Web Gateway Overview and Instructions

What is a Web Gateway?
The Web Gateway is a web-based interface to Usenet and all the newsgroups provided by Usenet.com (currently more than 120,000 groups are available on our servers).

Why Use the Web Gateway?
Learning how to use and utilizing the gateway is very easy and is a matter of 5 to 10 minutes max. All you need to access the Web Gateway is a computer with an Internet connection and your Usenet.com login information (username and password).

Web Gateway vs. Newsreader

Simple to Use: The gateway is a simpler and more user-friendly alternative to accessing the Usenet newsgroups with a newsreader. Even though Usenet.com provides News Rover to its members at no charge, the Web Gateway is also available to you as a member. If you don’t want to download an extra software application on your machine, you can use the gateway (also known as Web to News).

Great When Traveling: In addition, having access to a Web to News interface can be helpful when you are traveling and accessing Usenet from a computer that does not have a newsreader installed (say from a hotel, airport terminal, or Internet café).

MSN TV: Last but not least, if you are an MSN TV (formerly Web TV) user, the Web Gateway is your only means of accessing text and picture groups in Usenet.

Limitations: As great as the Web Gateway is, especially for Usenet beginners, it has its limitations and we want you to be aware of them. The Web Gateway is great for viewing and posting text articles. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to find out how you can get a free newsreader.

Accessing and Using the Web Gateway

1. Connect
   There are two different ways to connect to the Web Gateway:
   - Type in the address of the Web Gateway (webnews.usenet.com) in your web browser window. This will take you to the login window of the gateway portal where you will enter your Usenet.com username and password.
   - Log into the Member’s Area at members.usenet.com and click on the ‘Server Information’ link. Then click on the ‘Log In’ link corresponding to the Web Gateway. You need not enter your username and password again.
2. Find Groups
   Once you have connected to the Web Gateway, you can look for the groups of your interest by typing a part of the group name in the ‘Find Group’ search box. For example, if you are looking for all groups related to the sport volleyball, use “volleyball” as your search term. This will pull a list of all newsgroups that contain your search term.
   To view ALL groups currently hosted on Usenet.com’s servers, click on the ‘All groups’ link at the bottom of the page. This way you can also view a select number of large and popular newsgroup hierarchies, for example all Microsoft-related groups can be accessed by clicking on the ‘microsoft.*’ link.
3. Browse Newsgroups
   To browse the content of the newsgroup you pulled up, click on the group name. This will display all current articles posted in that group. Once you’re in that window, you can also post a new message to the group.
4. View Text Messages
   To open a newsgroup message, simply click on its title. The message will then be displayed. Once you’re in the message window, you can also reply to the message. To go back to the entire message list, click the ‘Back’ button on top of the page.
5. Article Completion
   To determine whether a multi-part binary is complete, look at the completion indicator bar. The bar is located right next to the number in the ‘Parts’ column, corresponding to the article in question. If the indicator is green, that means the message is 100% complete. Red indicates a missing part.
6. Subscribe to Groups
   Once you enter a newsgroup, you are automatically ‘subscribed’ to it. What this means is that the newsgroup is book-marked for later use, just like you book-mark web links with your browser. The goal of newsgroup subscription is to have a link to the newsgroup displayed next time you log into the Web Gateway, for easy access. This way you don’t have to look for your favorite groups every time. To unsubscribe from a group, simply click on the newsgroup name, and once the message list is displayed, click on the ‘Unsubscribe’ button.
7. Configure
   To access and change your Web Gateway’s setup options, such as displayed name or email address, click on the “Config” button.
8. Log Out
   Simply click on the ‘Logout’ button on top of any page and you will be logged out of the gateway. To log back in, follow step 1 again.

Ready to Learn New Tricks?
Once you’ve become familiar with the Web Gateway, we encourage you to try our free newsreaders, News Rover & Ultraleecher. Newsreaders let you download all types of binary files and give you many more options and features, but are a little more difficult to learn. News Rover, however, comes pre-configured for our members, and we also have instructions on using it.

To learn more about News Rover, click here. To download you free copy of News Rover, log into the Member’s Area and click on the ‘Software’ link. You will also find instructions on using it on that page.

Questions?
If you have any questions about the Web Gateway instructions, please contact technical support. They’ll be happy to assist you with figuring out the Web Gateway or News Rover.

to access the new Web Gateway for Usenet.com

Please Note:
Usenet.com does not control the newsgroups on Usenet. We do not create the newsgroup or newsgroups on Usenet. Each newsgroup that is created is the sole responsibility of the person who created it. We do not control what people post to Usenet. Our servers are classified as a "transitory network." A newsgroup name in and of itself does not mean that what is posted to that group corresponds to the name of the newsgroup.