CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
 
Beginner's Guide to Netscape Composer 4 for Windows Users:

Linking to Other Locations

The essence of Web browsing is following all those links you find on the Web pages you read. Therefore, it's quite likely that you'll want your home page to link to other documents.

This section describes how to use Insert Link (on the Composition Toolbar) to link to another of your own Web pages, some other University page (such as the Cal State Northridge home page), or a page located some other place in the world. If you would like readers to be able to contact you via email, you can insert a link that includes your email address. You can also use Insert Link in combination with Insert Target to link to a different location within the same document.

Links to Web Pages Other Than Your Own

To link to another location — either on or off campus — you'll need to reference the full address of that location. This is called an absolute link. Two methods for creating an absolute link are described below.

Drag-n-Drop Link Insertion

The quickest, easiest way to insert a link to a Web location — on or off campus — is to click and drag the URL from the Netscape browser window to your Composer document window. Here's how.
  1. Make sure both your Netscape browser window and your Composer document window are open.
  2. Size the two windows so that you can see both of them on your screen.
  3. In the browser window, go to the location you want to link.
  4. To the left of the "Location:" box is a link creation icon (see Figure 1, below). Point to that icon.
  5. Then click and drag to the position in your Composer document where you want the link created. The mouse pointer will change to an arrow with a boxed link (as shown in Figure 1). 
  6. Release the mouse button to insert the link into your Composer document. The link text will be the title of the linked Web page — as displayed in the title bar of the browser window.
Note: Not all sites on the Web have descriptive titles. Therefore, you may want to change the link text after dragging and dropping the link.
 
FIGURE 1. Drag-n-Drop Link IllustrationDrag-n-drop link illustration
 
Insert Link button

Using the Insert Link Button
If you prefer, you can use the Insert Link button to insert a link.
  • First (if it's not already open) open your Web page in your Netscape Composer window.
  • Next, click and drag across the text you want to link (such as "California State University, Northridge" to link to the University's home page). 
  • When the appropriate text is highlighted, click the Insert Link icon on the Composition Toolbar to display the "Link" tab of the "Character Properties" dialog box (see Figure 2, below). The linked text will be displayed in the "Link source" section of the dialog box.
  • The insertion point should already be blinking in the "Link to a page location or local file:" text box. Type the full address of the location to be linked in the text box. 
  • Click OK to insert the link on your Web page and exit the dialog box.
 
 
FIGURE 2. Link Tab of the Character Properties Dialog BoxLink Tab of the Character Properties Dialog Box
 
 

Links to Your Own Web Pages

To link to a local file (i.e., another of your own Web page files) it is not necessary to reference the full address of the location to be linked. Only the file name is required. This is called a relative link. When someone views your Web page and clicks on a link and that link is a filename (rather than a full address), the browser will look in the same location as the current page to locate the referenced file. 

To insert a relative link, complete the six steps outlined below.
 
Note: These steps assume that your Composer document files are saved in the same folder on your computer and that you will publish them to the same folder on the CSUN Web server.

  1. In your Web page document click and drag across the text you want to link.
  2. Click the Insert Link icon on the Composition Toolbar to display the Link tab of the "Character Properties" dialog box. 
  3. The insertion point should already be blinking in the "Link to a page location or local file:" text box. Click the Choose File button.
  4. Locate and select (click on) the desired file.
  5. Click the Open button. You'll be returned to the "Character Properties" dialog box, and the name of the file you selected will be displayed in the "Link to a page location or local file:" text box.
  6. Click OK to insert the link on your Web page and exit the dialog box.
 
Insert Target button

Links to Locations Within a Web Page
If you create a lengthy Web page you may want to include links to target locations within your page (so that viewers don't have to scroll through the entire document to find a specific section they want to read). To create such a link, do the following.

First mark the target location. 

  1. Position the insertion point (i.e., click) at the beginning of the text you want to link to, then click the Insert Target icon on the Composition Toolbar to display the "Target Properties" dialog box (see Figure 3, below). 
 
FIGURE 3. Target Properties Dialog BoxTarget Properties Dialog Box
 
  1. In the "Enter a name for this target:" text box, type a short descriptive name.
  2. Then click the OK button. An icon will appear in your document to mark the target location (as shown in Figure 4, below).
 
 
FIGURE 4. Illustration of an Icon Marking a Target LocationIllustration of an Icon Marking a Target Location
 
Then insert a link to the target location you've marked. 
  1. Click and drag across the text to be linked (the appropriate section title in a table of contents at the beginning of the document, for example).
  2. Then click the Insert Link icon on the Composition Toolbar to display the "Link" tab of the "Character Properties" dialog box. The names of the targets you have marked will be listed in the "Character Properties" dialog box under the heading "Select a named target on current page (optional):". (See Figure 5, below.)
  3. Click the appropriate target. That name will be inserted in the "Link to a page location or local file:" box — and will be preceded by a pound sign (#). (See Figure 5, below.)
  4. Click the OK button to exit the dialog box and insert the link into your Web page.
Figure 5 (below) shows the target link information for this section of the training guide.
 
 
FIGURE 5. Character Properties Dialog Box with Target Link ShownCharacter Properties Dialog Box with Target Link Shown
 
Note: You can also link to a target in a different document. First click the Choose File button and select a file, then click the "Selected file" radio button to list the targets in the selected document. The list of targets will change to named targets in the selected file. Select from that list and click OK.
 

Email Links

If you would like readers to be able to contact you via email you can add a link which includes your email address.
  1. As for any link, start by clicking and dragging across the text to be linked (quite possibly this will be your email address!). 
  2. Click Insert Link on the Composition Toolbar to display the "Link" tab of the "Character Properties" dialog box. The insertion point should already be blinking in the "Link to a page location or local file:" text box. 
  3. Type mailto: (be sure to include the colon) followed by the appropriate email address (see example in Figure 6, below). 
  4. Click OK to exit the dialog box and insert the link on your Web page.
 
 
FIGURE 6. Character Properties Dialog Box with Email Link Shown
 
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Prepared by Gail Said Johnson, User Support Services
February 21, 2001