Contents
 News Reader Help Locator

Introduction

What Is News Reader?

How To..

	Work with News Groups and Articles
	Customize the Look of News Reader
	Use the News Reader Toolbars
	Use the News Reader Accelerator Keys


Working With News Groups and Articles

How To..

Specify a News Resource (NEWSRC) File

Repair a NEWSRC  File

Connect to a News Server

Subscribe/Unsubscribe to/from a New News Group

Save Articles to Disk

Print Articles

Mark Articles, Threads, and Groups Read or Unread

Refresh Article Counts

See or Retrieve a New Article

Open a Thread of Related Articles

Respond to Articles


Customizing the Look of News Reader

How To..

Change News Readers View Window to See Only Contents or Article Text

Turn Off Top or Bottom Toolbars

Shift the Window Focus Between Contents Window and Article Window

Enter User Information

Set Preferences


What Is News Reader?

News Reader lets you read articles in USENET discussion groups and forums. It can build threads of articles (also called postings), which consist of an original article and any direct responses. News Reader lets you compose and send responses to articles. It also permits forwarding an article to any user via e-mail.

News Reader has the following features:

Subscribe and Unsubscribe to News Groups
Search for News Groups

Sort Articles by Thread

Reply to News Groups

Apply ROT13 Encoding/Decoding

Mark Articles Read or Unread

Refresh Article Counts

Repair a News Resource File

Save or Append a News Article to a File

Print a News Article

UUDecode a News Article

Post Articles to News Groups

Forward News Articles to E-mail Recipients

Reply to a News Articles Author

Customize News Reader Start-Up Options

Customize News Reader Behavior and Display


Connect to a News Server

To connect to a news server:

1.  Enter the name of a USENET news server into the edit box provided on the Connect to a News Server dialog box.

You must know the name or IP address of a news server. Ask your site network administrator for the name of a news server to which you should connect.

2.  Choose the check box labeled Auto Connect on Startup.

This action directs the News Reader to automatically connect to the specified news server whenever you start the News Reader.


Enter User Information

To enter or change user information:

1.  Enter your name, organization, and exact e-mail name into the edit boxes provided.

Organization information is optional, but name and e-mail name are required.


Set Preferences

How To...

Change Startup Preferences

Choose an Article Heading Display

Start/Stop the Building of Article Threads

Choose Between Horizontal and Vertical Display Layouts

Change Contents Preferences


Subscribe to a New News Group

To subscribe to a news group:

1.  Select Subscribe from the News Reader File menu, or press the Ins key.

2.  From the Subscribe dialog box, scroll through the list of news groups to select a group to which you want to subscribe.

Alternatively, you can search for an unsubscribed  news group using a variety of search criteria.

3.  Once you have selected a news group, select the Subscribe button.

4.  Choose OK to exit and subscribe, or Cancel to exit without subscribing.

To unsubscribe to a news group:

1.  In the Contents windows, highlight the name of a news group and select Unsubscribe from the News Reader File menu,  or press the Del key.

2.  Alternatively, from the Subscribe dialog box Subscribed Groups list, select a news group to which you want to unsubscribe and choose the Unsubscribe button.


Repair a NEWSRC File

If you switch between two different news servers, or think your news resource file has duplicate entries or has become damaged, you may want to repair a news resource file.  Article numbers may not be consistent from server to server.

To repair a NEWSRC (news resource) file:

1.  Select Repair NEWSRC from the News Reader File menu.

2.  On the Repair NEWSRC dialog box, select a method for rebuilding the NEWSRC file.

Select Rebuild Entire NEWSRC File to create an entirely new news resource file.

Select Save Subscribed Groups, But Erase Read Article Lists to rebuild the file without preserving the articles marked as read during the current news reader session.

Select Save Subscribed Groups, And Their Read Article Lists to rebuild the file while preserving your most recent news reading activity.

3.  Select the Repair button.


Search for Unsubscribed News Groups Containing Speicific Words or Phrases
Search for Unsubscribed News Groups Containing Specific Words or Phrases

To search for a specific word fragment, word, or phrase in a news group name:

1.  Enter any combination of letters, including complete words, in the List Unsubscribed Groups Matching: edit box, then press the Enter key.

Entering a word fragment such as the letters rec returns every news group name that contains that letter sequence, including the words correct, direct, and recovery. Your typed-in fragments are preserved for the remainder of the current news reading session and appear in the drop-down list box.

