords that you select, and the third box allows you to enter any words you want. You can refine the search further by clicking on the More button, which then adds another row of search criteria fields. Click on Search and you're off and running.

MESSAGE IN A FLASH

Did you find the person you were looking for in the Address Book searches? If so, great. Now just select the name and right-click. Choose New Message, and Communicator immediately opens a new Composition window. The appropriate e-mail address is automatically entered in the To: field.

THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST

The last couple of tips showed you how to use the search function in Communicator's Address Book to track down e-mail addresses. If you used this, you saw how the search displays its results: all the names it found in alphabetical order, by first name. However, you can make Messenger display the results in last-name-first order, which may be a more useful format. To set it up, select Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups, Directory, which opens the Directory Preferences window. In the section Show Full Names As, select the bottom option: (Last name) (First name). Click on OK to close the Preferences box and save your settings.

CHANGE IN THE LINEUP

By now you should be familiar with the list of directories available in Communicator's Address Book search function. The directories you see are preselected by Communicator, but you can add your own if you like. To do this, select Edit, Preferences, Mail & Groups, Directory, which opens the Directory Preferences window. Click on New, which opens the Add Directory Server dialog box. Enter the appropriate information for the directory and click on OK. As you can see in this dialog box, however, the process requires some geeky inside knowledge. You should probably attempt this only if you're really up on your Internet directory services.

SEARCHING FOR A LONG LOST LOVE E-MAIL

You know you get a lot of e-mail. Only you can decide whether that's a good thing, but most people find all those messages clutter up the mailbox fast. Locating a message you received two weeks (or two days) ago can be a real challenge. Fortunately, you can use Communicator's search function to find specific messages.

Open the Messenger Mailbox and choose Edit, Search Messages to open the Search Messages dialog box. (It looks just like the search box you used to search for directories in the last few tips). Choose the folder you wish to search in the field titled Search For Items In (Inbox, for example). Now use the search criteria boxes to refine the search.

The first two boxes contain predetermined keywords you can select, while the third box allows you to enter any keywords you want. You can further refine the search by clicking on the More button, which adds another row of search criteria fields. Click on Search and any messages containing your search words will be displayed.

SEARCHING FOR A LONG LOST LOVE E-MAIL

You know you get a lot of e-mail. Only you can decide whether that's a good thing, but most people find all those messages clutter up the mailbox fast. Locating a message you received two weeks (or two days) ago can be a real challenge. Fortunately, you can use Communicator's search function to find specific messages.

Open the Messenger Mailbox and choose Edit, Search Messages to open the Search Messages dialog box. (It looks just like the search box you used to search for directories in the last few tips). Choose the folder you wish to search in the field titled Search For Items In (Inbox, for example). Now use the search criteria boxes to refine the search.

The first two boxes contain predetermined keywords you can select, while the third box allows you to enter any keywords you want. You can further refine the search by clicking on the More button, which adds another row of search criteria fields. Click on Search and any messages containing your search words will be displayed.

GET ATTACHED QUICKLY

Communicator's Messenger has a quick and easy way to attach files to your mail messages. You can actually attach any file you want--programs, spreadsheets, graphics, sound, or video files. To attach quickly, create a new message, which opens the Composition window. In the address pane, to the left, click on the Attach Files & Documents icon (the paper clip), which opens an attachments area. Now you can attach any file by dragging its icon from your desktop work space into the attachments area. Continue with the rest of the message as you would any other mail message.

OFFLINE OPTIONS

Because working offline--that is, when you are not connected to the Internet--can be preferable to working online, Communicator has a couple of ways to configure your offline preferences. In Communicator, select Edit, Preferences, Offline to open the Offline Preferences window. You can choose one of three options:

• Online Work Mode means Messenger assumes you are always connected to the Internet, so when you click on Send, it always tries to send the message to the specified address. If you are not connected, it tries and tries until it eventually returns an error message.
• Offline Work Mode means Messenger assumes you are not connected to the Internet and automatically stores all messages in the Outbox folder to be sent at a later time (when you are connected). If you are in Offline mode, the Send button automatically becomes a Send Later button.

SAVE IT FOR LATER

If you send a lot of e-mail messages, you might find that the most efficient way to work is to create a bunch of messages, save them, and then send them all at once. The advantage here is that you can work offline, which means you only need to have an online connection for the brief time it takes to send the batch of messages (leaving your phone line available for old-fashioned phone calls).

To do this, create the message as usual, but in the new message Composition window select File, Send Later, instead of clicking on Send. Now the message is stored in your Outbox folder. Later, when you're connected to the Net, you can send all the messages in the Outbox at the same time. Just select File, Send Unsent Messages from the Messenger menu.

