<< Netscape Handbook: Contents
<- Primary Menu Items
-> Questions and Answers
>> Index
The settings in this panel affect how Netscape looks upon startup. You can return to this panel at any time to further personalize the Netscape application.
You can customize the toolbar look with the Toolbar radio buttons: Pictures, Text, or Pictures and Text. The default is Pictures and Text. On Macintosh and UNIX, a Show Tooltips check box allows the display of textual tips when you cursor remains positioned over a toolbar button.
The Startup area of this panel lets you decide which window is your launch window when running Netscape. Choose from Netscape Browser, Netscape Mail, or Netscape News. The default is Netscape Browser.
Blank Page and Home Page Location let you determine the first page to appear when starting Netscape. You can enter the location (URL) you want as your startup page in the text field for Home Page Location. By default, this field contains the URL of the Netscape application's home page. Choosing Blank Page will display a blank page when you launch Netscape.
Under Link Styles, the Underlined check box is checked by default. This causes text links in the content area to be underlined.
The Followed Links settings let you decide when a followed link (a URL that you've gone to) expires. The color of a followed link reverts to the color of an unfollowed link based on the expiration time you select. Choosing Never Expire specifies that your followed links never revert to followed links. The Expire After choice lets you determine how many days pass before followed links revert to unfollowed ones. Pressing the Expire Now button causes followed links to revert to unfollowed links immediately. The default is Expire After 9 Days.
On Macintosh, the Enable Active Scrolling check box lets you determine how the scroll bars operate. When checked, movement of the scroll bar thumb causes the content area to scroll as you drag. When unchecked, movement of the scroll bar thumb causes the content area to scroll only after the mouse button is released. The default is checked. On slower computers, scrolling performance might improve when the setting is unchecked.
Use this panel setting to specify the folder to store applications that support Netscape. These applications provide Netscape with connection and page formatting utilities. Click on the field's adjacent Browse button (not on UNIX) to identify a new application location.
By default, all Custom boxes are unchecked and default colors are used. (This preference panel is on Windows and Macintosh only.) Check any of the Custom boxes to personalize your link, text, and background colors. The Choose Color buttons (Color box on the Macintosh) in the first four settings give you reign over your palette.
If you want to use Always Use My Colors, Overriding Document, then check this box and your settings will always override another page's. By default, the box is unchecked, displaying the individual background and colors of any page you view.
On Macintosh, click in the Use utilities pattern box to use the Macintosh system utilities pattern as the background outside the content area (such as at the top of the Netscape window and in the status message area). You can set this pattern by choosing the Control Panels|Desktop Patterns desk accessory, scrolling to a pattern, holding down the Option key, and clicking on the Set Utilities Pattern button. The utilities pattern is displayed outside the content area once you restart the Netscape application.
Netscape lets you choose a character set encoding's font display and specify a document's character set encoding. An encoding represents a mapping of glyphs (such as character symbols) to computer codes (such as hexadecimal digits).
Each character set encoding from the For the Encoding pull-down menu is associated with the display of a proportional and fixed font pair. You can view or modify the association for any encoding by choosing the encoding name from the menu, then choosing items from the proportional and fixed font pull-down menus. For example, the default encoding, Latin1, is associated with the proportional font Times 12 and the fixed font Courier 10.
Most pages display text in a proportional font. The Use the Proportional Font field specifies the font of the primary type of text in the content area. Click the Choose Font button (font and font size fields are pop-up menus on Macintosh) to select an alternative font or font size display. You can make a selection for each encoding.
Fixed font text is used in editable fields and certain paragraphs preformatted by the author of a page. The Use the Fixed Font field specifies the font of the secondary type of text in the content area. Click the Choose Font button (font and font size fields are pop-up menus on Macintosh) to select an alternative font or font size display.You can make a selection for each encoding.
Choose the Help|Release Notes menu item for platform-specific details and to find sites for downloading helper application and plug-in software.
The Netscape application brings files to your computer using various server protocols such as HTTP, NNTP, SMTP, and FTP. Each protocol can support different file formats. Netscape has the built-in capability to interpret and display on your computer several formats, including the HTML format used by HTTP servers. When the Netscape application retrieves a file with a format that Netscape itself cannot read, the application attempts to use an external helper application or plug-in capable of reading the file.
The Helpers panel lets you examine and configure how a file's format maps to a helper application or plug-in. (Currently, plug-in information is displayed and editable only on Macintosh and UNIX platforms.) The display of information in the panel varies among platforms: Windows displays information in a single panel; Macintosh and UNIX use a separate dialog.
