Changing Offline Web Page Settings In Windows XP

The properties dialog box for an offline Web page is the place where you can set up a synchronization schedule, decide exactly what is downloaded and set up e-mail notification of changes.

Do one of the following to view the properties dialog box:

● Right-click the page’s entry on the Favorites menu or on the Favorites bar, and then choose Properties from the shortcut menu.

● Choose Organize Favorites from the Favorites menu, right-click the page, and then click Properties.

Setting up a synchronization schedule By default, Internet Explorer synchronizes your locally stored copy of an offline Web page with the original version only when you choose Synchronize from the Tools menu. Using the Schedule tab in the properties dialog box, you can set up a schedule for synchronizations. At the appointed times, Internet Explorer connects to the Internet (if you’re not already connected) and updates the offline page by downloading the current version of the online page.

Take these steps to set up a synchronization schedule:

1. On the Schedule tab of the page’s properties dialog box, select Use The Following Schedule(s).

2. If the schedule you want to use isn’t in the list, click Add. The New Schedule dialog box appears.

3. Specify the number of days between updates and the time you want the updates to occur, and give the schedule a name. Select the check box if you want to connect to the Internet at the appointed time. (If you don’t select the box and you’re not already connected to the Internet, the connection dialog box waits for your go-ahead.) Then click OK.

4. Select the check box next to each named schedule you want to use for this page.

Setting up download and e-mail notification options Visit the Download tab in the properties dialog box (shown in Figure) in the following circumstances:

● You want to change the level to which Internet Explorer downloads linked pages. The default is zero, which means you download only the offline page—but not any pages that are reached by links on the original page. You can specify up to three levels, but be aware that the amount of material that Internet Explorer will have to download increases exponentially as you select deeper levels of links.

If you choose to include linked pages, you can limit the download to include only links to other pages at the same site (this prevents downloading pages linked to banner ads, for example) or only links to HTML pages. (Click Advanced to set the latter option.)

Figure. The Download tab allows you to determine what is downloaded automatically. Clicking Advanced displays the Advanced Download Options dialog box.

● You want to change the kinds of items that Internet Explorer downloads—for example, exclude images or add sound and video. (Click the Advanced button to set these options.)

● You want to impose a maximum download size for the page.

● You want to receive e-mail notification when the page changes. (Enter your e-mail address and the name of your mail server; this feature works only with SMTP-based (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) mail systems, which excludes many Internet mail accounts.)

● The page requires a user name and password for access. (Click the Login button to enter this information.)