Netscape Tips

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To do this:

• Right-click on the page and select Internet Shortcut/Create Shortcut
• When the Create Internet Shortcut dialog box appears, enter a description then click "OK." 
• An icon representing that Web page appears on your desktop. 
• You can also do this by dragging the page link directly onto your desktop, or dragging a page icon from your Bookmark list.

TIP #2: DECOMPRESSING FILES

When you go out on the Internet and get files via FTP, you'll probably notice that many files are compressed. We don't need to get into the technical details of file compression, but let's just say it involves some very sophisticated ways to make files as small as possible. What you do need to know, however, is that most compressed files must be decompressed before they're usable. The compressed file is really only good for storage and transferring. The only exceptions are compressed sound and graphic files, which you can hear or see without running a decompression program. Netscape Navigator, in fact, automatically decompresses them. So, in order to decompress files that need it, you must get a compression/decompression program. One of the best is WinZip 6, which you can get by accessing http://www.winzip.com

Follow the instructions on the WinZip home page to download a copy. (Note: You can download and try WinZip free of charge. If you decide to keep and use the program, it costs $29. Volume discounts are available.)

TIP #3: SHARE THAT IMAGE WITH OTHERS

See a cool image and want others to get it?  Sure, you may download it (if it's allowed) then send it to others. 

But an easier and faster way is to:

• Right-click the image, select Copy Image Location
• Paste that URL into an e-mail message by pressing Ctrl+V or EDIT/Paste 

Let them get their own images!

TIP #4: QUICK BOOKMARK ACCESS

When you want to quickly access your bookmarks for editing, simply press CTRL-B from anywhere in Netscape Navigator. The Bookmarks window opens right up.

TIP #5: QUICK SELECTION

If you want to select all the elements (text and graphics) that you can on a Web page in one fell swoop, press CTRL-A from anywhere in the page.  Anything that's selectable highlights immediately.

TIP #6: DOUBLE YOUR FUN

OK, you're at the coolest page in the world and you find a bunch of links you want to check out, but you want to leave the cool page onscreen and open up a new link in a new browser window.

Well, you can click on FILE from the menu and choose New Web Browser and go from there, or you can right mouse click on the link and choose Open In New Window.

TIP #7: MAIL GURUS

If you're like many Netscape users, you probably use at least one other mail program in addition to Netscape mail.  If you want help in converting address files among Navigator and programs such as Eudora, Pine, Elm, Pegasus, and MS Internet Mail, go to the InterGuru site http://www.interguru.com, which has some very useful tools.

TIP #8: NEED A ZIP CODE?

U.S. Postal Service Zip+4 Lookup

   http://www.usps.gov/ncsc

[simply plug in the address, city and state, and within  seconds you get your zip code]

TIP #9: ALL THE NEW SITES THAT ARE FIT TO BOOKMARK (Versions 3.0,& 4.0)

Netscape 3.0

Want to keep all your new bookmarks all in one neat package? Not a problem. Select Bookmarks/Go to Bookmarks, which opens the Bookmarks window. Create a new folder called something like New Bookmarks (to create the folder select Item/Insert Folder).

Highlight the new folder then click the right mouse button to bring up a floating menu box. Choose the option "Use For New Bookmarks" and you're in business. Any new bookmarks you add are put in this folder automatically, which will appear at the top of the Bookmarks menu.

Netscape 4.0

Select Bookmarks/Edit Bookmarks, which opens the Bookmarks window. Create a new folder called something like New Bookmarks (to create the folder select FILE/Folder).

Highlight the new folder then click the right mouse button to bring up a floating menu box. Choose the option "Set as New Bookmarks Folder" and you're in business. Any new bookmarks you add are put in this folder automatically, which will appear at the top of the Bookmarks menu.

TIP #10: LOOKING FOR AN AREA CODE?

Area Code Look-Up:

http://555-1212.com/aclookup.html

This site has area code look-up for every city in the U.S. and Canada, plus city and state lookup for every Zip Code.  This site also has phone books full of free information:  white pages, yellow pages, and more!

TIP #11: PLANNING A TRIP

Magic Carpet Trip Planner

http://www.mctripplanner.pair.com

this site provides you with links, a handy on-line travel planner
 

TIP #12 - LOOKING FOR ON-LINE BUSINESS MAGS

On the PC:

CEO Express

http://ceoexpress.com

[Find all the on-line media userful to a schedule-crunched person in one place.  CEO Express includes daily papers such as the Financial Times, business magazines such as Barrons, feeds from AP and Bloomberg, and the Fortune 500]

TIP #13 - UNDERLINING EXPLANATION IN BOOKMARKS

Windows applications often include menu shortcuts that allow you to activate an item by pressing a keyboard letter (while the menu itself is active).  The shortcut letter is underlined in the Menu item. For example, in Netscape, you can choose the File menu's Print command by pressing Alt+F+P.

Here's a way to add the same underline shortcut to Netscape Navigator bookmarks. First, select Bookmarks/Go to Bookmarks from the Navigator menu, which opens the Bookmarks window.  Highlight a bookmark, click the right mouse button, then select the option "Properties" from the floating menu that appears. Edit the bookmark name (in the field "Name") by inserting an ampersand ("&") before the letter that you want to make a shortcut. For instance, if you wanted to give TipWorld the keyboard shortcut "T," you'd type the ampersand just before the "T" in TipWorld.

