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About Fanciful Navigator | Installation of Fanciful Navigator | Configuration of Fanciful Navigator

Once your Fanciful Navigator (FNav) software is installed, double-click on the "Tom Lebens' Fanciful Online" icon to open the program, or in the case of Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0, click "Start", and follow the "Programs", and "Tom Lebens' Fanciful Online" menus to the "Tom Lebens' Fanciful Online" icon.

When you first run Fanciful Navigator, it will ask you which COM port to use, your area code, and where your web browser is located. If you plan to connect to Fanciful Online through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you can disregard the COM port option. If you plan to use Fanciful Navigator through a dialup connection, it is imperative that you select the correct COM port (dialup access not presently available). If you don't select the right COM port, when Fanciful Navigator sends modem commands to wake up your modem, the commands will be sent to a port other than the port to which your modem is connected (or for which your modem is configured, in the case of an internal modem). If this happens, Fanciful Navigator will time out waiting for a response from your modem. Next enter your area code, and leave the Browser field blank for now (unless you are REALLY sure where your browser is).

The next screen you see displayed with be the Connection Manager. Before you get started, click the "Settings" button.

Once you click the "Settings" button, the Connecting Settings Window will be displayed. The first step to take in this window is to select either "Connect using my local area network or another dialup Internet provider" or " Connect using Dial-up access" (dial-up access not presently available). Which of these you choose depends entirely on how you wish to connect to Fanciful Online. If you have an existing Internet service provider (ISP), you may find connecting through your provider preferable, especially if you are not in the same telephone exchange as Fanciful Online. If you want to use an existing ISP, click the upper radio button (dot) and proceed to the next bullet below (but don't click the "OK" button quite yet). If you are a local call away from Fanciful, you don't need an ISP to connect, so click the lower radio button. For now, leave the phone number as is (you really only need to change to another phone number if you get a busy signal). You can also select the COM port you want to use from this window, so if you get time out errors the first time you try to connect, come back here and try another COM port. (See Configuring Your Modem for details on setting up your modem.) Now don't click the "OK" button yet, but do proceed to the next bullet.

When you have finished setting up your connection, click the "Configure Browser" button, unless you are sure you don't have a browser installed (in which case Fanciful Online will download one to you the first time you connect). (If you are sure you don't have a browser on your system, go ahead and click the "OK" button.) If the External Browser field is blank, click the "Search" button and Fanciful Navigator will find your browser on your hard drive. Next, click the "Test" button. If your browser loads, and you get a message saying that the test was successful, you are in  good shape. Otherwise, you will have to click the "Browse" button and manually locate your browser on you hard drive. (Leave the "External Browser" field blank to have Fanciful Online download a browser to you when you connect.) In any case, click the "Reset Associations" button, and then the "OK" button when you are finished to get back to the Connection Settings Window. Then, click the "OK" button in the Connection Setting window, which will take you back to the Connection Manager.

Once you return to the Connection Manager, enter your First Name and your Last Name in the User Name field, and your password (make one up if you don't have one yet) into the Password field. Click the "Remember my password" box if you want your password stored on your hard drive so you don't have to enter it every time you sign on. Leave this box unchecked for maximum security. Click the "Check for new mail at login" box if you want Fanciful Online to tell you each time you log in whether you have new mail waiting for you. In most cases this box should be left checked, but if you plan to use another e-mail program with Fanciful Navigator, you may wish to leave it unchecked.

If you are connecting to Fanciful Online through an ISP, you will need to connect to your ISP before you click the "Connect" button. If you dialing Fanciful Online through your own modem, make sure your modem is on and properly connected. Now, click the "Connect" button! We look forward to seeing you online!

Last Updated: May 3, 2003