Overview

These are the main parts of Netscape Communicator; for more detailed information click any of these:

Browsing the Web

Sending and receiving email

Using discussion groups (newsgroups)

Composing and editing Web pages

Conferencing and group work tools

Automatic information from the Web

These components are available only with Communicator Professional Edition:

Centralized management of Communicator

Accessing an IBM 3270 host

Scheduling meetings and events


About Navigator

Netscape Navigator enables you to access the wealth of information and network applications on corporate intranets and the Internet. You can easily access information from a variety of sources, from the latest Web sites to legacy corporate databases.

Using Navigator


About Messenger

Netscape Messenger enables you to create rich HTML email with embedded images. It also allows you to encrypt and decrypt your messages for privacy, use filters to automatically organize your incoming messages into folders, and quickly look up email addresses.

Using Messenger


About Collabra

Netscape Collabra provides discussion forums that make it easy to share information and create a "knowledge base" that people can access at any time. You can reduce the need for face-to-face meetings and save time by exchanging ideas and information through discussion groups. You can also cut down on mass email by using Netscape Collabra to disseminate company information and announcements.

Using Collabra


About Composer

The document creation capabilities in Netscape provide both experienced and beginning content creators with a simple yet powerful solution for editing and publishing online documents. What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) editing allows first-time users to create dynamic online documents easily and publish them to local file systems and remote servers with ease.

Using Composer


About Conference

Netscape Conference supports audio/video conferencing and a variety of other collaboration tools, including whiteboard, chat, and file transfer.

Using Conference


About Netcaster

Netscape Netcaster enables you to subscribe to and schedule automatic delivery of the information you want, from the best channels on the Web, instead of manually downloading and searching for information. Netcaster also provides offline browsing, which can save you connection charges by allowing you to choose any Web site to automatically download and make that information accessible while you are offline (disconnected from the Internet).

Using Netcaster


About Calendar

(Communicator Professional Edition Only)

Netscape Calendar client software, combined with Netscape Calendar Server, provides a time-saving enterprise group-scheduling solution. Netscape Calendar allows users to easily manage time, events, and to-do lists, and it supports free-time search across local and remote servers. Individuals may also schedule meetings with other users across the Internet and the corporate intranet using the standards-based vCalendar meeting format, which provides seamless integration with other calendaring applications.

Features of Calendar include:

To learn more about Calendar and how to use the software, see the online help available from the Help menu when you open Calendar.


About IBM Host On-Demand

(Communicator Professional Edition Only)

IBM Host On-Demand is a Java application that provides fast and easy access to IBM host information from an intranet or the Internet. It provides a solution for intranet and Web users who need access to their central computer applications or databases. IBM Host On-Demand incorporates the industry-standard 3270 (TN3270) Telnet protocols, and its easy-to-use interface is fully integrated with the Communicator environment. Connecting is simple--you just need to type the name of the host server and then you click a button to connect. You can view the session directly in your Communicator window or you can choose to open a separate window.

Features of Host On-Demand include:

To learn more about how to use IBM Host On-Demand, see the help system provided within the application.


About AutoAdmin

(Communicator Professional Edition Only)

The Netscape AutoAdmin application provides remote configuration and management of Netscape Communicator components. Used in conjuction with the Netscape Mission Control product, the AutoConfig feature permits the centralized configuration of group or individual Netscape Communicator preference options, such as email, network, and security feature settings. Netscape AutoAdmin also provides centralized management of the download, installation, and upgrade of software components, including plug-ins. The AutoUpdate feature enables administrators to schedule clients to check automatically for new preference settings and software, at an interval that the administrator can set. AutoAdmin also enables adminstrators to "lock" desktops so that only preferences and Communicator customizations that are set by the administrator can be used, which greatly reduces support costs and effort.

Features of AutoAdmin include:

AutoAdmin is designed to be used by administrators, so there are no user-interface items that users need to set to enable AutoAdmin. For further details about Netscape Mission Control and how to use that product in conjuction with AutoAdmin, see your Netscape account representative or information at the Netscape site (http://home.netscape.com).


About Security

About Security


Certificates and Signatures

About Security Terms and Concepts


Encrypting and Decrypting

About Security Terms and Concepts


Passwords and Keys

About Passwords

About Security Terms and Concepts


Security Settings

About Messenger Settings

About Navigator Settings

About Java Applet Settings


Troubleshooting

Cannot Decrypt

Tampered Messages


Signing Java Applets

About Security Terms and Concepts

About Java Applet Settings


About User Profiles

An overview of user profiles and sharing Communicator with others

Note that user profiles apply to Macintosh and Windows only. For Unix, create another user account instead of creating Communicator profiles.

When you start Communicator for the first time, it prompts you to create a user profile. User profiles let more than one person use Communicator to access the Internet in different ways. For example, if you share your copy with other users, each of you can create your own user profiles to keep your settings, preferences, bookmarks, and mail messages separate. Even if you are the only person using Communicator, you must create at least one profile for yourself.

If you want to, you can create several profiles just for yourself, for example, if you want to connect to a different service provider to try out their service without cancelling the account you have with your current service provider.


Creating User Profiles

Note that user profiles apply to Macintosh and Windows only. For Unix, create another user account instead of creating Communicator profiles.

To create additional user profiles

  1. (Windows) If Communicator is running, from the File menu choose Exit.

    (Macintosh) If Communicator is running, from the File menu choose Quit.

  2. (Windows 95 and Windows NT) From the Start menu, choose Programs, then Netscape Communicator, then choose Utilities, then User Profile Manager.

    (Windows 3.1) Open the Netscape Communicator program group, and double-click User Profile Manager.

    (Macintosh) Open the Netscape Communicator folder, and double-click User Profile Manager.

  3. Click New.
  4. Follow the Profile Setup instructions that appear.

About Error Messages

For the latest information on error messages; causes and solutions, choose Product Information and Support from the Help Menu. Click the Technical Support link and use the Knowledge Base search to look up information about error messages and troubleshooting.


Using the Index

Click Index, then type the word that most closely resembles the term you're searching for, and related topics appear. Click the topic that most closely matches the information you seek.


Other Sources of Help

For additional information regarding Communicator, you can choose other items on the Help menu, such as Release Notes, which offers the latest news about known problems and work-arounds, and Product Information and Support, which links to a page that offers a library of Communicator product information, such as Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs), the manual Introduction to Communicator, and information on who to contact for further assistance

Last revised 2 June 97