- Bookmarks A-Go-Go - how to save, collect,
and organize your "virtual breadcrumbs"
- Now
that You are in Composer, Let's Compose!
- Composer Toolbar - using the right
tool...actually, its a button!
- Adding Text to Your Page -
it's just like word processing!
- Adding Graphic Images - saving
.jpeg's and .gif's
- Insert Image - getting that saved image
onto your page
- Backgound Images - how to save and
insert them
- How
to Insert this Background Image Onto Your Page
- How to View/Preview Your
Page - save and browse
- How to Title Your Page
- Inserting Extra Hot Links
- How to Make a Graphic
Image a Hot Link
- Publishing Your Page
- Credits and Links
"Composer
helps you create and edit your own web pages and place (or "post")
them on the web. Composer looks and acts like a word processing program,
and is just as easy to use. Behind the scenes of each page on the web is
code called HTML, which stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This name
means that HTML is is the computer language used for marking up documents
with links in them. The code, called HTML source code, tells the web browser
how a page should look and act. You don't need to know how to write HTML
code to make a web page. Composer enables you to work in a WYSIWIG (what
you see is what you get) environment - just like a word processor - and
it automatically generates the HTML code you need to make your page do
what you want it to do. The basic elements of a web page are
text, pictures, and links. You can put all of these and more on your
own pages, and then publish those pages on the web."
Sounds pretty good, huh?
2 Very Important Tips before you
start:
- Make a folder for all this web
page stuff to save into, either on your HD (hard drive) or on a
disk. It's very important that all the components (.html, jpeg's, gif's,
etc.) of your page are saved together in a folder
- Open a second Navigator window.
Go up to File and select New Navigator. It's a good idea to double
browse (have at least two windows open at the same time) when you are designing
a web page. This helps because with one window you are composing your page,
with the other you are searching for, finding, and saving graphic images
and URL links to add later
The easiest way to
start making a web page is to collect, organize and save your bookmarks
Bookmarks
A-Go-Go
Saving, collecting, and organizing
bookmarks within Netscape Communicator is a whole lot of fun....Really!
I mean, have you ever found a really
*perfect* site only to go elsewhere and not be able to find your way back
again? doh!
The bookmark is your virtual “bread
crumb” to leave behind you so that you can go back again to a great site.
Well, here's how to organize and save
those bookmarks so that you can always find that perfect site for that
perfect lesson! And if you save them to a disk, you can share them
with a colleague, take them to a conference, or even create a quick web
page!
After you save several bookmarks (by
going up to Bookmarks and choosing Add Bookmark) of the same
topic you probably want to organize them and put them into a folder.
Believe me, this is very helpful, easy to use, and it looks great.
To do this go up to Bookmarks
on your toolbar and select Edit Bookmarks (or you can use the short
cut OpenApple and the letter "B"). This will open up your
bookmarks file. (see bookmark screen capture)
How to Get rid of a
Bookmark:
- To clear an unwanted bookmark, highlight
the bookmark by clicking on it once and then go up to Edit and choose
Clear or you can just press the Delete key
How to Create a
Folder to organize and store Bookmarks:
- Go up to File on your
toolbar and choose New Folder. Name the new folder, then click
OK. To put bookmarks into the folder, find them on the bookmark list
and just grab, drag, and drop them into the folder. Smoosh them around
with the mouse, arrange the order however you like. So far, there is no
way to sort them alphabetically like you used to do in Netscape Navigator
Gold. :-(
How to Add a Separator
between Bookmark Folders:
- Click on the folder or bookmark
you want the separator to separate, then go up to File on your toolbar
and New Separator. This will add a short line between your folders/boomarks
which looks really nice and helps when scrolling down between the items.
How to Save Your
Bookmarks to a Disk or the HD:
- To save your Bookmarks so
that you can upload them elsewhere or use them to create a web page, open
the bookmark file first then highlight the main folder (it usually
has your name on it, if you've got your email prefs in that machine)
create a folder on your HD called bookmarks, or whatever, then drag the
bookmark folder and drop it into the new folder
- Save as an HTML Doc: Highlight
the main folder at the top of the bookmarks page by clicking on it once,
then go up to File and Save As. Give the document
a name that reflects the contents but make sure it ends with .html. This
will save your bookmarks as an HTML document that you can use
as a Web Page by itself or as a basis to start using Composer.
- To view this Bookmark page, Netscape
should be open. Go up to File then choose Open then
choose Page in Composer, select the bookmark document ending with
.html that you saved and click Open. This will open the document
as a grey web page with all your bookmarks now as hotlinks, your separators
as horizontal rules and organized in groupings according to your folders.
Now, this page does not have graphics or a background color/design yet
of course, but you could add that later with composer ..oh! you say you
want to do that? cool!.. keep reading, then!
