[WEB4LIB] Re: Netscape Composer

[Bob Duncan]

At 09:39 AM 5/5/99, Andrew Mutch wrote:
>I would guess that this application isn't using the mail function internal to
>Netscape but instead is using something on their end to mail the results to a
>users account.
>. . .
>My experience has been that the stand-alone version of Netscape saves
>staff an enormous amount of time because it eliminates all the problems
caused
>by people using Netscape's mail to send and view mail.
	In response to Mary Platt's:
>> Thanks for all the good ideas for how to deal the problem of students using
>> netscape composer to write papers in the library.  Maybe I am overlooking
>> something very obvious,  but if we use just Netscape Navigator,  there will
>> be no e-mail option for them.  ONe of our most heavily used services offers
>> an e-mail option that uses netscape's e-mail.. the students can e-mail the
>> results of their searching to their personal e-mail.

I think Mary is referring to the ability to "Send Page" from Netscape, not
actually compose and send email (although some students undoubtedly are
doing this too).  Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, the "Send Page"
capability is tied to the presence of Netscape's mail client, so the
standalone Navigator product does not offer this feature (at least it
doesn't on our NN4.05/Win95 machines).

A (not free) workaround to this problem is to use something like WinSelect,
where you can run Netscape Communicator, but selectively block use of
specific components.  If you lock down the Communicator menu, the "Edit
page" menu item, and the Identity preference, the "Send page" feature can
be provided without offering full email capabilities, Composer, etc.  (I
know it's not perfect -- users can still send email one they realize that
"Send page" just brings up a mail composition window, but they can't check
mail, alter the Identity, etc.)

Bob Duncan

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
  Robert E. Duncan
  Systems Librarian
  David Bishop Skillman Library
  Lafayette College
  Easton, PA 18042
  610-330-5156
  duncanr at lafayette.edu
  http://www.library.lafayette.edu/