There are several software programs that you can use to create a web page.  One of these programs is built into the Netscape Communicator 4.0 and later versions - it's called Page Composer.  Other software programs that allow you to create web pages are Claris Home Page, AOL Press, MS Front Page, and many others.  You can now even create web pages from MS Word.  You can create a document in MS Word and save it as an html file and you have a web page.  Netscape Composer and MS Word are very similar.  These instructions are specifically for Page Composer but the principle is the same for the other programs and many of the steps are very similar, if not identical.

 To view video in your browser, select X for Explorer or N for Netscape.  BROADBAND ONLY! In Navigator, click on the page to start video.

What is a web page?	Adding a horizontal line XN
Getting started - creating a new web page XN	Creating a table XN
Creating links XN	Publishing your web page in general
Adding color to the background XN	Publishing your web page (for specific instructions)
Giving the web page a title and keywords  XN	Editing a published web page and re-publishing changes
Inserting a picture XN	Editing html code XN
Saving the web page XN	Additional help on web pages
Open an existing web page XN

 

What is a web page?

A web page is an html file.  Html stands for HyperText Markup Language.  Put simply, it's just a text file, like word processing, but it also has some codes (tags) within it so when the page is displayed on the Internet anyone can see it, no matter what kind of computer he or she has.

A web page also consists of graphic files.  Most internet graphic files are saved as either jpg or gif files.  So their file names have extensions, like house.jpg or cat.gif.

So to create a web page all you need to do is create an html file.  If you want pictures on your web page, you need some graphic files as well. Once you create an html file in one application, you can pull it into any other web authoring application.  For instance, if you create an html file in MS Word on a Mac, you can open and edit it on a PC using MS Word or Netscape Composer or any other web authoring program.  Back to Top

Open up Netscape as you normally do.  To begin using Netscape Composer and create a new web page, follow these steps:
 

1. On the menu bar along the top of Netscape, click on File.
2. On the pop down window, put your mouse over New and a window will slide out to the side.
3. Click on Blank Page from the slide out menu.  This will open up the Page Composer program for creating a web page.

Page Composer looks much like a word processing program.  You simply type in your text as you would do in any word processing program.  You can size the text, bold, underline, and italicize the text, center the text, and all the other things you can do in word processing.  Page Composer automatically puts in all the html codes for you so you don't need to even see the codes.

You would probably want to give your web page a title.  Make the title text large, maybe bold, and center the text.  You can next begin thinking of what you want on your home page.  The first page you want people to access is called your home page.  You might want your home page to be more of a menu of topics.  Visitors could click on a topic and go to another web page that you create or a web page someone else has created.
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Once you have entered your title and added some text, you might want to make a link from your home page to someone else's page or to another of your own pages.  You can make any letter, word, or phrase into a hyperlink.  A hyperlink text is text that your visitors will click on and it will send them to another web page.  You can also make a graphic or picture into a hyperlink.

To make text a hyperlink, you should:
 

1. Use your mouse to highlight the text you want to make into a hyperlink.
2. Click on Insert from the menu bar at the top of Composer.  Then click on Link.  You can take the shortcut and just click on the object that looks like a chain link and it also says Link.  This is on the tool bar at the top of the page.
3. A window box will pop up and in a space called "Link to" you should type in the name of the web page that you wish to go to.  If the web page is one that you will create, you don't need to put in the full path name.  You could just put in the page name, such as hobbies.html.  If you are linking to someone else's page, you must put in the full name, e.g., http://www.unca.edu/education.
4. Now, click on OK.

To make a graphic or picture a hyperlink, you should click on the graphic or picture to highlight it and then follow the same steps as above for making text a hyperlink.  Back to Top

Normally when you open up Netscape Composer new page, you get a white background.  But, you can make your web page background any color you wish.  To add color to your web page, you should:
 

1. Click on Format at the top menu bar.
2. From the drop down menu box, click on Page Colors and Properties.
3. A window will open that has three tabs near the top.  Click on the tab for Colors and Backgrounds.
4. You will see two circles, one has a solid dot in it.  The one with the solid dot in it says "Use viewer's browser colors."  You should click on the other circle that says "Use custom colors."
5. Click on the box next to the text "Background" just below the circle you clicked on before.
6. A box will drop down with several colors to choose from.  You can pick one of these colors or click on Other.  If you select Other, then click on the color you like, and then click OK until the boxes go away.

