General Preferences|Appearance

Use the General Appearance preferences panel to set:

how Netscape displays the toolbar

the window Netscape displays when you launch it and the location of your home (or startup) page

links and link styles

When you have finished setting Appearance preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Show Toolbars as:

You can specify the appearance of the Netscape toolbar (the default is Pictures).

Select	To
Pictures	Display icons with graphics and  no text
Text	Display icons with text only
Pictures and Text	Display icons with graphics and text
You can also hide the toolbar.  Display the Options menu and deselect Show Toolbar (a checkmark next to the item means it's selected).

On Startup Launch:

You can specify which window Netscape opens whenever you start it (the default is Netscape Browser).

Select	To
Netscape Browser	Start Netscape and display the Browser window (uses either Blank Page or Home Page Location)
Netscape Mail	Start Netscape and display the Mail window
Netscape News	Start Netscape and display the News window
Netscape Browser starts with:

You can specify the type of window the Browser displays (the default is Home Page Location and the location is the URL of Netscape's home page).

Select	To
Blank Page	Start the Browser with a blank page or window.
Home Page Location	Designate a certain location (URL) as your home page. Enter the location or URL in the text field (for example, http://www.myhome.html).
Links are:

Select Underlined to highlight text links in the content area with an underline. This is useful especially if you're viewing Netscape on a monochrome monitor.  Deselect this item to remove the underline on text links (a checkmark next to the item means it's selected).

The default is Underlined.

Followed Links:

You can specify whether or not the links you have visited when browsing are highlighted (the default is Expire After with links set to expire after 30 days).

For this option	Do this
Never expire	Select this to keep the links you have visited always highlighted.
Expire After__ Days	Type the number the number of days after which the links you have visited expire (are no longer highlighted). The color of a followed link reverts to the color of an unfollowed link at the time of expiration.
Expire Now	Select this to revert followed links to unfollowed links immediately.


General Preferences|Colors

Use the General Colors preferences panel to set the colors for the text, links, followed links, and backgrounds of Netscape windows. You can choose a predefined color or create a custom color for each element.

You can also choose to override other documents' colors and backgrounds.

When you have finished setting Color preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

To use the default color, leave the option unchecked. Once you select Choose Color, you see the Colors dialog box, where you can click Define Custom Color to then create a color of your own choosing.

For this option	Do this
Links (default color: blue)	Select Custom and then click Choose Color to change the highlight color of text links to pages you have not yet seen.
Followed links (default color: purple)	Select Custom and then click Choose Color  to change the highlight color of text links to pages you have already seen.
Text (default color: black)	Select Custom and then click Choose Color to change the color of ordinary text.
Background (default color: gray)	Choose Default to use the standard gray background, or choose Custom and then click Choose Color to change the background color.
Image File	Select this if you want to use an image as your background. Enter the filename and path, or click Browse to select the file location.
Always Use My Colors... Document	Check this if you wish to disallow a page's background and colors to be substituted for your background and colors. By default, the box is unchecked, permitting the background and colors transmitted with a page to be displayed.


General Preferences|Fonts

Use the General Fonts preferences panel to specify the font for a character set encoding. An encoding represents a mapping of glyphs (such as character symbols) to computer codes (such as hexadecimal digits).

You can choose to display both a proportional and fixed font for each encoding. The proportional font you specify is used as the primary type of text in the content area. Most pages display text in a proportional font.

The fixed font you specify is used as the secondary type of text in the content area. Fixed font text is used in editable fields and certain paragraphs preformatted by the author of a page.

To specify the font for any encoding:

1.	Choose the encoding name from For the Encoding: pull-down menu.

2.	At Use the Proportional Font, click Choose Font to select the proportional font to use for primary text.

3.	At Use the Fixed Font, click Choose Font to select the fixed font to use for secondary text.

4.	When you have finished setting Font preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

To set the encoding for the current document: Display the Options menu, choose Select Document Encoding, and then select the language you want.


General Preferences|Applications

Use the General Applications preferences panel to specify the folders  (or directories) in which to store the applications that support Netscape. Whereas helper applications provide a page with multimedia presentation capabilities (according to MIME type), supporting applications provide Netscape with connection and page formatting utilities.

When you have finished setting Application preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

For this option	Do this
Telnet Application	Enter the location of the Telnet application. Telnet provides the means to connect and interact with another computer using standard Internet protocols. Click Browse to select a new application location.
TN3270 Application	Enter the location of the TN3270 Application. TN3270 is used for Telnet connections to IBM mainframes. Click Browse to select a new application location.
View Source	Enter the location of a source viewer application. The source viewer application displays a page's text embedded with the HTML formatting commands. Click Browse to select a new application location.
Temporary Directory	Enter a location to store files which are used and automatically disposed of by Netscape. Before a helper application executes, Netscape temporarily stores application files onto disk. After the helper application is exited, Netscape deletes the files.


