Netscape Navigator 3.X Tips #8



*1. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS            
  
You've surely noticed when visiting Web pages that even before 
an image loads you often see a descriptive text notation cluing 
you in to what will appear in that space. While this is most 
useful to people who use text-based browsers or have images 
turned off for faster surfing, it's also nice for those of us 
who just plain get bored waiting for pictures to render. 

You create this effect with ALT tags, and you can easily add 
them to your own pages with the Navigator Gold HTML editor. 
Whenever you choose Insert, Image to add an image to your page, 
the Properties box includes an area for optional Alternative 
Representations. Type your descriptive text in the Text box. 
Note that you can also designate a second image to appear in 
place of the first, if necessary. This is useful when your 
primary image is in an unusual format that not every browser 
will recognize.


*2. CHAIN CHAIN CHAIN            
  
We've discussed how to create and save Web pages using Netscape 
Navigator Gold's HTML editor. We've talked about adding and 
modifying text, images, and backgrounds. What else is there? 
Well, any self-respecting Web page needs a link or three. 
Here's how to create hyperlinks in your Web page. 

Highlight the word or phrase you wish to link, or if it's an 
image link you're after, select the image by clicking it once. 
On the toolbar, click the Make Link button, which looks like a 
single link from a chain. (Alternately, you can choose Insert, 
Link from the menu or just press Ctrl-L.) In the Properties 
box, on the Link tab, type the URL for the link. Or if you want 
to link to another Web page you've created, you can click the 
Browse button to navigate to the page on your hard drive and 
select it. As long as you later publish this page to your Web 
site, the link should work (though in some cases you may have 
to futz around with it later). One way to minimize headaches is 
to mirror on your hard disk the directory structure you intend 
to use in your Web directory.


*3. ANCHORS AWEIGH            
  
Ever click a Web page link, only to travel just a short 
distance down the same page? That trick is possible courtesy of 
targets, aka anchors, and you can achieve the same result in 
your own Web pages using Navigator Gold's HTML editor.  

While most links direct you to the top of a page, an anchor 
takes you to a particular point on a page. So when you're 
incorporating anchors, you're not actually limited to the same 
Web page; you can link to spots on different pages, as long as 
they include anchors. Here's how to add an anchor to a Web page. 

Put your cursor at the beginning of the line to which you want 
to link. Choose Insert, Target (or click the Target button on 
the Character Properties toolbar; it looks like an arrow 
pointing at a bull's eye). In the Target Properties box, 
provide a name for your target. It can be up to 30 characters 
long. Click OK. You'll see a target icon appear in your chosen 
location (don't worry; it's only visible while you're editing 
a page). 

When you create a link, in the Properties box you'll see the 
target name you chose listed in the box under "Select a named 
target in current document." Click the name once to select it, 
and you've forged your link. Notice that the Properties box 
also allows you to locate anchors in other documents you've 
created. To do so, click the Browse button to track down the 
other file. Then on the right side of the Properties box under 
Show Targets In, click the Selected File radio button to see a 
list of targets on that page. Select the one you want and 
click OK.


*4. YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO RICH OR TOO THIN            
  
You've got a wide, shallow layer of text on your Web page, but 
what you really want is an elegant, skinny column. How do you 
get from here to there? With the Navigator Gold HMTL editor's 
Block Quote function. Select the text you wish to slenderize 
and choose Properties, Text. Click the Paragraph tab. Under 
Additional Style, select Block Quote. Click OK to close the 
Properties box. Now you've indented your block a bit. To indent 
the selected block more (or to expand it again, if you go too 
far), use the Increase Indent and Decrease Indent buttons on 
the toolbar. They're the ones that show lines for text with 
arrows on either side for pushing it around. 


*5. TURNING THE TABLES            
  
People love to make tables. With Navigator Gold's HTML editor, 
you can make a veritable checkerboard out of your Web page, 
contrasting colors and all. Let's make a simple table 
for practice. 

Click once where you want your table to appear. Choose Insert, 
Table, Table (or click the Insert Table button on the toolbar; 
it looks like a window with four panes). The New Table 
Properties box appears, brimming with possibilities. 

Let's make a table with three columns and four rows (columns go 
up and down; rows are horizontal). You see how the default 
numbers are for two rows and two columns? Go ahead and change 
those numbers to 4 and 3. Take your time, we'll wait. Assign 
any other attributes you want and change the table width and 
height to 50 percent of the window (100 percent seems 
excessive, don't you think?). Under table alignment, click the 
Center radio button. Now click once inside the first box and 
type something in the cell. Continue adding data to the cells 
this way.  

Want to change the background color for each cell? Easy. 
Right-click the cell, choose Table Properties, and click the 
Cell tab. Select the Cell Color check box and click the Choose 
Color button. Select one of the colored squares (or 
custom-create a new one) and click OK. Use the Table Properties 
box to modify your table further, however you like. For 
example, you can change the way text aligns inside a cell: 
left, right, or centered. 

It takes practice to get tables right. If you get flustered and 
want to delete a table and start over, just right-click it and 
choose Delete, Table.


*6. LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT            
  
It can be so frustrating when you know how to do all these 
fancy tricks, but you still can't figure out how to do 
something simple--like, for example, add an extra space or two 
to your Web page. In Navigator Gold's HTML editor, if you try 
pressing the spacebar twice in a row, it just ignores you, 
right? Well, don't fret about it. Try Shift-Space next time and 
you'll go far.


*7. GOING FOR THE NATURAL LOOK            
  
Sometimes you just want to start over from scratch. If you're 
creating a Web page with Netscape Navigator Gold's HTML editor 
and you've got a block of text you've colorized and modified 
and linked until it looks ridiculous, don't bother trying to 
Undo the damage. Just highlight the block and click the Clear 
All Styles button on the toolbar (it's the letter "A" 
surrounded by a corona of slash marks). Your selection reverts 
to its birthday suit, losing all modifications, including links. 

Note: If you'd like to remove a link from text or an image, but 
not change any other modifications, select the linked material 
and click the Make Link button on the toolbar. On the Link tab 
in the Properties box, click the Remove Link button and click OK.


*8. LOST HORIZON            
  
Want to straighten out a Web page? Create a visual partition 
with a horizontal line or two. Click your cursor once where you 
want a line, then choose Insert, Horizontal Line. The line that 
appears will stretch all the way across the page (unless you 
got it tangled up in your block quotes somehow), but you can 
change that. To modify the attributes of your line, right-click 
on the line and choose Horizontal Line Properties. Set the 
width to 40, 60, or 80 percent for a nice effect. Experiment 
with the various options to get the line just right.


*9. WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS            
  
For more information about building Web pages using Netscape 
Navigator Gold, including advanced topics such as incorporating 
Java elements, consult the Navigator Gold Authoring Guide, 
available on the Netscape site at 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-n30601%2C00.html


*10. THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM            
  
We've told you Navigator Gold's HTML editor is a WYSIWYG 
editor. That's mostly true, but once in a while you don't see 
elements in the editor as they will appea to Web visitors. At 
times like these, you need to take a peek at your page through 
the browser. To do so, choose File, Browse Document. You'll be 
prompted to save your work if you haven't done so lately. 
(You'll have to save the page before you can view it through 
the browser, so go ahead and click Yes.) Now you'll get a 
surfer's eye view. 

Remember, too, that different browsers render Web pages 
differently. If you REALLY want to know how your page looks to 
others, you should take a look at it through several different 
browsers. The most common browsers are Netscape's Navigator 3.x 
and 4.x (aka Communicator), Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3 and 
4, and America Online's browser.
