Composer lets you create a Web document from scratch, edit the page you're browsing,
or open an existing document that you want to modify.
To quickly create a new web page:
- From the File menu, choose New and then choose Blank Page
(Blank on Mac OS). A Composer window opens containing a blank
page. The original browser window remains open behind the Composer window.
To create a web page using a template or with Netscape's Page wizard:
- From the File menu, choose New and then choose Page From
Template. A dialog box appears where you can select a remote or local
file to use as a template, or one of the template files available from
the Netscape Template Web site. Once you've selected a template, choose
Edit Page from the File menu to use the template as the basis
for a new document.
- From the File menu, choose New and then choose Page From
Wizard. A Navigator window opens containing the Page wizard. The wizard
is a special page on the Netscape home site that walks you through the
steps for creating a Web page. When you've completed the steps, you'll
have a page that you can open in Composer and continue building on as your
skills improve.
Note: The Netscape Template Web Site and Page wizard are located
on the Netscape home site. To access them, you must be connected to the
Internet.
See Also
Using the Toolbars and Pop-up
Menus
To edit the page (or frame) you're currently browsing:
- Choose Edit Page or Edit Frame from the File menu.
The current Navigator window becomes a Composer window containing the document
you were viewing.
See Also
Using the Toolbars and Pop-up Menus
To edit an existing page saved locally or in a remote location:
- Choose Open Page (Open Page...in Composer on the MacOS) from
the File menu in Composer.
You see a dialog box where you can enter the filename or URL of the
page you want to edit.
- Select the file you want, click Composer, then click Open.
- A Composer window opens containing the specified file.
See Also
Using the Toolbars and Pop-up Menus
The two Composer toolbars contain buttons corresponding to frequently used
commands. You can access all of these commands from menus, but it's generally
quicker to use the toolbars.
Composition Toolbar
Use these items to create, open, and save Web pages, publish (upload)
files to a remote server; view your Web page in the browser; perform standard
editing tasks; create links and targets; insert images, horizontal lines,
and tables; check spelling.
Formatting Toolbar
Use these items to apply paragraph formatting; specify fonts, font
sizes, and font styles; apply text color, and control text alignment.
You can hide or display these toolbars by clicking the tab to the left
of each toolbar. You can also hide or display these toolbars by choosing
their respective menu items from the View menu.
Pop-up Menus
Pop-up menus (context menus on Mac OS) are a handy way to get to frequently
used commands: you select an object (such as text or a link) and then right-click
the mouse to display the pop-up menu (mouse over on Mac OS). The commands
that are available depend on what's selected when you do this. For example,
pop-up menus for links provide you with commands for copying the link or
modifying its properties.
| Place the pointer on |
Use the pop-up menu to |
| Text |
Change character, paragraph, or list properties; insert a new link;
or paste from the clipboard. |
| A link |
Change link, paragraph, or list properties; open the link in a browse
or edit window; copy or remove the link; or add a bookmark for the link. |
| An image |
Change link, paragraph, or list properties; create a link using the
image; save the image under a new name; make the image the page background;
cut, copy, or paste. |
| A horizontal line |
Change horizontal line, paragraph, or list properties, cut, copy, or
paste. |
| An HTML tag marker |
Change tag, paragraph, or list properties; cut, copy, or paste. |
| A table |
Change paragraph, character, or list properties; change table, row,
or cell properties; insert or delete a table, column, row, or cell; insert
a link; paste. |
Several drag-and-drop operations are available when you use Composer (Windows
and MacOS only). You can:
- Drag a link from a Navigator window and drop it in a Composer window. This
is like inserting a link in the document you're editing.
- Drag an HTML file (or multiple files) from the Windows File Manager (Explorer
in Windows 95) and drop it in a Composer window to create a link to that
file.
- Drag a link from a bookmark, mail, or news window and drop it in the Composer
window.
- Drag an image from a Navigator window and drop it in a Composer window.
This is the easiest way to add images to your Web pages.
- Drag an image file (GIF, JPEG or BMP) from the desktop and drop it in an edit
window to insert the image in the current document. Note: Composer
converts BMP files to the JPEG format.
See Also
Working with Hyperlinks
Working with Images
- From the File menu, choose New and then choose Blank Page.
You see the Composer window with a blank page, and toolbars at the
top.
- Choose Save from the File menu.
You see a dialog box where you can enter a filename.
- Name your file something unique, such as firstpg.htm, give the page
a title, and then click OK. If you are using an operating system
that supports long filenames (such as MacOS), you can give the file an
.HTML extension.
- Choose Save from the File menu and give the page a title
and a filename if you haven't already done so.
- Choose Browse Page to view your newly created page in the Navigator
window. The Composer window remains open behind the new Navigator window.
Editing text in Composer works the same as in most word-processing applications.
Composer's editing features are of vital importance, because writing is
what you'll spend most of your time doing when creating your Web pages.
Summary
Entering Text
Selecting Text
Cut, Copy, and Paste
Finding Text
Checking the Spelling
As you move the cursor over the Composer window, it appears as an
I-beam. When you click the mouse, an insertion bar marks the point where
typed text apppears in the window. You can start typing right away.
Composer supports all normal keyboard characters, such as the ampersand
and percent sign. To insert symbols, such as the copyright symbol, run
the Windows Character Map application (or use the Key Caps program on MacOS).
Change the font to Times Roman, copy the symbol you want, and then paste
it into the Composer window.
