This web site resides on the Personal Web Page (PWP) servers of AT&T Worldnet.  As part of its service, Worldnet offers a variety of web-site features, some of which are incorporated here.  In addition, the site owner has provided navigation features to allow guests to find and access material quickly and easily.

The Help items on this page are shared by more than one web site, and not every feature is found on every site.

Help: Navigation

This web site employs a hierarchical menu system to help guests find items of interest.  The structure has three major levels—Main, Section, and Document—generally structured as follows:

• Welcome Page: Welcome & Introduction | Link to Main Page | Web Rings
• Main Page: Features | Interests / Issues | What's New | Links
  • Features: Site Information | Feedback | Search
  • Section Pages: Menus of Articles, Data, Links, Events, etc. | Notes
    • Document Pages: Articles, Data, Events, etc.

First-time guests might want to check out the Information resources and Search tools.  Most visitors move on to the Section menus—"Interests," "Issues," or the like—where they can choose a field of interest and find related material.  All visitors are invited to use the Feedback features to ask questions, express their views, or just say "Hi."

Guests may explore this web site in any sequence they like.  However, the recommended procedure is to enter via the Welcome page, and from there click the Main Page link to go to the top of the menu structure. Most of this site's informational, feedback, and search features are accessible from menus near the top of the Main page.

Further down the Main page are the Interests / Issues menus, which in turn link to the Section menu pages, each devoted to one of the site's various themes.  From these, one may choose from a variety of individual articles, data files, schedules, and links to sites related to the Section theme.  This structure allows most documents and features on this web site to be accessed with five or fewer mouse clicks.

To return immediately to the top of the Main page from anywhere within the site:

• If you are already on the Main page, click HOME to go to the top.
• If you are on a page with a site menu at the top or bottom, click Main.
• If you are on a page with no site menu, use your browser's BACK feature to find one, then click Main.

Additional tips for navigating this site, including the use of navigation arrows, can be found under the Menus heading.

Help: Menus

Menu Behavior | Site Menus | Page Menus | Navigation Arrows

In the interest of speeding access over dial-up connections, menus on this web site take the form of tables, which load faster than graphic button or tab images.  The behavior of table-style menus is slightly different from that of button-style: Whereas the user can click anywhere on a graphic button to negotiate a link, a table-style menu requires that the user click on the printed text of the desired item.  Clicking elsewhere has no effect.  To demonstrate, try clicking the following single-cell table, first in a blank area, and then directly on the word TOP.  Then use your BACK feature to return here.

TOP

The Main page consists almost entirely of menus, which route the guest quickly to features, tools, and items of interest.

The various Section pages—those typically accessed from the Main page—are likewise devoted mostly to menus of material pertaining to the general theme of the associated Section.

Menu Behavior | Site Menus | Page Menus | Navigation Arrows

Most pages other than the Main page have a brief Site Menu at the top (and usually the bottom), which affords quick access to the various Main page menus, as well as back to the Welcome page.  The Site Menus look something like this (non-functioning) example:

Web Site
MAIN	INTERESTS	LINKS	RINGS
Odds & Ends: Articles

• Web Site Name: Click this to go to the top of the Welcome page.
• Main: Click this to go to the top of the Main page, where centralized access to virtually all site information, tools, feedback, and content is located.
• Interests, Links, etc.: Click these to go to the respective menus on the Main page.
• Rings: Click this to go to the Web Rings menu on the Welcome page.
• Section Name: Click this to return to the menu page for the associated field of interest. Often this item is split into two links—one to the top of the menu page, the other to the specific menu linking to the current page.

Menu Behavior | Site Menus | Page Menus | Navigation Arrows

At the end of most menu sequences is a document page, featuring an article, data, or other content.  Near the top of a document page are usually the page creation and modification dates, and a copyright notice.

Copyright notice: Click the copyright notice to see an explanation of the rights and obligations of anyone wishing to cite material from this web site.  In most cases, material may be cited with proper accreditation, but in a few instances special privileges or restrictions apply.  When finished, use your BACK feature to return to the document.

Modification date: In many cases, clicking the modification (edited, revised, updated, etc.) date takes you to the most recent change on the current page.

Page menus: Most document pages containing more than a screen or two of information include menus of items on the current page, spaced at intervals.  These serve as both reference and access to page content.

Menu Behavior | Site Menus | Page Menus | Navigation Arrows
Graphic	Text	Key	Jump to...	Some menus may feature graphic navigation arrows for quick and intuitive movement up and down the current page, as well as to related areas of the web site. As a general rule, "left" and "right" arrows jump to other pages of the site, while "up" and "down" arrows move within the current page. Do not confuse the  LINKS arrow with the Links menu item for the current page. The  LINKS arrow returns to a MAIN PAGE listing of off-site locations of general interest. The Links menu item (no arrow) displays a menu of off-site links related to the current specific topic.
	MAIN		...top of MAIN page (site tools, info, feedback)
		Back- space	...previous page in menu hierarchy
	LINKS		...LINKS menu on MAIN page
	RINGS		...RINGS menu on WELCOME page
	«	Home	...top of current page
	<		...top of current item
	>		...bottom of current item
	»	End	...bottom of current page
?	?		...this HELP page

No Menu?

