Before covering tips for the Web, here is a tip for the class LISTSERV that will help you get on the LISTSERV or off. This is the letter welcoming newcomers to the LISTSERV.

Since the Web is relatively new and fairly technical to many visitors, these help pages are intended for classmates who want help viewing these Web pages or creating proposed content. (Below are several links which will take you to pertinent paragraphs on this page which provide different areas of technical support and descriptions as to how this Web site works.) This is sort of a Frequently Asked Questions area. You needn't read beyond this unless you think you need help with technical details or want to optimize your computer settings. The intent is to maximize your viewing pleasure through informative tips on such things as browser preference settings, image formats, and other computer/Internet technical subjects.

We're glad to have you aboard. Try any of these: 

1. Better Searches
2. Best Computer Settings
3. Image Preparation
4. FTP
5. File Types
6. Hints
7. Cookie Management
   

• IMAGE PREPARATION: What do I have to do to prepare a picture so that others can enjoy it? If you really dig into that question you'll want the answers to these more technical questions:

• How much can I compress a picture before it starts losing quality? What do all of these JPEG settings do? What size palette should I use? What is dithering?
• With the web page, COMPARE , you can get a feeling for the answers to these questions without wasting a heck of a lot of time experimenting on your own. At the bottom of the presentation you will find some useful thumb rules.

• FTP: What do I have to do to see what files are available on the USNA 55 Web site? And can I upload files to that site and download files from that site? Click here to view that page.

• FILE TYPES: When you go to download a file, it helps to understand file extensions-the last few letters after the final period, or "dot," such as the txt in readme.txt. File extensions are very useful. They can tell you:

• whether a file is ASCII (text only) or binary. A binary file is everything that's not text, for example, programs, word-processing documents, image and video files, and so on.
• whether a binary file is a sound or image or video file, or something else
• what "platform" the file will work on--Macintosh or Windows or Unix, or something else
• whether the file is "compressed" or "zipped" up with a program such as StuffIt or PKZip, so that you would have to unzip or decompress it in order to use it. Files are compressed to reduce their size and allow for faster download times; they're zipped with other files when you want to send several files at the same time
• whether the file has been encoded with one of the Internet-standard encoding formats. Encoding is a mechanism that converts a binary file into an ASCII file to simplify transmission across platforms. Common encoding mechanisms include MIME and BinHex.

Some sound files play from the server (streaming). RA and MID are examples. Others require download first and then they will play using an application on your computer. WAV is an example.
 
 

HINTS & TIPS:

1. Your browser has a URL address box in which a drop down menu stores your latest viewed pages. You can use this to jump to a prior page skipping several pages you'd otherwise pass through using the browser BACK button.
2. Your browser's BACK button will always return you to the prior page.
3. Hyper Links -- If you click on any of the blue or red underlined text on any pages you will be taken to a new location:
1. sometimes to another key paragraph on the same page
2. or to another page within the '55 Web site
3. or to an entirely different Web site, such as the USNA Alumni Home Page
4. Look for blue  or purple buttons on some pages, marked "Return to Top of Page" or "Return to Home Page" (the MAIN MENU). Also, click the MAIN MENU button  which can be found on several pages to return to the USNA 55 MAIN MENU.

     Browser hints:
 

• You can drag and drop the separator between left and right frames in the MAIN MENU for possible better viewing of right frame
• Open your browser window to full size for best viewing and if scroll bars still get in the way, try eliminating some of the tool bars at the top of the browser or at least use smaller icons on the tool bar or text only. If scroll bars are still a problem when viewing in right frame, click the right mouse button anywhere in the right frame and select "Open Frame in New Window" to open that page in a separate large window.
• Use your browser PREFERENCES to set the font, graphics and other appearance features. For example, you may want to view the type style as ARIAL and in a larger size font for readability. If images appear to ghost in the AOL browser, try turning off the compressed graphics.
• Frequently click the browser RELOAD/REFRESH button if you have reason to believe the current page has been updated and you are not viewing the latest version. Your browser loads pages first from the cache on your computer hard drive and may load an old page that you viewed weeks ago. The browsers are not infallible and they often miss the fact that a newer version is on the web site. Click the right mouse button anywhere in the right frame to refresh only that panel if you have reason to believe it is not a current page.
• Here is a link to an email on browser variations including Netscape and NeoPlanet.

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