Note: To cancel the effect of the most recently performed command,
choose Undo from the Edit menu. (Not all actions can be undone).
To perform the most recent action again, choose Redo from the
Edit menu.
- To select a word, double-click it.
- To select an entire line, click before the line.
- To select a paragraph, double-click before the line that begins the paragraph.
In Windows, once you've selected a word or paragraph, you can drag and
then drop it to a new location anywhere in the Composer window (you see
the insertion bar change to a hand icon).
Tip: Choose Show Paragraph Marks from the View menu
to see where paragraph marks are located in your document--they appear
as black rectangles. A short horizontal line appears to indicate the end
of the page.
You can enter text in your document by pasting from almost any source.
For example, you can select text on a page you are viewing in the Navigator
window and copy it by choosing Copy from the Edit menu. You
can then paste it into the page you are currently editing by choosing Paste
from the Edit menu.
To remove text from your document, select it and then choose Cut
from the Edit menu.
Tip: In Windows, you can right-click your mouse on selected text
to quickly cut, copy, or paste the text.
Note: Unlike text from the Composer window, text that you cut
or copy from the Navigator window does not retain formatting information
(such as fonts and font styles). You can always temporarily edit a page
in order to copy styled text from it, however.
- Choose Find in Page from the Edit menu to display the Find
dialog box.
- Enter the characters you wish to search for in the Find What text
box (Find on Page in the MacOS).
- Click one of the following search options:
- Match Case (Case Sensitive on MacO S): Makes the match case-sensitive
so that Composer looks for text that matches your uppercase and lowercase
characters exactly. If you don't select this option, Composer ignores case.
- Up or Down: Specifies whether to begin searching upward or downward
in the file. On Mac OS, select Find Backwards to search upwards in
the file, or select Wrap Search to search the entire file, regardless
of where you start.
Summary
- Click the Check Spelling button on the Composition toolbar.
Composer checks for spelling errors using its main dictionary, which contains
most common words. If Composer finds a word that is not in the main dictionary,
it displays the word in the Check Spelling dialog box and gives you choices
for correcting the possible misspelling.
Details
You can check the spelling of a selected word, a selection of text, or
an entire document. To check the spelling in the current document:
- Do one of the following:
- On the Composition toolbar, click the Spelling button.
- From the Tools menu, choose Check Spelling.
The Check Spelling dialog box appears.
- For each word that is found, choose whether to correct it, ignore it, or
add it to the dictionary.
- To return to the document, click Stop.
Use the items in the Check Spelling dialog box to correct the possible
misspellings for selected words and to edit or add words to the current
dictionary.
- The Word field displays the possibly misspelled word. You can also
type a correction here, and then click Replace or Replace All
to insert it in your document.
- The Suggestions field displays alternative spellings contained in the current dictionary.
- From the Language drop-down list, select the dictionary to use to verify
spellings. Click Edit Dictionary to edit or add words to the selected
dictionary.
- Click Replace to replace the misspelling displayed in the Word
field with a selected item from the Suggestions list. Or, you
can type a correction in the Word field, and then click Replace
to substitute it for the misspelling.
- Click Replace All to replace all occurrences of the misspelling, either with the selected suggestion or the correction you typed in the Word field.
- Click Check to verify the entry in the Word field against the dictionary.
- Click Ignore to leave the selected word in the document.
- Click Ignore All to leave all occurrences of the selected word in
the document.
- Click Learn to add the entry in the Word field to the dictionary. Note: if there are several entries
in the Word field, each one is added the dictionary.
- Click Edit Dictionary to display a dialog box you can use to add,
replace, or remove words from the dictionary.
- Click Stop to close the dialog box and stop checking spelling.
Use the Edit Dictionary dialog box to add, replace, and remove words
from your personal dictionary.
- In the New Word field, type the word you want to insert into the
dictionary; then click Add.
- In the Words field, select a word and then click Replace to
substitute it with the word you typed in the New Word field.
- Click Remove to delete the selected word in the Words field
from the dictionary.
There are two types of format styles available to you in Composer:
- Paragraph formats: includes heading levels and alignment options, and affects
all paragraphs in the selected block of text.
- Character formats: includes font types, styles, sizes, and colors.
Summary
Paragraph Formats
Character Formats
Summary
- Select the text; then choose a paragraph style, alignment option, or both,
from the Formatting toolbar.
- Or, select the text; then choose Paragraph from the Format menu
and choose a paragraph style.
Paragraph formatting affects all paragraphs in the selection, or the paragraph
in which the insertion point is located.
Details
These paragraph formats are available in Composer:
In addition to the formats mentioned above, you can also apply center,
right-justify and left-justify alignment options. Choose Align from
the Format menu, or select an alignment button from the Formatting
toolbar.
Headings divide sections of text. HTML defines six heading levels, which
are reflected in the six heading choices that Composer provides. You can
apply one of these heading levels by clicking the Paragraph style drop-down
list on the Formatting toolbar.
Examples of heading levels
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
You can apply the Address paragraph style by clicking the Paragraph style
drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar.This format is used for a Web page "signature"
that indicates who wrote the page and who to contact for more information,
as in this example:
Carlos Goldstein@netscape.com
You might want to also include the date, any copyright notices, and other
applicable information. This format usually appears at the bottom of the
Web page and is often preceded by a horizontal line.
You can apply the List Item paragraph style by clicking the Paragraph style
drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar, or by choosing List from
the Format menu.