On Windows, the panel contains several fields and buttons to specify MIME file types (a method of differentiating file formats using a suffix appended to a file name), helper applications, and associated actions. A scrolling text field lists the helper applications available to the Netscape application. Each line of the text field contains information about one helper application. By clicking on a line in the text field, you can see and modify preferences for the selected helper application in the area below the scrolling field. Currently, Windows does not offer the ability to delete a helper application item.
On Macintosh and UNIX, the panel contains a scrolling text field that lists the helper applications and plug-ins available to the Netscape application. Each line of the text field contains information about one helper application or plug-in. After selecting a line in the text field, you can press the Edit, New, or Delete buttons to display a dialog with the text fields and buttons for manipulating the information associated with the selected item. For example, pressing the Edit button displays a dialog that lets you see and modify the selected item's MIME file type, suffix, and associated action to handle the file format.
The text fields and buttons allow you to configure new helper applications and plug-ins, or reconfigure current ones. (Only Macintosh and UNIX let you configure plug-ins or delete listed items.) You can add or modify information such as file extensions or actions associated with a helper application or plug-in, then click OK (or Apply) to update the contents of the scrolling field.
The Choosing Colors setting (not available on Macintosh) lets you specify how images are displayed. You can select from Automatic, Dither, or Substitute Colors. The default, Automatic, attempts to determine the most appropriate type of image display. Alternatively, you can select Dither or Substitute Colors to most closely match the computer's available colors. Dithered images may offer a closer match to an image's intended colors, but take longer to display.
Select While Loading or After Loading to display images incrementally while the image is transmitted, or all at once after the transmission. The While Loading option provides the benefit of feedback as the transmission progresses. On a fast network, the After Loading option might complete the load slightly faster. The default is While Loading.
Netscape lets you inform servers of your language priorities. (This preference panel is on Windows and Macintosh only.) When you request a page, your language priorities are sent as part of the request (in the HTTP header). Servers that have the capability to send you a page in more than one language can interpret your language priorities and respond to your request accordingly.
A language request entry consists of language code and, sometimes, a region code. For example, the code en-US represents the English language in the United States region; the code fr-CA represents the French language in the Canada region. The built-in codes are standard ISO language tags.
Many language and region codes are built in and specified in the Request Language|Region field. You also have the opportunity to specify another language and region in the User define (Others) text entry field.
To build your language priority list, select from the Language/Region, then click on the arrow keys to insert the selection into the Accept List.
The Appearance panel lets you customize font styles for display in Mail and News windows. Select Fixed Width Font or Variable Width Font to determine whether messages use a display font with fixed- or variable-width characters. A series of other radio buttons let you determine the text style, text size, and color of the quoted text. Quoted text (text preceded by the > symbol) marks information restated from a previous message. On Windows and Macintosh, the default text style is bold; on UNIX, the default is italic.
Another set of radio buttons lets you designate the layout of the three panes in the Mail and News windows. Choose Split Horizontal to align the message content pane to the right of the two split panes. Choose Split Vertical to align the message content pane below the two split panes. Choose Stack to align the message content pane below the two stacked panes (layered on top of one another).
On Windows only, you can also specify Use Netscape Client for Mail and News or Use Exchange Client for Mail and News to perform mail and news functions. Netscape is the default.
In the section for composing mail and news messages, the Allow 8-bit radio button (the default) accommodates the widest range of email servers (U.S. and Europe). If you are using a MIME mail reader where non-ASCII characters are misinterpreted, use the MIME Compliant option to enable proper character display.
In the next section of this panel, enter an email address in either the Mail Messages or News Messages fields if you want to retain a copy of mail or news messages you send. In the next section, you can also automatically store a copy of your mail or news messages to a disk file. By default, the path for the copied mail file is the path to the Sent Mail file.
Finally, select the check box Automatically quote original message when replying to restate the original message (each line prefaced by the > symbol) in your replies. By default, this box is checked. If unchecked, none of the original message is restated. Note that when replying to a message, you should delete nonrelevant lines so that your messages are not unnecessarily long.
To send email, the Netscape application must make the appropriate connection to a SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) server. To receive email, Netscape makes a connection to a POP server. Usually, the names of these servers are the same.
In the Mail section of this panel, enter the server names in the Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server and Incoming Mail (POP3) Server fields (ideally, local mail servers if available). If you do not know the name of your SMTP or POP server, ask your service provider or system administrator.