NOTE: Two drop-down choices are always available: All Unsubscribed Groups, and All New Groups.

2.  Select any groups to which you want to subscribe and choose the Subscribe button.

The selected news group gets added to your subscribe list.

3.  Choose OK to exit and subscribe to any added news groups, or choose Cancel to exit without subscribing.


Mark Articles and Threads
Mark Articles, Threads, and Groups as Read or Unread

To mark as read or unread news groups, articles, and threads:

1. Select a group, thread, or article.

2.  Choose the Mark Read  toolbar button, Catchup Group or Catchup Thread from the Edit menu, or press the c or x keys.

To mark threads, press the k or x keys.

To mark a group, thread, or article as unread:

1.  Select a group, thread, or article.

2.  Choose Mark Unread from the Edit menu, or press the Alt+X keys.


Refresh Article Counts

To retrieve the latest article counts from your news server:

1.  Select Refresh Article Counts from the File menu.

Refreshing article counts lets you update the message count of any new messages that have arrived at the news server since you started your news reading session. You can retriev these message by opening the news group.


See a New Article
See or Retrieve a New Article

To see a new article:

1.  Select an article in the Contents window by clicking on its title with your mouse.

Alternative methods include scrolling through the article list using the arrow keys and pressing Enter on any highlighted article. Also, pressing the n or Space Bar keys moves to the next article (Alt+n moves to the previous article). Press the t key to move to the next thread (or Alt+t to move to the previous thread). The blue-symboled buttons on the bottom toolbar can take you to the next or previous article.

2.	To see article text that has been encrypted, hihlight the text and choose De/Encode (ROT13) from the Edit menu.

See Also:

Encrypt/Decrypt with ROT13


Open a Thread of Related Articles

To look at the articles in a different thread:

1.  Select a thread by clicking on its title.

Alternative methods include scrolling through the threaded article list using the arrow keys and pressing Enter on any highlighted thread. Also, pressing the t key moves to the next thread or Alt+t moves to the previous thread. The blue-symboled buttons on the bottom toolbar can take you to the next/previous thread.


Respond to Articles

Post a New Article

Reply to the Entire News Group

Reply to the Author via E-mail

Forward the Article to an E-Mail Recipient


Change New Readers View Window to See Only Article Text

To look at an articles text only, without viewing the news groups list of articles:

1.  Choose Article from the View menu.

Alternatively, pressing the Ctrl+A keys selects the article viewer only. Or, you can select the [image] toolbar icon.

2.  To return to one of the other views (Contents only, or Contents and Article) use the View menu or the toolbar icons.


Turn Off Top or Bottom Toolbars

News Reader features a top and bottom toolbar.

To turn off the display of toolbars:

1.  Choose either Top Toolbar or Bottom Toolbar from the View menu.

This setting toggles between on and off. A checkmark denotes that the checked item is currently turned on for display. Choosing a checked item turns off the display of that toolbar.


Shift the Window Focus Between News Group Windows and Article Window
Shift the Window Focus Between Contents Window and Article Window

To shift the focus from the Contents window to the Article window:

1.  Move the mouse pointer into the non-active (title bar non-colored) window and click once. Or, use the Ctrl+Tab keys to move from one viewer to the other.

The title bar turns color to denote that the window is now active.


USENET

If the Internet is an information highway, then USENET is the Amazon River of esoterica. USENET is merely a collection of discussion groups or forums about specific subjects. USENET features over 4,000 such groups, which are commonly called news groups.


Post a New Article

To write an article and send it to the entire news group from the News Reader Compose dialog:

1.  Enter the name of any news group to which you want to post a message.

The Groups edit box will already list the name of any news group that is currently highlighted in the Contents window. You can add the names of other groups. Separate the names with spaces or commas.

2.  Enter a title for the message in the Subject edit box.

3.  Enter the message text in the Message edit box.

4.  (Optional) Select some or all of the text and choose the ROT13 button to encrypt message text.

Encrypting your message lets you use raw language without fear of offending an unsuspecting reader.

5.  Choose the Include button to include the contents of a file with your posting.

6.  Choose the Send button to post your message to the news group.


Reply to the Entire News Group

To write a response to an existing article and send it to the entire news group:

1.  Enter the message text in the Message edit box.

The Groups edit box will already list the name of any news group you are currently reading and the Subject edit box will contain Re: followed by the title of the original message.

