Qwest.net Internet User Guide

Introduction
Common Web navigation tools
Navigation special features
Netscape® Communicator™ V3 versus V4
Macintosh® special features
Search engines
Online help

Introduction

What you see first may vary from time to time as we update our Web site, but the principles of surfing the Web will remain the same. You can follow the guidelines we provide here when using any Web page.

You'll use the magic of hyperlinks to "surf" the Web. When you move your mouse over a hyperlink, the shape of the mouse pointer changes to a hand (see Figure 2). You then can click the link to jump to related information. For example, each of the three sample icons shown below is a hyperlink.

Figure 2. Sample Web hyperlinks.

Hyperlinks are the reason you've heard so much about the Web because it can connect any two pieces of information on the Web, no matter where in the world they are.

Platform When we say to click the mouse, we mean to place the mouse pointer over the target and press the left mouse button. When we say to right-click we mean to place the mouse pointer over the target and press the right button. If your mouse has only one button, or if it has three buttons, consult your operating manual for the equivalent procedures.

Common Web Navigation Tools

The Netscape Navigator™ browser has a standard set of menus at the top that you can use to access all of its features. Most of the time you'll use the Netscape toolbars to help you navigate the Internet more quickly. There are three separate toolbars, each of which is covered here: Location toolbar

Displays the uniform resource location (URL), or address, of the current Web page. You can also use the location toolbar to enter any Web address that you want to visit (see Figure 3). The toolbar includes a button that opens your bookmarks—shortcuts to your favorite Web sites. These two areas are positioned next to each other because they work together, as we describe below:

Figure 3. Netscape Composer bookmark and location toolbar.

Platform note: For the Macintosh, the bookmarks icon appears as a ribbon on the menu bar.

• Bookmarks - Tracking your favorite pages could be difficult, but your browser makes it easy to save the location of your favorite pages. To use bookmarks, drag the icon that is between bookmarks and the location toolbar onto the bookmark icon, then drop it on any folder. Or, from the Communicator menu, select Bookmarksand then select Add Bookmarks. Or use press CTRL+D.

Platform note: For the Macintosh, you can add a bookmark by pressing CMD+D.

• Netsite - Displays the uniform resource locator (URL), or address, for the current site. To visit any Web site, enter its URL and press Enter. (You don't have to type the http:// to enter a URL—Netscape assumes you want a Web site.)

  Click the down-arrow at the end of this screen to see recently visited sites. You can also see a short list of the very latest sites by clicking Go on the menu bar.

NOTE: If one or more of these toolbars is missing on your version of Netscape Navigator, then you'll need to turn them on. To do that, from the View menu select Location Toolbar (or Navigation Toolbar or Personal Toolbar).

Navigation Toolbar

This toolbar contains basic navigation buttons that can speed your Web surfing as well as some other handy tools (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Netscape Navigation toolbar.

Platform note: For the Macintosh, the Navigation Toolbar also contains an Image button that controls whether you see the graphics that are embedded on Web pages that you visit.

• Back - Jumps back to the previous page you viewed. This is the equivalent of making a U-turn in a car.
• Forward - After you've used the Back button at least once, you can use the Forward button to go the other way.
• Reload - Forces a page to load again from the Web. You'll need this for pages that change frequently, such as online weather information or live-action camera views.
• Home - Returns you to the Qwest.net home page that's been preprogrammed for your service.
• Search - Opens a Web page that helps you search the Web. You can use this page to locate information.
• Guide - Links you to special sections of our system that we've programmed for you.
• Print - Prints a copy of the currently opened page.
• Security - Lets you set your security features.
• Stop - Stops the browser from loading a page that's in progress. Use this if a page is taking too long, or if you change your mind.

Extra! Extra! To increase your viewable screen space, click the small, vertical textured area at the left edge of any toolbar to hide the toolbar from view. Click the textured area again to restore the toolbar to full view.

Netscape Navigator special reatures

Your browser has some unique features that deserve special emphasis: the Personal Toolbar, the Component Bar and Bookmarks (see Figure 5). If the Personal Toolbar isn't displayed, turn it on by selecting Show Personal Toolbar from the View menu. The Component Bar is in the lower right corner and includes an icon for each of the major Netscape Navigator functions.

Figure 5. Web navigation tools.

Personal Toolbar

The Personal Toolbar (see Figure 6) is unique to the Microsoft® Windows® version of Netscape Navigator. The Personal Toolbar gives you quick access to some specialized Web functions that we've built into your browser.

Figure 6. Personal toolbar.

Platform note: The Macintosh does not have the Personal Toolbar feature.

• Internet - A comprehensive Guide to the Internet that you can customize to suit your lifestyle and preferences.
• Lookup - A service that helps you find information on the Web.
• New&Cool - Displays a constantly updated listing of the latest things to see on the Web.

Note: Netscape Navigator lets you configure the toolbars to suit your preferences. You can turn the toolbars on and off, or rearrange their order. You can tailor the Personal Toolbar with any links that you choose. Or, from the Edit, menu, select Preferences. Then select Appearance and select the buttons to display text only, icons only, or both. Note that if you highlight Appearances, Fonts, or Colors, different windows appear.

Bookmarks Some Web addresses are long and hard to remember, and you'd certainly tire of retyping the ones you do recall. But most browsers, including Netscape, have a simple system that lets you save, organize and recall any Web address (URL) that you use.