You might want to give your web page a title and include keywords, but you do not have to do this if you don't want to.  The page title is what shows up when someone bookmarks your web page.  So the title you give it can be whatever you want others to see when they bookmark it.  It does not have to be the actual title that is at the top of your web page.  You can include keywords and a description of your web page also.  Keywords and the description is used by search engines to find your web page.  So you can add any keywords you wish so that others might find your page when they use search engines.

Here's how you add a title and keywords:
 

1. Click on Format at the top menu bar.
2. From the drop down menu box, click on Page Colors and Properties (just like you did for adding color to the background).
3. When the window opens, click on the tab that says "General."
4. You will see several options here.  Just type in the title of your page in the Title space.
5. Type in keywords in the Keywords space.  You can put as many keywords as you like, just separate them with commas.
6. You can also type in a short description of the contents of your web page.
7. When you're done, click on OK.  Back to Top

As stated above, you can insert pictures into your web page but remember they have to be saved as a "jpg" or "gif" file.  If your graphic is not a jpg or gif file, you can import it into a paint program, such as PhotoShop, and save it as jpg or gif.  You might want to save it as gif if it is black and white or has few colors.  If it has several colors, particulary color photos, you want to save it as jpg.

You can find and save pictures from the Internet, scan your own pictures, take pictures with a digital camera, or use a CD with pictures on it.  You can also use a paint program and create your own drawings (just save them as jpg or gif).

You can save pictures on your hard drive or a floppy disk.  Here are instructions on how to insert pictures that you have saved on a disk:
 

1. Click on your web page at or near the location that you want the picture to be placed.
2. Click on Insert from the top menu bar.  A pop down menu appears and you click on Image.  You can take a short cut and just click on the Image icon from the toolbar along the top of the page.
3. A window will come up that is entitled "Image Properties."  Near the top it has a space for "image location."  Next to it is a button that says "Choose File."  Click on "Choose File."
4. Another window "Choose Image File" will pop up.  You will locate the image you want to insert.  There is a space called "look in" and the space has a little down facing arrow on the right side.  Click on the arrow and select the drive that your image is saved on.  If you saved it on a floppy disk, you would select A:.
5. Once you find the image, click on it once to highlight it, and then click OK.
6. The name of the image file will now appear in the "Image Properties" window.  You now will simply click OK on this window.

You can also size your picture.  To size it you would click on it once and then, very carefully, click on the corner of the picture when the mouse curse changes to two arrow heads.  Hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse to make the picture smaller or larger.  Back to Top

Now that you have created a web page, you will want to save it.  You can save it on your hard drive or a floppy disk.  It's a good idea to save often in case the power goes out or your computer freezes up.  You should also save it on more than one disk in case something happens to one of them you will have a backup.

To save your file, you should:
 

1. Click on File from the menu bar along the top of the screen.  From the pop down menu, click on Save. You can take the shortcut and just click on the Save icon on the toolbar at the top of the screen.
2.  A window named Save As will pop up and it has a space at the top that says "Save in."  This is the disk or folder that your file will be saved into.
3. The space has a little arrow on the right side that you can click on and then select the floppy A: or the folder on the hard drive (C:) that you want to save to.
4. Once you have selected a folder to save to, type the name of your file in the space called "File name."  If you do not give it an extension, the extension .html will be attached with your file name.  If you want your file to have an .htm extension, you will have to type in the extension.  You should always name your home page as index.html.
5. Click Save and you have now saved your web page.

Ok, you have created a web page and saved it.  Now, you can quit and come back and work on it another day.  So, when you come back to work on it, you do not start with a blank page, but you open up the page you already started.

Here's how you open an existing web page:
 

1. Click on File from the menu bar along the top of the screen.  Then from the pop down menu, click on "Open Page."
2. This will pop up a window called "Open Page."  You will see a space and next to it will be a button that says "Choose File."  Click on Choose File.
3. This opens a window labelled "Open."  This window has a field called "Look in" and it has a little arrow to the right side of it.  Click on the arrow and select the floppy A: or the C: and the folder that you saved your web page in.
4. Find your web page file (such as index.html) and click on it.  The file name should appear in the file name field.
5. Click on Open.
6. This brings back the window called "Open Page."  The name of the file should be in the top field.  You will see two circles with Composer next to one and Navigator next to the other.  Click on the circle next to Composer.  This will open your file in Composer.
7. Click on Open.

A horizontal line is a line that separates sections of a web page.  You can see horizontal lines on this web page.  They are the lines that separate the topics and they make it a little easier for the reader to distinquish between sections of a web page.

In order to create a horizontal break, you should do the following:
 

1. Move the cursor to the spot that you want the horizontal line.
2. Click on Insert at the top menu bar and then from the pop down menu, click on Horizontal Line.  Another way is to simply click on H. Line icon, which is along the top set of icons.