Now
that You are in Composer, Let's Compose!
"Many of the
pages you see when you browse the web were made by ordinary people like
you. You don't have to be a computer whiz - you can use Netscape Composer,
part of Netscape Communicator, to create, edit, and publish your own web
pages."
The Composer Toolbar
Adding
Text to Your Pages
"In the Composer
window, click to place the insertion point on the page. (You have to start
at the top left for now.) Now you can just start typing!"
OK, now you are like in Microsoft
Word you can change the size, font, colour, alignment and make this
page look how you want it to look (this is a definitely an improvement
over the Netscape Navigator Gold Editor!) *you* have the last word in Style!
Or you could just use the handy tool bar buttons for most of these style
choices!
don't forget the tool bar, make it your friend! We like short cuts,
right? Cool!
You can also add horizontal lines
to divide the space on your page.
like this!
- Click the location in the Composer
window where you want to insert the line
- Go up to Insert and choose Horizontal Line
- OR (easier!) click
the Insert Horizontal Line button on the Composition toolbar and
voila!
Of course, you want to add cool pictures like this, right?
Awww, cute kitty!
Visit the Easy Web
Design Examples page for FREE backgrounds, pictures and animated
gifs!
Adding
Graphic Images!
"You
can put images on your pages to make them more visually interesting. Images
are part of why the web is so popular. Before the development of browsers
like Netscape Navigator that display images "inline," visitors
to an Internet site had to download each image separately and open them
with a special viewing program. Each image on a web page is a separate
file, distinct from the HTML document that makes up a web page. The page
contains not the images themselves, but a link to the image, which is displayed
as part of the page. While you're making your pages, your images might
reside on your hard drive or on the Internet. When you publish your pages
on the Internet using Composer, it will post both the pages and the images
to the server."
Huh? Sorry, I had to read that last
part a couple of times before I got it.. Ok, this is what it means. If
you want a picture on your page, you gotta snag it and save it to a disk
or your HD. And here's how to do it: find a picture on the Internet you
want to use (make sure it's from a free graphic site or a digital picture
or get permission from the site)
For MAC users (yea! go
iMac!) follow these steps:
How to save graphic
images/Mac:
- Put your cursor on the graphic you
want to download
- Click and hold - a box will pop
up
- Choose Open this Image to
isolate the image, is this what you want? if so,
- Choose Save this Image as
- Now save this image to your folder
with your .html document
- Don't change the name, or take of
the .jpeg or .gif ending -that will make it break
- Remember, every part of your web
page when you are done, including and especially images must be uploaded
to the server for your page to work online.
How to save graphic
images/WIN:
- Put your cursor on the graphic you
want to download
- RIGHT click and hold - a
box will pop up
- Choose Save Image As from the menu.
- Select the directory/folder you
want to save it in, and click Save.
Insert
Image: How to place the image on a page:
When you want to add a saved graphic to your page, place your cursor
where you wish the graphic to go and click on the tool bar button: Insert
Image
Now you will get a dialog box that looks like the one below. Choose
File to 
find the image saved in your folder on your disk/HD, click Open.
Now you have some choices about how that image should look. 
From this point you can add a solid border (1 or 2 pixels is nice) around
the image, or you can custom wrap the text (it will only show up in the
View in Navigator window) you can reduce the image by changing the height
and width in the custom size window.. all kinds of stuff! When you are
done, click Apply and then OK.
Background
Images: How to Borrow a Background- with permission of course!
If you find a background
on a web site that you really like , it is easy to “borrow” it and put
it on your page. However, you must get permission to do so first
if you plan to publish it online. The easiest way to do this is to Email
the web master of the site, explain that you are a teacher and wish to
use the background or graphic with a class, and assure that full credit
will be given on your page.
9 times out of 10 they are thrilled to loan you what you want. Make
sure to thank them, give them the credit, and add their link to your page.
So when you see a background that you like do the following:
- Go up to VIEW on the toolbar and choose Page Info
- Click on the image URL to isolate it lower on the dialog box (see below)
- From here you can see what the background image really looks like
- Highlight and copy the URL (http://etc.) of that background image,
and paste it in the location box of another navigator page
- Click and hold, choose Save this
Image as
- Now save this background image to
your folder with your .html document
- Don't change the name, or take of
the .jpeg or .gif ending
- Remember, every part of your web
page when you are done, including and especially background images must
be uploaded to the server for your page to work online
How
to insert this background image onto your page:
- Go up to Format and choose Page Properties
- Choose Colors and Background
- Choose Use Custom Colors
- Click Image in the box for Page Background
- Click Choose File to browse for your saved background
- Find your saved background .jpeg or .gif and click Open
- Click Apply then OK
- Then click Save (disk image on toolbar)
How
to view/preview your page:
Before you can View your Page in Navigator (using the ship's wheel Preview
button) 
you must save it first. click the disk button to save. Make sure to save
the page in the folder where you had stored all your graphic elements.