The List Item style formats text in a list with a special symbol or
bullet at the beginning of each line. Composer allows you to use the following
types of lists:
Unnumbered: Items are preceded by a bullet or other symbol.
Numbered: Items are preceded by numbers or letters.
Directory: Short items display horizontally in columns, as in a DOS directory listing.
Menu: Short items appear without bullets or numbers.
Description: Sometimes called a Definition or Glossary
list. Items are indented. This style is often used for definitions.
Note: Navigator does not display Directory and Menu styles (it displays
these styles as normal text), but other browsers may display them.
Tip: In Windows 95, you can right-click anywhere in a paragraph
and choose Paragraph/List Properties from the pop-up menu to display
the Character Properties dialog box (Character Info on MacOS).
You can apply the Formatted paragraph style by clicking the Paragraph style
drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar, or by choosing Paragraph
from the Format menu.
Most browsers remove any extra white space, tabs, and paragraph returns
present in your text. However, text that contains white space and uses
the Formatted style is displayed with the white space intact. This is useful
for elements such as code examples, tables, and mail messages that you
want displayed in a fixed-width font, as in this example below:ñ
alert("Hello!")
You can apply the Description Title list style by clicking the Paragraph
style drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar.
Use the Description Title format for glossaries, definition lists, or
other situations where left-justified short entries pair up with longer
blocks of indented text. Usually used in combination with the Description
Text format, as in this example:
Glossary Term
Use the Description Text format to indent lines of text, such as
listings of definitions in a glossary or other kinds of list. Use Description
Title to format the glossary term itself.
You can apply the Description Text paragraph style by clicking the Paragraph
style drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar.
Use the Description Text format for glossaries or other kinds of lists
where a single term or line needs to be associated with a block of indented
text, as in this example:
Glossary Term
Use the Description Text format to indent lines of text, such as listings
of definitions in a glossary or other kinds of list. Use Description Title
to format the glossary term itself.
Use the items on the Paragraph Properties dialog box to specify a paragraph
style and text alignment for paragraphs. If you select the List Item paragraph
style, additional list-specific options become available.
- From the Paragraph style drop-down menu, select a paragraph style.
- Click Additional Style to display additional attributes for the
paragraph style you've selected. Select List to display additional
list styles, and then select List or Bullet style
in the next field to specify the type of list you want in your document.
The Block Quote attribute can be used with any paragraph style.
- In the List box, choose the type of list you want, then select Unnumbered,
Numbered, Directory, Menu, or Description List.
- Number/Bullet Number: if you selected Numbered, indicate
the type of sequential indicator to use, such as 1,2,3, or A,B,C. If you
selected Unnumbered, specify the type of bullet to use (square,
circle, or open square).
- Starting number: type the beginning number for the list.
- Alignment: specify whether to align the selected paragraph to the
left, right, or center of the page.
Note: Netscape Navigator does not display the Directory or Menu
styles (it displays these styles as normal text), but other browsers may
display them.
You can apply character formats to one or more characters, to text within
a paragraph, or to text spanning parts of multiple paragraphs.
To change the style of your text in Compooser, select the text and choose Style from the Format menu.
In addition to color, you can choose from these character formats:
- Bold
- Italic
- Fixed width
- Superscript
- Subscript
- Underline
- Non-breaking
To remove character formats from selected text and restore the default character formats:
From the Format menu, choose Remove All Styles.
See Also
Adding Color to Text
Applying color to selected text
is a good way to emphasize
different parts of your Web page.
- Select the text whose color you want to change and click the Font Color
button on the Formatting toolbar.
- In the Color dialog, select a color or define your own custom color.You
can specify default text color in the Colors and Background panel of the
Page Colors and Properties (Page Properties on Mac OS) dialog box.
Use the items in the Character Properties dialog box to specify attributes
such as the font, font size, color, and style for selected characters.
Click OK to make the specified changes and close the dialog box.
Click Apply to preview the changes you've specified and then click
Close to accept the changes and exit the dialog box.
- Click Font Face to select the font you want, or select Variable
Width or Fixed Width so that your page displays the fonts specified
by the viewer's browser. Select Don't change if the selected text
contains more than one font style.
- Click Font Size to select the size for the specified font. The font
sizes displayed here reflect the selection you made for Font Size Mode
in the Composer Preferences panel (Windows only). To change this mode setting,
choose Preferences from the Edit menu and then select the
Composer category.
- Click Use Color and then click the color button to choose the color
of the selected characters. You can use the document's default text color,
or click Other to specify a custom color. Select Don't change
if the selected text contains more than one color.
Note: To set the default colors, choose Page Colors and Properties
from the Format menu (on MacOS, choose Page Properties),
and then select the Colors and Background tab.
- Style: select a style for the selected character(s), such as italic,
bold, underline, or non-breaking. You can also apply a special style called
Blink which causes text to blink on and off.
- Click Other Colors to display a dialog box where you can choose
a custom color.
- Click Remove Style Settings to reset any style checkboxes you have
selected to unselected or blank.
- Click Remove All Settings to reset all settings you have made in
this dialog box to unselected or blank.
To apply a font:
- Select some text or place the insertion point in your page where you want
to begin using the font.
- Choose Font from the Format menu. If you select Variable Width or Fixed Width, default browser fonts are used.
