Lecture 2 – Netscape

Outline
 In this Lecture, we will mainly discuss:
 The use of Netscape 7.2, a popular Web browser…
 A brief overview is as follows:
 Connecting to the Internet.
 Requirements (Hardware, ISPs, etc)
 Bandwidth (speed)

 Netscape Fundamentals:
 Basic operations
 Searching the Web
 Setting Bookmarks
 Online Help
 Saving Images and Downloading Files
 Customizing Netscape
 E-mail
 Other Browsers
Introduction
 The Internet is rich, highly-accessible medium…
 for learning, communication, and interaction.
 Now indispensable for living/working in the modern world.

 Our ‘window’ into the Web is through a Web Browser:

 These are Client-side software programs.
 Allow access to the Web’s rich multimedia content.
 Easy to set up and use: millions of users, daily.

 By far, the two most popular browsers:

 Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)
 Included in your Windows XP operating system.
 Netscape
 A version has already been installed on our computers.
 Note that new versions appear rather frequently.
 *This lecture will describe use of Netscape 7.2.
 However, earlier versions are similar…
 IE and Netscape are also quite similar in use and appearance.
Connecting to the Internet
 Our APU class computers are already connected to the Internet.
 However, generally, a computer alone is not enough to connect.
 Step 1: Additional Hardware is needed…
 Either a Modem:
 Allows a ‘dial-up connection’ to the Net
 Data converted to audio tones
 transmitted via telephone wires (low-speed).

 Or, a Network Interface Card (= NIC), which supports:

A. Connection to a Local Area Network (LAN)
 Connection by wires (‘ ｌ and-line’)
 (*) We are connected to the APU LAN.
 Wireless LAN

B. High-speed Internet connection (‘Broadband’)…

 Cable modem…operates over cable TV lines.
 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)…Operates on phone lines.
 ADSL = Asymmetric DSL (download faster than upload)
Connecting to the Internet (cont.)
 Step 2: Register with an Internet Service Provider (ISP)
 Who helps us connect to the Net…
 Note: College campuses often provide free connections.
 (*) We are connected through the APU Network (LAN),
 Guest (non-registered) connections are often supported.
 Also many Internet Café’s
 Provide temporary (guest) service, but for a fee.
 When a Network Connection is unavailable (outside APU)…
 And we want registered (user-based) service…
 We have to get a commercial connection.
 Some Locally Available Examples:
 COARA (ADSL):
 COARA (http://www.coara.or.jp/flets/)
 KDDI Corporation (ADSL):
 DION (http://www.dion.ne.jp/english/index.html)
 B-mobile:
 Wireless LAN + PHS (cell-phone technology)
 http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/base.html
Some Considerations
 Cost of Service:
 University connection is free.
 On the other hand, commercial ISP’s charge a fee.

 Bandwidth (= data speed):

 ‘The amount of information which can be carried by the signal per unit
time.’
 Measured in kilobits/second (Kbps, or just ‘K’)
 Traditional Ethernet: 10 Mbps (Note: 1 Mb = 103 Kb)
 Wired connection to a LAN
 Dial-up Connections: Typically 56 K
 Phone modem.
 Broadband: 256 K (common marketed value) or more
 Cable TV Company (Cable modems)
 Phone Company (DSL, ADSL, ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network))
 Special modem required (provided by companies).
 Wireless LAN Card (Wireless LAN + PHS):
 Example: B-mobile (128 K)
 Internet Connection Wizard
 After establishing a new type of service (NOT TODAY)…
 You need to properly configure the computer to use the new connection.
 Use the Windows XP Internet Connection Wizard to do this:
 First, go to START…
 Then: Programs > Accessories > Communication > New Connection Wizard
 Select the type of service, and let the Wizard guide you from there…
 Universal Resource Locator
 Before discussing Netscape, lets first discuss URLs…
 Which we will need to use to visit web resources.
 A Universal Resource Locator (URL) is a ‘Web Address’
 It is composed of 4 elements…

 Scheme: the scheme or ‘protocol’ for data transfer.

 The URL above (http://) indicates HyperText Transfer Protocol:
 Used to access web-pages and web resources (the most common).
 Other schemes are also used, such as File Transfer Protocol:
 ftp://ftp.site.com/path/prog.exe
 Older, but still popular protocol used for downloading files.
 Server: The name of the machine holding the file sought.
 Path: The ‘path’ to the information, on the server (within the host computer).
 File: The actual file name of the resource (*.html)
Netscape: Moving to a Known Page
 To open Netscape:
 First, go to START…
 Then: All Programs > Netscape 7.2
 Netscape will open automatically to the user-set ‘Home’ page
 We will see how to change this later…
 For now, lets move to a known page:
 Go to Netscape’s LOCATION BAR…

 You may go to any known web-page by typing the URL here

 Now, type in the APU homepage’s URL (English Version)
 As shown…This will take us to the APU web-site.
 This is called ‘loading’ the page into the browser.
Following Hyperlinks
 The following page should have loaded…

