Netscape Communicator Tips #1



*1.   KEEP THOSE COLORS

The last tip told you how to put background colors and images 
into a mail message. If you want, you can use the same background
for all new messages you create. To do this, in the Page Color 
and Properties box for the message, check the option Save These 
Settings for New Pages. After you save and close the message, the
background images and colors appear in every message you create.


*2.   SEND A QUICK PIC

When you see a graphic at a Web site that you must send to a 
friend right away, press Ctrl-M. This immediately opens a new 
Message Composition window. Now grab the image and drop it into 
the message body. That's it--address and send the message as 
you would normally.


*3.   MAKE THE LINK

The last tip showed you how to send a graphic image from a Web 
site quickly (press Ctrl-M, then drag and drop the graphic into 
the new Message Composition window that appears). This technique
works for URL links as well--you just have to make sure you've 
set your preferences to send HTML messages by default. (Your 
recipient also needs to have a mail client that can 
read HTML mail).

To do this, select Edit, Preferences to open the Preferences box.
Select Mail & Newsgroups, then Messages from the Category list, 
then check the By Default, Send HTML Messages option. Click OK to
close the Preferences box.


*4.   PERSONAL BEST

In addition to offering the familiar bookmarks pull-down menu, 
Communicator includes some other quick ways to access your 
favorite sites. One is the Personal Toolbar, which appears in the
Communicator Display window. This toolbar has some canned links,
such as the ones to the New & Cool and Lookup sites, but you can
add your own buttons to it. To do this, drag the Proxy icon (it's
just to the right of the Bookmarks icon) into the toolbar. The 
current site (the one specified in the Netsite box) becomes a 
button link on the Personal Toolbar. Click the button and you 
access the site.


*5.   GETTING MORE PERSONAL

The last tip told you about the Personal Toolbar. This is 
actually a part of the bookmark file, and allows you to edit, 
add, and delete items from the Bookmark window. To do any of 
this, click Bookmarks from the Communicator window, then select
Communicator, Bookmarks, Edit Bookmarks to open the 
Bookmarks-bookmark.htm window. You'll find the links for the 
Personal Toolbar in the Personal Toolbar Finder. To dump a link,
select it and press Delete. You also might want to edit the 
link--for example, giving it a shorter, snappier name (when you 
create the link, the button title defaults to the site's full 
title, which can be pretty long). Highlight the link that you 
want to edit and select Edit, Bookmark Properties. Enter the new
name in the Name field, then click OK. Close the 
Bookmarks-bookmark.htm window, and the Personal Toolbar 
reflects your changes.


*6.   OTHER ITEMS ACCEPTED

In Communicator, the Personal Toolbar on the desktop (and the 
Personal Toolbar Folder in the Bookmarks file) is not just for 
Web site links. In addition to those familiar links, you can add
button icons for newsgroups, mail folders, or Address Book 
entries. To do this, first open the window that contains the 
component you want to add (such as the Mail window). Select the 
item to add, such as the Inbox icon, then drag it into the 
Personal Toolbar. The item now appears in both the Personal 
Toolbar and the Bookmarks file in the Personal Toolbar Folder.


*7.   TAKE THE SHORTCUT

If you want to create your own Web page quickly, take the 
Composer shortcut. Find a Web page you like, then choose File, 
Edit Page from Communicator's main menu. This opens the page in 
Composer. From here you can edit the page and/or save it to your
own hard drive. (You won't be able to make any changes to the 
original page on the home server unless you have access rights.)


*8.   LEGAL EAGLES

The last tip showed you how easy it is in Composer to edit or 
look at the structure of your favorite Web page. This is a great
way to get ideas about items you want for your own pages, but 
tread carefully. No one can copyright a basic page design, but 
site creators can copyright text, graphics, and even HTML 
code--and often do. Make sure you get written permission before 
using any of these in your own pages. Watch it even if the site 
says you can use the images or text--some of these sites may not
have permission to give you the rights.


*9.   OFFLINE WORK

Why spend any more time online than you need to? Composer allows
you to save entire Web pages, including text, graphics, and 
everything else, on your computer to view anytime you want. To 
do this, find the page you want, then choose File, Edit Page 
from Communicator's main menu. Composer opens the page in a new 
window. Choose File, Save As from the Composer menu, then select
where you want to save the page and click Save. The whole page 
goes into the directory you specified. When you want to view the
page later, open Composer and choose File, Open Page, which 
takes you to the Open Page dialog box. Click Choose File and 
select the saved file. Click Open and the page opens in the 
Composer window.


*10.   INSERTING AN IMAGE

What's a Web page without pictures or graphics? Communicator's 
Composer makes it very easy for you to add images to your Web 
page in progress. Just copy the image you want to the clipboard 
(from the image editor you use, select the image and choose Edit,
Copy), then open the page in Composer. Place the cursor on the 
page where you want to put the image, then choose Edit, Paste to
insert the image immediately.
