Netscape 7 Composer Quick Reference

The formatting and page layout features of Netscape Composer are similar to those in a word processor. You work with text in much the same way by placing the cursor, selecting characters or paragraphs, and applying formatting commands. In addition, there are tools unique to building web pages (e.g., links, targets, web graphics, background colors and a tool to publish documents on a web server.) If you are familiar with the basics of HTML and word processing, you can easily create web pages with Composer. For detailed information on using Composer, choose Help > Help and Support Center. Under Contents, open Creating Web Pages.

NOTE: Do not use Composer for work on Willamette department web sites designed by the Office of Communications or WITS or any web sites built with Macromedia Dreamweaver. However, it is a good choice for personal web pages.

The two Composer toolbars contain buttons for frequently-used commands. Point the mouse to a button to see a description of its function.  You can also right-click on any web page element to get a pop-up menu of frequently used commands related to that element. If you don't see all of the buttons shown below, choose Edit > Preferences. Under Category, open Composer, and then click on Toolbars. You'll see checkboxes for all of the toolbar buttons.


 

Composition Toolbar buttons (left to right)
New: Create a new Composer page
Open:  Open a local file
Save: Save a file to a local location
Publish: Upload a file to a remote location
Browse: Load this page into Navigator
Cut, Copy, and Paste: Text editing
Print: Print this page
Find: Find text in page
Link: Insert new link or edit selected link's properties
Anchor: Insert new named anchor or edit selected anchor's properties
Image: Insert new image or or edit selected image's properties
H.Line: Insert horizontal line or edit selected line's properties
Table: Insert new table or edit selected table's properties

Format Toolbar buttons (left to right)
Paragraph format
Choose color for text
Choose highlight color for text
Smaller font size
Larger font size
Bold
Italic
Underline
Apply or remove bulleted list
Apply or remove numbered list
Outdent text (move left)
Indent text (move right)
Align Left, Center, Right, and Justified
  • Right-click on any web page element to get a pop-up menu of frequently used commands related to the selected element.
  • The Format menu includes text formatting options not available with the toolbar buttons. There are also commands for setting page colors, backgrounds, titles, and properties.
  • The Table menu has command for inserting and deleting rows, splitting and joining cells, and setting table colors and properties.

To open an existing local file in Composer:
- Choose File > Open or click on the Open button to display a standard "Open" dialog box, then double-click on the file name.

To edit an existing web page in Composer:
- Go to the web page in Netscape Navigator, and then choose File >  Edit Page. The page will open in a Composer window.

You can preview a file in Navigator if you want to see how it will look on the web before you publish it:
- Click on the Browse button.

Uploading to the Web Server

For your own account, you will first have to create a directory called public_html to contain your web documents:

  1. Start a Telnet session and login to your Willamette Account.
  2. Exit to the Unix prompt (if necessary).
  3. Type “webpage” (no quotes), then press Enter.
  4. Follow the on-screen prompts until finished.

For department accounts, any of the methods described below will automatically default to the assigned location on the web server.

Your documents (text files and images) must be uploaded to your area on the web server. If you are working on campus, the easiest method is to map your web site as a Windows drive letter or as a Macintosh server. For more information on drive mapping, see Map Network Drives.

Composer also has a "Publish" feature (File > Publish, File > Publish As to review settings, or  use the Publish button). The Publishing address for a personal account takes the form: ftp://home.willamette.edu/public_html/~username. For example, a student named Al Franken would use the Publishing address: ftp://home.willamette.edu/public_html/~afranken

Complete the Settings tab and the Publish tab as shown above, then click the Publish button.

You can also use WS_FTP or Fetch to upload your documents. WITS has prepared documentation for WS_FTP and Fetch:
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