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USENET

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What are Newsgroups?
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Different ways to use Newsgroups
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Getting setup with Newsgroups
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Reading messages in a Newsgroup
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Posting a message to a newsgroup
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Newsgroup Netiquette
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VSNL Specific Newsgroups
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A Glossary of Terms
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Getting more help

Understanding and Using Newsgroups
Getting setup with Newsgroups
by Peter Doshi

To get started with Usenet, we're going to need to setup a newsreader. This document will discuss that process for Netscape Communicator as well as give some advanced tips on how to go about finding newsgroups, given that there are just so many of them out there.

Setting up Usenet is a multi-step process. The first step is to tell the newsreader what news server to access. The second step is to subscribe to particular newsgroups. After this initial setup (steps one and two) are completed, you can go on to reading more about how you can read articles and post articles to a newsgroup.

The directions here are Specific to Netscape Communicator. Unfortunately, this is the only newsreader on which I took screenshots and was able to provide detailed information on. Netscape Communicator is just one of the many newsreaders available. Every operating system has a wide variety to pick from. Here is a short list, by Operating System, of popualar newsreaders (news clients):

Popular Newsreaders by OS
Unix SLRN, Pine, Tin, Trn, Netscape Communicator, Gnus, Knews, krn (from KDE), rn, Outlook Express, StarOffice, NewsFlex, tass, xvnews
MS Windows Free Agent, Forte Agent, Opera, Outlook Express, Netscape Communicator
MacOS YA NewsWatcher (rated #1!), Newswatcher, MT Newswatcher, Outlook Express
Other Acorn RiscOS, Amiga, Atari, Be, DOS, OS/2, Newton, Other newsreaders,
Note: Those in bold are Freeware

Setting up Usenet using Netscape Communicator
Step 1: Configure for the right newsserver

  1. Click the Windows Start button. Choose Programs | Netscape... | Netscape Collabra

  2. If there is an entry news at the bottom, right click it and choose Subscribe to Discussion Groups...

  3. A new window should pop up. See the screenshot.

  4. Depending on the timing and your setup, newsgroups may not arrive because the newsserver is set to news. In that case, we need to Add Server... which you can do by clicking on the Add Server... button found near the bottom right hand corder of the "Communicator: Subscribe to Discussion Groups" window.

  5. Another window should appear:
    Fill in the Server as: news.vsnl.net.in

    Click OK

  6. Now after you receive the groups being offered by news.vsnl.net.in you will see a list which looks like this.

  7. Continue to Step 2 below for directions on subscribing to individual newsgroups according to your interest.

Step 2: Subscribing to groups

Finding the right newsgroup to suit your interest can sometimes be one of the biggest obstacles for new users. Because of the known difficulty in doing that, techniques have been devised to make it a bit easier. One method is searching, which can be done by clicking on the Search tag of the Communicator: Subscribe to Discussion Groups window. This technique has a great limitation, though, as it will only match groups which contain exactly what you searched for. For example, if you searched for "comedy" you would not find the relevant newsgroup rec.humor.funny.

A more failsafe method for finding appropriate groups is using DejaNews.com a web-based Usenet facility. DejaNews will let you search for appropriate forums, yet another synonym for newsgroups.

Assuming you have found a group you want, here's how to proceed. Let's take phl.forsale (a forum where people post goods they have forsale in the city of Philadelphia) as an example.

  1. Type the group name, phl.forsale , in the Discussion Group field of the Communicator: Subscribe to Discussion Groups window.

  2. Highlight the group when found

  3. Click the dot in the Subscribe column OR click the Subscribe button.

  4. Follow the above steps for all groups you want to subscribe to.

  5. Click OK when done.

  6. You are now subscribed to phl.forsale. We need to start reading the contents of the forum now. To do that, start reading Reading messages in a Newsgroup.

An alternative, quick way to subscribe to a newsgroup if you already know the correct name of the group is to fill it in the Location: field of the Netscape browser, like this:

Yes, that's a colon between news and comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc



Copyright © 1999 Dr. Raj Mehta. All rights reserved.