Before you can update your home page from home, or from your school, you must download Netscape Gold or Netscape Communicator, which is the latest version of Netscape.  Both are available from Netscape's web site without charge.

The Communicator has several features that are not found in Netscape Gold.  You can, for example, put pictures on your home page using copy and paste, instead of saving the image and then inserting it, and you can let the program check your home page for spelling errors and typos.  The Communicator also includes an Internet phone (with voice mail) that can be used to speak to people anywhere in the world without any long distance charges to your phone (0 cents/minute to anyone in the world, anywhere, any time-as long as they also have the Communicator.)  I encourage you to choose the Communicator if you are quick at figuring out how new software works, but if you are a conservative user, choose Netscape Navigator Gold.  The Communicator's control menus and buttons look different from the ones in Gold.

The Netscape Download Site is currently at http://home.netscape.com/comprod/mirror/client_download.html If that does not work (they sometimes move the site), just go to Netscape's home page at http://home.netscape.com/ and look for a button that says "Download Software".  It is usually at the bottom of their page.

When you get to the Download Site you must choose a product (either Communicator or Navigator Gold), specify which operating system is running on your computer, and choose a language.  Netscape may require you to submit your name and e-mail address, and you should not be afraid to do that-they are not going to bother you even if they get your e-mail address.

Downloading Netscape will take some time.  On a 14,400 modem you should expect up to four hours, less if you have a faster connection.  The size of the file you are going to download can go up to 13 MB if you choose Communicator with all possible options.

The file you download is not the actual Netscape file you are eventually going to use, but a compact version that has been created to minimize download time (you will not believe that when you have waited four hours while your computer downloads the file, but it is actually true).  That means that before you can run Netscape you must unpack this compact file.  This is done by simply double clicking on the file's icon (in Windows 95) or by running the file (in Windows 3.x) from the file manager.  The file will self extract, and the setup process will begin.  During the setup process, Netscape will copy your bookmarks and other user preferences from your old Netscape, so your new browser will be personalized from the beginning.

When the setup is complete, you are ready to update your page from home or from your school.  Just follow the directions below:

Go to your home page by entering the URL in the Location window. Your page is at http://education.indiana.edu/~username

Press the Edit button to edit your page.  The button is the one with a picture of a pencil.

When you have pressed the Edit button, Netscape will ask you to save the page as a local file on your hard drive. Choose Save.

Next, Netscape will ask you to give the local file a name. You should choose the name index.html Please note that in the IU labs you can only write to the Work-directory on the c:-drive.  At home, you may save the file anywhere you like, but it must still be called index.html

• Now, you can edit your page. The editor is not unlike a word processor, so you should be able to figure out how to do things by thinking "how would I do it in a word processor?" Just keep trying!

When you are ready to publish your newly edited page, press the Publish button.

When you have pressed the Publish button, you get the dialog box on the right. Here, you must enter the location of your page, and your password. You can use the picture to help you. Your location is  ftp://education.indiana.edu/home/username/www/  Please note that the location name you use at home is not the same as you used in the IU lab.  The name you used in the lab is just the "local name" that takes you to the location from a computer connected to the IU network, whereas the one you use at home is a "global name" that takes you to the location from any network in the world.  Click on the OK button. Netscape will tell you if it has been successful in uploading the page. It is also a good idea to go to the page in the browser and reload. That way you make sure that the new page is available to everyone.

Created by Gudmundur Birgisson, June 16 1997 for the Area 10 Mathematics and Technology Project