Netscape Handbook: Communicating with Newsgroups
Handbook: Communicating With Newsgroups
Netscape Handbook: Contents
Sending and Receiving E-mail
Customizing your Navigator
Index
- Setting up news
- News window
- Receiving and sending news
- Managing the News window
- Exploring Usenet news
- News toolbar buttons
- News menu items
Setting up news
Just as you configured your computer to send and receive e-mail, you will need to select the appropriate Internet protocol to set up your news service.
Before you can access any newsgroup news, you need to tell the Netscape application how to make the appropriate connection to the server computer. Where your World Wide Web server uses the HTTP protocol to transport page information and your outgoing and incoming Internet mail servers use mail protocols (SMTP and POP3), your Usenet news server uses a news protocol (NNTP).
Do you know the name of your news server? If not, you will have to find out from Nevada Bell Internet, your systems administrator, or resident know-it-all. After specifying the names of these servers as preference items in the Servers panel, Netscape software lets you send and receive newsgroup postings.
Here are some of the preferences you can set in the Option|Mail and News panels.
- In the Servers panel, specify your news server name in the News (NNTP) Server field. You should specify a local news server, if available. Often, the name can be as simple as news.
- If you have already set up your e-mail account, you should see specified in the Identity panel your name, email address (the entire address including the @ symbol), and your reply-to address (if you want mail replies sent to a different address than your email address) in the designated fields. If the fields are blank, fill them in. This and other information provided in the panel establishes your identity to those who receive your news messages or e-mail responses to news items.
- In the Organization panel, specify whether you want news messages threaded; they will be threaded by default.
- In the Composition panel, specify whether you want your replies to automatically quote the original message, and whether you want a copy of your messages automatically sent to yourself, sent to another email address, or stored on a disk file.
News window
Choose the Window|News menu item to display the News window. The window has a toolbar, distinct menu items, and three panes containing news information.
The newsgroup pane is a hierarchical list of news servers, categories, and newsgroups. Note that you need to set the host name of your news (NNTP) server in the Mail and News|Servers panel before you can access Usenet news.
The outer-level (leftmost) folders in the newsgroup pane show the news servers (news hosts) you've connected to. Typically, you'll have connected to only the default news server and have only one outer-level folder.
To view the full set of available news categories and newsgroups, choose the Options|Show All Newsgroups menu item. A news category, notated by a folder icon and an asterisk in its name, contains newsgroups sharing the same prefix. Click on a category folder to display all its newsgroups.
The newsgroup pane contains the following columns:
- News Server shows the names of the news servers and newsgroups.
- The Subscribe icon shows if you are subscribed to the newsgroup. Click the icon to toggle the subscribe status.
- Unread shows the number of unread messages in the newsgroup.
- Total shows the number of read and unread messages in the newsgroup.
Your newsgroup subscription information is stored in a News file. If you have no previous News file, Netscape creates one that lists a couple of newsgroups designed for new users.
When you select a newsgroup by clicking on it, the message headings contained in the newsgroup are displayed in the message headings pane and have the following columns:
- Sender shows the name of the sender of the news message.
- The Flag icon shows if the message has been marked as noteworthy. Click the icon to toggle the flag status.
- The Read icon shows if the message has been viewed. Click the icon to toggle the read status.
- Subject shows the subject line of the message.
- Date shows the date and time the message was posted.
When you select a message heading by clicking on it, the message is displayed in the message content pane along with the header information such as Subject, Date, From, Organization, Newsgroups, and References.
The Newsgroups and References fields contain links to the newsgroup(s) containing the current message and where replies should be posted.
You can use toolbar buttons or menu items to move on to the next message or read a previous message.
You can resize each of the three panes to accommodate the mail information by positioning the cursor on the border lines between two panes (the cursor changes shape) and dragging the panes to the proportions you desire.
The News toolbar buttons and menu items offer further options for viewing, creating, sending, and storing news messages.
