Club WebTV Archive

Archive

The WebTV
Top Twenty

1. How do I become a member of Club WebTV?

Club WebTV is the name of the official online newsletter for all WebTV Networks subscribers, both Classic and Plus users. If you are viewing this on your television, then you're in the club.

2. How do I find previous issues of Club WebTV?

Every issue of Club WebTV can be found in the Back Issue section of the Archive. There is also a search engine on that page that allows you to search previous issues for a particular word or phrase.

3. How many people can be registered on one WebTV terminal? How do I add users?

You can have up to six users (one primary and five secondary) per WebTV box at no additional charge. Each user will have their own email address, and can save their own Favorites. To add a user from a WebTV Classic, do the following:

Login as the primary user
Choose Setup from the Home page
Choose WebTV users
Choose the Add User button at the bottom of the page
Follow the on-screen instructions

Here's how you add a user from a WebTV Plus:

Login as the primary user
Choose Using WebTV from the Home page
Choose Add other users
Choose the Add User button at the bottom of the page
Follow the on-screen instructions

4. Can I send email to my friends who don't have a WebTV terminal?

Yes, you can send email to anyone who has a valid email address, anywhere in the world. They do not have to be using a WebTV terminal. Just remember to enter their complete email address when writing them a message (for example: user@aol.com or user@prodigy.com).

5. How do I get to a Web site if I know the address?

If you know the address of a Web site (also called a URL, which looks something like http://www.webtv.net/), you can get there quickly by using the go to feature. If you're using a remote control, press the Options button and then choose go to from the on-screen Options window. This will display the go to window. If you're using a keyboard, just press the go to button. Once that window is on-screen, enter in the address of the Web site that you want to visit. The "http://" that begins most Web site addresses has already been filled in for you. Once you're done, select the Go to Page button and you'll be taken there.

Bonus Tip: If you are going to a site that uses the standard addressing (like http://www.name.com), then all you have to enter in is the name of the site and WebTV will automatically add the "www" and "com" for you. For example, if you wanted to go to Yahoo, the search engine, all you would need to type in would be "yahoo" and WebTV would complete the address for you to read http://www.yahoo.com.

6. What's the difference between an email address and a Web site address?

A Web page (or Web site) address will take you to a web page that a person or company has set up for viewing. These are usually a list of letters and slashes. These are also called URLs (which stands for Uniform Resource Locator). Most commercial Web sites begin with "www" and end with "com". Other addresses may begin and end in almost any combination of letters, slashes, periods, commas, dashes, tildes, etc. For example, the address for WebTV's Web site is:

http://www.webtv.net/

An email address is what you use when you want to send a message to someone electronically. All email addresses have an "@" symbol within them. If you do not include a domain name (those words that come after the @ symbol) the WebTV Network will automatically send it to the domain "@webtv.net" (If there is no such person at the address you are using, then your message will bounce back to you as undeliverable.).

The word "dot" in a web page or e-mail address refers to a period. The "slash" ( / ) is a forward slash, the one under the question mark on your keyboard.

7. What's a newsgroup?

A newsgroup is like an electronic bulletin board where you can read people's opinions or thoughts on a particular topic. You can then post a response if you so choose. Some newsgroups, such as those under alt.binaries, include graphics.

To get to the newsgroups, select Community from the Home page, and then select Discuss. From there you can access webtv.users, the newsgroup about WebTV, or you can search for a specific topic by typing in a keyword in the blank at the bottom of the screen.

There are many newsgroups available just for WebTV users. To get a list of them, enter "alt.discuss" into the search blank. For more information about this topic, go to the newsgroup section of the Archive.

8. What's a search engine?

A search engine is a program that will look for Web sites that match the keywords that you enter. If you select Search from the Home page you will be taken to our search engine. If you are looking for a Web site about pinball, for example, just type in the word "pinball" and the search engine will display a list of Web sites about that topic. For more details, check out the search engine section of the Archive.

Here are some of the most popular search engines. Just select one of the Web addresses below and you will be taken there:

9. What are Favorites?

Favorites are Web sites that you would like to save for future reference. Instead of having to write down the address of the site, all you have to do is save it as a Favorite and it will always be there for you. To do this, just go to the Web site that you like and press the save button on the keyboard, or press the Options button on the remote control and then select save from the on-screen options window. Choose Save Page and that Web site will be put into your Favorites. From then on, all you need to do is select Favorites from the Home page and you will see a list of all the sites that you've saved. You can also access complete information about Favorites and how to organize them by choosing How to from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen.