In addition to the fonts installed in your system, you can also apply the
font Navigator uses to display fixed width or variable width text. You
specify the fonts for variable and fixed width text in the Appearances/Font
panel of the Preferences dialog box (choose Preferences from the
Edit menu, and then select the Appearance/Font category).
Composer uses the setting you specified for font size mode in the General
panel of the Composer Preferences dialog box to display the
font size choices available to you (Windows only). Depending on what you're
familiar with, you can choose to display font sizes as relative HTML
sizes, or as absolute point sizes, or both.
You can choose one of three modes of display for font sizes. To choose
a font size mode:
- From the Edit menu, choose Preferences and then select the
Composer category (Windows only).
You see the General panel of Composer Preferences.
- At Font Size Mode, select the type of font sizes you want to display
(Windows only):
- as relative to the point size of the default Navigator font (you can specify
this in the Appearance/Fonts category of the Preferences
dialog box)
- as a relative HTML font scale (between -2 and +4)
- as both relative HTML font scale and absolute point sizes
To apply a font size:
- Select some text or place the insertion point in your page where you want
the font to begin.
- Choose Font Size from the Format menu.
To insert a horizontal line:
- Click the location in the Composer window where you want the line to appear.
- Choose Horizontal Line from the Insert menu. Double-click on the line and choose Horizontal Line Properties from the pop-up menu to display the Horizontal Line Properties dialog box, where you can specify alignment, width, height, and whether to use 3-D shading.
Tip: Double-clicking non text objects in your document lets you
modify their properties.
If you already have an understanding of HTML, you can insert HTML tags that
aren't available from Composer's Format menu. This feature is particularly
useful for inserting HTML form tags, JavaScript, and plug-in code into
your documents. Although the Composer does not display these objects, it
does insert special HTML tag icons so you know where they are.
You can insert and edit them using the HTML Tag dialog box and then
browse your document to see them.
Tip: Double-click the tag icons to display the HTML Tag dialog
box and quickly edit your HTML, JavaScript, or plug-in code.
To insert HTML tags:
- Choose HTML Tag from the Insert menu.
You see a dialog box that lets you type the HTML you want to insert
at the selected place in your document.
- Click Enter at the end of each line to ensure that your HTML is
easily readable.
- Click Verify to have Composer check the HTML you've typed.
Composer checks that you have both opening and closing brackets
< > around your HTML, and quotation marks around any attribute text.
Use the HTML Tag dialog box to enter HTML tags (including JavaScript)
that aren't available from Composer's Format menus. Click Verify to
have Composer check to make sure you have both opening and closing brackets
< > around your HTML, and quotation marks around any attribute text.
Note: You can enter only one tag at a time. For example:
<applet code="HelloWorld.class" width=100 height=30>
<param name=text value="Hello World!">
</applet>
In this example, you would type each line or tag separately. So, you would
need to type the first line in the box and click OK, type the second and
click OK, and so on, for each tag you want to add to your page.
Although Composer does not display these objects, it does insert special
HTML Tag icons so you know where they are. You can still insert and edit
them using the HTML Tag box, and then browse your document to see them.
When you're creating tables and links, you can use the Extra HTML dialog
box to enter additional HTML attributes or JavaScript for the particular
<TABLE> or <HREF> tag you working with.
- Place the insertion point where you want the table to appear in your document.
- Choose Table from the Insert menu.
- In the New Table Properties dialog box (Insert Table dialog box on Mac OS), set
the properties you want.
- Click OK to accept the settings and close the dialog box. Click
Apply to preview the settings you've specified and then click Close
to accept them and exit the dialog box.
Use the items in the New Table Properties dialog box (Insert Table dialog box on Mac OS) to create a table and specify its attributes, such as number
of rows and columns, border line width, cell spacing and padding, table
width and height, color, and captioning. Click OK to make the specified
changes and close the dialog box. Click Apply to preview the changes
you've specified and then click Close to accept the changes and
exit the dialog box.
- In the Number of rows field, enter the number of rows in the table.
You can add rows later by choosing Table from the Insert menu
and then selecting Row.
- In the Number of columns field, enter the number of columns in the
table. You can add columns later by choosing Table from the Insert
menu and then selecting Column.
- Click Left, Center, or Right at Table Alignment
to select a left-justified, centered, or right-justified alignment for
the table within the document.
- Click Include caption to insert a space to use for centered line
of text and then click Above table or Below table.
- In the Border line width field, enter a number for the size, in
pixels, of the border lines around cells (table items). Type 0 to make
the border invisible. Note: Tables with a zero
(0) border width have dotted outlines in the Composer window only;
no borders appear in the Navigator window.
- In the Cell spacing field, enter a number for the space, in pixels,
between cells.
- In the Cell padding field, enter a number for the padding, in pixels,
within each cell. This sets the top, bottom, right, and left margins of
each cell.
- In the Table width field, enter a number for the width of the table
and then select pixels or % of window. You can specify table
width as a percentage of the window width or as a number of pixels. If
you specify the width as a percentage, the table width changes whenever
the window width changes.
- In the Table min. height field, enter a number for the minimum height
of the table and then select pixels or % of window. This
is the smallest height the table can have. If you type more text in the
table, the table is automatically resized to fit the text you enter. You
can specify table height as a percentage of the total window height or
as a number of pixels. If you specify the height as a percentage, the table
height changes whenever the window height changes.
- Click Equal column widths to have Composer automatically set the
width of each cell equally. Deselect this if you want to size each cell
individually.
- Click Use Color to use a color as the table's background, and then
select the color you want. Click Other Colors to define a custom
color.
