How does your computer know how Web pages should be displayed and how to show new Web pages when you click on Web links? Your browser (Netscape, Internet Explorer, AOL, etc.) can do these things because of a computer language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). To make Web pages, you must either write HTML commands or use software called "Web editors" that write the HTML commands automatically for you. Netscape Composer is a free Web editor and is part of the Netscape Communicator package.
This activity will teach you how to make a simple Web page using
Netscape Composer. Look at this handout, "My Home Page"
carefully. You will create a document that looks and acts
exactly like "My
Home Page." You will do this by editing a document
called "Not Quite My Home Page". Click here
to see "Not Quite My Home Page." Choose "Save as. . ."
from the "File" menu. Choose "source" from the popup menu. Save the
file to your disk. Now from the "File" menu, choose "Open Page in
Composer." Find the file "Not Quite My Home Page." and open it. Now,
using Composer (the Web editor), you can change this file to be just
like your handout, "My Home Page." The instructions for
doing this are included on this page.
There are several important things to learn when working with a Web
editor:
1) Entering and editing
text.
2) Making Tables
3) Making links to other
Web sites
4) Making
links to locations within a Web page (targets)
5) Inserting Images
6) Uploading pages to a
server.
To make more elaborate pages, you can use Netscape templates/wizards (See http://home.netscape.com/websites/index.html)
Entering and Editing
Text:
Let's practice entering and editing text: Use the
"Format" menu. Be sure to use different
fonts, sizes, styles, and
COLORS. (Just choose "Remove all styles"
from the "Format" menu to go back to your defaults.)
As with a word processor, you can always spell check your document. Do that now to see what you find. Look for "Tools" menu, "Check Spelling" Go ahead and correct any spelling errors you find.
Be sure to try some lists. You'll find icons for these in
the toolbar. There are two types: numbers and bullets.
Which do you like best? See if you can create the lists
below. When you want to go back to "normal" type, just choose
"Normal" from the pull-down menu at the left of the toolbar.
Lists are very useful because:
When you want to see what your page will look like when posted to the
Internet, click on the Captain's Wheel icon in the toolbar. See
how the asterisks in your numbered list turn to real numbers?
When you want to continue editing, choose "Communicator" menu and
"Composer". Now you're ready to continue creating your
page.
Tables are very useful for presenting information. They are
also useful for formatting a Web page. Make a simple
table. Click the "table" icon in the toolbar or use "Insert"
and "Table" from the menu. Enter "3" rows and "2"
columns. And here is your table. Enter the data.
Use the "Tab" key to move between the table cells.
|
Begin during class on Friday, 6/29 and complete by 7/6 |
|
|
Begin during class on Friday, 7/6 and complete by 7/13 |
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Begin during class on Friday, 7/13 and complete by 7/20 |
When making Web page, there is no "tab" key to format text.
We often use tables to help format pages. Create a new blank
table like the one above. In the box "Border Line Width"
replace the "1" with a "0". Now click on the Captain's Wheel
icon to see how the page will look on the Internet. You can
make other formatting changes in your table by using the "Format"
menu and "Table info."
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Week 1 |
Begin during class on Friday, 6/29 and complete by 7/6 |
|
Week 2 |
Begin during class on Friday, 7/6 and complete by 7/13 |
|
Week 3 |
Begin during class on Friday, 7/13 and complete by 7/20 |
Making Links to Other Web sites
Let's say you want to make the words Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 into links that will take you to those weeks in the Syllabus for this course. Using the "copy" and "paste" features of Netscape, and the "link" icon from the toolbar, this is easy to do. Choose "File" and "New Navigator". Enter the address to go to the Syllabus for our course. When you get there, click on the link for "Week 1". Now, use your mouse to select the address in the URL box. Using your mouse, right click and choose "copy" to copy the URL for Week 1. Using the "Communicator "menu come back to "Composer: "notquitemyhome.html". Select with your mouse Week 1 in the first table. Click on the "link" icon in the toolbar. Click in the "URL (Page Location) or File" box. Right click and choose "paste". Click "OK." You have now created a link to Week 1 of our Syllabus. Repeat these steps to create links to Week 2 and 3. To check your link, choose the "Captain's Wheel" from the toolbar. Click on the links you created. Do they work?!
Making Links to Locations Within a Web Page
To help users navigate within a Web page, you can make links to move from one part of the page to another. For example, we can make links from the list of six important things to learn at the top of this page to each of the related headings in the page. First, you need to place "targets" next to each heading in the page. Highlight the heading, then click the "target" icon in the toolbar. A "target" icon will appear in front of the heading. These won't show when your page is on the Internet. Create a target for each heading.
After you have created your targets, you want to make links from the headings to the matching target. With your mouse, highlight "1) Entering and editing text." Then click on the "link" icon. You will see a box "link to a specified target in a specified page (optional)". Inside the box will be a list of all the targets you have created. Click on the target you want and it will pop into the "URL (Page Location) or File" box. Click "OK" Repeat these steps for each of the six important things to learn at the top of the page. Now click on the "Captain's Wheel" from the toolbar. Click on the links you created. Do they all work?!
Click here to see the image of the laptop
at the top of this page. To save it: "Right-click" with your
mouse on the image. Save it to your disk. Now, click your mouse
under the title, "My Home Page" at the top of this handout.
Click the "Insert Image" icon in the toolbar (square with colored
shapes in it). Navigate to your disk and locate the file
"lptp4.gif". Select it and click "Open." Click
"OK." The laptop image will appear.
Uploading Pages to a Server
Your Web page is now complete. You have viewed it with Netscape, but it is not on the Internet. It is on your computer disk or hard drive. In order to put your Web page on the Internet, you'll need to upload it to a server. We won't do this now because many of you don't have server space. However, when you want to post this page to the Internet, you click the "Publish" button on the toolbar. You'll fill in the server address, your login and password.