TCP/Connect II uses the NNTP protocol to provide a news reader that allows you to post and read articles on USENET newsgroups.
ツ NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used
to transfer news between servers on the Internet. It is also
used to provide clients access to the server窶冱 database to
retrieve news.
ツ USENET (USEr NETwork) is a public access networked
database on the Internet that provides users with news.
ツ Newsgroups are special interest electronic bulletin boards
accessed on a subscription basis as part of a news database.
TCP/Connect II offers two ways to read news: online and offline.
ツ Using news online means your Macintosh is constantly
connected to the news server while you perform news
functions. Your connection is closed when you close the
News Reader window.
ツ Using news offline means your Macintosh connects to the
news server long enough to download new articles in the
newsgroups you subscribed to. When all the necessary articles
are downloaded, the connection is automatically closed.
7.1 Configuring TCP/Connect II to Use News
Set parameters in the Mail configuration panel before using news.
ツ See Section 6.1, Using the Mail Configuration Panel , for
more information on necessary configuration.
7.2 Connecting to a News Server Online
To connect to a news server:
1. Choose News窶ヲ from the Services menu.
竏 The Open a news session dialog is displayed.
2. Choose a news session from the NNTP Server Name pop-up
menu if you do not want to use your default news server.
ツ To read news online, the Offline News option should not be
selected.
3. Click QuickStart to reduce the time needed to set up the
connection to the news server specified.
ツ QuickStart is a process by which only the newsgroups a user
is subscribed to are checked upon startup. If QuickStart is
not enabled, all newsgroups on the server are checked for
new news and any alterations since the last connection.
ツ If this is your first time connecting to a news server, do not
enable QuickStart. An entire list of newsgroups must be
downloaded upon the first connection to any news server.
4. Click Connect to connect to the server you specified. (Or click
Cancel to close the dialog without connecting to the news
server.)
竏 The News Reader window is displayed with the name of the
session listed in the title bar of the window.
ツ To disconnect from the server at any time, click the close box
in the News Reader window.
7.2.1 Subscribing to Newsgroups
We suggest subscribing to newsgroups while you are connected to a news server. To get an up-to-date list of all newsgroups, subscribe to the newsgroup news.lists.
To subscribe to a newsgroup:
1. Choose Edit Newsgroups窶ヲ from the Services menu.
竏 The Newsgroups dialog is displayed.
2. Select the newsgroup to subscribe to from the Unsubscribed
scrolling list on the right side of the dialog.
ツ Click the triangle to the left of a newsgroup to expand the
newsgroup. Click the triangle again to compress the
newsgroup.
3. Drag the newsgroup and drop it in the Subscribed scrolling list
on the left side of the dialog.
竏 You are subscribed to the newsgroup.
4. To unsubscribe from a newsgroup, select the newsgroup to
unsubscribe from in the Subscribed scrolling list.
5. Drag the newsgroup and drop it in the Unsubscribed scrolling
list.
竏 You are unsubscribed from the newsgroup.
6. Click OK to save your newsgroup subscription. (Or click
Cancel to close the dialog without saving your changes.)
7.2.2 Reading News Online
Once subscribed to a newsgroup, the articles posted to that newsgroup are available for you to read.
To read a news article from within the News Reader window:
1. Select a newsgroup from the Newsgroups pane on the left
side of the window.
竏 Articles are listed in the Article Headers pane in the top
right portion of the window.
2. Select an article from the Article Headers pane.
竏 The text of the selected article is displayed in the Article Text
pane in the bottom right portion of the window.
7.3 Connecting to a News Server Offline
Before using TCP/Connect II to read news offline, you must connect to a news server to enable TCP/Connect II to retrieve updated and essential information, including the newsgroups available on the server.
ツ See Section 7.2, Connecting to a News Server Online , for
information on connecting to a news server online.
ツ Do not enable QuickStart when connecting for the first time.
A list of newsgroups must be downloaded upon the first
connection to any news server.
You must make online connections to subscribe, so that only the most current information is used when you are subscribing.