General Preferences|Helpers

Use the General Helpers preferences panel to create or reconfigure how a file's format maps to a external helper application. Netscape has the built-in capability to interpret and display several formats, including the HTML format used by HTTP servers. Helper applications are used by Netscape to interpret files that it has retrieved but is unable to read. You can designate MIME file types (a method of differentiating file formats using a suffix appended to a file name), helper applications and their associated actions.

When you display the Helpers general preferences panel, you see a scrolling text field that lists the file formats and helper applications available to Netscape.  Each line contains information about a specific application, such as:

the file type/application name

the action the helper application takes when it encounters the file

the file extension(s) associated with the file format

You can add or modify the information for each application.

Note: Choose Release Notes from the Help menu for platform-specific details and to find sites for downloading helper application software.

To reconfigure a current helper application:

1.	Select an application from the scrolling field.

2.	At File Extensions, type the file extension(s) associated with the file format (for example, txt for a text file). Separate multiple extensions with commas (for example, avi, txt, html).

You don't need to include a period (.) before the extension.

3.	Select the action the helper application executes when it encounters the file:

Select	To
View in Browser	Open the downloaded file in the content area (if Netscape supports it).
Save to Disk	Save the file to disk.
Unknown: Prompt User	Notify you for further action.
Launch the Application	Open the file with the specified application. Click Browse to select a different application.
4.	When you have finished making your changes, click OK.


To create a new helper application:

1.	Click Create New Type.

You see the Configure New MimeType dialog box.

2.	Enter the Mime type (for example, application) and subtype or technical format (for example, postscript), and click OK.

3.	At File Extensions, type the file extension(s) or suffixes associated with the file format. You don't need to add a period (.).

4. Follow steps 3-4 listed above.


General Preferences|Images

Use the General Images preferences panel to specify how Netscape displays colors and images.

When you have finished setting Image preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Choosing Colors

Choose the method you want Netscape to use when displaying colors.

Select	To
Automatic (default)	Let Netscape determine the most appropriate type of color display.
Dither	Use dithering to the color cube to most closely match your computer's available colors. Dithered images may offer a closer match to an image's intended colors, but take longer to display.
Substitute Colors	To substitute colors with the closest match in the color cube.
Display Images

Choose how Netscape displays images during transmissions.

Select	To
While Loading (default)	Display images incrementally while the image is transmitted. You have the benefit of feedback as the transmission progresses.
After Loading	Display images after the transmission is complete. On a fast network, may complete the load slightly faster.


General Preferences|Language

Use the General Language preferences panel to indicate to a server the language(s) that can be accepted by Netscape (via the Accept-Language header). For example, if you access a server that carries the UN Charter in several languages, you could download the Chinese version if you specify the Chinese language tag.

You can choose one of the built-in language codes displayed under Language/Region, or you can specify the language code and an optional regional code (where any two-letter primary-tag is an ISO 639 language abbreviation and any two-letter initial subtag is an ISO 3166 country code). For example, to specify English/British, enter "en-UK."

When you have finished setting Language preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

For this item	Do this
Language/Region	Select a language/region and then click the Add button to add it to the Accept list.
User Define	If the language/region code isn't displayed for  the language you need, or you wish to use a non-standard language tag, enter it here and then click the Down Arrow button to add it to the Accept List.


Mail and News Preferences|Appearance

Use the Mail and News Appearance preferences panel to set text styles for mail messages and news articles. If you are using Windows 95, you can also choose whether to use Netscape or Microsoft Exchange as your mail application.

When you have finished setting Appearance preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Messages and Articles are shown

Choose the type of font used to display messages and articles.

Select	To
Fixed Width Font	Display messages and articles using a fixed width font
Variable Width Font	Display messages and articles using a variable width font
Text beginning with > (quoted text) has the following characteristics

Quoted text (text preceded by the > symbol) marks information restated from a previous message or article.  You can make this text stand out even more by choosing a different text style and size.

For this option	Do this
Text Style	Select one of these styles: plain, bold, italic, or bold italic
Text Size	Select a size: plain, bigger or smaller
When receiving electronic mail (Windows 95 only)

Select either Use Netscape Client for Mail and News or  Use Exchange Client for Mail and News to specify whether to use Netscape or the Exchange application to perform mail and news functions. The default uses Netscape.


Mail and News Preferences|Composition

Use the Mail and News Composition preferences panel to set options for composing, sending, and storing mail messages.

