Congratulations! The PipeLine+ software is installed, and you are ready to connect to MindSpring. Before you connect, take just a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the PipeLine+ Access Panel.
From the MindSpring Program Group box, double-click the MindSpring icon to open the PipeLine+ Access Panel.
Figure 1: PipeLine+ Access Panel for Windows
The following table will acquaint you with the buttons, icons, and information areas on the Access Panel:
Buttons, Icons, and Information Areas | Description |
Connect | Connects and disconnects from MindSpring. |
Daily Announcement | Displays a daily message to you from MindSpring when you connect. |
Help | Accesses the MindSpring-specific help files. |
Configure | Allows you to re-configure certain preferences in your PipeLine+ software. |
Acc't Info | Opens your web browser, and brings you directly to the MindSpring Account Info web page. You can determine your bandwidth and disk space usage from here. |
Display Usage Statistics | Opens your web browser, and brings you directly to the MindSpring Account Usage page. |
Status information on the bottom line | Displays:
|
The Tool Panel | |
Executes Microsoft Internet Explorer for browsing the World Wide Web. | |
Executes the Eudora Light e-mail program. | |
Executes the Free Agent newsreader for accessing Usenet and newsgroups. | |
Executes mIRC for accessing Internet Relay Chat. | |
Executes WS_FTP for downloading or uploading files. | |
Opens a search engine for the WWW. | |
Executes a Web Guide for navigating the WWW. | |
Executes the MindSpring Community content via the WWW. | |
Displays the list of MindSpring's dial-in cities. | |
Executes the MindSpring Help Desk via the WWW. |
Now, you are ready to connect to MindSpring. From the PipeLine+ Access Panel, simply click the Connect button, and the following events occur:
You can now click on any of the client applications to connect to the Internet.
Note: Do not double-click the buttons on the PipeLine+ Access Panel. Double clicking these buttons is like double clicking the power button on a TV
The PipeLine+ Configuration screens are used to maintain software configuration settings, such as:
When you click the Configure button on the PipeLine+ Access Panel, the PipeLine+ Configuration tabbed screens appear. The screens are described in the following sections.