Note that your POP3 password is case sensitive. When a password is requested, use the same capitalization as when you created the password.
The News Directory text field details the location of newsgroup subscription and information files. A news file is maintained for each news server you connect to (not on Macintosh; news files are in the System Folder|Preferences|Netscape folder).
The last field on this panel, Get 100 Messages at a Time, can be replaced with a number (up to 3500) that limits how many news messages are initially transferred, in a single block, from the news server. The larger the number, the longer it takes to complete the transfer of each block of messages. Messages with more recent dates are transferred first.
In the Mail section of this panel, enter your name and email address in their respective fields so others can easily identify you and reply to your mail. You can also specify a reply-to address to get email replies at an address other than where you send mail from. This information accompanies each correspondence you send.
Mail and news messages can be organized by threading (list messages of the same topic together). If you choose to thread messages, replies to a particular message are listed following the original. By default, mail messages are not threaded and news messages are threaded. Without threading, replies are listed in the order received. You can also choose how you wish to sort mail and news.
Netscape performs cache maintenance when you exit the applications. If you find that exiting takes longer than you wish, you might remedy the problem by reducing the size of the disk cache.
If you find that pages that should be in cache are taking longer to appear than they should, make sure the Verify Documents (Check Documents on Macintosh) button is not set to Every Time. The verification requires a network connection that takes time.
Note that you can always obtain document revisions by pressing the Reload button. Netscape checks the network server and, if the page is unchanged, a copy is retrieved from the cache. If the page has changed, a copy is transmitted from the network server. If you press the Reload button while holding down the Shift key (Option key on Macintosh), Netscape always retrieves a copy from the network server without regard to the cache.
The Allow Persistent Caching of Pages Retrieved through SSL check box determines whether the pages you view using SSL security are stored in the cache. The default, unchecked, does not allow SSL pages to be cached.
The text and each image on a page are distinct files. Netscape opens a connection to an Internet server to bring each of these files to your screen. Netscape can display a page's text and multiple image files simultaneously by opening more than one connection to a server. By specifying a larger number of connections, you are specifying more simultaneous connections, which can also slow down the speed of each individual connection.
The network buffer size determines the amount of data that can be received in a network data transmission. Larger buffers mean more data, but can also saturate the computer.
Ordinarily, the Netscape application does not require proxies to interact with the network services of external sources. However, in some network configurations the connection between the Netscape application and a remote server is blocked by a firewall. Firewalls protect information in internal computer networks from external access. In doing so, firewalls might limit Netscape's ability to exchange information with external sources.
To overcome this limitation, Netscape can interact with proxy software. A proxy server sits atop a firewall and acts as a conduit, providing a specific connection for each network service protocol. If you are running Netscape on an internal network from behind a firewall, you'll need from your system administrator the names and associated port numbers for the server running proxy software for each network service. Proxy software retains the ability to communicate with external sources, yet is trusted to communicate with the internal network.
Select No Proxies, Manual Proxy Configuration, or Automatic Proxy Configuration to designate the conduit between your computer and the Internet. Users with a direct connection to the Internet should use the default, No Proxies. To customize a proxy configuration, choose the manual configuration and press the View button to display a dialog box. If you have a configuration file designed expressly for your proxy server, choose the automatic configuration and provide the file's URL in the adjacent text field.
A single computer can run multiple servers, each server connection identified with a port number. A proxy server, like an HTTP server or a FTP server, occupies a port. Typically, a connection uses standardized port numbers for each protocol (for example, HTTP = 80 and FTP = 21). However, unlike common server protocols, the proxy server has no default port. Netscape requires that for each proxy server you specify in a Proxy text field, you also specify its port number in the Port field.
The text field No Proxy for:, available when viewing the Manual Proxy Configuration dialog, lets you bypass the proxy server for one or more specified local domains. For example, if you specify
The alert check boxes determine whether you receive a notification dialog box (popup alert) when accepting a cookie (unchecked, by default) or submitting a form by email (checked, by default). (A cookie is a piece of limited, internal information transmitted between server software and the Netscape application.) The dialogs notify you before information is transmitted.
If a check box is checked, the notification dialog can be issued; otherwise, the dialog is bypassed. Each time you view a notification dialog, you can uncheck the Show This Alert Next Time check box within the dialog. If you uncheck the dialog's check box, the corresponding check box in the panel is automatically unchecked. To have the notification dialog shown again, check the alert item in the panel.
The Send Email Address for Anonymous FTP Password check box determines whether your email address is sent when you provide a password to an anonymous FTP site. The default, unchecked, does not submit your email address to the FTP site.