Click "OK" to close the Properties box, then close the Bookmarks window.  Now select Bookmarks from the Navigator menu. Ta-da! The letter in the bookmark item that you preceded with the ampersand is underlined. Press this letter with the Bookmarks menu active, and the link activates. Or, simply press Alt+B+T at any time to call up TipWorld.

TIP #14 - SEEK HELP

The SeekHelp Web Site (http://www.seekhelp.com) explains how each major search engine operates, so you can tailor your request to get the best results. 

TIP #15 - MAPPING OUT HISTORY

Which countries on Earth are democracies, and for how long? Which cities have been the world's largest at various times in this century? What were each European country's losses in World War II? The Historical Atlas of World History answers each of these and other questions with a picture rather than a thousand words: 

        http://www.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm 

High school and college students, take note: This is one great place to turn to for illustrating that history paper you're writing. About the only drawback here is that you can't make up your own questions for the atlas to answer. 

TIP #16 - A WHOLE WORLD OF LOCAL NEWS

HomeTown Free Press provides links to local newspapers around the world. Just click the world region you want; then hone down to find the specific location that interests you. The USA section logically organizes the links by state and then lists links alphabetically by city. The USA page also includes a link to an index of college and university Web sites. 

http://emporium.turnpike.net/~walk/hometown/globe.htm

TIP # 17 - STOP COMPOSER FROM LOADING

You can open a webpage in Composer by selecting "Open Link in Composer,' Netscape's HTML editor. 
Unfortunately, you can't close the Composer window until the page stops loading, which can take a while. 
You can stop Netscape Composer from loading by:

• Clicking on VIEW in the toolbar
• Click 'Stop Page Loading'

NOTE:  Touching the [ESC] key can do the same thing

• Then CLOSE the Composer window and open the page in a new window

TIP # 18 - GET DIRECTIONS TO SOMEONE'S HOUSE

Visit http://www.google.com, type in a phone number in this format "814-555-5555" and click the 'Google Search' button. If you phone number is listed, it will show your name and address and give you two map options - Yahoo and MapQuest. Choose either option to view a map to the location.

Note: Google has an option to remove your telephone number from the database. You will first need to check if your number is listed in this manner by attempting a search, entering your full telephone number separated by dashes (e.g. 555-555-5555). If the number appears in the mapping database, an icon resembling a telephone will appear next to the first or second entry on the results page. Clicking on this icon will take you to a page containing a description of the service, and a link to request your number be removed from the database.

You can get logo style pictures at: http://www.psu.edu/ur/webstyleguide/marksnew.html
Scenes from around campus at: http://www.psu.edu/ur/webstyleguide/campus.html
Page banners at: http://www.psu.edu/ur/webstyleguide/marks.html
And if you go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/webstyleguide, you will see an index listing with the above options.

Tip #20 - Reducing the Size of Graphics and Download Time

Here are four ways you can reduce the size of graphics in your web and consequently, decrease the download time of your web pages:

1. Cropping the Graphic - use a graphics editing program to crop out areas of the image that are unnecessary.

2. Resize & Resample the Graphic  - use a graphics editing program to resize the graphic to a smaller size. Then, resample the picture to reduce the size of the image file.

3. Create a Thumbnail for your Graphic - A thumbnail is a smaller version of the graphic that a user can click on to see a full sized version of the graphic.  Most graphics editing packages can create a Thumbnail version of images.

4. For GIF Images, you can use a graphics editing program to reduce the number of colors in the graphic. If you reduce the number of colors from 256 to 32 (or even 16), often the reduction in the number of colors is unnoticeable but the size of the file is greatly reduced. Also, you can set your graphics program to store GIF graphics in an interlaced format and this allows visitors to see a blurry version of the image while it is still downloading.

Tips for Spurning Spyware and Browser Hijackers

Is your Web Browser behaving strangely? Maybe some other search program appears when you try to do a search on Google or MSN@ Search. Or, even though you've reset your home page, some other site displays. If this is happening to you, you may have inadvertently downloaded spyware. Visit http://go.microsoft.com/?linked=716712 for tips when it comes to dealing with spyware.

Note: Always adhere to copyright laws and regulations when considering downloading graphics from the Internet.

Tip #22 - Save and Reuse Google Searches & be Alerted through Email when there are Changes in the Top Pages Returned from the Search

Tip #21 - Spyware and Browser Hijackers

TIP #20 - Reducing the Size of Graphics and Download Time

Tip #19 - Good Sites for PSU Graphics

TIP #18 - Visit www.google.com, type someone's phone number and get directions to their house

TIP # 17 - Stop Composer from Loading

TIP #16 - A Whole World of Local News

TIP #15 - Mapping Out History

TIP #14 - Seek Help in Netscape

TIP #13 - Underlining Explanation in Bookmarks

TIP #12 - Looking for On-line Business

TIP #11 - Planning a Trip

TIP #10 - Looking for an Area Code?

TIP #9 - All the New Sites that are Fit to Bookmark

TIP #8 - Need a Zip Code?

TIP #7 - Mail Gurus

TIP #6 - Double Your Fun

TIP #5 - Quick Selection

TIP #4 - Quick Bookmark Access

TIP #3 - Share that Image with Others

TIP #2 - Decompressing Files

TIP #1 - Shortcut for a Web Page