 Most web-pages contain Hyperlinks

 Note: When above a link, the pointer changes to a ‘pointing
finger’.
 Hyperlinks may reference:
 other web-pages, email addresses, and files.
 When the hyperlink references another Web-page…
 it allows an easy, direct move to the page.
 For instance…to move to the APU Japanese page:
 <click> the hyperlink indicated above (‘ 日本語 ’ ).
Retracing your steps
 You may go back to the last page you visited…
 By <clicking> the ‘Back’ arrow:
 To go either back or forward 1 page,
 Just <click> the corresponding arrow.
 To go back or forward more than 1 page:
 <click> the small triangle on the back/forward buttons…
 A list of recently-visited pages will show (<click> the page you want)

 To see a list of recently-typed URLs…

 <Click> the arrow to the right of the Location Bar.
Stopping or Reloading
 If a web-page is taking too long to load…
 You may change your mind, and decide not to view the page.
 To do this, just <click> the ‘Stop’ button.

 Sometimes a page will change, after you visit…

 However, the changes may not update automatically…
 Example: real-time game scores.
 To check, just ‘Refresh’ the current page.
 <click> the ‘Reload’ button.
 This reloads the page…including all changes.
 Adding Bookmarks
 To bookmark a page, to allow quick access later…
 Go to the bookmarks menu, on the main menubar,
 Then, <click> ‘bookmark this page’.
 The page will be added to the
list, below.

 To visit a bookmarked page:

 Just <click> the desired bookmark
 Or enter a bookmark folder,
 Then <click> the desired bookmark
to visit the page.

 To manage your bookmarks...

 Delete, rename, file, etc.
 double-click ‘Manage Bookmarks’
 This calls up the bookmark manager (next page)
 The Bookmark Manager
 For simple bookmark management…
 Examples: Delete, Rename, Move
 Select the bookmark to be managed, by single-clicking
 Then click the desired change on the toolbar.
 Shown below: Click Delete to delete the selected bookmark.

 Complex bookmark management also rather simple:

 To make a new bookmark folder (Not Shown…Try it!):
 Click New folder (left side of the toolbar)...and then select a name.
 Then move a bookmark to the new folder…
 Using Move from the Toolbar
 …and selecting the new folder as the Destination Folder.
 Searching the Web (1)
 Method 1: Searching using the Location Bar.
 First, select current text by double-clicking in the Location bar.
 Next, type in a few Key-words (Example: ‘Scholarship’ + ‘APU’).
 Finally, press Search.

 Search results appear in the main window:

 Searching the Web (2)
 Method 2: Searching using the Keyword Search Bar.
 Similar to search using the Location Bar...but more convenient.
 Just type in a few Key-words (Example: ‘Scholarship’ + ‘APU’)…
 And press Enter (keyboard).
 This goes automatically to Netscape’s ‘Net Search’ page.

 Search results still appear in the main window (no change):

 Searching the Web (3)
 Method 3: Searching using the Side Bar.
 Click the ‘Search’ tab in ‘My Side Bar’ (see left).
 Type in a few Key-words in the resulting bar
 (Example: ‘Scholarship’ + ‘APU’)…
 Note: Now, you can Choose the Search Engine (here, Netscape)
 Click ‘Search’.
 Search results now appear in both the browser and sidebar windows:
 Tabbed Browsing
 You may open two or more browser windows, as shown:
 This allows you to switch back and forth between searches…
 Just by clicking the window tabs.
 Opening the first new ‘tab’ also opens the ‘tab bar’
 More tabs can be opened, using the New Tab button.
 New tabs can be closed using the tab bar’s ‘X’ button.
 To use a new Tabbed window to search…
 Just type keywords in the Location Bar, and click Search.
 Character Encoding (Manual Setting)
 Sometimes, Character-set problems can occur…
 Example: Viewing web-pages with Japanese characters
 If the Default Character Encoding is not set (see ‘Customization’).
 You may turn on Auto-detect:
 Go to: View > Character Encoding > Auto-detect > Japanese (etc)
 Or select a character set manually (yourself):
 for Japanese pages, Shift_JIS, as shown.
 Searching Within a Page
 Go to: Edit > Find In This Page (click)
 The ‘Find in the Page’ Dialog then appears (shown at right)
 Next: enter the text for search in the ‘Find text’ box (Ex: ‘Japan’).
 Then press ‘Find’:
 The First instance of the searched-for word will be highlighted (blue box).
 Each time you press find…
 the Next instance of the word will be highlighted.
 Saving Images from a Site
 To save an image from a web-site:
 First right-click on the image…
 This calls up a context menu, which will appear (shown below).
 Select ‘Save Image As…’ by clicking (normal, left-click).