10. What is Explore?

Explore is a collection of Web sites that we have selected as being especially informative and entertaining. There are hundreds of sites, all organized under different categories. All you need to do is select the Explore icon from the Home page and then choose a category that you like. Each category has several subcategories within it, so you can quickly find what you're looking for.

11. Can I chat with other people using my WebTV terminal?

Yes. All you need to do is select Community from the main page, and then select Chat. Soon you'll be on your way to chatting with people from all over the world, about any topic under the sun.

12. What features does the WebTV terminal support?

For a comprehensive list of the applications that both the WebTV Classic terminal and the Plus receiver support, take a look at our Web site at this address:

http://webtv.net/ns/corporate/features/

13. How can I change my email name? And how do I get rid of my real name in parentheses after my email name?

To change your email name, login as the primary user, add a new user (see Tip #3 for how to do this) and give that account the name you want. If you want this new account to be the primary user, then you'll need to give us a call to have it switched.

The WebTV mail system is programmed to display your full name as part of the primary user's email address. If you don't wish this name to appear, create a new secondary user account. Your full name does not appear after the email name of a secondary user.

14. My box keeps disconnecting. What's the problem?

For details on how your WebTV system connects to the WebTV Network and how to troubleshoot when problems occur, please read this Tech Talk article.

15. How do the upgrades work? When is the next one and what's included in it?

WebTV periodically releases software updates, so that you can use an Internet terminal that you already own and have the very latest WebTV features and improvements. There is no charge for this.

When an update is available, you will receive a message announcing this when you connect to the network. You will have the option to download the new version immediately, or at a later time. If you choose to update later, you will not necessarily be offered the upgrade the next time you connect, but you will be offered it at some point in the near future. You will continue to be offered the upgrade until you choose to accept it.

Your box will retrieve the update from our server. This generally takes about fifteen minutes. Once the upgrade is received, your box will automatically disconnect. If there are any problems with the transmission of the upgrade, the system will attempt to re-send it when it is next available.

It is our intention to be as open as we can be with information concerning upgrades. Unfortunately we cannot give schedules for upgrades, nor detailed accounts of what will be included in the next upgrade. Software development for such a tightly-designed system such as WebTV is rather tricky, and we don't always know until we are far into development which features are more difficult to add than others. Also, sometimes we are relying on a third party and it is sometimes difficult to predict that company's schedule.

16. What's the difference between the WebTV Classic terminal and the WebTV Plus receiver?

The WebTV Classic and the WebTV Plus both support the same features and access the same network. Both Classic and Plus users have the "@webtv.net" domain name for their email addresses.

The Plus system has a faster modem and a larger hard drive which can speed up the loading of Web pages. The Plus is geared towards those users who are interested in the integration of television and the Internet, so it features scrolling TV listings, a TV window so you can watch TV while on the Web, and links between TV shows and Web sites. The WebTV Plus does not have a PC keyboard input, while the WebTV Classic does.

17. What is a URL? What's HTML? What's IRC? What do all these acronyms and abbreviations mean?

The terms and lingo of the Internet can be baffling to a new user, so we've compiled a glossary of words here in the Archive that you're likely to encounter. To get to the glossary, select the following link:

The Glossary of WebTV and Internet Terms

18. Can I download something from the Internet?

Although the WebTV system has memory, the transfer of information between the Internet and your terminal must be handled by our network. In this way, WebTV eliminates the need to download. While a computer user might download a program to play MIDI files (small programs that play music)to listen to music online, WebTV comes with a player already installed. So when you want to listen to music, your terminal automatically activates the built-in player program.

We offer frequent upgrades as part of the service, so that our system can handle new technologies developed for the Web.

19. Can I make my own Web site with a WebTV terminal?

Yes, but you will first need to register with one of the free Web page providers. Three of the most popular free services are:

Geocities
Tripod
Angelfire

You can also check out the Homespun section of Club WebTV for more information on how to create your own site, as well as examples of other WebTV users' homepages.

20. Where can I find out more about WebTV?

A good starting place is the Instructions section, which can be found by selecting Using WebTV on the Home page. Help Center can also be found there, and provides answers to many frequently-asked questions about WebTV. You can also access webtv.users, a moderated newsgroup that discusses WebTV-related issues.

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