Classroom Web Pages with Netscape Composer

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  Topics  
  • Why make a classroom Web Page?
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  • HTML vs Editors
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  • Setting up Your Page
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  • Saving and Previewing Your Page
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  • Working with Text
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  • Inserting Images
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  • Links and Targets
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  • Tables
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  • Including an email address and update information
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      Classroom Web Pages  
  • Introduce your school or class to the world, communicate information about your curriculum, assignments etc. A good example: 
  • Blackburn High School in Australia
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  • Point to valuable resources on the Web for your students to use.
  • Bellingham Schools has curriculum pages organized by content area.
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  • Showcase student work
  • Midlink Magazine is an outstanding publication by a middle school, which also accepts articles from outside.
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    •  
      HTML VS Editors  
    HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is simply a set of "tags" that tell the browser how the page should look. It is not a programming language. Although it not difficult to learn, many people find it time-consuming and tedious. Teachers generally don't have time to publish using only HTML. Some knowledge of HTML is important if you become serious about publishing on the web, since you will no doubt need to troubleshoot your pages at some point.
    To view the HTML code on any page you come across on the Internet, Click on the Menu item View >  Page Source (Netscape) or View > Source (Explorer)
    An editor helps you write the HTML code. A WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor is a graphical editor which feels much like a word processor.  Netscape Communicator is both a browser and an HTML editor so you can view and compose web pages. The browser is called Netscape Navigator and the editor is Netscape Composer.


     
      Setting Up Your Web Page  
    Before starting, make sure you have a folder with any files and pictures you want to include in your page. Save all new files in this folder.
    1. Open the Netscape Browser
    2. Click on the composer icon (a pad and pen) on the lower right-hand corner. This opens a blank page.
    Set Page Characteristics
    3. Click on Format > Page Properties. A dialogue box opens.
    4. Choose Colors and Background tab. 
    5. To select background color, click on the background box in the Page Colors section. A color palette will appear. To select a color for your background, click on the color you want.
    6. You can also use a background image by clicking on the small white box in front of  "Use Image." You can then type in the name of the file, or choose the file by browsing.
    7. Select text colors by either accepting the Netscape default colors or preset color schemes. Or you can choose your own colors by clicking on each color box. 
    8. Click on the General tab.
    9. In the Title window type in a title for your page. This is not the title that will appear on your blank page. It appears  in the blue strip at the very top of the page and in the HTML code, and it gives information to search engines.
    10. Click OK when you are satisfied with page settings. These can be changed at any time by placing the pointer on a blank part of the page in the editor and right clicking. You will get the same Page Properties dialogue box.


     
      Saving and Previewing Your Page  
    You will probably want to see how your page will look in the browser several times before you publish it.
    1. The first time you save your page, click on  File>Save As, navigating to a folder you have set up ahead of time, nameyour page and click Save.
    2. To preview your page, click on the Save button on the toolbar to save the latest changes, and click on the Preview button. You will have two buttons on the taskbar now. One for Navigator (preview mode) and one for Composer (edit mode). 
    3. Toggle back and forth using the buttons on the taskbar. Remember to save before previewing and then click on reload each time you open Navigator from the taskbar.


     
    Working with Text  
    To  work with text we will use the formatting toolbar above, which resembles a word processing toolbar, with many of the same functions. Remember to either choose attributes before entering text, or to change already existing text, highlight it first (click on the left mouse button, hold it down-don't let go- and drag it across the text you want to highlight).
    1. Type the heading you want, then highlight the text. On the far left of the toolbar, where it says "Normal," click the down arrow and choose a heading size (1 is the largest, 6 the smallest).
    2. Choose a font by clicking on the down arrow where it says "variable width." Stick to a conventional font since you never know if the person trying to read your page has exotic fonts. Times New Roman and Arial are good choices. For fancy effects, it is best to work in a graphics program and save the text as a graphic.
    3. Change the size of your font either before entering text, or by highlighting it first. To change size, click on the down arrow next to the 12 on the formatting toolbar.
    4. To choose or change the color of your text, click on the down arrow next to the little black box.
    5. Other features available are Bold, Italic, Underline, bulleted and numbered lists and text alignment.
    6. Check spelling by placing the cursor at the beginning of your page and clicking the spelling button.