When you have finished setting Composition preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

For this option	Do this
Send and Post	Select Allow 8-bit to accommodate the widest range of e-mail servers (U.S. and Europe). If you are using a MIME mail reader where non-ASCII characters are misinterpreted, select Mime Compliant  to enable proper character display.
Mail Messages	If you wish a copy of your mail message automatically sent to an e-mail address, type it here.
News Messages	If you wish a copy of your news message automatically sent to an e-mail address, type it here.
Mail File	If you wish a copy of your mail messages automatically stored to a disk file, type the filename here.
News File	If you wish a copy of your news messages automatically stored to a disk file, type the filename here.
Automatically quote message...	Check this to restate the original message (each line prefaced by the > symbol) in your replies.


Mail and News Preferences|Servers

Use the Mail and News Servers preferences panel to specify mail and news servers and directories, set your user name, and specify message retrieval options.

When you have finished setting Server preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Mail

For this item	Do this
Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server	Enter the host name of the server. If you do not know the name of your SMTP server, ask your service provider or system administrator.
Incoming Mail (POP) Server	Enter the host name of the server. If you do not know the name of your POP server, ask your service provider or system administrator.
POP User name	Enter your e-mail name only (the part that  precedes the @ sign). (For example, janedoe, not janedoe@netscape.com.)
Mail Directory	Enter the pathname of the folder (or directory) that contains your e-mail files.
Maximum Message Size	Select None to specify no maximum, or select Size and then enter the maximum number of kilobytes (KB)  that a message can contain. Unsent message lines remain on the server. Providing a number prevents you from receiving messages longer than you wish.
Messages are copied...	Select Removed from the server to delete messages after they're sent to you. Select Left on the server to keep messages on the host server.
Check for Mail	Select Every__minutes and then type a number to indicate how often you want to check for messages. Select Never if you want to check for messages manually.
News

For this item	Do this
News (NNTP) Server	Enter the name of the news server you use to interact with Usenet newsgroups. If you don't know the name of your news server, contact the service or administrator providing you with your Internet connection.
News RC Directory	Enter the location of the directory that holds newsgroup subscription and information files. A News RC file is maintained for each news server you connect to.
Get	Enter the maximum number of messages you want to download at a time.


Mail and News Preferences|Identity

Use the Mail and News Identity preferences panel to register your name, e-mail address, organization name, and signature file. This information accompanies each correspondence you send.

When you have finished setting Identity preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Tell us about yourself:

For this item	Do this
Your name	Enter your name.
Your e-mail	Enter your e-mail address (for example, janedoe@netscape.com).
Reply-to Address	Enter the e-mail address you want to use to receive messages.
Your Organization	Enter your company name (optional).
Signature File	Enter the filename containing the signature you want appended to your mailings and news postings (optional). Click Browse to select the file.


Mail and News Preferences|Organization

Use the Mail and News Organization preferences panel to indicate whether you want Netscape to remember your password, and to set options for threading and sorting messages and news articles.

When you have finished setting Organization preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Remember Mail Password

Check this to have Netscape remember your password so that once you've entered it, you don't have to re-enter it each time you access your e-mail.

Threading

Mail messages and news articles can be organized by threading. When you thread messages or articles, replies to a particular message or article are listed following the original. Without threading, replies are listed in the order received.

Thread Mail Messages: Select this to have Netscape thread your mail and news messages.

Thread News Messages: Select this to have Netscape thread your mail and news messages.

Sorting

You can choose to have mail and news sorted by date (most recent first), or alphabetically by subject or sender.

Sort Mail by: Choose whether to have your mail sorted by date, or subject, or sender. The default is by date.

Sort News by: Choose whether to have news articles sorted by date, subject, or sender. The default is by date.


Network Preferences|Cache

Use the Network Cache preferences panel to set options for memory and disk caches (such as size and location), or to empty both caches immediately. You can also specify how often Netscape checks the network for document revisions. By checking for revisions, Netscape knows to bring an updated page from a network server rather than a potentially stale page stored in the cache.

Tip	Netscape performs cache maintenance when you exit the application. If you find that exiting takes longer than you wish, you may be able to remedy the problem by reducing the size of the disk cache.

When you have finished setting Cache preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

For this item	Do this
Memory Cache	Specify the size in kilobytes of  the memory cache (the default is 600K). Select Clear Memory Cache Now to empty the cache immediately.
Disk Cache	Specify the size in kilobytes of the disk cache (the default is 5000K). Select Clear Disk Cache Now to empty the cache immediately.
Disk Cache Directory	Enter the disk cache location.
Verify Documents	Select Once per Session to check for page revisions only once during a session. Select Every Time to check for changes whenever you request a page (results in slower performance) Select Never to perform no verifications.