 A ‘Save Image’ Dialogbox will then appear…

 Choose the File Name, Location for Save, and File type:
 Just follow the instructions to save.
 The Help Menu
 Netscape Help is available:
 First, click Help, on the Main Menu:
 Then click ‘Help and Support Center’, on the Help Menu.
 The ‘Help Dialog’ is then displayed.
 Tabs in the Dialog sidebar provide several types of help:
 By glossary, index, or search (shown).
 Downloading Files
 When a clicked hyperlink references a file type Netscape cannot
display…
 It prepares to download the file:
 i.e., copy it from a Web-site, to the hard drive by ‘down-loading’.
 Common downloads include:
 Files and Applications (software)
 Plug-ins (software that extend applications, such as Netscape)

 Netscape then prompts the user for information…

 Via an ‘Opening’ dialog box (shown below).
 The user must select Open or Save…
 I recommend ‘Save’…
 And Click ‘OK’
 The download then proceeds
automatically.
 The Download Manager
 The Download Manager is useful for monitoring long downloads
 And for finding and launching downloaded files.
 To open, click the Tools menu item from the browser menu…
 Select ‘Download Manager’ and click.

 The Download Manager will appear.

 It provides detailed information on down-loaded files:
 File name and location
 Progress (included estimated time remaining)
 When completed, ‘launch file’ appears…as a choice.
 You may then run the downloaded program immediately, if desired.
 I strongly recommend performing a manual virus check, first.
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
 An older, still popular download protocol is FTP:
 An FTP site has a URL with ftp:// rather than http://
 The download process is started by clicking an FTP hyperlink…

 Anonymous FTP Access:

 Netscape then sends the user’s e-mail address/name to the site.
 This is set by default as ‘anonymous’.
 If allowed, Netscape will display the ftp site’s top directory.
 You may navigate, and download, as allowed.
 Restricted FTP Access
 Some sites/files require
prior registration.
 a user name and
password.
 In this case, Netscape will
prompt you for the
information…
 Customizing Browser Settings (1)
 To customize your browser settings…
 From the main menu, select Edit > Preferences.
 The ‘Preferences’ dialog allows you to set many characteristics…
 Appearance, History, Languages, Mail Settings, etc
 Example 1: Setting your ‘Home Page’
 Enter a URL in the window (click OK).
 This page is accessed at startup.
 Or anytime, by clicking
the ‘Home’ button.
 Customizing Browser Settings (2)
 Example 2: To view web pages in multiple languages…
 Set language preferences by opening ‘Preferences’:
 Then, go to: Navigator > Languages
 Your current languages for Web pages will appear.
 Add languages to view with the ‘Add’ button.
 You can also change language order by selecting and moving (try it).
 You can also set the Default Character Encoding:
 At the bottom…
 Used to declare an often-viewed Non-
English character set.
 Click OK when finished.

 Other Browser Settings:

 Please look over the other
preferences that can be set.
 Electronic Mail (e-mail)
 ISP’s issue email addresses in the form:
 username@domainName (i.e., jarose@apu.ac.jp)
 Many email programs are available:
 Eudora, Microsoft Outlook, etc…
 Users are required to configure (set) the programs. You must
specify…
 Server Name.
 Method of Server Access:
 Post Office Protocol (POP)
 Email stored on a remote server, then transferred to the user on access.
 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
 Method for Sending Messages:
 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
 Many free email services are also available:
 Hotmail (www.hotmail.com)
 Yahoo! Mail, etc.
 E-Mail (cont.)
 A mail hyperlink (URL) has the form:
 mailto:user@account
 ‘user@ account’ is the normal email address .
 When you click on a mail link, Netscape opens the Compose dialog:

 Just type and press send;

 Netscape then basically forwards the sent email on…
 To your usual email service (i.e., your APU account),
 Who will then send it for you.
 However, you must configure Netscape before you use this feature...
 This requires setting up information about your personal email account.
 Using Netscape’s Preference dialog box (previous slides)
 Other Web Browsers
 Many Web Browsers are in use.
 Since each uses different HTML layout engines…
 They each display pages differently.
 The most popular: Netscape and Internet Explorer.
 In this course, we will frequently use BOTH.
 English and Japanese versions.
 Some alternatives to Netscape are:
 Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE 6 and 7)
 The second most popular web browser.
 Like Netscape, hosts a very powerful set of graphic features.
 Included in your Windows XP operating system (frequent security holes).
 Mozilla Firefox
 Nice interface + Enhanced security
 Opera (www.opera.org)
 ‘fast-forward/reverse’ feature...via image-based slide shows of links
 Good security; Claims to be the fastest (image options).
 Even more light-weight is Lynx (= links)
 A text-only browser (no graphics!)
 However, it has an advantage:
 works on very simple terminals
Conclusion
 In this Lecture, we have discussed Netscape 7.2
 The most popular Internet Browser…
 Along with some related issues.

 Over the next few Lectures, we will discuss web-development with XHTML:
 EXtensible HyperText Markup Language
 Including both basic and complex techniques.
 And an Introduction to Webpage Design.

 In Lecture 3, Introduction to XHTML, we will cover some basics:

 An Introduction to XHTML
 Editing XHTML documents…
 Our first XHTML Example
 The W3C XHTML Validation Service
 Headers
 Absolute vs. Relative URL Addresses
 Linking