- Click Use Image to use an image as the table's background, and then
type the location and filename of the image you want to use. Click Choose
Image to browse for the file location.
- Click Leave image at the original location if you don't want to
make a copy of the image file and place it in the same directory as the
current document.
- Click Extra HTML to display a dialog box where you can add any other
HTML or JavaScript to the <TABLE> tag.
Note: If you are inserting a table within a table (called "nesting
tables") you can also set the minimum height and width of the nested table
as percentages of the "parent" cell (the cell of the table in which the
nested table resides). The nested table's height and width change whenever
the parent table's height and width change. Type a number in the box and
then select "% of parent cell."
- To select a table: click in the table and then choose Select Table from
the Edit menu. You can cut or copy the table to paste somewhere
else in your document.
- To delete a table: click in the table and then choose Delete Table
from the Edit menu.
- To add a row, column, or cell: click in the table where you want the addition
to appear. From the Insert menu, choose Table and then choose
Row, Column, or Cell.
- To delete a row, column, or cell: click in the row, column, or cell you
want to delete. From the Edit menu, choose Delete Table and
then choose Row, Column, or Cell.
When you create a table, you set its properties. To change any property, choose Table Properties from the Format
menu (Table Info on the Mac OS).
Note: The settings you choose in the Table Properties dialog
box always override the settings you chose when you first created the table.
To set table properties:
- Click in the table.
- Choose Table Properties from the Format menu (Table Info
on the MacOS) and then select the Table tab.
- In the Table Properties dialog box, set the properties you want.
Use the items in the Table Properties dialog box to specify attributes
such as border line width, cell spacing and padding, width, height, color,
and captioning for the selected table. Click OK to make the specified
changes and close the dialog box. Click Apply to preview the changes
you've specified and then click Close to accept the changes and
exit the dialog box.
The Table Properties dialog box works just like the New Table Properties Dialog box, except that you don't set the number of rows and columns.
To set row properties:
- Place the insertion point in the row you want to modify.
- Choose Table Properties from the Format menu (Table Info
on the MacOS) and then select the Row tab.
The Row Properties dialog box appears, allowing you to specify properties
such as horizontal and vertical text alignment, and text color.
- Set the properties you want.
- Click OK to accept the settings and close the dialog box. Click Apply to
preview the settings you've specified and then click Close to accept them
and exit the dialog box.
Use the items on the Row Properties dialog box to specify attributes such
as horizontal text alignment, vertical text alignment, and text color
for the selected table row. Click OK to make the specified changes
and close the dialog box. Click Apply to preview the changes you've
specified and then click Close to accept the changes and exit the
dialog box.
- At Horizontal Alignment, set the horizontal position of text relative
to the top, bottom, and sides of cells in the selected table row. Select
Default to leave the alignment as it was set when the table was
created.
- At Vertical Alignment, set the vertical position of text
relative to the top, bottom, and sides of cells in the selected table row.
Select Default to leave the alignment as it was set when the table
was created.
- Click Use Color to use a color as the row's background, and then
select the color you want. Click Other Colors to define a custom
color.
- Click Use Image to use an image as the row's background, and then
type the location and filename of the image you want to use. Click Choose
Image to browse for file location.
- Click Leave image at the original location if you don't want to
make a copy of the image file and place it in the same directory as the
current document.
Click Extra HTML to display a dialog box where you can add any
other HTML or JavaScript to the table.
To set cell properties:
- Place the insertion point in the cell you want to modify.
- Choose Table Properties from the Format menu (Table Info
on the MacOS) and then select the Cell tab.
The Cell Properties dialog box appears, allowing you to specify properties
such as spanning additional rows and columns, horizontal and vertical text
alignment, text style and wrapping, cell width and height, and cell color.
- Set the properties you want.
- Click OK to accept the settings and close the dialog box. Click
Apply to preview the settings you've specified and then click Close
to accept them and exit the dialog box.
Note: If you are modifying a table within a table (called a "nested
table"), you can also set the minimum height and width in the
nested table as a percentage of the parent cell (the cell of the table
in which the nested table resides). The height and width in
the nested table change whenever the parent cell's height and width change.
Type a number in the box and then select "% of parent cell."
Use the items on the Cell Properties dialog box to specify attributes such
as horizontal and vertical text alignment, text style and wrapping, cell
width and height, and cell color. Click OK to make the specified
changes and close the dialog box. Click Apply to preview the changes
you've specified and then click Close to accept the changes and
exit the dialog box.
- At Horizontal Alignment, set the horizontal position of text relative
to the top, bottom, and sides of cells in the selected table cell. Select
Default to leave the alignment as it was set when the table was
created.
- At Vertical Alignment, set the vertical position of text
relative to the top, bottom, and sides of cells in the selected table cell.
Select Default to leave the alignment as it was set when the table
was created.
- In the Cell spans field, specify whether you want the selected cell
to span more than one column or row. Type a number in the rows box to span
additional rows. Type a number in the columns box to span additional columns.
- Click Header style to center the text in the selected cell and sets
its style to bold.
- Click Nonbreaking to keep the text from wrapping to the next line.
Text will wordwrap to the next line ony if you insert a paragraph break.
- Click Cell width to specify the width of the selected cell. You
can specify cell width as a percent of the table width or as a number of
pixels. If you specify the width as a percent of the table, the cell width
changes whenever the table width changes. Type number in the box and select
pixels or % of table.
