Netscape News Basics: A Tutorial
Index
Netscape Navigator provides a News Window for reading messages (articles),
posting new messages to, and responding to messages in public UNIX newsgroups
(bulletin boards). Before using Netscape News, you must set appropriate
Mail and News Preferences in the Options menu.
| Important cautionary note
Do not use Netscape Navigator to read from or write to a newsgroup in
a public PC or Macintosh site. The personal information you enter in Mail
and News Preferences remains associated with the PC or Macintosh you use
and could be misused, unwittingly or intentionally, unless you delete it
before leaving Netscape.
If you must use a public PC or Macintosh site, remember to remove
your personal information from Mail and News Preferences before the end
of the session.
|
Documentation on using Netscape Navigator's news facility is available
by selecting Handbook from the Help menu and choosing Mail,
News, and Bookmarks in the Reference section.
Setting your News Preferences ( a
once-only step)
The minimum settings required are the name of the news server, the name
of the directory where Netscape will look for or write information about
your personal news subscription, and your name and e-mail address. All
other settings are optional or start with defaults that you can change.
The next exercise steps you through setting your news preferences.
EXERCISE 1
- Start Netscape and choose Mail and News Preferences... from
the Options menu.
- Before making any changes, click on each tab (Appearance, Composition,
Servers, Identity, and Organization) and look at the default settings and
options available.
- Select Servers. In the News panel, make the following
changes, if necessary:
News (NNTP) server: news
News RC directory: C:\Program
Files\Netscape\Navigator\News
Note: If a default News RC directory
is already specified, do not change it.
If you use Netscape from your own PC, specify the News directory as shown
above. If you use Netscape from your UNIX account (for example from an
X-terminal, where you log on to your account before you can open Netscape),
you should see your home directory listed. For instance, for the
fictitious account 04240, the home directory listed might be
/home/strauss/usrc/09/04240
- Select Identity and enter your e-mail address (e.g., userid@udel.edu,
replacing "userid" with your username or account) and your name
as you want it to appear on out-going messages.
- Click OK to set your new preferences and close the Preferences
dialogue box.
Opening the News Window, setting
preferences, and reading news
The first time you open the News Window, Netscape subscribes
you to three newsgroups intended for new users. Netscape shows only subscribed
newsgroups and unread messages unless you change these defaults.
In the next exercise, you will open the News Window, view the newsgroup
listing and one or more messages, and change some of the defaults for viewing
messages and newsgroups.
EXERCISE 2
- Select Netscape News from the Window menu.
The window is divided into three frames or panels. The top left panel lists
the newsgroups to which you are subscribed. When you start, you will see
the following groups:
news.announce.newusers
news.newusers.answers
news.answers
Groups with unread messages are listed in bold type so the entire list
is currently bold.
- Click on the name of any newsgroup to see a listing of messages in
the top right panel. Unread messages are listed in bold type so the entire
list is currently bold.
- Click on the icon or title of any message. The message text will fill
the lower panel and the message identification line in the top right panel
will go from bold to normal type. In addition, the "Read" icon
to the left of the subject will change to a small dot. You can toggle the
state of any message between "read" and "unread" by
clicking on the Read icon.
- View one or two more messages so that at least two or three messages
are marked read.
- Select Options from the News Window menu bar. Notice
the defaults, most likely as follows:
Show subscribed newsgroups
Show only unread messages
Add from newest message
- Toggle between "Show all messages" and "Show only unread
messages" and notice how the message listing changes each time. Until
you are familiar with locating messages, you may find it useful to show
all messages and rely on the bold type to know which ones are new. At the
end of this exercise, make sure your browser is set to show all messages.
- Select Sort from the View menu and try different sort
orders (by date, subject, sender, or message number). Observe the effect
of each change on the message listing.
- Make sure Thread messages is checked, also under Sort.
Threading keeps postings and their related responses together in the listing.
Subscribing to and unsubscribing
from newsgroups
From the File menu, you can add newsgroups to the listing in
the top left frame. Subscribe to a listed newsgroup by clicking on the
check mark next to its name. If you do not subscribe, the newsgroup is
only available during the current session. To unsubscribe, turn off the
check mark. The next exercise steps you through the procedure for subscribing.
EXERCISE 3
- Select Add Newsgroup from the File menu.
- When prompted for a newsgroup name, type the name of your newsgroup.
The newsgroup name will probably be similar to
udel.sssssyy.ccccnnn-xxx
where sssss is the semester (e.g., fall), yy is a two-digit number
representing the year (e.g. 96), ccccnnn is the four-letter, three-digit
course identifier (e.g., math241) and xxx is the three-digit section number
(e.g., 012). For example, the newsgroup name might be
udel.fall96.math241-010
When you click OK, the newsgroup will be added to the list.
- Click in the Subscribe box to the right of the newsgroup name. A check
mark appears to let you know you are subscribed to this newsgroup. Be sure
not to remove the check mark. If you do, you will have unsubscribed from
your newsgroup. It will not be listed the next time you start the News
window in Netscape and you will have to add it again.
- Read the message(s) in the newsgroup.
Posting a new message
To post a new message, select the target newsgroup, click the To:
News button, fill in the blanks on the form supplied, type your message,
and click Send. Follow the steps in more detail in the next exercise.
EXERCISE 4
- Select the newsgroup you added in Exercise 3 if it is not already highlighted.
- Click on the button labeled To: News (or select New News
Message from the File menu). You are given a form where you
can type your message, with the name of the newsgroup in the header. Your
name and today's date will be added by the system when you send the message.
- On the Subject line, type a title for your message. Make the
title brief but descriptive.
- Type your message text in the blank area below the headers.
- Click Send. You will see your message posted the next time you
read news.
Notes on posting messages: If you wish, you may prepare
the text of your message in a DOS text (ASCII) file which you can then
copy and paste it into your message. You may cancel a message you have
posted by selecting the message and choosing Cancel Message from the Edit
menu in the News window.
Responding to posted messages
To respond to a message, first select it, then click Re: News
(or choose Post Reply from the Message menu), and proceed
as if you were posting a new message. By default, Netscape quotes the text
of the message to which you are responding. You may wish to remove parts
of the quoted text, especially if the original message is long. Keep enough
to provide context for readers of your response. Steps for responding are
detailed in the next exercise.
EXERCISE 5
- Select the message to which you would like to respond.
- Click on the button labeled Re: News (or choose Post Reply
from the Message menu). You are given a form where you can type
your response, with the newsgroup and subject lines filled in, and the
quoted text at the top of the message space. Your name and today's date
will be added by the system when you send the message.
- If you decide not to include all of the quoted text, edit as appropriate.
- Type your response in the message space provided, above or below the
quoted text.
- Click Send. You will see your response posted the next time
you read news.
Notes on responding to messages: Netscape can thread responses only
if they are submitted as such -- otherwise they show up in the message
listing as new postings, even if they carry the same title. Try to use
the response feature whenever appropriate to keep discussion in the newsgroup
organized.You can prepare your response in a separate file, as described
under posting new messages. You can also cancel your own responses.
Ending your news session
To end the session, open the File menu in the News Window
and choose one of the following:
Close to close the News Window without leaving Netscape
Exit to quit from News and Netscape in one step
| Important reminder: If you are working in a public site, before
leaving Netscape, choose Mail and News Preferences from the Options menu
and remove your personal information from the Identity panel. |
Getting help
- While working in Netscape, select Help for more information.
- Send e-mail to consult@udel.edu .
- Call the Help Desk at 831-6000.
(Document last modified on 10/31/96 by Evelyn V. Stevens)