Network Preferences|Connections

Use the Network Connections preferences panel to specify the number of network connections and set the network buffer size.

When you have finished setting Connection preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Number of Connections

The text on a page and each image on a page are distinct files. To bring each of these files to your screen, Netscape must open a connection to an Internet server. Netscape can bring 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. However, this can slow down the speed of each individual connection.

At Number of Connections, specify the maximum number of network connections you want. The default is 4.

Network Buffer Size

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.

At Network Buffer Size, specify the number of kilobytes of memory you want to allot for network data transmissions. The default is 1K.


Network Preferences|Proxies

Use the Network Proxies preferences panel to specify the proxy servers and port numbers for FTP (File Transfer Protocol), Gopher, HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), Security (Secure Sockets Layer), WAIS (Wide Area Information System), and SOCKS firewall bypass software) protocols.

If you are running Netscape on an internal network from behind a firewall, you will need to ascertain from your system administrator the names and associated port numbers for the server running proxy software for each network service.

When you have finished setting Proxies preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

No Proxies

Check this item if you have a direct connection to the Internet (you do not need to configure proxies).

Manual Proxy Configuration

Check this to manually set up proxy servers and then click View.  You'll see a dialog box where you can designate the host name for each server (or numeric IP address) and port number (required).

For this item	Do this
Proxy (FTP, Gopher, HTTP, Security, WAIS); SOCKS Host	Enter the host name or numeric IP address for the proxy server. Separate multiple host names with a comma, and don't use the wildcard character (*).
Port	Enter the port number used by the proxy server.
No Proxy for	Enter one or more local domains that Netscape can access directly, thus bypassing the proxy.
Note: A proxy that runs on a host server outside a firewall cannot connect to a server inside the firewall. To bypass the firewall's restriction, you must include any internal server you're using at No Proxy for. If you use local host names without the domain name, you should list them the same way.

Automatic Proxy Configuration Location

Enter the location (URL) where Netscape can go to automatically download a proxy configuration file set up by your system administrator.


Security Preferences|General

Use the Security General preferences panel to set security alerts, and to disable/enable Java (a new programming language from Sun Microsystems).

 When you have finished setting General preferences, click OK to confirm your choices and close the dialog box, or click Cancel to disregard all changes and exit.

Disable Java

Check this to disallow use of the Java programming language with Netscape.

Security Alerts

Select one or more checkboxes to have Netscape notify you (via a notification dialog) before you encounter the following situations:

Entering a secure document space

Leaving a secure document space

Viewing a document with a mixed security status

Submitting a form with an insecure submit

Each time you view a notification dialog, you can uncheck Show This Alert Next Time within the dialog. If you deselect the dialog's check box, the corresponding checkbox in the Security panel is automatically unchecked. To have the notification dialog shown again, check the alert item in the Security panel.


Security Preferences|Site Certificates

Use the Security Site Certificates preferences panel to view, edit, or delete the site certificates issued to your server.

Site certificates identify others on the Internet to you. For example, when you submit information in a form, your site certificate allows you to know the information you send goes to the certificate owner and no one else.

You may obtain numerous site certificates. Each certificate represents a site or certificate authority. With the certificate, you can verify that the content of the certificate identifies the person(s) with whom you wish to communicate.

Note: 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.

To view or edit information about a site certificate or certificate authority:

1.	Display the Site Certificates pull-down menu to designate which types of certificates are listed: All Certificates, Site Certificates, or Certificate Authorities.

2.	Select a certificate in the list and then press Edit Certificate.

You'll see a window that displays information describing the owner of the certificate, the issuer of the certificate, and certificate identification.

3.	Choose whether or not to allow connections to sites certified by a particular certificate authority, and whether to issue warning messages before sending information to such sites.

4.	Click OK to confirm your choices (or Cancel to disregard any changes).

To delete a certificate: Select the certificate and then press Delete Certificate.


Address Book Properties

Use the Address Book Properties window to add or edit information for an individual, mailing list, or address book.

For this item	Do this
Nick Name	Enter the alias (abbreviation or shortcut) for the individual, mailing list, or address book. (Mailing lists contain aliases to individuals in your address book.)
Name	Enter the individual's name, or enter the title for a mailing list folder or address book.
E-Mail Address	Enter the e-mail address for an individual.
Description	Enter additional information or comments.


Bookmark Properties

Use the Bookmark Properties window to add or edit the name, location (URL), and description of a new or current bookmark or folder. You can also see when you last visited a bookmark, and the date and time it was added to your list.

For this item	Do this
Name	Add or edit  the folder or bookmark title
Location	Add or edit the location (URL) for bookmarks only
Description	Add or edit additional information about the folder or bookmark