Netscape Communicator Tips #2



*1.   SET THE TABLE

Tables provide a good way to organize a Web page. To add a table
in Composer, open the page in Composer, then place the cursor on
the page where you want the table to appear. Click the Table 
icon from the Composition toolbar, and the New Table Properties 
dialog box opens. Here you can set table criteria such as number
of rows and columns, alignment, color, and background. Click OK
when you're done, and the new table appears in the page.


*2.   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 the table to select it, then choose Format, Table
Properties (or right-click the table and select Table Properties
from the floating menu). Enter 0 in the Border Line Width box, 
then click OK. Composer displays dotted lines on the page to 
indicate the table's presence, but anyone who views it with a 
browser won't see the borders.


*3.   TABLES WITHIN TABLES

To organize your Web page even more, Composer allows you to 
insert tables within tables. Insert the cursor within the cell 
where you want to place the nested table. Click Table, then 
choose the settings in the New Table Properties dialog box as 
you would for any other table. Click OK, and the new table 
appears in the cell. As with any other table, you can set the 
properties after you create it.


*4.   EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

If you need outside help, Composer allows you to manipulate your
HTML file with an external HTML editor. Of course, Composer 
itself is an HTML editor, but you may still need an external 
editor. This is because Composer acts as a graphically based 
HTML editor, allowing you to manipulate the page by selecting 
text and graphics right on screen. All the coding happens in the
background. However, there may be times when you want or need to
massage the source code directly, and this means you must have 
your external editor specified.

First, open Composer and choose Edit, Preferences, Composer to 
open the Composer Preferences window. Next to the HTML Source 
box (under External Editors), click the Choose button and 
navigate to the location of your HTML editor. Select it and 
click Open. Click OK to close the Preferences menu and save 
your changes.


*5.   PICTURE EDITOR

The last tip told you how to specify an external HTML editor in 
Composer's Preferences. Composer also lets you choose your own 
program for working on graphics files. To specify this, first 
open Composer and choose Edit, Preferences, Composer to open the
Composer Preferences window. Next to the Images box (under 
External Editors), click the Choose button and navigate to the 
location of your image editor. Select it and click Open. Click 
OK to close the Preferences menu and save your changes.

The specified graphics editor now launches whenever you 
right-click the image and choose Edit Image. Note: Some versions
of Composer leave a blank line on the pop-up menu where the Edit
Image command should be. Clicking the blank line still brings up
the image editor you specified, however.


*6.   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 you can choose in Preferences. To set 
these, open Composer and select Edit, Preferences, Composer to 
open 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.


*7.   SAVE RIGHT FROM THE START

Sometimes we overlook the most obvious things. 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 page onto your hard drive right away. Just click 
Composer's Save button on the toolbar or press Ctrl-S, and then 
navigate to the folder where you want to save the page, type a 
file name, and click Save. This way, you don't lose any work if 
things go awry when you're working on the files. Also remember 
to save regularly when you work on the page.


*8.   FIND A GOOD HOST

Netscape Communicator's Composer feature is a terrific tool for 
creating Web pages. Once you have a Web site ready to go, you'll
probably 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 free (or for a small storage fee). If your provider 
doesn't, check out Geocities at http://www.geocities.com or 
Tripod at http://www.tripod.com for information on their 
free hosting services.


*9.   FIND A GOOD HOST

Netscape Communicator's Composer feature is a terrific tool for 
creating Web pages. Once you have a Web site ready to go, you 
probably 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 service for free (or for a small storage fee). If your 
provider doesn't, check out Geocities at

http://www.geocities.com

or Tripod at

http://www.tripod.com

for information on all their free and low-cost hosting services.


*10.   COST CONCERNS

As we said in the last tip, many ISPs offer space for Web pages 
at little or no extra cost. However, some start charging you when
you exceed certain space allotments. 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.