Receiving and sending news
The News window operates similarly to the Mail window. If you skipped the previous pages on exchanging and composing mail, you might want to go back and read these now. Like mail, you create your news messages in the Message Composition window.
People post messages (send their news) to newsgroups. Throughout the Internet, you'll find the newsgroup terms "message", "posting", and "article" used interchangeably.
Newsgroups are organized by subject; each newsgroup has a name intended to reflect the topic of discussion for its messages. The Usenet is the collection of all newsgroups; it is the Internet's multifaceted bulletin board especially designed for people to communicate news with one another on special interest topics.
The News window contains three panes: a newsgroup pane, a message header pane, and a message pane. Click on an item in the newsgroup pane to display a listing of messages in the message header pane. Click on an item in the message header field to display each message in the message pane.
When you open the News window, the set of newsgroups you have specified in the Options menu is displayed in the newsgroup pane. You can choose the Show All Newsgroups menu item to see the broadest selection of available groups. However, the number of newsgroups is so large that you might prefer to limit your newsgroup pane to subscribed newsgroups.
You can quickly access your favorite newsgroups without searching through the thousands of available groups by subscribing to newsgroups. The easiest way to subscribe to a newsgroup is to, first, display all newsgroups (choose Options|Show All Newsgroups) in the newsgroup pane, then locate each newsgroup you want ready access to and check the Subscribe check box beside the newsgroup name.
After you subscribe to your favorite newsgroups, you can choose the Options|Show Subscribed Newsgroups or Options|Show Active Newsgroups menu item so that, each time you open the News window, the newsgroup pane displays only your chosen newsgroups. Active newsgroups are subscribed newsgroups that contain new messages.
There are alternative ways to subscribe if you know a newsgroup's URL. Each of the following displays the newsgroup name in the newsgroup pane.
- Enter the newsgroup URL in the location field of the Netscape main window.
- Choose File|Add Newsgroup and type the newsgroup URL in a dialog box.
- Click on a link to a newsgroup or newsgroup message.
Managing the News window
The menu items, toolbar buttons, and clickable icons in the News window let you view and compose news messages in much the same way as you do mail messages. Here are the primary differences:
- Organizing messages: Typically, you'll organize and store your mail messages on your hard disk in folders you create. News messages, on the other hand, are already organized and stored in newsgroups on remote servers. If you want to store news messages on your hard disk, you'll need to explicitly save news messages using the File|Save As menu item. The News window does not offer a mailbox/folder facility.
- Multiple news hosts: You can have multiple news hosts (though most users only need and have one), each host supplying you with a set of newsgroups. Choose the File|Open News Host menu item to display a dialog box for specifying additional news hosts in your newsgroup pane.
- Replying to messages: The News window has a unique set of toolbar buttons that include variations on how you can reply to messages (also available through the Message menu). You can reply to news by sending a newsgroup message (Post Reply), an email message (Mail Reply), or both (Post and Mail Reply).
- Threaded messages: By default, newsgroup messages are threaded (replies are positioned adjacent to original messages). Toolbar buttons allow you to mark a thread or entire newsgroup as read. Like mail, you can click in the message header pane to change the read or flagged status of individual messages.
- Quantity and age of messages: Newsgroups often contain a large number of messages. Several commands help determine the quantity and age of messages that appear in the message header pane at a time. The default number of messages retrieved from the news server is set as a preference item in the Servers panel (maximum 3500). You can choose the File|Get More Messages menu item to display additional messages that do not exceed the maximum. From the Options menu, you can choose to Add from Newest Messages or Add from Oldest Messages to specify whether a batch of messages should begin with newer or older messages first. By default, newer messages are retrieved first.
- Viewing messages: The Options menu lets you choose whether the message heading pane should Show All Messages or Show Only Unread Messages (the default). The default choice displays limits the message heading pane to displaying only messages you have not read.
- Email addresses: Like mail, you can choose Message|Add to Address Book to insert the email address of the news message sender into your address book.