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Tables are useful on web pages to help you organize information for your readers.  You can create tables with various numbers of rows or columns and you can include the lines around the table or exclude them.

Here is what you do to initially create the table:
 

1. Move your cursor to the spot you want to insert the table.
2. Click on Insert at the top menu bar, then from the drop down menu, select Table, and then click on Table from the slide out menu.  Another way is to simply click on the Table icon at the top of the page.
3. A window pops up and you can put in several options.  At the top of the window, you would put in the number of rows and columns you want.
4. You can also click on the alignment (left, right, center) of the table.
5. If you want a caption for the Table, you would click on Include Caption.
6. You can choose the border line width of the table.
7. If you do not want a border line around the table, click on the border line width so that the check goes away.
8. You can select the table width next.  The default is 100% of the page.  You can change this if you wish.
9. Another option is equal column widths, which is the default.  You would click on this to make the check go away if you do not want equal column widths.
10. You can also select a background color for the table.
11. Once you make all your choices for the table, just click OK, and your table is inserted.

If you want to modify the table settings, you would:

1. Click anywhere inside the table.
2. Click on Format at the top of the menu bar.
3. From the drop down menu, click on Table Properties.
4. The Table Properties window will come up.  Make any changes and then click OK.

1. Click in a row, column, or cell you want to delete.
2. Click on Edit from the top menu bar.
3. From the drop down menu, put the cursor over Delete Table and then from the slide out menu, click on Table (this will delete the whole table), row, column, or cell.

1. Click on a row, column, or cell next to where you want to add something.
2. Click on Insert from the top menu bar.
3. Put the cursor over Table from the drop down menu and then click on row, column, or cell.

Publishing your web page means that you are ready to post your web page so that anyone can access it over the Internet.  This also means that you have to copy (or upload) your html file and corresponding jpg and gif files to the server that you want to use for hosting your web page.

You can use Netscape Composer to upload your web page files or you could use FTP software.  You must know the specific server name that you wish to upload your web page files and you need to know the specific pathname in which your files go for your account.  The pathname will be the host server's name and the subdirectories in which your specific account is located.  So if you have an Internet Service Provider (ISP) at home, you must find out from them what the server name and full pathname that you need to use to transfer your files.

Some ISPs have web pages of their own with specific instructions on how to upload your web page files.  Some ISPs have web pages from which you can upload your files straight from their web pages.

You can download FTP software from the Internet.  Do a search for FTP software and you'll find several sites from which you can download FTP software (some are free and others come with a price).

You can also use Netscape Composer to publish your web pages.  See the instructions for publishing web pages for UNCA students, faculty, and staff.  The only difference is that you do not have to do step #1 about typing in openhomepage and instead of using the ftp://bulldog.unca.edu/.... in the FTP location box, you will put ftp:// followed by the full pathname to which you tranfer your web page files to your host server.
 

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Publishing your web page means that you are ready to post your web page so that anyone can access it over the Internet.  This also means that you have to copy (or upload) your html file and corresponding jpg and gif files to the server that you want to use for hosting your web page.

Your home page must be named index.html but any other pages can be named anything you wish.  There are a few different ways to publish a web page.  

The instructions below are for Netscape 4.7.  If you use Netscape 6.x, you can edit a web page, but you cannot publish it from Netscape.  If you use Netscape 7.0, you can publish, but you will have a different screen and the process is a little different.  See Using Netscape 7.0, for specific instructions for publishing with Netscape 7.0.  First, let's look at the steps for publishing a web page to your bulldog account, if you are a student or faculty member at UNC-Asheville:

1. The first time you ever publish to your bulldog account, you have to access your bulldog account and after you sign in, you must type openhomepage at the cursor and then press the Enter key.  This opens your account to the world.  You only do this step once, then after this one time, you do not have to do it each time you publish a web page.  If you need more help and some visuals to understand how and where to enter the openhomepage command, click here.  If you are not publishing to the bulldog server, you do not need to do this step.
2. Open Netscape, and then open your html file (your web page) into Netcape Composer (see above instructions on opening an existing web page).
3. Click on File from the top menu bar, then from the drop down menu, click on Publish.  The shortcut is to simply click on the Publish icon at the top of the page.
4. A Publish window will pop up.  The page title and filename should be around put in for you.  If the filename is not there, type in the filename in the appropriate box.
5. There is a box labeled HTTP or FTP location to publish to.  In this box you would type the following if you are a faculty or staff member at UNCA:  ftp://bulldog.unca.edu/usr/users/facstaff/<username>/public_html/ (Note:  you would put your bulldog account username instead of <username>)
6. If you are a student, you would type in the FTP location box:  ftp://bulldog.unca.edu/usr/users/student/<username>/public_html/
7. NOTE:  Your personal web pages go into a directory in your account called public_html.  Once you put in this ftp location, the next time you go to the same computer, you can click on the arrow next to it and a list of previous ftp locations will be listed so you don't have to type this ftp location in every time.