Occasionally you might encounter a page (such as this one) with no site menu at top or bottom.  Usually this is because the page is accessible from so many other locations (and perhaps even other sites) that it is not feasible to provide a retro-link to each.  When this happens, don't panic.  Simply use your browser's BACK feature to return to where you were previously.  (With most browsers this can be done by pressing your BACKSPACE key, provided your cursor is not inside a text box.)  If you have visited several locations on the page, you might need to use BACK repeatedly to exit.

Help: Site Search
(Worldnet feature)

The search tool for this web site is located near the top of the Main page.  It is useful for finding the page(s) on which specific text is located.  There are only two steps required to perform a search of the site.

• Keyword(s): Click inside the Keyword(s) text box, and type the words you want to find, with all letters in lower case.  To search for a specific phrase, enclose it in quotation marks.
• Search: Click the Search button.

The search engine will find and list any occurrence of the specified text on this site, provided it has been posted for at least 24 hours.  Each occurrence appears as an excerpt from a file, with a clickable link to take you to the document or feature in question.  Note that in some cases a match might be found in the HTML code of a file, but not in the displayed text.

Help: Index

An alpha-numeric index is available from the Information menu at the top of the Main page.  This index is a simple listing of articles and features by title, showing how they can be accessed starting from the top of the Main page.  It is intended to allow guests to see quickly what is available on the web site and where to find it.  The Index is updated only occasionally, so some new items might not be added to it for some time.

The Index entries are titles only (not text), and are not hyperlinked.  To locate specific text within documents, use the Site Search feature instead.

Help: Guest Book

Guests are invited to view and sign the Guest Book, accessible from the Feedback menu at the top of the Main page.

View: After viewing the entries in the Guest Book, use your browser's BACK feature to return to the Main page.

Sign: When signing the Guest Book, you will be directed to a Contact form page with several input areas.

• Enter your name (or an alias) and e-mail address (required).
• Click "Sign the Guest Book" on the message type list (required).
• You need not choose a category or enter a subject for a Guest Book entry.
• Enter your comments in the text area provided (required).
• You may enter other information, such as your web-site URL or organization, if you wish.
• You need not check privacy preferences.  As a rule, all information submitted for a Guest Book entry will be published.  Therefore, do not include any information that you do not want displayed on the Guest Book page.
• Review any warnings or disclaimers, and click "Submit" at the bottom of the Contact form.  When the message has been sent, you will be returned to the site's Main page.

Instructions are provided on the Contact form as well.  All submissions are manually screened, so there is a delay—typically a day or so—before your entry appears in the Guest book.

If you subsequently decide that you do not want your information or comments posted (or if you get confused and sign more than once), you may contact me (using the Contact form, also accessible at the Feedback menu at the top of the Main page), and I will remove the message for you.

*(Please see Privacy.)

Help: Mail Bag

Guests are invited to browse the Mail Bag (available only on the Tangents site), and to contribute their own comments for publication there.   view and sign the Guest Book, accessible from the Feedback menu at the top of the Main page.

View: After viewing the entries in the Mail Bag, use your browser's BACK feature to return your previous location.

Send: When submitting material to the Mail Bag, you will be directed to a Contact form page with several input areas.

• Enter your name (or an alias) and e-mail address (required).
• Click the appropriate message type from the list (required).
• Select a category from the drop-down menu (required).
• Enter the subject of your message (required).  If responding to an existing Mail Bag item, use the subject of the original item in the thread; if starting a new subject, enter something different from the existing subjects.
• Enter your comments in the text area provided (required).
• You may enter other information, such as your web-site URL or organization, if you wish.
• Check any privacy preferences to permit publishing of non-required information.
• Review any warnings or disclaimers, and click "Submit" at the bottom of the Contact form.  When the message has been sent, you will be returned to the site's Main page.

(The following color codes apply to the above items: Blue = required; Green = optional; Red = not applicable.)

Instructions are provided on the Contact form as well.  All submissions are manually screened, so there is a delay—typically a day or so—before your entry appears in the Guest book.

If you subsequently decide that you do not want your information or comments posted (or if you get confused and sign more than once), you may contact me (using the Contact form, also accessible at the Feedback menu at the top of the Main page), and I will remove the message for you.

*(Please see Privacy.)

Help: Polling Booth
(Worldnet feature)

Guests are invited to take an opinion poll and view the results, accessible from the Feedback menu at the top of the Main page.

View Results: After viewing the Poll results, use your browser's BACK feature to return to the Main page.