2.  (Optional) Choose the ROT13 button to encrypt your message.

Encrypting your message lets you use raw language without fear of offending an unsuspecting reader.

3.  (Optional) Choose the Include button to include the contents of a file with your posting.

4.  Choose the Send button to post your message to the news group.


Reply to the Author via E-mail

To write a response to an article and send it to the author only:

1.  Enter the message text in the Message edit box.

The To: edit box will already list the name of the original messages author and the Subject edit box will contain the title of the original message.

2.  (Optional) Select some or all of the text and choose the ROT13 button to encrypt message text.

Encrypting your message lets you use raw language without fear of offending an unsuspecting reader.

3.  Choose the Include button to include the contents of a file with your posting.

4.  Choose the Send button to post your message to the original author.


Forward the Article to an E-Mail Recipient

To send a copy of the article to someone via e-mail:

1.  Enter the e-mail name of the person to whom you want to forward a message.

The Subject edit box will contain the title of the original message, and the Message edit box will contain the text of the original message.

2.  Enter additional e-mail recipients, if desired, separating e-mail names with a space or a comma.

3.  (Optional) Select some or all of the text and choose the ROT13 button to encrypt message text.

Encrypting your message lets you use raw language without fear of offending an unsuspecting reader.

4.  (Optional) Choose the Include button to include the contents of a file with your posting.

5.  Choose the Send button to post your message to the recipient.


Change Startup Preferences

To change New Readers startup behavior:

1. Choose whether or not to automatically connect to a news server on start up.

If you use different news servers at different times and want to specify the server when you start the News Reader, do not select this option.

2. Choose whether or not to scan for new news groups on startup.

Scanning for new groups may take a little time.

3. Enter the name of an SMTP Mail Server in the edit box provided.

Supply this information if you plan to Reply to Author or Forward postings via e-mail.

Choose Between Horizontal and Vertical Display Layouts


Display Layout

To change from either a horizontal to a vertical (or vice versa) display:

1. Select either a horizontal or vertical orientation of the article and contents windows.

Choose whether to view the article Contents and Article windows side-by-side or top-to-bottom on your screen. You must exit and restart News Reader for the new view to take effect.


Choose Article Heading Displays

To set up the article viewer:

1. Select one of the three heading display options.

The Show No Headings option turns off the display of heading information.

The Show Partial Headings option displays the Author, Organization, and Date header fields.

The Show Full Headings option displays all header information.


Start/Stop the Building of Article Threads

To build threads:

1. Select the Build Threads option button.

The Sort Articles by Number option turns off the building of threads.


Contents Windows Preferences

To change Contents options:

1. Select the desired Contents options described in the following table.

Option	Meaning
Remove Empty Threads	Removes the current thread when the user double-clicks on another thread (or another article in a different thread) when all articles have been marked read.
Close Group on Mark Read	Closes the current group when all articles in the group have been marked read via the Edit->Catchup Group menu option.
Close Thread on Mark Read	Closes the current thread when all articles in the thread have been marked read via the Edit->Catchup Thread menu option.
Close Open Groups on Group Open	Closes the current group when the user double-clicks on another group.
Close Open Threads on Thread Open	Closes the current thread when the user double-clicks on another thread within the current group.
Automatically Display the First Unread Article When Opening a Group or Thread	Selects and displays the first unread article  when the user opens a thread in the existing group, or opens a new group.
Make Single-Click Operate Same as Double-Click	Enable single-click on a group, thread, or article node to behave the same as a double-click.


Toolbar

The Top News Reader Toolbar

The Bottom News Reader Toolbar


Use the Top News Reader Toolbar


Use the Bottom News Reader Toolbar


Navigation

The Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow keys let you move to the previous/next article regardless of what thread or group the article resides in. Therefore you can plow through an entire news reading session without worrying about opening groups or threads.


Specify a News Resource (NEWSRC) File

News Reader uses a news resource file to keep track of news groups to which you have subscribed, and the articles you have already read.

To designate or change a NEWSRC file:

1.  From the Specify NEWSRC File dialog box, select a path and a file name for the NEWSRC file.

First-time News Reader users can accept the default file name NEWSRC.TXT. Make sure the drive and path shown in the Directories and Drive edit boxes specify a writable (not read-only) location.