8. If you are publishing to your geocities account, type in ftp://ftp.geocities.com/username/ in the FTP location box.  (See illustration.)

9. If you are publishing from a school, you would enter the ftp command string provided by your school network administrator for publishing to your school server in the FTP location box. 
10. Next, you type in your username and password (the ones you use to access your account) in the designated boxes.
11. Under Files Associated With This Page, you will see a list of all the jpg and gif files included in your web page (there will not be any listed if you do not have any, of course).  All your graphic files will be highlighted.  The first time you publish your web page you will want to transfer all your graphic files, but when you re-publish, you would want to click off the graphic files (no sense in keep sending the same files to the server when they are already there.)
12. Next, you click on OK.
13. You should then get a box that pops up and says, "Your file was uploaded successfully."  If you don't and it seems to be hung up with a box that says its trying to upload, then click on Cancel and try again.
14. That's it.  You can now close Netscape Composer and go to your web site and check it out.

Note:  You can also use various FTP software to transfer your web page files to the server.  You open up the FTP software and transfer your web page files, including your graphic files, to the public_html directory in your bulldog account.  See Using FTP Software for specific directions for using FTP software as found at UNCA.  

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Once you have put your web page up on a server for the world to see, you can easily make changes to it by using Netscape Composer.  Here's how you edit an existing online web page:

1. In the location box of Netscape, type in the URL of the web page you want to edit (or simply get to the web page you want to edit).
2. Once you see your web page on your screen, click on File from the top menu bar.
3. Click on Edit Page from the File pop down menu.
4. This action will open the web page in Netscape Composer for you.
5. Simply make all the changes you want to make and that'ts all there is to it.
6. To re-publish your changes, simply click on File from the top menu bar and then click on Publish.
7. Follow the steps on publishing a web page and you're done!

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You can edit the html code in Netscape Composer.  Remember that in Composer you don't need to know html code because the program automatically adds in the html code for you.  But there may be times that you would like to put in html code on your own.  You can add java script as well.  Java script is coding that can do special features and there are web sites from which you can copy java script and put in your own web page.  JavaScript Source in one site that provides free java scripts.  Try it out.  You might find several features that will enhance your web page.

To edit the html code in Netscape Composer, follow these steps:

1. Open your web page into Composer.
2. Click on Edit from the top menu bar.
3. Click on HTML Source from the pop down menu.  (If HTML Source is dimmed out, then save the web page first.)
4. In most cases, you will get a window that asks you for the program you want to use to edit your HTML file.  You will click on the drop down arrow in the box at the top that says "Look in."
5. You should click on the C:
6. Then double click on the folder for Windows so that Windows is now in the box that says "Look in."
7. In the Windows folder, scroll over until you see the file called Notepad.exe.  Click on Notepad.exe and then click on Open.
8. This will open your html file in Notepad.
9. You can now arrow down and type in changes.
10. If you have gone to another site and copied html code or java script, you can now paste in the code.
11. To paste, arrow to the spot you want to paste code and then use the keyboard strokes, CTRL and V, to paste the code.
12. Once you have finished, simply save your work and close the Notepad window.
13. You will get a box that says changes have been made and asks if you want to reload page to see changes and you would click Yes.

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Here are some tutorials on using Netscape Communicator Page Composer.  Go to one or more of them and you can learn as much as you have time to learn.  You can also print these out and keep a hard copy when you need it.

If you need more advanced help with creating web pages, go back to the Creating Your Own Web Pages and select several of the links.  You will find links to html coding, java scripting, finding clip art, pictures, and animation files to include in your web pages, and much more advanced help as you need it.   Back to Top
 
 

Composer	Similar to the above tuturial but also includes making links and a few other things.
Six-Step Netscape Composer Tutorial	Very useful tutorial from Montana State University
Netscaper Composer:  An Introduction	Creating and editing text, inserting links, making tables, working with graphics, and more.
Composer Tips	After going through some of the above tutorials, you should get additional tips from this site.
Composing and Editing Web Pages	This site is the most comprehensive site for using Netscape Composer.  You will find tutorials on most of the features of Composer.

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