You can check the Enable Java check box to allow the automatic execution of Java applets. You can check the Enable JavaScript check box to allow the execution of JavaScript code embedded in a page's HTML source. By default, both settings are checked.
The ensuing security check boxes in the Security Alerts section dictate whether you receive a notification dialog box (popup alert) when entering a secure document space, leaving a secure document space, viewing a document with a mixed security status, or submitting a form with an insecure submit process.
If a check box is checked, the notification dialog can be issued; otherwise, the dialog is bypassed. Each time you view a notification dialog, you can uncheck the Show This Alert Next Time check box within the dialog. If you uncheck the dialog's check box, the corresponding check box in the Security|General panel is automatically unchecked. To have the notification dialog shown again, check the alert item in the panel.
The Enable SSL v2 and Enable SSL v3 check boxes determine whether the security features of version 2 and version 3 of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) are enabled. By default, both settings are checked. Press the Configure button to enable the various ciphers associated with each version.
A Netscape password protects your personal certificates. This is important if your computer can be physically accessed by other people or remotely accessed through a network.
Your password is needed before you visit a site requiring the use of your personal certificate. The password is not sent to the site; it simply protects you from others attempting to use the certificate information on your computer.
Your password is also needed when you obtain a new personal certificate from a certificate authority. A preference item lets you select the frequency of requests for your password.
A password is not required, however if you choose to set one, it is important to remember it. If you forget your password, you'll have to obtain new certificates.
Until you have set up a password, only a Set Password button is enabled. Pressing this button displays the Password Setup window. After you have a password, the button changes to Change Password and the other password preference items become enabled. If you have previously set up a password through the Password Wizard or other means, the Change Password button and preferences are already enabled.
Personal certificates identify you to others on the Internet. For example, when you submit information in a form, your personal certificate allows the recipient of the form to know the information came from you and no one else.
Personal certificates serve as digital identification cards, providing an electronic means of establishing your identity on the Internet in a similar way that your driver licence establishes your identity in person. A web site with a secure server requests your personal certificate and can specify a particular certficate.
Upon receiving the request, Netscape software presents you with a dialog box that displays any certificates you might have. You can respond to the request by selecting the personal certificate you wish to send to the site. A preference item lets you specify how a default certificate can be presented to sites. The certificate you choose to send identifies you to the secure server.
You may wish to obtain more than one personal certificate. Some web sites may request (and issue to you) a personal certificate for specific use with their site. You may also obtain more generic personal certificates that represent you for credit card transactions or other nonspecific, secure communications.
To obtain a new personal certificate, choose the Obtain New Certificate button. This displays a page that describes and links to the services of certificate authorities. Certificates are issued by a certificate authority, and not by Netscape Communications Corporation. The certificate authority's site should explain the type of certificates it offers and any costs involved.
A certificate is stored with your Netscape Navigator preferences. If you connect to a site from another computer or another account (using another user's files), your certificates will not be available.
The personal certificates you obtain are listed in the panel.
Site certificates identify others on the Internet to you. For example, when you submit information in a form, the site certificate allows you to know the information that you send goes to the certificate owner and no one else. Site certificates serve as digital identification cards, providing an electronic means of establishing a site's identity on the Internet in a similar way that a business licence establishes the identity of a commercial enterprise.
You can obtain numerous site certificates. Each certificate represents a site or certificate authority. With the certificate, you can verify the identity of the sites with which you wish to communicate.
When you visit a secure site, a dialog box notifies you if you do not currently have its site certificate and presents you with security information. If you respond to the dialog by choosing to accept the certificate identification information for all visits (now and in the future until the certificate expires), a certificate for the site will be added to your list of site certificates. You'll also have the opportunity to decline to visit the site, or to visit the site (accept the certificate for a single session only) without adding the certificate to your list of site certificates.
To view information about a particular site certificate or certificate authority, select the certificate in the list and press the Edit Certificate button. You'll find a certificate information dialog describing the owner of the certificate, the issuer of the certificate, the certificate serial number, validation dates, and other information.
In addition, the certificate information dialog lets you specify whether to allow connections to sites certified by this particular certificate authority and whether to issue warning messages before sending information to sites certified by this authority.
A certificate is stored with your Netscape Navigator preferences. If you connect to a site from another computer or another account (using another user's files), your certificates will not be available.
The site certificates you obtain are listed in the panel.
<< Netscape Handbook: Contents
<- Primary Menu Items
-> Questions and Answers
>> Index