Web-Authoring
Workshop
Web-Authoring Workshop by GenTech
About Netscape Communicator: The Software for this Workshop
Netscape Communicator (available for free download at http://home.netscape.com) is actually made up of several component programs, including:
Navigator is a WWW browser- your interface for viewing WWWpages
- Composer is a WWWpage Authoring environment that
supports your own WWWpage creation efforts
Search Engines help you to find specific pages using keywords and/or phrases (such as Metacrawler http://www.metacrawler.com or Altavista http://www.altavista.com)
If you need to brush up on your Internet Surfing skills, visit SFU Faculty of Education's Welcome to the Web Tutorial created by Jackie Dale.
When you are typing a WWW Page's URL, try typing only the Corporate identification, like "metacrawler", "netscape", or "sony" and don't type any other information in the Location window. Chances are good that this will suffice, since Netscape fills in the additional parts of the URL, e.g., http://www.metacrawler.com
This trick saves you time, and reduces the chance that you will make a silly typo, resulting in a time-wasting dead-end.
Let's use Navigator to access this web page.
- Type in this page's URL (Universal Resource Locator)
- http://www.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/bryson/wwauthor1.html
- Hit Return
Use Navigator to browse sample web pages:
When
you are typing a WWW Page's URL, try typing only the Corporate
identification, like "metacrawler", "netscape", or "sony" and don't
type any other information in the Location window. Chances are good
that this will suffice, since Netscape fills in the additional parts
of the URL, e.g.,
http://www.metacrawler.com
This trick saves you time, and
reduces the chance that you will make a silly typo, resulting in a
time-wasting dead-end.
When
you are working on your own WWWPage, it's commonplace to switch back
and forth between Navigator and Composer. You use Navigator to find
appropriate images, check the URL's of links you want to insert into
your own page etc... With a Composer screen close at-hand, you can
use cut and paste tools to make use of what your browsing has
produced.The
Netscape window has a streaming comets image top-right. The
Composer window doesn't, and is labeled top-left
Netscape
Composer.
Switching
between Navigator and Composer is easy, thanks to the
Component
Bar which is always on
your screen, and can be placed pretty much wherever you choose. The
component bar sits in the lower right hand corner of the window, and
can be moved to a new location.
- Place your cursor on the square/dots and keep the mouse button pressed down
- Use the mouse to reposition the component bar anywhere you choose
Rearrange your desktop so that you can go back and forth between a Navigator and a Composer Window
- Put your cursor on the component bar, and click on the Composer icon. If you leave your cursor on the Composer icon (pencil on paper) for a second or more, a label pops up which says: "Open the web page editor"
- Put your cursor in the lower right-hand corner of the window, press down the mouse, and re-size the window so that it occupies only the right half of your desktop.
- The Navigator window should be sitting on the desktop. Find it and click on the Navigator window to bring back up front.
- If it seems to have disappeared, Select File > New > Navigator, click on the Navigator icon on the component bar
- Put your cursor in the lower right-hand corner of the window, press down the mouse, and re-size the window so that it occupies only the left half of your desktop.
Your First Page
To start from a pre-existing text-file in Microsoft Word
- Open your Word file - double-click on the file icon, or Open Word and select File > Open
- Select File > Save As HTML
- Choose New folder as the location to save all the files associated with this WWWpage and your life as a WWW author will be infinitely more pleasant. WWWpages work best when all the .html files and image files and any other bells and whistles like sound files are all in one folder. Give your folder a descriptive name, and pay attention to where it is located. Remember that in virtual worlds, as elsewhere, what counts is "location location location".
- Type a filename that (a) is descriptive, (b) no spaces or non-text characters, and (c) ends in .html e.g., home.html
- Open Netscape Navigator
- Select File > Open > Page in Composer
- Find and open your .html file
- Select File > Save
To open a New and Blank page in Composer
Select File > New > Blank PageSave your page
- Select File > Save
- Choose New folder as the location to save all the files associated with this WWWpage and your life as a WWW author will be infinitely more pleasant. WWWpages work best when all the .html files and image files and any other bells and whistles like sound files are all in one folder. Give your folder a descriptive name, and pay attention to where it is located. Remember that in virtual worlds, as elsewhere, what counts is "location location location".
- Type a filename that (a) is descriptive, (b) no spaces or non-text characters, and (c) ends in .html e.g., home.html
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