Exploring Usenet news
The URLs of Usenet news are formatted similarly, but not identically, to other pages. For example, the URL news:alt.tv.northern-exp specifies the server protocol news: and the newsgroup alt.tv.northern-exp. Unlike other Internet connections, the URL does not specify a server name and pathname with preceding slashes.
Each newsgroup has a unique name, described with words separated by periods. Some words (like alt, short for alternative, or comp, short for computers) specify categories rather than a particular newsgroup. Note that not all news servers provide access to all newsgroups.
Reading Usenet news can be as easy as reading any other Internet page: Click on a link and bring a Usenet news message to your screen. But newsgroup pages offer advantages (notably the ability to easily publish your own writing to other newsgroup readers) and disadvantages (no images, weak formatting, and limited links).
Typically, each newsgroup presents its messages along threads. A thread bundles a message with a response to the message. The grouping of a new topic with one or more responses to the topic (in indented outline form) presents messages in a topical context. A strictly chronological organization of every newsgroup contribution would create a discombobulated trail of messages less pleasant than reading Joyce in his later years.
When you subscribe to a newsgroup, the name of the newsgroup is added to a list (a News file; also called a News RC or newsrc file), maintained by the Netscape software. On Windows and UNIX, you can specify the location of your News file in the Servers panel. On Macintosh, the News file is stored in the Netscape folder within your system's Preferences folder.
The process for retrieving information from news servers has a significant difference than the process for retrieving information from World Wide Web servers. News messages are collected and automatically distributed at periodic intervals, en masse, among news servers throughout the Usenet. When you supply a URL to request newsgroup messages, your request is routed to the news server provided by your service provider, which has accumulated messages throughout the Usenet system. In contrast, when you supply a URL to request a particular Web page, your request is routed to the single Web site whose server distributes the page.
Likewise, a news message that you send goes to your service provider's news server, whereupon the message is automatically distributed at periodic intervals to other participating Usenet news servers. Other Usenet readers can then access your news message from their local news server.
This batch processing of Usenet news permits distribution efficiencies. For example, a popular Web site can get inundated with requests for pages. However, a popular newsgroup is broadly distributed by the entire network of participating news servers.
Your request for either Web pages or news messages contains some identifying information about the requesting computer. With Web pages, request information is conveyed to Web site that serves a page. With news, request information is conveyed to your provider's news server.
News toolbar buttons
- To: News
Displays the Message Composition window for creating a new news message. - To: Mail
Displays the Message Composition window for creating a new mail message. - Re: Mail
Displays the Message Composition window for replying to the current message's sender. The To field is pre-addressed. - Re: News
Displays the Message Composition window for replying to the current news message thread. - Re: Both
Displays the Message Composition window for replying to the current news message thread and replying by mail to the message's sender. - Forward
Displays the Message Composition window for forwarding the current news message as an attachment. The To field is blank. The original Subject field is prefixed with Fwd. - Previous
Displays the previous unread message in the thread. - Next
Displays the next unread message in the thread. - Thread
Marks messages in the thread as read. - Group
Marks all messages in the group as read. - Print
Prints the currently selected message in the message heading field. - Stop
Halts any ongoing transmission of messages from the news server.
News menu items
When you position the mouse over each News window pane, you can use the pop-up menu as a shortcut to several of the menu bar items listed here.
- File
New Web Browser creates a new Netscape window.
New Mail Message displays the Message Composition window for writing a new mail message.
New News Message displays the Message Composition window for writing a new news message.
Save As lets you save the current message as a file.
Open News Host prompts you to specify the news server to access and add to your news server list.
Remove News Host deletes the selected news server from your list.
Add Newsgroup lets you select a new newsgroup to add to your subscription list.
Get More Messages lets you retrieve an additional group of news messages.
Send Mail in Outbox (UNIX only) connects to the mail server and sends any outgoing messages you have stored.
Page Setup displays the standard Page Setup dialog box.
Print Messages prints a selected message.
Close closes the News window.