- Click Cell min. height to set the minimum height of the selected
cell. This is the smallest height the cell can have. If you type more text
in the cell, the cell automatically resizes to fit the text you enter.
You can specify cell height as a percent of the total table height or as
a number of pixels. If you specify the height as a percent of the table,
the cell height changes whenever the table height changes. Type a number
in the box and select pixels or % of table.
- Click Use Color to use a color as the cell's background, and then
click the color button to select the color you want. Click Other to
define a custom color.
- Click Use Image to use an image as the cell's background, and then
type the location and filename of the image you want to use. Click Choose
Image to browse for the file location.
- Click Leave image at the original location if you don't want to
make a copy of the image file and place it in the same directory as the
current document.
- Click Extra HTML to display a dialog box where you can add any other
HTML or JavaScript to the table.
WHen you insert an image in your Web page, you either copy the image file to the
same directory as that of the parent document--the Web page you're editing--
or leave the image file where it is, depending on the settings you've
specified in Composer Preferences. Once you've inserted an image, you can
resize it by selecting it and then dragging the handles that appear at
each corner.
Note: On the Mac OS, you must have QuickTime installed to
copy a PICT file from the Mac OS clipboard. Composer prompts you to name the image
file before you paste it, and converts it to JPEG format.
Tip: To quickly insert an image, cut and paste it from the clipboard,
or drag and drop it to the location you want on your page.
To insert an image:
- Place the insertion point where you want the image to appear in your document.
- Choose Image from the Insert menu. The Image Properties dialog box appears, allowing
you to specify the source location of the image, its alignment relative
to text, and the amount of space you want around it.
- Type the name and path of the image file you want to insert in your document.
If you're not sure of the filename or file location, click Browse to
select an image file from the directory list.
Important: If you move an image file from the specified location,
it will no longer appear on your Web page.
- (Optional) Type the name of a low-resolution version of the image previously specified.
This image loads first while the higher resolution image is loading on
top. If you're not sure of the filename or file location, click Browse
to select an image file from the directory list.
- (Optional) Type the text that you want to have appear in place of the specified image
file. You should always specify alternative text for readers who use text-only
Web browsers, such as Lynx, or who have graphics turned off. If you don't
include this alternative, your readers might see placeholder images instead
of informative text.
Use the items on the Image Properties dialog box to insert a new image
or modify an existing image's properties, such as text wrapping, height
and width, and spacing.
- In the Image location field, type the name or location of the image
file you want to insert in your document, or whose properties you want
to modify. The editor supports GIF and JPG image file formats. If you're
not sure of the filename or file location, click Choose File to
select an image file from the directory list.
- Click Leave image at original location if you do not want to have
a copy of the image file placed in the same directory as the current document.
- Click Alt. Text/LowRes to display a dialog box where you can specify
whether to display text or a low-resolution image in place of the original
image.
- Click an Alignment button to indicate the position of the selected
image relative to text, top, center, or bottom. You can also specify whether
to right-align or left-align the image on the page. To see alignment
changes you've made, view your page in the browser.
- In the Dimensions field, set the height and width of the new or
currently selected image as measured in pixels.
- Click Original Size to undo any changes you've specified.
- Click Lock width/height to maintain the size settings of the image
if you decide to move it within your document.
- In the Space around field, enter the amount of white space (space
where no text is allowed) on the right and left, top, and bottom of the
image. You can also put a black border around the image and
specify its width in pixels.
- Click Remove Image Map to remove all link regions from the image.
An image map is a special type of image that contains links to different
locations within the same image.
- Click Edit Image to edit the image using the external editor you
specified in the General panel of the Composer Preferences dialog box.
If you haven't specified an image editor, you will be prompted to do so.
Use the items on the Alternate Image Properties dialog box to add alternative
text for an image and specify a low-resolution image to use in its place.
- In the Alternate text field, enter the text string you want to display
in place of the image, for example, a caption or brief description of the
image.
- In the Low resolution image field, enter the name of the lower resolution
image you want to display while the main image is loading. Click Choose
File to browse for the file location.
- Click Edit Image to edit the image file using the external image
editor you specified in the General panel of the Composer Preferences
dialog box.
Use the Image Conversion dialog box when you need to import a bitmap
graphics file into your page. Composer converts the file to the
JPEG format, and allows you to select a high, medium, or low quality
pixel display.
You use the Page Colors and Properties dialog box (Page Properties on Mac OS)
to set general information and properties for your documents, such as authoring
information, keywords, hyperlink colors, background images and colors,
and advanced settings such as meta tags.
Summary
About the
General Page Colors and Properties Dialog Box
About
the Colors and Background Dialog Box
About
the Meta Tags Dialog Box
The General Page Colors and Properties Dialog Box displays information about the current document and lets you provide additional
information helpful to Web users searching for specific topics. Click OK
to make the specified changes and close the dialog box. Click Apply
to preview the changes you've specified and then click Close to
accept the changes and exit the dialog box. Here are the elements of the dialog box:
Location.The location of the current document on your local disk.
Title.Specify text you want to appear in the window title when the document is
browsed. This is how most Web search tools locate specific Web pages.
If you want readers to locate your page easily, select a useful
title that conveys what your page is all about.
Author.Specify name of the person who created the current document. This information
can be helpful to readers who've found your document by using a Web search
tool and must now select from a list.
Description.Give brief description of the contents of your document. Again, this information
can be helpful to readers searching for a specific topic.
