Modifying User Preferences in WannaBe

WannaBe supports only a small number of user preferences. Some of them are configured via Internet Config, while others are modifiable using ResEdit.

Internet Config Preferences

WannaBe supports (actually requires) the Internet Config preference system. WannaBe uses the following settings from Internet Config:

HTTP Proxy Settings
Home Page
File Mappings
URL Helpers

To modify any of the above settings, use the Internet Config application, or if you are using a newer MacOS system version which includes the Internet Control Panel, use that.

Preferences Modifiable with ResEdit

WannaBe uses a preferences file (currently it must be called "WannaBe Preferences") that contains various settings which can be modified with a resource editor such as ResEdit. These include:

Fonts
Text sizes
Whether or not HTTP authentication data is cached

To modify any of these settings, it helps to be familiar with ResEdit. I hope to use an easier format in the future. There are 4 specific text-related settings, as well as the authentication setting :

primary font for web page text (PREF resource 1)
font for "Presentation" mode (for text in a <PRE> element) (PREF resource 2)
size of body text (PREF resource 3)
sizes for heading text (PREF resource 4)
use HTTP authentication caching? (PREF resource 6)

As usual, save a copy of the "WannaBe Preferences" file before you modify it. Improperly modifying this preference file can cause WannaBe to crash, so be very careful. Each setting is a separate PREF resource.

To modify the font settings, open the relevant resource and simply select the current font name completely and replace it by typing the name of your desired font.

To modify the body text size, it helps to understand hexadecimal numbers. The default size is 10, which is represented by 000A. Anything less than 10 is represented the same way it is represented in decimal (for instance, 9 is 0009). 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 are represented by 000C, 000E, 000F, 0010, 0012, 0014, 0016, and 0018 respectively. Be sure to use only 2 bytes (4 characters in the center column) when you modify the setting, just like the default.

To modify the sizes of heading text, use similar representations as for the body text size. The first 2 bytes are for H1 headings, while subsequent bytes are for the headings from H2 through H6.

To turn off HTTP authentication caching, change the "FF" in PREF resource 6 to "00". (zero, zero) To turn it back on, change it back to "FF".

Back to WannaBe Documentation.

Part of the WannaBe website, by David T. Pierson, <dtp@mindstory.com>. This page was last modified on 28 July 2001; 4:41 PM.