Hyperlinks that start PE and display a particular molecule (such as those in the Atlas of Macromolecules) can be dragged and dropped into a document in the free Netscape Composer (or perhaps in some other HTML editors). The resulting HTML document can then be saved and distributed by email or from a web server. Below are step-by-step details.

Please Note: Dragging a hyperlink from a web page onto the Desktop or into a file folder creates an "Internet Shortcut" (Windows, or an Alias on the Mac). These DO NOT WORK for starting PE and displaying the specified molecule.

These instructions are for people who are not familiar with creating HTML documents by typing raw HTML directly in a text editor. If you are familiar with raw HTML tags, you may prefer to consult the more technical Construction of Hyperlinks to Protein Explorer.

• Run Netscape Communicator 4.7x/4.8x. (For this purpose, IE does not work as easily. Also, IE does not come with a built-in free HTML editor.).

• In Netscape, go to the Atlas of Macromolecules or any other document containing hyperlinks to PE that specify particular molecules to be displayed in PE. Note: the links should be to an ON-LINE PE, not to a downloaded copy of PE on your local computer! So don't use your local downloaded copy of the Atlas.

• In Netscape Communicator 4.7x/4.8x, open the File menu, and select New, Blank Page. This opens a Netscape Composer window into which you can type a new document. (The document will be saved as HTML, which means that to display it, you need to open it in a web browser.) You can create a web page here for a class that you teach, or a note to a colleague that includes hyperlinks.

• Choose a link in the Atlas (or other on-line document) that starts PE and specifies that PE display a particular molecule. Now, simply drag that link into the Composer page and drop it. The link will appear just as it did in the source document. For example, if the link was labeled 1LZR in the Atlas, an identical link will appear in the Composer. Note: the links don't work while they remain in Composer. They work after the new document has been saved and opened in a browser.

• If you wish, you may change the label for the link, for example, you could change 1LZR to Human lyzozyme (1LZR), just by typing normally over the link, using the Delete key as needed.

• Optional: In Composer, right click on one of the links you have dropped and select Link Properties. Notice that the "Link To" slot contains a URL ending in "id=xxxx", where "xxxx" is the PDB identification code for the molecule in question. If you change the PDB ID code in this "Link To" slot, PE will display the corresponding molecule. So you could copy one link, change its target PDB code, and thereby create a second link to another molecule (not necessarily one listed in the Atlas). Suggestions for finding PDB codes are on PE's FrontDoor under "Find Any Molecule".

• After you have completed editing your new document in the Composer, use its File menu to Save As. In Windows, the filename should end in .html; on a Mac PPC, the file signature will automatically link it to Netscape regardless of the file name. However, if you plan to put the file on a web server, it will need to have a name ending in .html.

• After you have saved the file, you can close the Composer if you wish. In Netscape (not Netscape Composer), use File, Open Page, and then the Choose File button to browse to the html file you saved, and open it. Now the hyperlinks should start PE and display the indicated molecules. (Alternatively, in the Composer, you can open the File menu and select Browse Page.)

• The HTML file you have created can be emailed to members of a class you teach, to friends or colleagues, or posted on a web server.