Other Attributes.Type keywords that you want searching services to use
to help users locate your document on the Web. Type the category name (obtained
from a catalog server) you think best applies to your document. Classification
names are another method used by searching services to locate documents.
The Colors and Backgrounds Dialog Box lets you specify how to use the browser's colors for linked text and document
background or specify custom colors for the current document. Click OK
to make the specified changes and close the dialog box. Click Apply to
preview the changes you've specified and then click Close to accept the
changes and exit the dialog box. Here are the elements of the dialog box:
Use custom.Allows you to set your own colors for text, linked text, and document
background (default) and save it in the document.
Use Browser's.Lets you use the colors set for browser display in the General preferences
panel for the current document. Since users can set their own color choices
for default browser display, their settings will always determine what
colors are used.
Color schemes.Lets you select a scheme from the list.
Custom colors.Lets you specify the color for Normal, Link, Active Link, and Followed
Link text. Click the button to display the color palette and select the
color you want. Sample text in the color you've specified appears to the
right.
Background.Click this to display the Color dialog box and choose a color for the background of the current document.
Use image.Check this box to use an image as the background and type the name of an image file. If you're not sure of the filename or file location, click Browse
to select an image file from the directory list.
Note: Background images are tiled and override background
color selections.
The Meta Tags Dialog Box displays optional information that your online service provider
might want you to include in your document. This information doesn't actually
appear in the document when edited or browsed--only in the source HTML.
Contact your provider for more information.
You use the Composer Preferences General and Publishing panels to set preferences
for all the pages you create, such as choices for external HTML and image
editors, font size display modes, and publishing locations and options.
From the Edit menu, choose Preferences and then select
the Composer category.
Summary
Composer
Preferences--General
Composer
Preferences--Publishing
Use the General panel of Composer Preferences to specify the author name
to associate with your documents, and the applications to open when you
want to edit the HTML source for your page or modify the image files. You
can also choose whether or not to have Composer automatically save your
document, and specify how font sizes are displayed while you work (Windows
only).
Author name.Enter the name used by Composer to indicate who created your documents.
This information can be helpful to readers who find your document by using
a Web search tool and must select from a list.
External Editors.Enter the path and filename of the text and image editors of your choice.
For example, if you want to use Notepad to edit the actual HTML source,
type C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE. Then when you choose HTML Source from
the Edit menu, Notepad starts with the current document displayed.
If you're not sure of the filename, click Choose to find the application.
Note: When you edit HTML source using an external editor, first
save your changes in the editor and then choose Reload from the
View menu to see your changes in Composer.
Automatically save page every___ minutes.Click this box to have Composer automatically save your document, and
then specify how often (in minutes).
Template for new page.(Mac OS only) Enter the template's location or click Choose Local
File to browse for the name of the file you want to use as a template
for this page.
Font Size Mode.
(Windows only) Select the way you want Composer to display font sizes:
- As relative to the point size of the default Navigator font (you can specify
this in the Appearance/Fonts category of the Preferences dialog box)
- As a relative HTML font scale (between -2 and +4)
- As both relative HTML font scale and absolute point sizes
See Also
Choosing Font Sizes
Use the items in the Publish panel of Composer Preferences
to specify settings for saving remote documents, such as whether to maintain
links or copy image files to the remote locations. You can also indicate
the default FTP or HTTP publishing locations for your documents.
Maintain links.
Select this to make sure that links are kept relative to the current document's
location. When saving a document from a remote server to your local disk,
or publishing to a remote server, this option insures that any links in
that document to other files in the same directory are relative.
These links will work locally if you've also saved the remote files they
pointed to. Links to files outside the document's directory are absolute.
If you do not select this option, link path names are not modified and
links local to the saved document may no longer work.
Keep images withpage.
Select this to save a copy of each image file in the same location as the
document. Because images are not located in the document itself, deselecting
this option means that only the HTML document is saved, not the image files.
Netscape recommends that you leave this option selected, so that your document's
images are always kept in the same directory as that document.
Enter a FTP or HTTP site address to publish to. Specify an address.
- FTP: Enter the default location to which you want to upload your
Web pages using the File Transfer Protocol. You may need to contact your
internet service provider to find out what to type here. For example, if
your service provider is America Online, the URL in this box might look
something like this: ftp://ftp.aol.com/docs/.
- HTTP: Enter the default location to which you want to upload your
Web pages using the Web server protocol. If you are not running your own
Web server, you may need to contact your internet service provider to find
out what to type here. For example, the URL in this box might look something
like this: http://websurf.com/docs/.
If publishing to a FTP site, enter the HTTP address to browse to.
Enter the default location of your published Web pages. For example, if
you publish your Web pages to: http://aol.com/docs/, you should
type this URL in the box.
See Also
Relative and Absolute Links
When you link to a local document, you're linking to a document on your
computer; documents you reference don't have to be in the same directory
(it's a good idea though). Linking to a remote document means you're linking
to somewhere on the Internet rather than on your local disk.
You can create links in your documents by dragging them from other windows
and then dropping them into the edit window (Mac OS and Windows only). For
example, you can drag a link from a browse, bookmark, mail, or news window
and drop it on a document in the Composer window. You can also create links
using the Link Properties dialog box.
- Select the text or image you want to create the link for.
- Choose Link from the Insert menu.
Link Source displays the selected text you use to create
a link.
- Type the local filename or remote URL to link to the selected text. Click
Browse File to select a local file.