ツ See Section 7.2.1, Subscribing to Newsgroups , for
information on subscribing and unsubscribing to
newsgroups.
To connect to a news server offline:
1. Choose News窶ヲ from the Services menu.
竏 The Open a news session dialog is displayed with your
default news server listed in the NNTP Server Name field.
2. Click Offline News.
3. Click QuickStart to reduce the time needed to set up the
connection to the specified news server.
4. Click Connect to connect to the server you specified. (Or click
Cancel to close the dialog without connecting to the news
server.)
竏 The Offline News Status window is displayed. When your
Macintosh has downloaded all news, the window
automatically closes.
ツ 窶「 Choose Hide Offline News Status from the Windows
menu to hide the staus window.
窶「 Choose Show Offline News Status from the Windows
menu to display the status window.
7.3.1 Reading Offline News
Reading offline news is identical to reading mail messages. Once you download articles, they are filed into mailboxes, and you use the mail features of TCP/Connect II to read them. Each mailbox is named for the corresponding newsgroup.
A news article and a mail message have different icons that are displayed within a mailbox.
ツ Identifies an unread news article
ツ Identifies a read news article
ツ Identifies an unread mail message
ツ Identifies a read mail message
7.4 Using Online and Offline News
The following sections describe news functions that pertain to both online and offline news articles.
ツ See Chapter 6,Mail , for information on replying to and
forwarding offline news articles.
7.4.1 Creating an Article
Creating an article is as easy as typing in any text editing application.
To create an article:
1. Click the New Article icon in the News Reader window.
竏 The Untitled Article window is displayed.
ツ Since there is no New Article icon on the Mail icon bar while
using offline news, you must choose New窶ヲ from the File
menu.
2. Enter text for your article in the Untitled Article window.
3. Click Post to post your article to the newsgroup.
竏 The Post dialog is displayed.
ツ See Section 7.4.3, Posting an Article , to complete the Post
dialog.
7.4.2 Following Up an Article
To create a followup article for a newsgroup in response to an article:
1. Click Followup on the icon bar.
竏 The Followup window is displayed.
ツ The Followup window reflects the default selections of the
Followup Article dialog. Select Followup Article窶ヲ from the
Messages menu to set new defaults.
2. Enter your response in the Followup window.
3. Click Post to post your article to the newsgroup.
竏 The Post dialog is displayed.
7.4.3 Posting an Article
ツ To post an article is to submit it to a newsgroup. Subscribers
to the newsgroup can read the article you post.
To post an article you have already created:
1. Click Post on the icon bar.
竏 The Post dialog is displayed.
2. In the Subject field, enter the subject of your article.
3. In the Newsgroups scrolling list, enter the newsgroups to post
the article to.
OR
Select a newsgroup from the Newsgroups scrolling list on the
right, and drag it to the Newsgroups scrolling list on the left.
4. Click Newsgroups for responses to your article to be posted to
the original newsgroup. Select other newsgroups for
responses to be posted to from the Newsgroups scrolling list
and drag them to the Followup-To field.
OR
Click Poster for responses to your article to be posted only to
you.
5. In the Distribution field, enter the distribution area for your
article.
OR
Choose the distribution from the Distribution pop-up menu.
6. In the Keywords field, enter keywords for your article.
Separate each word with a space.
7. Enter a short summary of your article in the Summary field.
ツ If you are posting a followup article, the References field is
already filled in with information about the original author
and article.
8. Choose a mailbox to archive the article you are posting from
the Archive pop-up menu.
9. Choose a signature to be appended to your news article from
the Signature pop-up menu.
10. Click Mail Copy To Poster to send the followup article you
are posting as a mail message to the author of the original
message.
11. Click Post to post your message with the parameters you
have specified in the Post dialog. (Or click Cancel to close the
dialog without posting the article.)
竏 The Posting Status window is displayed and shows the
status of your post. When your post is complete, the
Posting Status window automatically closes.
ツ 窶「 Choose Hide Posting Status from the Windows menu to
hide the status window.
窶「 Choose Show Posting Status from the Windows menu to