This section on graphical elements describes what you see in the Netscape
window. Most of the tools and text fields that help you to navigate the
Internet are visible, though you have the option of hiding some tools
in order to
give more space on the screen to the content area.
On the page describing point and click navigation, you'll find a
description of each type of graphical element: colors/underlining,
status indicator,
progress bar, toolbar buttons, content/text fields, window controls,
and menus.
Subsequent pages go into more detail on how toolbar buttons,
text/content fields, and window controls work. An entire section of
pages is devoted
to menu items, including those that let you set important options and
preferences effecting the look, performance, and functionality of the
Netscape window.
You can open multiple Netscape windows to view multiple pages of
information. The
title bar of the window shows the title of currently loaded page.
Colors and underlining Colors and/or underlining highlight words in the content
area of a
page that are links for bringing new pages to your screen. Click on the
highlighted text to initiate the transfer. Only underlining is used to
highlight links on black and white monitors. When you select text in a
field,
the selection is highlighted (by default, in a different color than the
colors
used for links).
Status indicator and Progress bar The status indicator (the Mosaic Communications Corporation logo)
animates when a transfer is in
progress. The
progress bar animates to show the progress of the current operation.
The bar
shows the percentage done of document layout as a page loads and the
percentage
of kilobytes loaded as an external image loads.
Toolbar buttons Toolbar buttons activate Netscape features you'll most
commonly use.
Click on the buttons to revisit pages, reload pages, load images, open
locations, print pages, find text, and stop transfers in progress. You
can
choose to have the buttons displayed as pictures, text, or both by
setting an Images
preference in the Options menu.
Directory buttons Directory buttons bring pages with information that helps you
browse the Internet. Click on the buttons to take a guided tour,
find out what's new and cool, read answers to frequently asked
questions,
use Internet search and directory tools, and participate in newsgroups.
Content and text fields The content field displays text and any embedded images
comprising
a page. Text in the content field can be selected and copied, but new
text
cannot be entered. Other small text areas display URL information, a
status
message, and the title bar text. The location (URL) field lets you
enter the
URL of a page you wish to bring to screen.
Window controls The Netscape window has a close box, zoom box, resize box, scroll
bars, and commands that allow you to copy text.
Menus Pull-down menu items activate the same features as
toolbar buttons
plus many additional features you'll use less frequently.
Back Brings the previous page in the history list. A history list is
a reference to a hierarchy of pages you have viewed.
Forward Brings the next page in the history list. If you have used
Back
or a history menu item to bring back page B, then Forward brings
the
page ahead of B in the history list. The Forward command is only
offered after using Back or a history item.
Home Brings the Netscape home page to the screen.
Reload Brings a fresh copy of the current Netscape page to replace
the one
originally loaded. The reloaded page reflects any changes made to the
source
page from the time of the original loading.
Images Loads images into pages. Useful when Auto Load Images from
the
Options
menu is unchecked and icons are representing images.
Open Lets you enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to
bring the
specified page into the content area. Every page has a unique URL that
identifies its protocol, server, and file pathname.
Print Prints the content area of the current Netscape page.
A dialog box
lets you select printing characteristics.
Find Produces a Find dialog box that lets you specify a
word or phrase
to locate within the current Netscape page. You can specify the case
sensitivity and direction of a search. If a match is found, the text is
selected
and displayed.
Stop Halts any ongoing transfer of page information.
Window title The title bar of the page window contains the title
of the page.
Location:/Go to: The location field shows you the location of the current
page and
can be used to enter the location (the URL address) of the page you
wish to go
to next. The label of the location field reads Location: after
you bring
a page, then changes to Go to: when you enter text into the
field.
Pressing the return key brings the page specified in the Go
to:
field and changes the label back to Location:.
Content area The content area contains the current page specified
by the most
recently requested link . Vertical and horizontal scroll bars may be
present to
view pages larger than the screen area.
Status message The status message area contains text describing a page's
location
or the progress of a connection to a page. When the cursor is
positioned over
highlighted words (or an image) serving as a link to a page, the status
message
field shows the URL that will be used to bring the page to the screen.
When the
Auto Load Image option is unchecked and the cursor points over
an image,
the status message shows the alternate text for the image and, if the
image is
a link, the URL. When the cursor points over an image with active
areas, the
status messages shows the description for the active area. During
connections,
the status message field states Netscape's progress in contacting the URL
source,
loading pages, and loading inline information.
Close box Click in the close box to close the page window. On Windows and
UNIX, closing the last window exits the Netscape application.
Zoom box Click in the zoom box to toggle the size of the page
window to one
of two sizes: the full size of the screen or, if already full size, the
previous size of the window.
Resize box Hold down the mouse button in the resize box and drag to
resize the window to any size.
Scroll bars Scroll with either the vertical or horizontal scroll
bars to see different portions of a page's content area.
Copying text Hold down the mouse button in the content area and
drag to select
portions of text. Then select Copy from the File menu to
copy to the clipboard.Alternatively, you can select text by clicking
once in
the content area to position the selection marker (a horizontal bar),
then
hold down the shift key and click a second time with the cursor
pointing to another position. The text between the selection marker and
the cursor
position will be selected.