- Select a named target (also called an anchor) either in the current document
or the selected file (depending on how you've set the "Show targets in" option).
Select a target to which you want to link the selected text.
The "Show targets in" option lets you specify whether to display the named targets in the current document or those in the file specified
in the Link to page or file box.
- Click Apply to make the changes you've specified and leave the dialog box
open. Click OK to make the specified changes and close the dialog box.
See Also
Linking Images
Linking to Targets
Use the items on the Link Properties dialog box to insert a new link or
modify an existing link's properties. Click OK to make the specified
changes and close the dialog box. Click Apply to preview the changes
you've specified and then click Close to accept the changes and
exit the dialog box.
- In the "Link source" field, enter the text you want create a link
to. If you've already selected an image or text in your page to link to,
you see it here.
- In the "Link to page location or local file" field, enter the local
filename or remote URL to which you want the selected text to link. Type
a URL or click Browse File to select a file.
- In the "Select a named target" field, you see the the named targets
present in the current document or selected file (depending on how you've
set the "Show targets in" option). Select a target to which you want
to link the selected text.
- Click Selected file or Current file at "Show targets in"
to specify either the named targets in the current local document or those
in the local file specified in the Link to page or file box.
- Click Remove Link to unlink the selected linked text. If the current
selection contains more than one link, an alert box appears asking you
if you want to remove all links.
- Click Extra HTML to display a dialog box where you can add any other
HTML or JavaScript to the link tag.
Just as with text, you can configure images to behave as links in your
documents. When you click a linked image, the Navigator window displays
the page that the image is linked to.
- Insert an image on your page.
- Select the image and then click the Link button on the Composition
toolbar.
You see the Link properties dialog box.
- Specify a link location.
Choose Browse Page from the File menu and then click
on the image to go to the linked page.
Tip: Dragging a linked image from the Navigator window into a Composer
window copies both the image and the link.
See Also
Inserting an Image
If you want to link to a specific place within a document rather than just
linking to the document itself, you create a target (also called a named
target or anchor in HTML). You can do this by inserting a target in one
document, and then creating a link in the same document, or another document
that points to that target. When you click on the link in the browser,
the browser opens the document containing the target and scrolls to the
target location.
- Place the cursor at the beginning of a line for which you want to create
a target, or select some text at the beginning of a line.
- Choose Target from the Insert menu.
- Type a name for the target in the edit box; it can be up to 30 characters
long. This name will appear in the target list of the Link Properties dialog.
If you selected some text in step one, this box will already contain a
default target name.
- Click OK. A special Target icon appears in your document (only visible
in the Composer window) to mark the location of the link.
- Insert a link by choosing Link
from the Insert menu.
- Choose Browse Page from the File menu and then click the
link you just created to go to the location marked by the selected target.
Click File and select Publish. You can use the items in the Publish Files dialog box to select which files or
directories you want to upload (publish) to a remote server, specify a
title and filename, and set your user name and password. You can also specify
the remote server site.
- If you have already created the document, the Page Title field is automatically filled in. If not, enter the text that appears in the window
title when the document is browsed. This is how most Web search tools locate
specific Web pages, and it also is used as the page's bookmark title. So,
if you want readers to be able to locate your page easily, select a useful
title that conveys what your page is all about.
- If you have already created and saved the document, the HTML Filename field is automatically filled in. If not, enter a filename for the current document
you want to upload to a remote server. Be sure to add an .htm or .html
extension.
- In the "HTTP or FTP Location to publish to" field, enter the location
of the remote site you want to publish your Web pages to. You may need
to contact your internet service provider to find out what to type here.
For example, if your service provider is America Online, the URL in this
box might look something like: ftp://ftp.aol.com/docs/. Or, if a
Web server protocol is used, you might see something like this: http://commercialweb.com/docs/. Once
you've typed some locations here, in future you can simply select from
the list of remote locations you've established. Click Use Default Location
to use the location you've specified in the Publish panel of the Composer
Preferences dialog box.
- In the User name field, enter the name you type when accessing the
network your Web pages will be located on.
- In the Password field, enter the password for your user name.
- Click Save Password to save your password information so that you
need to type it in the box only once instead of each time you publish your
Web pages.
- Click "Files associated with this page" to display all of the files
referenced by the current document. Then select the files you want to publish
along with the document. Click Select None or Select All
to quickly select and deselect files in the list.
- Click "All files in page's folder" to display all of the files in
the current document's directory. Then select the files you want to publish
along with the document. Click Select None or Select All
to quickly select and deselect files in the list.
Warning: If a file on the remote server you're publishing to has the
same filename as one you're uploading, the newly uploaded file will replace the existing one. You will not be asked to confirm the action.
You can add new functionality to Composer by taking advantage of the plug-in
tools available from Netscape that are offered on Netscape's Download site. To download the sample plug-ins:
- Select the desired plugin ZIP file.
- Save the plugin's ZIP file to the appropriate location:
- On the Mac OS, this is the folder named Plug-ins located in the same folder
as the Navigator application.
- On Unix, this is "/usr/local/netscape/plugins," or whatever the environment
variable NPX_PLUGIN_PATH specifies.
- On Windows, this is the directory named Plugins located in the same directory
as the Navigator.exe file.
- Restart Communicator.
Your new plug-in will appear in the Tools menu of the Composer window.
July 1, 1998
Copyright © 1994-1998 Netscape Communications Corporation.