Exit/Quit exits the Netscape application. - Edit
Undo/Redo reverses the last action.
Cut removes the current selection and places a copy on the clipboard.
Copy places a copy of the current selection on the clipboard.
Paste puts a copy of the contents of the clipboard at the position of the selection marker.
Select Thread selects all messages in the current thread.
Select Flagged Messages selects messages in the current thread that are designated in the message headings pane.
Select All Messages selects all messages in all threads.
Find searches for text in the current message.
Find Again searches for the same text as the previous search.
Cancel Message removes the selected message you've sent to the newsgroup. - View
Sort lets you arrange the position of messages in the message heading field according to Date, Subject, Sender, or Message Number and can specify Ascending order. Choose Again to sort again. Choose Thread Messages to sort messages so that messages and their responses are grouped together.
Unscramble (ROT-13) lets you decode a certain type of message in which the sender has shifted the message's characters.
Load Images displays the images of the current message if they have not been automatically loaded.
Refresh redraws the current message.
Reload brings the message from the server again.
Document Source produces a View Source window showing the current page in HTML format.
Attachments Inline, when checked, lets you to view a page attachment as part of the message. If the sender has included an HTML page as an attachment, the formatted page is appended to the message body.
Attachments as Links, when checked, lets you to access a page attachment using a link. If the sender has included an HTML page as an attachment, a link to the formatted page is appended to the message body. Clicking on the link displays the page in the message content pane. - Message
Post Reply displays the Message Composition window for writing a response with the Send To field pre-addressed to the newsgroup of the previous message.
Post and Mail Reply displays the Message Composition window for writing a response to the current message thread and replying to the message's sender.
Mail Reply displays the Message Composition window for replying to the current message's sender. The To field is pre-addressed.
Forward displays the Message Composition window for forwarding the current news message as an attachment. The To field is blank. The original Subject field is prefixed with Fwd.
Forward Quoted displays the Message Composition window for sending the current message as quoted text in the content area.
Mark as Read designates that the current message has been read.
Mark as Unread designates that the current message has not been read.
Mark Thread Read designates in the message headings field that the messages in the current thread have been read.
Mark Newsgroup Read designates in the message headings field that the messages in the current newsgroup have been read.
Flag Message distinguishes the current message with a small icon in the flag column of the message headings field.
Unflag Message removes the current message's distinguishing icon.
Add to Address Book creates an address book entry of the sender of the current message. - Go
Next Message displays the next listed message in the message content pane.
Previous Message displays the previous message.
First Unread displays the first unread message.
Next Unread displays the next unread message.
Previous Unreaddisplays the previous unread message.
First Flagged displays the first marked message.
Next Flagged displays the next marked message.
Previous Flagged displays the previous marked message.
Stop Loading halts any ongoing transmission of messages from the news server. - Options
Show Subscribed Newsgroups, when checked, displays only newsgroups in your subscription list.
Show Active Newsgroups, when checked, displays only subscribed newsgroups with new messages.
Show All Newsgroups, when checked, displays all available newsgroups from your news server.
Show New Newsgroups, when checked, displays only newsgroups new since you previously connected to the news server.
Show All Messages, when checked, displays all messages of the selected newsgroup.
Show Only Unread Messages, when checked, displays only unread messages.
Show All Headers, when checked, displays full header information including Return Path, Received, Message ID, and Content Type. When unchecked, the message pane displays only the basic address fields.
Add from Newest Messages, when checked, displays the most recent messages first.
Add from Oldest Messages, when checked, displays the oldest messages first.
Document Encoding lets you select which character set encoding a document uses when document encoding is either not specified or unavailable.
Save Options preserves any changes made to your menu settings for subsequent sessions (excluding the preferences panel items, which are saved by pressing OK). - Window
This menu lets you switch among Netscape's primary or currently open windows. - Help
This menu contains the same items as Netscape's main window.
Netscape Handbook: Contents
Sending and Receiving E-mail
Customizing your Navigator
Index
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