How to Access Our Newsgroup

If this is the first time you've visited this page,
take the time to read it through once from beginning to end.
You'll be glad you did.

If you're using a complete install of a recent version of either Netscape Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, then it may be that the easiest way to access the group is via the following link:

unco.phil.495-011.spring.2001

If that succeeds in connecting you to our newsgroup, then once you're there, you can start looking at the discussion questions and posting replies to them.

Before you actually post anything, you'll need to set your browser's preferences by entering at least your name, your e-mail address, the name of your outgoing (SMTP) mail server, and the name of the news server our newsgroup is on (cronkite.unco.edu) in the relevant places. (If you're not using your own computer and you find you can post even if you don't enter this information, you're almost certain to be posting under someone else's name, which is going to be confusing at the very least.)

If the browser you're using is Netscape Communicator -- version 4.x of the Netscape software -- you can just enter the relevant information in the appropriate boxes in the preferences file, which you access by choosing "Preferences" in the "Edit" menu. You'll need to specify:

1. your identity (i.e., your own name as you want it to appear in the newsgroup and your e-mail address);
2. your outgoing (SMTP) mail server (which is blue.unco.edu for those of you who have university e-mail accounts), and
3. the news server our newsgroup is on: cronkite.unco.edu.

If you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer for either Windows or the Mac, you'll first need to make sure that the relevant add-ons are installed. You should find them here if you use Windows, and here if you use a Mac. For recent versions of Internet Explorer, the only add-on you need is Outlook Express.

With Outlook Express installed, the process for at least some of the older versions is much the same as the one described for Netscape above, but for the newest versions, you'll have to do something a bit different. First, to launch Outlook Express from inside Internet Explorer, click on one of the links to the newsgroup in our class web site. Once Outlook Express has been launched, dismiss any error messages that appear telling you that cronkite.unco.edu isn't among the newsgroups specified in your preferences file, and choose "Accounts" from the "Tools" menu (in Outlook Express). In the dialog window that then opens up, you can either select the manual configuration option (if there is one) or let the set-up wizard guide you through the necessary steps, but either way, make sure you supply all the same information you would have put into the preferences file in Netscape Communicator:

1. your name as you want it to appear in the newsgroup and your e-mail address;
2. your outgoing (SMTP) mail server (again, blue.unco.edu for those of you who have university e-mail accounts), and
3. the news server our newsgroup is on: cronkite.unco.edu.

(NOTE: In the most recent version of Outlook Express for the Mac OS at any rate, things have been still further "improved" so that you'll need to set up two accounts after you select "Accounts" from the "Tools" menu: (1) a Mail account containing your name, your e-mail address, and the name of your outgoing (SMTP) mail server and (2) a News account containing the name of the newsgroup's news server. To set up the first account, click on the "Mail" tab in the dialog window and then click "New" to supply the first two items from the foregoing list. To set up the second, click on the "News" tab and then click "New" to supply the third item -- the name of the news server. The easier folks try to make things in these browsers, the more complicated they seem to become!)

If you're accessing this page from AOL, you probably won't be able to connect using the built-in AOL browser. Students who have AOL accounts have reported, at any rate, that "third-party" newsgroups cannot be accessed using AOL's newsreader. (This was true, at any rate, during recent semesters). You can, however, use another browser (such as Netscape) while you're connected to the internet via your AOL account, and if you're an AOL user, that appears to be the way to go. One AOL user has said that what you need to do, once you're connected to AOL, is:

...minimize, but don't close, the AOL window, then open up whatever version of Netscape or whatever other browser you have. You can't access the group using AOL's browser. However...you can access the newsgroup using AOL.

If you're still using Netscape Navigator 4.x (the standalone browser), you won't be able to connect. Instead, you'll either need to download the full Netscape Communicator package or opt for another newsreader altogether, perhaps one of the so-called dedicated newsreaders.

Actually, if you have your own Internet connection at home or in the dorm, you may find that you'd like a dedicated newsreader best. I myself use Multi-Threaded NewsWatcher 3.0, a freeware newsreader for the Mac that I like much better than the Netscape or Microsoft newsreaders. As you might suspect, there are many other options as well. Here's a web page that provides you with access to the best options for the Mac. Forte's Free Agent comes highly recommended for Windows users, and it can be downloaded from tucows.com. Finally, here's the definitive list -- at NewsReaders.com -- of links to sites providing newsreaders for either of these two platforms (or for virtually any other platform, for that matter). If any of you have any special recommendations to make about good newsreaders, just send me the information and I'll post it right here. In any case, if you use your own reader, take a look at the documentation, point the reader to cronkite.unco.edu, and subscribe to unco.phil.495-011.spring.2001. That's all there is to it!

If you still have questions, drop me a note.

-- Tom Trelogan

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