NS Comm. location field Deletion

[rjtiess at juno.com]

The prefs.js file (located in the USERS subdirectory) can be edited.
What I did at our site was fill all the history URLs with pointers to
our public web pages.  I then went into DOS and changed the
attribute of the prefs.js file with

    attrib +r prefs.js

which makes the prefs file read-only, essentially locking the
patron into the preferences as they currently are (hopefully
as you want them).  While in there, I was able to adjust
other parameters, such as

    user_pref("browser.download_directory", "C:\\temp\\");
and
    user_pref("browser.window_rect", "0,0,640,480");
and
    user_pref("browser.bookmark_window_rect", "0,0,640,480");

If your display is set to 800x600, you should be able to change
that.

I would suggest making a backup of this file before attempting
to edit it.  Keep in mind prefs.js only initializes the settings
for Netscape.  Some settings, such as screen size, can still be
changed mid-session.  However, the history URLs will remain
locked to whatever you set them to, which has proved a great
benefit.

Also, here's another solution I've used for some time now,
one that appears to work with all Netscape Communicator
versions (4.0, 4.04, 4.05):

I went into the USERS directory, edited NETSCAPE.HST
in DOS EDIT--essentially, erasing all the lines and simply
pressing return a few times as to have something to save in
the file.  Then I saved it and changed its attribute to
read-only.  This has eliminated URL HISTORY (CTRL+H)
altogether.  To fully preserve a paton's privacy, I suggest
urging patrons to exit Netscape after they're done, so as to
eliminate the possibility of anyone clicking BACK and
going perhaps where they should not.

Hope this helps.

Robert J. Tiess
Middletown Thrall Library
rjtiess at juno.com
http://www.thrall.org

On Thu, 23 Apr 1998 08:12:50 -0700 HIS <his at virtuallibrarian.com> writes:
>Hi,
>
>We're running Communicator 4, on Windows '95 machines.
>Due to the great posts here in Web4Lib I've been able to delete
>out cache and .hst files from our machines.  
>
>I need to be able to delete the "Location Field Popup Menu" of the 
>URLs it stores there.
>
>According to Netscape 
>(http://help.netscape.com/kb/client/961024-3.html)the
>location field popup urls are commonly stored in
>c:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\<name>\prefs.js
>
>Sure enough when I opened prefs.js in a textpad there were my urls.
>Example follows:
>user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_1", "www.yahoo.com/");
>user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_10", "www.clbooks.com/");
>user_pref("browser.url_history.URL_11", "www.dejanews.com/");
>
>However there are all the other preferences in that folder as well, so
>deleting the entire file in the bootup process does not seem like an 
>option.
>
>Does anyone know how to delete the popup menu at the start of each 
>session?
> Any help is appreciated.
>
>Thanks.
>Cynthia Hetherington
>Englewood Public Library, NJ
>
>
>

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