Now you can preview by clicking View in Navigator.
How
to Title your page:
To title your page you need to go up to Format and choose Page
Properties or Title
Now choose General and type in the name of your page where it
says Title. Click Apply and Ok
that's it!~
Inserting
Extra Hot Links
and Making Images Hot Links
How to make a word or a line of text a hot link:
Sometimes, even though you started this page with hotlinks already active
(thanks to the old save bookmarks as a .html file trick!) you may want
to add more links or make a graphic image a link.
to do this:
- Go up to Communicator on the main tool bar and select the second
page you have open in Communicator on your desktop (remember, always double
(or triple, etc.) browse when designing a web page)
- Go to a page that you want to link to
- Highlight the URL and copy it. (either by OpenApple and C/ or Control
and C or by going up to Edit and Copy
- Go back up to Communicator and go back to your Netscape Composer
page
- Highlight the word/line of text you wish to make a link
- Now click the link button
- The text you highlighted should be in gray in the top box where it
says Linked Text
- Paste the url (http://www,etc.) in the box where it says Link To:
URL (Page Location) or File
- Click OK
How
to make a graphic image a hot link:
Go up to Communicator main tool bar and select the second page
you have open in Communicator on your desktop (remember, always double
(or triple, etc.) browse when designing a web page)
Go to a page that you want to link to
Highlight the URL and copy it. (either by OpenApple and C/ or Control
and C or by going up to Edit and Copy
Go back up to Communicator and go back to your Netscape Composer
page
Highlight the image you wish to link to by clicking once to select
then going up to the Insert Image button
on the tool bar
When the dialog box opens, look for the file tab at the top that says
link, click once on it
Paste the url (http://www,etc.) in the box where it says Link To:
URL (Page Location) or File
Click OK
Publishing Your
Page:
"If your page exists only on your local hard drive,
you can browse the page, but no one else can. Once you have finished making
your web page and have tested the links, you need to publish your page
on the Internet.
Generally, you can publish your web page on the server
run by the same Internet service provider (ISP), company, college, or school
system that you use to access the Internet. When you publish your page
on a server, you copy your page to a computer that lets other people see
it.
Ask your systems administrator or ISP about publishing
your web pages; you may need to pay a few more dollars a month to have
a web publishing account".
In other words, with your saved .html document and your folder full
of supporting graphic images you can upload this page to any server. Follow
the directions of that server to do this (each one is a little different)
but basically you have most of the work done!
To read more about this visit the Netscape
Communicator Tutorial. 
Good Job!
Credits and Links:
- Big thanks go out to Netscape
for the use of several graphic images and quotes from their online Composer
tutorial which can be found here
- Also, their web guide, New
to the Net is very helpful.
- But not as good, IMHO, as Internet
Integration: a Jump Start which is intended "to assist educators
in the pursuit of integrating the Internet into their classrooms quickly,
easily and effectively" (ok, ok, i will admit, this
was the page i did for the MPT/NTTI conference, but it's pretty cool!)
- Lights, Camera, Action!Technology Integration Through Television Production -Created by Dianne P. Wells, Gifted and Talented Resource Teacher, this page introduces and gives excellent links on how to produce a "professional, research-based, live daily television broadcast in addition to producing pre-recorded research-based news magazine segments and public service
announcements"
- Get More from the Web -This page chock full of great links to assist the educator in getting more from the web! Constructed by tech guru Doug Fireside, this page is nicely made, frankly and amusingly annotated, and easily navigated. Some of the links are duplicates of the ones on this page, but there is a lot of really great information there.
- The HyperPowered Curriculum -page was designed for those teachers who use Hyper-Studio and other slide
show/presentation software in their classrooms. You can find clip art, scoring rubrics and all sorts of other goodies here. Created by Amado "Sonny" Narvaez, Media Specialist for Montgomery County Public Schools.
- Another helpful place to find really great resources is the MPT
Learning Works site on the MPT home
page.
- Cynde Mutryn and Sarah Blattner from MPT have also compiled an excellent
collection of sites called Treasures
of the Internet: A Sampling of Quality Sites and Resources that you
might want to take a look at.
- Eduhound: Everything for Education
K-12 - a really great source for lessons, sources, sites in just about
ever curricular area!
- FREE web hosting with Angelfire
... i've used them for years, and even though they have that annoying pop-up
window (which i click on to get rid of *right* away!) they are very easy
to use and reliable when accessing.
- ikeepbookmarks.com - a
really good site to store and access your bookmarks.
Forget
the Java and the HTML!* 
Just
Click and Type to Create a 
Netscape Composer: 
Graphic provided by Amado Narvaez author of the awesome page entitled: The Hyper-Powered Curriculum 