Netscape Communicator Tips #9



*1. DAWN OF A NEW ERROR

Browsing the Internet invariably results in error messages. In 
most cases, these messages originate from the server that 
contains the Web page you're trying to access. However, 
Communicator can be a helpful ally in decoding these 
server-based error messages. If you get a message you want to 
find out more about, make a note of it (copy the exact wording
for accuracy), then select Help, Product Information, and 
Support from the main Communicator menu. This accesses a page 
containing all kinds of links for more detailed information. 
There's no guarantee you'll find out about the specific 
problem, but it's a great place to start.


*2. HEATED DISCUSSIONS

Looking for an interesting discussion or a good argument? Want 
to know if anyone else shares your arcane interests? Netscape 
Communicator makes it easy to look for discussion groups on a 
particular server. To search for a discussion group, open the 
Message Center, then click the Join Groups icon, which opens 
the Subscribe To Discussion Groups dialog box. Click the Search 
For A Group tab. Enter a couple of keywords that correspond 
with your interests in the Search For field, then select the 
server in the Server field. Click Search Now, and any 
discussion groups that match your keywords appear in the 
Discussion Groups window. If you don't see what you want, try 
entering different keywords. If you do see a group you want to 
get in on, select it and click Subscribe. Click OK to close the 
box, and you're ready to discuss.


*3. SAVE THE LINKS

If you come across a link that looks interesting, but you don't 
want to (or can't) take the time to open it, save the link as a 
file on your hard drive. It's easy.  Place the mouse over the 
link and right-click, then choose Save Link As, which opens the 
Save As dialog box. Select the name and location of the file, 
then the file type. You can save the link as a source (HTML) or 
text file. If you save it in HTML, it keeps the format of the 
original page; if you save it as a text file, it looks like 
plain text, as you're saving the text without the HTML tags. 
Inline images (that is, those that form part of the page) won't 
appear, although you can save individual graphics as separate 
files. When you're done naming, click OK to save the file.


*4. SOURCES SAY

Communicator allows you to get a look at the source HTML code 
of any current Web page. Select View, Page Source from the main 
menu, and the underlying code appears in a Communicator Source 
window. If you want, however, you can bypass this default 
Source window and view the code in the window of another 
application, such as a text editor. This can give you more 
flexibility if you want to do anything with the source code. To 
set up an alternate source window, select Edit, Preferences, 
then click Applications to access the Applications panel. In 
the Descriptions window, select Hypertext Markup Language, then 
click Edit. Where it says Handled By, select Application, then 
click Browse. Choose the application that you want to handle 
the source window, then click OK. Click OK to close the 
Applications panel. Now when you choose View, Page Source, the 
HTML code appears in a window of the application you selected.


*5. WHAT'S UP?

Now that you've found some interesting discussion groups, you 
want to see what everyone's talking about. Click the 
Discussions icon to open the Message Center, then double-click 
an entry on your subscription list to see all the discussions. 
The discussion list should update automatically every time you 
access the list, but you can also select File, Get Messages, 
New to update at any time. It may take a few seconds for 
Netscape Communicator to get the messages from the server, but 
they eventually appear in a Discussions window. The list of 
messages appears in the top window, and when you select one to 
read, the body appears in the bottom window. It's usually a 
good idea to check out a few threads to see if the discussion 
group is one to which you want to contribute.


*6. GET IN ON IT

Once you find a discussion you like, you'll probably want to 
get in on the act. To do this, open the Message Center and 
select the discussion group. The group messages appear in the 
Discussion window. You can post a new message or reply to one 
already on the list. To post a new message, click New Message, 
which opens the Composition window. Notice that the address of 
the group you have currently displayed appears in the address 
field. All you have to do is enter a subject (if you want), 
then a message in the Body window. Click Send, and the message 
posts to the group. To reply, click Reply, then select one of 
the four reply options (Sender, Sender And All Recipients, 
Group, or Sender And Group). The Composition window opens, with 
the selected addressing option in the address field. A 
reference to the original message appears in the Subject field. 
Once again, just enter your message in the Body window, then 
click Send.


*7. WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCATS?

New discussion groups pop up all the time. The list of things 
people feel compelled to discuss over the Internet is seemingly 
unending and always different (if not always interesting).

Netscape Communicator allows you to see the latest a server has 
to offer in the Subscribe To Discussion Groups dialog box. To 
see the new groups, open the Message Center and click Join 
Groups, which opens the aforementioned box. Click the New 
Groups tab. Select the server you want in the Server field, 
then click Get New. All new discussion groups on the server 
appear in the Discussion Groups window. Click Clear New to 
clear the list, and the next time you open the box, all groups 
added to the server since you cleared appear in the window. If 
you see a discussion you want to join, select it and click 
Subscribe. Click OK to close the dialog box and get back to the 
Message Center. The new discussion group begins downloading 
messages right away.


*8. A GOOD SORT

Netscape Communicator offers a variety of ways to look at your 
discussions list. Open the Discussions window for one of your 
subscription groups and you see all the messages in the 
discussion list. It may look like a jumble, but there is a 
method to the madness. In fact, you can control the way 
messages appear in the window. To do this, select View, Sort, 
then select one of the many sorting options. The messages in 
the window immediately regroup according to your wishes.


*9. A GOOD SORT

Netscape Communicator offers a variety of ways to look at your 
discussions list. Open the Discussions window for one of your 
subscription groups and you see all the messages in the 
discussion list. It may look like a jumble, but there is a 
method to the madness. In fact, you can control the way 
messages appear in the window. To do this, select View, Sort, 
then select one of the many sorting options. The messages in 
the window immediately regroup according to your wishes.


*10. GROUP REMOVAL

Your interests are bound to change, so you'll no doubt find it 
necessary to change discussion groups every now and again. No 
problem. To do this, open the Message Center and select the 
discussion group you want to dump. Press Delete, then click OK 
in the prompt box. This immediately purges the group from the 
Message Center. You can also do this from the Subscribe To 
Discussion Groups dialog box. Click Join Groups, which opens 
the box, then find the group name in the discussion groups 
window. If the group has a check, that means it's on your 
subscription list. Uncheck it to remove it. Click OK to close 
the box. Back in the Message Center, the group disappears.