FILE IT

Folders are the best way to organize your messages, but you may find yourself moving messages among different folders often. The quickest way to move messages in and out of folders is to select a message, then right-click on it. Choose File Message from the context menu that appears, then choose the folder where you want the message to go to transfer the message.

TAKE OUT THE PAPERS AND THE TRASH

When you delete a message, it's not actually removed from Messenger, at least not initially. Instead, it's stored in the Trash folder. This is a safety mechanism to prevent you from accidentally deleting messages you really mean to keep. To get rid of a message once and for all, select it from the Trash folder, then delete it. To get rid of all the messages in the Trash folder at once, select File, Empty Trash Folder.

COMPRESSED INTO SERVICE

Accumulated messages tend to take up space, and even deleting them won't always create room. That's because messages leave little bits and bytes behind even after they're deleted. To reclaim some space, you can compress your Messenger folders, which cleans up extra disk space. To do this, select File, Compress Folders.

ATTACHMENT ICONOGRAPHY

When you receive a message that contains at least one attachment, you'll see a paper clip icon at the top of the message. When you click on this icon, a new window opens that displays icons for the attached files. When you click on the attachment icons, the files open or are saved to disk.

CHECKING ATTACHMENTS

Most attachments made using the Messenger Mailbox will arrive at their destination without a hitch. Once in a while, however, you'll discover that a recipient can't run the attached file, or that the file has been corrupted in some way. If this happens, send the message again, but before clicking on Send, click on the Message Sending Options tab in the Composition window's address pane (it's the one under the paper clip). Select the option Uuencode instead of MIME for attachments. Now Messenger will use an alternate (older) encoding method for the message attachments.

HIDE AND SEEK

Messenger folders--particularly the Inbox--can get stuffed pretty quickly. For this reason, Messenger provides ways to display only certain messages in the folder at one time. To experiment with this feature, select View, Messages from the Messenger menu, then select one of the display options. New, for example, will display only messages that are marked unread.

YOUR OWN FOLDERS

Messenger already contains a bunch of useful folders, but there's no reason you can't make more of your own. Let's say you want to keep all the messages you've received from your boss in one place. Create a folder called "The Boss" and you're all set. To do this, either open the Message Center (go to Communicator, Message Center) and click on New Folder, or select File, New Folder from the Communicator menu. A New Folder dialog box will open. Enter a name for the folder (such as "The Boss"), then select a location. If you want to make this a top-level folder, that is, on the same level as Inbox or Trash, select Local Mail here. Note that you can also make it a subfolder, subordinate to another folder (such as "Work"). Click on OK to create the new folder.

SPREAD THREAD

To thread messages that are in Netscape Communicator's Message Center folders, just click on the button with the horizontal lines (immediately to the left of the Subject button). All messages that share the same subject heading (aka, threads) are immediately grouped together, with subsequent messages indented underneath initial messages.

RELATED SUBJECTS

While we're on the subject of message threads (see previous tip), you should know that the subject lines don't have to be exact for messages to be considered part of the same thread. Replies to some messages may not contain the same subject line but are still included in the initial message's thread.

SELECT A THREAD

You'll often find it useful to select all messages in a single thread, perhaps to move them into another folder all at once. To do this, find the initial message of the thread, then click on the blue icon to the left of the message. The entire thread is selected.

THREAD UNREAD

Some threads contain unread messages. If this is the case, Communicator's Messenger puts a green down arrow next to the initial message in the thread. This makes it easier to find unread messages if, as a rule, you sort by thread rather than by date.

COMPACT ASSISTANT

Compacting mail folders is another good way to save space. To make it easier on you, Communicator has a Preferences setting that asks whether you want to compact when it will save a certain amount of space.

To set this, select Edit, Preferences, which opens the Preferences dialog box. Next, click on Advanced and select Disk Space, which opens the Disk Space window. In the All Messages section, click on the second option, Automatically Compact, and set a limit in the KB field. Click on OK to save your settings and close the Preferences box.

KILL THE BODY, BUT THE HEADER WILL LIVE

Here's one more way to automatically save some space in your mail folders. You can set Communicator so that, after a set time period has elapsed, it deletes the bodies of old messages but saves the headers. This is especially useful if you also keep your mail messages on your mail server, because you still have information about the messages, but they don't clutter up your disk space.