Use the News Reader Accelerator Keys

Subscribe...	Ins
UnSubscribe	Del
Save As...	Ctrl+S
UUDecode As...	Ctrl+D
Print...	Ctrl+P
Copy	Ctrl+C
Select All	Ctrl+L
Mark Read	X
Mark UnRead	Alt+X
Catchup Group	C
Catchup Thread	K
Contents and Article	Ctrl+W
Contents Only	Ctrl+T
Article Only	Ctrl+A
Close Parent	Alt+End
Next Thread	T
Previous Thread	Alt+T
Next Article	N or Space
Previous Article	Alt+N
Post New Article	P
Forward
Indented	Ctrl-M
Unindented	Alt-M
Reply to News Group	R
Include Indented	Ctrl-R
Include Unindented	Alt-R
Reply to Author	O
Include Indented	Ctrl-O
Include Unindented	Alt-O
Contents	Ctrl+Shift+C
Article	Ctrl+Shift+A


Save Articles to Disk

Save An Article in a New File

Append an Article to an Exisiting File

UUDecode an Article


Print Articles

News Reader offers three ways to print articles: a toolbar icon, a File menu item, and accelerator keys.

To print a news article:

1.  Load the article you want to print.

Most likely, you will want to print the article you are currently reading, which is already loaded.

2.  Choose the Print toolbar icon, the File menu item Print, or press the Ctrl+P keys.

The standard Windows Print dialog box opens, allowing you to choose print scenarios.


Save Article in a New File

News Reader offers three ways to save articles: a tool bar icon, a File menu item, and accelerator keys. An article must be loaded in the Article window before you can save it.

To save a news article:

1.  Load the article you want to save.

Most likely, you will want to save the article you are currently reading, which is already loaded.

2.  Choose the Save toolbar icon, the File menu item Save As.., or press the Ctrl+S keys.

The standard Windows Save dialog box opens, allowing you to specify a file name and path.


Append an Article to an Exisiting File

News Reader offers one way to append articles to an existing file: a File menu item. An article must be loaded in the Article window before you can append it to an existing file.

To append a news article to an existing file:

1.  Load the article you want to save.

Most likely, you will want to save the article you are currently reading, which is already loaded.

2.  Choose the the File menu item Append As...

The standard Windows Save dialog box opens, allowing you to specify a file name and path.


Binary Decode an Article
UUDecode an Article

News Reader offers two ways to decode UUencoded articles, such as JPEG or GIF images: a File menu item, and accelerator keys. An article must be loaded in the Article window before you can UUdecode it.

To UUdecode a news article:

1.  Load the article you want to UUdecode and save.

Most likely, you will want to save the article you are currently reading, which is already loaded.

2.  Choose the File menu item UUDecode As.., or press the Ctrl+D keys.

The standard Windows file save dialog box opens, allowing you to specify a file name and path. A default name appears that matches the name of the original message name. Choosing OK appends the decoded message to the named file.


Encrypt/Decrypt or Encode/Decode Articles

Encrypt/Decrypt Using Rotate 13 Letters (ROT13)

Use UNIX Uuencode

UUDecode Files


Encrypt/Decrypt Using Rotate 13 Letters (ROT13)

On occasion, you may want to encrpyt some strong language in a news article you are posting so that casual readers will not be offended. Or, you may want to read a message containing some encrypted text.

To encrpyt message text:

1.  In a Compose message window, select all or part of the text of a message.

2.  Choose the Encode/Decode button.

To decrypt message text:

1.  In the article view window, select the encrypted message text.

2.  Select Encode/Decode ROT13 from the View menu.

This menu item will be grayed out until you select some article text.


Use Uuencode

Use Uuencode to convert a binary file into an ASCII-encoded representation that can be sent using SMTP mail protocols.

To uuencode a file:

1.  From a Compose window, choose the Include button.

A File dialog box opens.

2.  Select the path and file you want to encode and include within your posting.

3.  Check the box labeled UUENCODE in the lower right corner of the dialog box.


Include a File

To include the contents of a file in a News Reader posting:

1.  Make a selection from the News Reader Compose menu.

Each of the selections except Post a Message displays a symbol indicating that a sub-menu choice is available.

2.  From a sub-menu, select the item labeled Include Article, Indent or Include Article, No Indent.

The Include dialog box opens.

3.  Specify an article path and file name for inclusion with your posting.

If you want to encode the included article, select the check box labeled UUENCODE.