What Are Bookmarks?

Everyone knows what a real bookmark is - it lets you find your way back to the page you were reading the last time you put down a book. Well... if you were smart enough to put a bookmark in the page it does. Anyway, Netscape bookmarks work sort of the same way. In Netscape 1.2 you can set a virtual bookmark on the page you're currently viewing. This puts the address (URL - Uniform Resource Locator) of the page in a bookmark file on your PC. The location of the bookmark file depends on the settings of your Netscape 1.2 program, usually C:\NETSCAPE. If you chose to have Netscape set things up for you when you first installed it, that's where you'll find your bookmark file. It's called - BOOKMARK.HTM - because Netscape writes it in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) - a kind of programing language, not difficult to learn, that sets out the content, format and display characteristics of WWW pages. Your bookmark file is created and controlled by the Netscape browser, itself, so you shouldn't try to edit it yourself for now. It begins as a simple list of the marks you've set arranged in the order they were set. Netscape 1.2 has a number of features that allow you to manage your bookmarks. You can edit, rename and reorder them. You can group them into categories and create headers for them. You can organize your bookmarks just like you organize a folders in a file cabinet. Bookmark PullDown Menu To view your bookmarks place your pointer over the Bookmarks pulldown menu item at the very top of the Netscape 1.2 screen (above), use the left mouse button to click, hold and drag down until View Bookmarks... is highlighted and release the button. You're bookmarks will be displayed to you in a Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box (below). Notice that you can use the shortcut keystroke combination - CTRL+B (hold down the "control" key and tap the "B" key) to view your bookmarks. Similarly, you can set a bookmark to this WWW page by selecting Add Bookmark or by using the CTRL+A shortcut. Both shortcuts work directly from the WWW page you're viewing. In the Bookmarks PullDown Menu display (above), all the bookmarks set, and the categories created are displayed below the Add and View options and are separated from them by a double horizontal line. In the case above, there is only one category - HTML - and several unorganized bookmarks listed. If this were the real thing you could double-click on the bookmark to go directly to the EVIL Little Brother Excuse Generator WWW page or highlight HTML to see the bookmarks collected in that category. Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box When you choose the View Bookmarks... option from the Bookmarks pulldown menu option (above) a Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box like the one at the left will be displayed. If you've organized your bookmarks, the display will show not only all the bookmarks you've set but also any headers (categories) you've created and separators you've added. Otherwise your bookmarks will be listed according to the order in which they were created. In either case, all you need to do to go back to a page you've bookmarked is to use the left mouse button to double-click on one of the displayed bookmarks and close the dialog box by using the left mouse button to double-click on the window control bar icon at its upper left corner. When you return to the Netscape screen the browser will already be on it's way to the site you selected. It's that easy! Moving and Organizing Bookmarks All you have to do to move a bookmark up or down within the Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box (above) is to click on a bookmark with the left mouse button to highlight it, hold the mouse button down and drag it up or down. A thin line will appear to show you where the mark is being moved to in the list. Drop the mark in it's new location in the list by letting go of the left mouse button when it's in the right place. You can move a mark up or down past the margins of the portion of the list displayed by dragging it just past the top or bottom of the display area. The bookmark list will scroll up or down as your mark moves along the list. Drop it in the right place. If you goof there's no harm done. You can pick up the mark and drag it again anyplace in the list you like. If you drag a mark into an area of the list within a header it becomes part of the list displayed under that header. The indentations and connecting lines in the bookmark display show the relationships of marks, headers and separators. You can also highlight separators or headers and drag them up and down in your bookmark list. Separators will snap to the correct indentation level when you let them go. It takes a bit of practice to get this right. If you move a header all of it's contents move along with it. This is a very handy feature because it eliminates the need to move every subordinate mark to its new location. Create as many headers as you like to organize your bookmarks. The more organized you are, the easier it will be to find your way around in your own bookmarks list. It will also make the display of your bookmarks easier to follow from the Netscape screen Bookmark PullDown. All the categories you've created will be displayed as menu items. Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box PullDown Menu Along the top, the Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box also has a pulldown menu (above) with options: File - ALT+F Set preferences on how and where Netscape creates bookmarks. View your bookmarks in the Netscape browser as a page. Import another file into your current bookmark file. Save your bookmarks as another file on your PC. Edit - ALT+E Cut, copy paste and delete bookmark entries. Find specific text in the titles and URLs of your bookmarks. Item - ALT+I Go directly to the site referenced by a bookmark Set title, URL and description properties for a bookmark. Insert headers and separators and enter new bookmarks manually. Import File As Bookmarks Dialog Box The Import File As Bookmarks Dialog Box allows you to specify the name, location and type of file to append to your Netscape bookmarks file. If you have saved bookmarks to several files you can concatenate them using the Import option. The dialog box contains an entry box for the name of the file and four (4) list boxes with blinks that allow you to specify the path (Drives and Directories) and file type. The current default drive and directory listings are displayed. Generally, import files should have the .HTM format type. The Import option appends the selected file to the end of the Netscape bookmark file under a new header with the name of the imported file. File PullDown Menu Place the mouse pointer over the word "File" in the Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box pulldown menu. Click using the left mouse button, hold and drag down until the option you want is highlighted. Let go of the mouse button. Note that a letter in the name of each option is underscored. This lets you know what shortcut keystroke combination can be used to active it directly from the Netscape browser screen. To use a shortcut keystroke combination hold down the key labeled Alt on your keyboard and tap the underscored letters that correspond to the option rapidly in succession. Example: To access Bookmarks Preferences from the Netscape main screen you would hold down the ALT key and tap the F and P keys in rapid succession. This would call up the Bookmarks Preferences Dialog Box. The following options are available to you from the File PullDown Menu: View in Browser - ALT+F+B Loads your bookmarks into the Netscape browser as a page. This option allows you to use the browser's simple point-and-click capability to follow your bookmarks as simple point-and-click links from your bookmarks page. Preferences... - ALT+F+P Opens up a Bookmark Preferences Dialog Box (below) which allows you to setup your preferences for adding new bookmarks. Import - ALT+F+I Allows you to append another HTML file to your current bookmark file. This is handy if you maintain several different bookmark files. Save As... - ALT+F+A Lets you save your bookmarks to a file on your PC with a different name and location from your C:\NETSCAPE\BOOKMARK.HTM default file. This is handy for making a backup of your marks or for setting them aside to start a new file. Close - ALT+F+C Closes the Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box and returns you to the Netscape Browser page screen. Bookmarks Preferences Dialog Box Boxes within boxes . . . The Bookmarks Preferences Dialog Box presents you with two option entry boxes with default values already displayed. The blinks (little down-arrows at the right of each entry box) allow you to pull down a selection list for each input box that show you all the choices available to you. The explanatory language above each entry box may seem a bit obscure. What each entry box does is outlined below. Don't forget to Apply any changes you make before you exit the Bookmarkds Preferences Dialog Box. The Add Bookmark menu command adds to: Allows you to tell Netscape exactly where in your hierarchy of bookmarks you want any new marks you set to be added. The default value displayed - Top Level of Listing - sets any new marks you make at the topmost level of your bookmark list. You can select any one of the headers you've created as the target location for new bookmarks. If I had used the blink to pull down a list of possible selections for The Add Bookmark menu command adds to: entry box I would see a display like the one at left. I can now select any one of the headers displayed as the target for any new marks I create during this Netscape session. If I select the Chefs on the WWW header then all new bookmarks I set during this session are added to the bottom of the list of marks already under that header in my bookmark file. This is very useful when you're searching the Net for new sites in a particular area. You can add new marks just to this one header. This makes it unnecessary to move new marks into the right headers later - a daunting task when your bookmarks file gets big - and it will! Use the Header for the Bookmark Menu: Allows you to tell Netscape which header you've created you'd like displayed on the Bookmarks PullDown Menu (above). The default value displayed - Entire Listing - tells Netscape to show you all bookmarks and all headers from the Bookmarks PullDown Menu on the main screen. This can become confusing if you've got a very large bookmark file with lots of headers. This feature allows you to select just that portion of your bookmark file you want displayed from the main screen using the Bookmarks PullDown Menu during a Netscape session. Example: If I had used the blink to pull down a list of possible selections for Use the Header for the Bookmark Menu: entry box I would see a display like the one at left. I can now select any one of the headers displayed as the only selection displayed from the Bookmarks PullDown Menu on the Netscape main screen. If I select the Culinary Institutes header then this becomes the only choice available to me on the Bookmarks PullDown Menu. If the bookmark file becomes large the pull down display may become confusing. This will help you to locate just that header you want to navigate from at the main Netscape screen. Edit PullDown Menu Place the mouse pointer