Jargon Cutter URL - (Uniform Resource Locator) An Internet address that links your computer to an Internet resource. The prefix of the URL indicates the type of resource. For example, Web resources use the Hypertext Transfer protocol (HTTP) and begin with http://. File Transfer Protocol resources begin with ftp://.

When you find a Web site to which you'll want to return, from the Bookmarks menu, select Add to Bookmarks and the address will be saved in the default Bookmark folder. The key to long-term success, however, is to create folders in which to organize the links you save (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Edit bookmarks.

To create a new folder and then save a bookmark link into that folder:

1. From the Bookmarks menu, seelct Edit Bookmarks.
2. Select the Bookmarks for... folder at the top of the list.
3. From the File menu, select New Folder.
4. Type a name for the new folder, then click OK.
5. From now on, when you add a Bookmark, select Bookmark, select File Bookmark, and then select the desired folder into which you want to place the new bookmark.

Platform Note: For the Macintosh, click the Bookmark icon.

You can easily move bookmarks from one folder to another by dragging bookmarks to new locations. You can also add a separator bar between folders to help group your entries: While editing a bookmark, place your cursor where you want the separator bar and select File and then select New Separator.

Component Bar

This toolbar lets you select different Netscape Navigator components. Normally, these icons are found in the lower-right corner of your Netscape Navigator screen, but they may be in a separate window (see Figure 8). Close this window to return the Component Bar to the lower-right corner of your screen. If you want the Component Bar in a separate window, select Communicator and then select Show Component Bar.

Figure 8. Netscape Component bar.

Netscape® Navigator™ V3 versus V4

For a variety of reasons, you might be using Netscape Navigator V3 instead of V4. If you are, then you will be interested in this summary of some of the improvements in the newer version. We hope this list helps you with your decision to upgrade to the latest version.

User Profiles

User Profiles, available in Navigator V4 and above, let different people share one computer and still retain individual settings and e-mail addresses. Even if you're the only one using your computer, you might have one profile for a personal identity and another for a business identity, so that you can check different e-mail accounts and maintain both personal and business bookmarks.

Netscape Messenger

The e-mail function of Netscape has been greatly improved in V4. It has a much more intuitive interface and includes new tools, such as automatic filtering that sorts your mail into different folders based on keywords you specify in the "From," "To," or "Subject" lines of the e-mail (see the e-mail section for details).

Netscape Collabra™

The newsgroups in Netscape V4 and above, called Discussion Groups and accessed via Netscape Collabra, have a more intuitive interface, and improved identification and filtering tools, plus a better subscription function (see the Web Publishing section) that lets you quickly create and publish Web pages without needing to know HTML.

Toolbars

Netscape V3 doesn't let you rearrange the toolbars or add your own links to them. Communicator includes a "quick hide" button on each bar as well as drag and drop capabilities between some buttons. Plus, the Component Bar lets you select any component with one mouse click.

You'll also find that many of the Toolbar buttons are now more useful. In earlier versions, some of these buttons were more to benefit Netscape's marketing efforts than you, the end-user. Now, however, even the buttons that jump you to the Netscape site connect you to useful pages—even some that you can customize to suit your needs.

Macintosh® special features

• The Macintosh has a bookmark icon that appears as a small ribbon icon (the sixth icon from the left) on the main menu bar. The bookmark icon on the Macintosh does not appear on the Location Toolbar as it does on the Windows version.
• The Navigation Toolbar for the Macintosh contains an extra icon called Images. This feature allows the user to download Web pages in a text-only format.
• The Macintosh version of Netscape Communicator does not have the Personal Toolbar feature.
• Macintosh users cannot access Help using the F1 key. To access Netscape Help, select the Balloon Help option on the main menu bar (the question mark icon), then select Help Contents.

Platform Some users might have only one button. In place of a right-click button, hold down the single mouse button for about four seconds.

Search engines

You'll never have a problem finding something, but you may get swamped with a long list of links to Web pages that don't offer what you need. The key to good Web searching is to find fewer pages, not more pages, and there are many search tricks that will help you zero in on the information you want.

Getting only what you need

No two search engines are exactly alike. Each engine indexes Web sites differently and processes your request differently. So, the best way to refine your searches is to read the instructions on every search engine you use. The search engine's home page will include a link that says something like Options, Advanced Search, or Search Tips. Use these tips to narrow your searches. Here is one popular search engine:

• Google

Browsing through categories

Most search engines let you access their indexed information by browsing a list of categories. If you want information on a general topic, rather than information that contains specific keywords, try the category links. Each service has different categories, so experiment with all the services.

Special features

These search engines also have direct links to special features such as map services, people-finding directories, classified ads, business yellow pages and sports scores.

These services also let you create a tailored search page that automatically retrieves information for you. Thereafter, when you enter the service, you'll get a tailored version of their page.

Boolean Logic A search engine uses Boolean logic on the keywords you enter. Boolean logic uses the special words: "and," "or" and "not." If you don't use any special words, it's the same as using "and." That means that typing "hot air balloons," requests all pages that contain "hot" and "air" and "balloons," but not necessarily just the phrase "hot air balloons." In general, you can enclose words inside quotation marks if you want to search for a phrase. You might use "not" like this:"Colorado Rockies not baseball" to find pages that contain "Colorado" and "Rockies," but that are not about the baseball team. You might use "or" like this: "Rockies or Andes" to find pages that mention either of the two mountain ranges, but not necessarily both of them. These are only generalities and we recommend that you read each search engine's help and tips.

Online help

Additionally, Netscape has an extensive online help system for its Communicator suite of Internet tools. To access the help system now, from the Help menu, select Help Contents.