Take Poll: The opinion poll consists of multiple-choice questions. Simply click what you feel is the most suitable answer for each question. A "Comments" box is also provided, in case you care to expand upon any of your basic responses or suggest other questions. When finished taking the poll, you must click the Submit button at the bottom of the form in order to send your choices and have them tabulated for viewing. If you make a mistake, simply click another choice; or click the "Reset" button to erase all of your entries.

• After you submit your poll entries, a screen containing two buttons—BACK and HOME—is displayed.
  • HOME takes you to the site's Welcome page.
  • BACK returns to the Polling Booth form; press your BACKSPACE key to return to the top of the Main page.

Answering any question in the Polling Booth is optional.  Polling participants are not identified, unless they choose to volunteer such information in the Comments box.

*(Please see Privacy.)

Help: Contact the Owner
(Worldnet feature)

To contact the owner of this web site, click the Contact item on the Feedback menu at the top of the Main page.  ("Contact" links located elsewhere on the site operate in the same way.)  You will be taken to the Contact form page, where you can enter your comments and questions.  This procedure ensures that your message will receive proper treatment, and not be mistaken for e-mail spam.

In the interest of convenience and flexibility, the Contact form contains several information fields and options.  Those marked in blue below are required.  Those marked in green are not mandatory, but most helpful.  The rest are there for your convenience; you may use or ignore them, as you choose.

• Name and E-Mail: The form requires these two entries; however, you may use an alias if you prefer to remain anonymous.
• Message Type:  On the list provided, click the message type that most nearly describes how you want your message directed and handled.
• Category: Click the down button to display the drop-down menu, and select one of the categories corresponding to the general theme of your message.
• Subject: Enter the specific subject of your message. Typing the title of the page you are commenting upon, for example, helps me to understand the point of your remarks.
• Comment: Enter your comments and questions. You need not be eloquent, just intelligible.
• Optional information: If you like, you may use the other entries and options on the form to offer additional information or specify how you want it used (e.g., whether you would like it posted in the Mailbag).  As a rule, information you provide will be treated as confidential unless you stipulate otherwise.*
• Submit: You must click the Submit button at the bottom of the form to send your message and other information.

When you click Submit, your information, message, and preferences (if any) are e-mailed to me.  The Contact form clears, and you are returned to the top of the Main page.  (Returning directly to any other location from which you might have accessed the Contact form is not an available option of this Worldnet feature; however, tapping your BACKSPACE key a couple of times should do the trick.)

*(Please see Privacy.)

Help: E-Mail

Inundation by e-mail spam has made it necessary for me to eliminate my e-mail address from this web site, and use the Contact form instead.  However, there are e-mail links to other contributors, and some guidelines are in order to avoid having your message misidentified and deleted as spam.

• Be sure there is a recognizable name or e-mail address (yours) in the From line.  Messages from list servers and other mass-mailing sources may be suspect.
• Be sure the recipient's name or address appears in the To or Cc line.  Multiple recipient lists are suspect, and are rejected by some e-mail servers.
• Be sure to fill in the Subject line with a word or phrase that clearly indicates the nature of the message.  Misspellings, nonsense, vulgarity, random characters, and multiple punctuation (e.g., !!! or ???), as well as a blank Subject line, are tip-offs to spam.
• If e-mailing someone for the first time, use plain-text (not enhanced or HTML) format.  Do not attach files, graphics, etc., unless the recipient has already agreed to accept them.

If you have occasion to e-mail me, you should observe these simple rules.  If you don't, I can practically guarantee your message will be deleted without a second glance.  No offense intended; that's just the way life is nowadays.

Help: Your Privacy

The only ways by which this web site can acquire information from you are the Contact, Guest Book, and Polling Booth features, and these collect only information which you enter voluntarily.  If you have something to say, I would be delighted to hear from you.  These tools are the only way for that to happen.  The Guestbook and Polling Booth are public; the Contact form is private (unless you stipulate otherwise). Please feel free to use them!

EXCEPTION: Preaching, hate mail, and illegal activity are considered to constitute waiver of the sender's rights, and will be dealt with as the recipient deems appropriate, including posting for public ridicule or referral to authorities.  Thoughtful disagreement and criticism are welcome, but abuse is not, and contributors are expected to understand the difference.

Help: Counters
(Worldnet feature)

Most pages on this web site feature a counter, usually at the bottom.  Its sole function is to tally the number of times a page is visited.  This gives me some idea of what is popular and what isn't. The counters do not acquire personal information; they do not tell me or my provider who visits a page, but only how many times it has been accessed.

This page has had

visits since last reset.

You can also use the counters if you wish, as a general indicator of whether you are solidly on the beaten path or venturing into unexplored wilderness.

The main counter on the Welcome page keeps a running tally since the site's inception.  The counters on the other pages are periodically reset to 0, usually once a year.

Anything Else?

If there are other aspects of this site that you find confusing and perhaps worth a "Help" feature, please let me know, using the Contact form available from the Feedback menu at the top of the Main page..