over the word "Edit" in the Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box pulldown menu. Click using the left mouse button, hold and drag down until the option you want is highlighted. Let go of the mouse button. Note that some options are available using shortcut keystroke combinations. The following options are available to you: Cut - CTRL+X Allows you to highlight any item in the Netscape Bookmarks screen and cut it. This places a copy of what you've cut, including associated properties, in the Windows clipboard. Cutting an item causes it to be removed from the Netscape Bookmarks file. You can use the Cut function coupled with the Paste function to move a single item (bookmark, separator, header) from one location to another within the bookmark list. If you choose to cut a header or a range of items Netscape will prompt you for confirmation. Copy - CTRL+C Allows you to highlight an item or range of items in the Netscape Bookmarks list and copy them, along with all their associated properites, to the Windows clipboard. Copy is nondestructive, so it's safer than the Cut option. You can always cut items after you've copied them and pasted them. Paste - CTRL+V Allows you to paste items previously placed on the Windows clipboard either with a cut or copy option. The items will be pasted in place directly beneath the currently highlighted item. If you highlight a header the items will be pasted beneath that header. Delete - DEL Removes the highlighted items (bookmarks, separators or headers) from the Netscape Bookmarks file. Take care. Delete is destructive and can be difficult to undo. Find... - ALT+E+F Opens a Find Bookmark Dialog Box (below) which prompts you for text to find within your Netscape Bookmarks file. Find Again - ALT+E+A Finds the text string used for the previous find again and locates the next occurrence of that text in items in your Netscape Bookmarks file. Find Bookmark Dialog Box The Find Bookmark Dialog Box presents you with a simple screen (above) that prompts you for the text you wish to find within your Netscape Bookmarks. Enter the text in the entry box labeled Find What and click on the button labeled Find Next. Netscape will display the first bookmark entry it finds that contains matching text. You can find additional items that contain the text either by clicking on the Find Next button with the Find Dialog Box, or by selecting Find Again from the Edit PullDown Menu (above). Item PullDown Menu Place the mouse pointer over the word "Item" in the Netscape Bookmarks Dialog Box pulldown menu. Click using the left mouse button, hold and drag down until the option you want is highlighted. Let go of the mouse button. The following options are available to you: Go to Bookmark - ALT+I+G Netscape will load the WWW page indicated by the highlighted bookmark. Insert Bookmark - ALT+I+B This option opens the Bookmarks Properties Dialog Box (below) and prompts you for the information needed to create a new Netscape bookmark. Insert Header - ALT+I+H This option opens the Bookmarks Properties Dialog Box (below) and prompts you for the information needed to create a new Netscape header. Insert Separator - ALT+I+S This option places a new separator in the Netscape bookmarks list just below the currently highlighted item. The separator bar snaps to the appropriate level. You can move a separator if you are not satisfied with its position but getting them to snap to the topmost levels is difficult if they're not set correctly to begin with. It's best to begin a Netscape bookmark file with several unused separators and headers at the topmost level to accomodate new bookmarks . Properties... - ALT+I+P Opens the Bookmark Properties Dialog Box (directly below) and allows you to edit any information associated with the highlighted bookmark or header. Bookmark Properties Dialog Box More boxes within boxes... The Bookmark Properties Dialog Box (left) contains three entry boxes labeled Name:, Location (URL): and Description: If you have entered this dialog box with a header or bookmark already highlighted these entry boxes will already contain the information associated with the selected item. If you are adding a new header or bookmark the Name: box will contain one of the default values New Header (header) or New Item (bookmark). Note that toward the bottom of the dialog box Netscape displays the time and date the mark was set and the time and date it was last visited, where appropriate. Changing Values in Entry Boxes To change the value in any of the three entry boxes move your pointer into the box. Note that the pointer changes from an arrow to an I-beam . Align the I-beam either at the very beginning of the entry box or to the right of any text that's already there. Click and hold with the left mouse button and drag to the left or the right to highlight the entire text. When the text is highlighted whatever you type next will replace what's already there. Name: Change the information displayed in this entry box to reflect the name of the header or bookmark you wish to add, edit or set. Location (URL): Change the information displayed in this entry box to reflect the correct Uniform Resource Locator (address) associated with this bookmark. This field should be left blank for headers. Description: Use this entry box to add any information you wish to further describe the header or bookmark. Information saved in this field can be searched using the Find Bookmark feature in the Edit PullDown Menu. Think of this as a way to create an abstract and index terms for your bookmarks and headers. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments please contact: Randy D. Ralph 333 Washington Drive Clemmons, NC 27012 Email: rdralph@netstrider.com