     
    Inserting Images  
    Before you start, make sure your images are in the same folder as your web page. This will make life easier. You can get images by creating them yourself, scanning them, buying them etc. There are many image sources on the Internet. Use public domain images. If you use someone else's picture, email them and ask for permission.
    1. Place your cursor where you want the image to be inserted.
    2. Click the image button on the Composer Toolbar or from the Insert menu choose Image. The Image Properties dialogue box appears.
    3. Click Choose File. The Open dialogue box appears.
    4. Locate the image file on your hard drive and click open.
    5. To resize an image, click on it. A border will appear around it, indicating you have selected it. This is equivalent to highlighting text. Position your cursor so it is in the corner. When a diagonal, two-headed arrow appears, hold the left mouse button down and drag toward the center of the picture until the desired size is achieved. This is a little tricky and you may have to do it a few times to get it right. Enlarging a picture usually gives unsatisfactory results.


     
    Links and Targets  
    Linking is what gives the World Wide Web its power. Text or images can be links to other pages, or parts of pages on the Internet.
    Links
    1. In the Composer window, highlight the text or select the image that you want to become a link.
    2. Click on the Link button on the Toolbar.
    3. Type of paste the URL of the page to which you want to link in the URL (page location or file) text box or click on Choose file to navigate a directory to a file.
    4. Click OK to close the format dialogue box and return to the Composer window.
    5. To remove a link, highlight the text or select the image with the link you are getting rid of.
    6. Click the right mouse button (keep the pointer on the highlighted link), and click Remove Link
    Targets are specific areas within a web page that can be linked to. For example each of the headings on this page is a target. If you click on "Links and Targets" in the list of topics at the top of the page, you will be transported here.
    1. First you must give the target a name. Highlight the text or image to be a target.
    2. Click on Insert > Target (or click on target button). Give the target a name. Composer will have entered the first few words of the highlighted text, which are usually appropriate names.
    3. Next go back to the file or the part of the page containing the text or image that will be the link. Highlight the text and click on the link button.
    4. Choose the file if it is on a different page. A list of targets that have already been set appears. Select the target by clicking on it then clicking OK.


     
    Working with Tables  
    Tables give you more control over the layout of your text and images.
    1. In the Composer window, click in your document where you want the table to appear.
    2. Click the Table button on the Toolbar or from menu bar choose Insert > Table. Table Dialogue box appears.
    3. In the Insert Table dialogue box, type a number of columns and a number of rows in the appropriate text boxes. You can always add more later.
    4. Set the table alignment for where you want the table to appear on the page.
    5. If you do not want a border, change the border line width to 0. Choose a higher number for a thicker line.
    6. Set the table width. Using a percent is helpful to accommodate different browsers and video settings.
    7. Uncheck "equal column widths" so that the columns will adjust to the content.
    8. Select color for your table if you want it. 
    9. Click OK
    10. To change table properties, place cursor within table and click the right mouse button. Click on Table Properties for the original menu of choices you used to set up the table. You can change any of these and click OK. 


     
     
    Email Address and Update Information  
    It is good form to include an email address for your readers to contact you. It establishes authorship and lends credibility to the site as well as interactivity. The last time your site was updated is also important information to include.
    1. Type your name, highlight it and click the link button.
    2. In the white Link to a page or location box type the following
    mailto:youremailaddress. for example, at the end of this page I have an email link. I entered.
    mailto:sschweig@nycap.rr.com
    Notice there are no spaces. Mailto is one word.

    Some more Resources for Creating a Class WebPage
     
     

    Copyright© 2000 Sylvie Schweig
    last updated 4/8/00