composertutorial.htm

Using Netscape Communicator/Composer to Make Web Pages

Step 1. Be sure you have Netscape Communicator with Composer.

Internet Explorer will not make pages. If you do not have the program, get it from http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html (it should be free).

Step 2. Begin a new page (or edit an existing page).

From the File menu choose New, then Composer Page. Note: Use Open, then Edit for a page you have already started.

Step 3. Enter some information.

To enter information, you can...

Just type it.
Copy it from word processing and Paste it onto the page.

Step 4. Make the title into a heading.

Headings are shown in bold and have blank lines after them. Larger numbers mean smaller headings.

Step 5. Try some other formats for the text.

	bold
	italic
	underline
	remove styles
	numbered list
	bulleted list
	text color
	left, centered, right

Step 6. Give your page a title and background color (or image).

To select another background or to change link colors, click on Page Colors and Background under Format menu. Click the Background button to choose select Netscape's Default Colors. Or click on Choose File to import a background from file. Click on Format->Page Title and enter a title for your page.

Step 7. Use the Toolbar to add some things to your page.

Put in a picture Put in a line Put in a table Put in a link

a. Put in a picture (graphic, image).

Use the Insert menu to choose Image or click on this icon from the Toolbar: insert image

You will see a box like this one. Choose File to find the image.

image dialog box

b. Put in a line.

Use the Insert menu to choose Horizontal Line.

c. Put in a table.

Use the Insert menu to choose Table or click on this icon from the Toolbar: table

You will see a box like this:

table dialog box

d. Put in a link.

Use the Insert menu to choose Link or click on this icon from the Toolbar: link

There are several kinds of links.

If you want to show a web page that is in the same folder as the current page, you only need to mention the name of the file. For example, link to default.htm if it is in the same folder.

If you want to show a web page that is stored somewhere else, put the whole address, beginning with http://. For example, link to http://www.csudh.edu/soe/FLEX/if you want to see the FLEX main page.

You can also link to a pace in the same web page using a target. This is very good when you have a long web page. Insert a target using the Toolbar, then link to it using a #. For example, link to a target called LINE in this document by entering #LINE or composertutorial.htm#LINE. Remember that you cannot link to a target if you don't put the target in!

If you want someone to send you email, you can put in an email link. Put the words mailto: in front of your email address. For example: mailto:ffisher@csudh.edu

Step 8. Save your page and preview it (show it in the browser).

Use the File menu to Save and Browse Page or use the icons on the Toolbar.

Extra: Editing HTML Code

To go "behind the scenes" to look at or edit the HTML code, click on the <HTML> Source tab at the bottom of the window. Normal brings you back to the editing page.

viewing tabs

Created by F. Fisher for the TBE 540. Last updated 2/05.