To set this up, select Edit, Preferences, which opens the Preferences dialog box. Next, click on Advanced and select Disk Space, which opens the Disk Space window. Click on the More Options button, which opens the More Disk Space Options dialog box; then check the option and enter a number of days that you want as the minimum amount of time before Communicator deletes old message bodies. Click on OK to close this box, then click on OK again to close the Preferences box and save your settings.

FILTER TIP

Communicator's Message Center includes a mail filter feature that can automatically move incoming messages into specific folders. You can, for example, have all messages from The Boss go directly into the "Get It Done Yesterday" folder, or all those stale jokes your Net surfing pal sends you into the Trash folder.

Setting up mail filters is very easy. First, open the Communicator Message Center, then select Edit, Mail Filters, which opens the Mail Filters dialog box. Click on New, which opens the Filter Rules dialog box. Enter a name for the filter--preferably something that tells you what it does--then set the rules for the filter. This is just a process of making selections from the criteria boxes (click on the drop-down arrows for more options). You might, for example, say that if the "sender" contains "The Boss," then "Move to folder" "Get It Done Yesterday." That's all there is to it. Click on OK to close the Filter Rules box, then click on OK again to close the Mail Filters box.

NEWSGROUP SEARCH

Finding newsgroups is no problem. Finding newsgroups that containinformation you really want is a problem. If you want to find aparticular discussion, there are search services that targetnewsgroups. One of the best known is Deja News, which you can find athttp://www.dejanews.com

This site allows you to search newsgroups for specific words andphrases. It returns any relevant messages it finds. You can also lookfor particular newsgroups by category.

JUST FOR REFERENCE

Another newsgroup search engine is Reference.com, which you can findat http://www.reference.com

There's an added bonus with this resource: You can set it to checkUsenet postings automatically, using specific criteria you provide,then send you the search results by e-mail. This is a good way tomonitor groups you don't access regularly, but where discussions ofinterest to you might occur.

LIMIT THE NEWS

Most newsgroups get hundreds of new messages each and every day. Thismeans there can be literally thousands of messages on a server whenyou download messages. For this reason, Communicator allows you tolimit the number of messages it downloads automatically. To set thisoption, select Edit, Preferences from the Communicator menu, whichopens the Preferences dialog box. From the Category menu, select Mail& Groups, Groups Server, which opens the Groups Server window. In thelower portion of the window, check the Ask Me Before Downloading MoreThan option, then enter a number for the message limit. Now, beforedownloading any messages, Communicator will inform you when theamount of messages on the server exceeds the limit you've set (thatway you can override your limit if you're feeling reckless). Click OKto close the Preferences box and save your settings.

THE INSIDE SCOOP

To get the inside story on any news server, select the news serverfrom the Message Center window, then right-click. From the contextmenu that appears, select Discussion Group Server Properties. Theinfo box gives you basic information such as the news server's name,port used, and whether or not the server is secure (encrypted or notencrypted). Click OK to close the info box.

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

There are plenty of newsgroups out there, but many (most?) aredevoted to pretty arcane or useless topics. Does anyone discussanything of business relevance out there in newsgroup land? You bet.Check out misc.business.consulting,misc.business.marketing.moderated, misc.business.records-mgmt, ormisc.entrepreneurs.moderated for some stimulating or potentiallyvaluable business conversation.

SPACE CASE

As with e-mail messages, downloading messages from newsgroups can eatup your hard drive space in a hurry. Remember that the Disk Spacepanel of the Preferences box contains several settings that can keepusage down to a manageable level. To access it, select Edit,Preferences, which opens the Preferences box; then select Advanced,Disk Space from the Category menu. This opens the Disk Space panel,where you can make adjustments as you see fit.

SEE IT ALL

Subject, sender, or other important information is often obscured inthe Message Center window where a column ends. For example, a subjectline like "Here's my take on the Kennedy-Bono skiing conspiracy"might look like "Here's my take on the Ken . . ." Luckily, you cansee if you want to read this message without moving the columnborder. Just place your cursor over the subject line and it willappear in full in a pop-up box. Move the cursor again and the pop-upbox goes away.

TEMPORARILY READ

The Communicator Message Center has a number of ways for you to markmessages in a newsgroup. When you mark a message For Later, forexample, it indicates that the message has been read--but only forthe current session. The messages return to unread status insubsequent sessions. Go to Message, Mark to see all the Mark commandoptions available.

WILDCARD SPOT

When you get a list of newsgroups from your news server, some of thenames may contain a wildcard character (*). You might, for example,see alt.football.*. This just means that there are several groupsunder the alt.football discussion hierarchy. Just double-click thename (or click the plus sign to the left) to expand the list ofgroups.

