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Ctrl-F Searching
Ctrl-F Searching. As explained on the home page, no attempt has been made to organize the covers alphabetically. Unless you really like reading lot descriptions, this site will drive you nuts if you don't let your browser find the things you want. Both the Microsoft and Netscape browsers have a simple text-search engine which is called up by holding down the Ctrl key while typing the F key. (That's the letter F, located between the D and G keys, not one of the Function keys.) First, get into the text document that you want to search (e.g., New this Month) and let it download completely. Click an the top of the document to let your browser know where you are. Then, hold down the Ctrl key and type the letter F. This will bring up the Find box. Type enough of the text for which you're looking into that box and click on the Find Next button. If the text is there, it will find it and take you to the line on which it first occurs. (Note: if you want to view the photo of the item, right click on the link -- usually the item number. This will allow you to view the item in a separate window and, on closing that new window, to return to your search at the point where you left it. Left clicking on the photo link will take you to the photo, but when you go back to the list your search will resume at the top.) Repeat until the text is no longer found to see if there are any other items that fit your search criterion.
In defining your search term, it is beneficial to type in just enough to separate what you're looking for from everything else. If, for example you want Prexy covers, you should type in only "Prex" as this will find descriptions that include both "Prexy" and "Prexies," whereas typing in "Prexy" would miss the latter. Similarly, "medic" catches both "medicine" and "medical" but keeps you from being bothered with "medium" and "medieval" and "comedian", which entering just "medi" would turn up if they were there. I'll try to simplify matters by inserting more generic words in the descriptions -- e.g., "medicine" should occur in a description of a cover with a military hospital unit handstamp -- to limit the number of searches you'll need to do. But you will have to do multiple searches for multiple terms. (I.e., if you collect both Zambia and cats, you cannot enter both at the same time and expect to find anything.)
Text & Photos. Each item description is linked to a photo of the item. Unless you are in the midst of a Ctrl-F search (in which case, see above) all you have to do to view the photo is left-click on the item number (e.g., 00a123) and the photo will download. To get back to the description page, use the "Back" button on your browser. (Note, I have usually scanned only 1 side of the cover. If you feel there may be something important on the other side, e-mail me for a description or a scan. Where both sides are scanned, a second clickable link, e.g., "Other side," will appear at the end of the description.)
Site update notices. I send out e-mail notices when I add material to the site, to those who have requested them. They will not say a lot about what is added. However, they will save you having to look on the 340-350 days per year when there is nothing new to see, and they will give you a better chance to be first on an item that you want. If you want me to add you to my update notices e-mailing least, please send me an e-mail to that effect.