FOLDER IN THE BROWSER

You Windows users may know that you can view the contents ofdirectory folders in the Navigator browser window, but you may nothave known that you can actually drop a directory folder into thebrowser window and its contents will appear instantly. You can dragthe folders out of Windows Explorer, for example, or just selectStart, Run and click Browse. Browse through the directory foldersuntil you see the one you want, then just click, drag, and drop itinto the browser window. The folder immediately displays in directoryformat, and you can open files or other folders from here.

BOOKMARK YOUR ADDRESSES

Tired of going to the Message Center Address Book every time you wantto send an e-mail message? Create a bookmark list for your addressbook. To do this, press Ctrl-B to open the bookmark file, then selectthe Toolbar Folder from the bookmarks list. Choose File, New Folderto open the Bookmark Properties box, then enter a name for thefolder, such as "Address Book." Click OK, and your new Address Bookfolder is added to the Personal Toolbar. Now you need to add thee-mail addresses that will comprise the bookmark list. Right-clickyour new Address Book folder and select New Bookmark from the contextmenu. In the Bookmark Properties box, enter a name for the recipient,then enter the e-mail address preceded by "mailto:" in the URL field(for example, mailto:gaz@fullmonty.com). Click OK to close the box,then close the bookmark file. Now when you want to send an e-mailmessage, just click the Address Book button you added to the PersonalToolbar and select the appropriate entry!

NOT ANIMATED

Animations are cool, but they don't usually add much information tothe page that you want to load. Add to this the fact that they canslow the loading process, and you begin to ask yourself if you reallywant those cute animations in the first place. Well, if you don'twant them, you don't need to load them. If you access a Web site withunwanted animations, just select View, Stop Animations from theCommunicator menu.

OUT OF THE FRAME

Communicator allows you to separate the image from the frame. To seean image out of its frame, right-click the image and select ViewImage from the context menu. The image will appear on its own in anew browser window. Just click Back to return to the frame.

CHOOSING THE WALLPAPER

Sometimes you come across an image on a Web page that you like somuch you want to see it every day. If this happens to you, why notwallpaper your desktop with that great image? Right-click the image,then select Set As Wallpaper from the context menu. That's it--you'vejust redecorated your desktop.

MOVEABLE WALLS

The last tip showed you how to put a frame in its own browser window.There's also a more flexible way to play around with the size of aframe. Just point your cursor on the frame border and, when thedouble-arrow icon appears, move it left or right (or up and down) toadjust the frame size.

THE INSIDE FRAME STORY

Frames are sort of like pages within a page. You know howCommunicator allows you to see the source code for a Web page? Well,you can do the same thing with a single frame. Right-click inside theframe and select View Frame Source. The inside story is yours tobehold.

MORE DISCUSSION GROUPS WINDOW COLUMNS

Communicator's Discussion Groups window contains familiar columnsthat provide information about the messages, such as Subject andSender. There are, however, more columns than you see when you firstopen the window. To see more columns, click the little left or rightarrow icons in the top right corner of the window. If you can't seethe full name of the column, just resize it until you do.

LOOK AT THE LINES

Some newsgroup posters just don't know when to stop. Thankfully,Communicator tells you the number of lines in each message, so youknow what you're in for before you open the message. To see thisinformation, scroll to the Lines column. Anything more than 20 or 30lines suggests that the poster probably suffers from messageoverkill.

FILE IT

Once you get your new discussion group messages, you might want tofile some right away (whether you actually read them or not). Justclick File from the Discussion Groups window menu and then select afile from the menu list. The message is filed immediately.

QUOTE ME ON THAT

Communicator allows you a few options for quoted text in mail ornewsgroup messages. Quoted text is displayed by default as plain textfollowed by the right arrow symbol (>). If you want to change the waythis text appears, select Edit, Preferences to open the Preferencesdialog box. Select Mail & Groups, then set your options in the topsection (where it says Plain quoted text beginning with ">" isdisplayed with:). You can set the text style, size, and color. Whenyou're finished, click OK to close the box and save your changes.

BETTER-LOOKING TEXT

By default, Communicator displays mail or discussion group messagesin something called "fixed width font." There is another displayoption called "variable width font," which looks a little better buttakes up more room on the screen. To switch to this option, selectEdit, Preferences and choose Mail & Groups. Click the radio buttonfor Variable width font from the Display Messages and Articles With:section. Click OK to close the box and save your changes.

SINGLE OR DOUBLE

Single-click a message in the mail or Discussion Groups window to seethe message in the bottom pane of the window. To see it in its ownwindow, however, double-click it. (Ctrl-W will close the full-sizewindow and return you to the split-pane view.)