About FirstClass Plugin
FirstClass Plugin for Microsoft Explorer (FirstClass Plugin) is a version of the FirstClass client that runs on your web browser whenever you access FirstClass content by entering an address that begins with fcp:// or clicking an fcp URL. You will see the FirstClass Login form, which lets you connect to your FirstClass server.
FirstClass Plugin behaves almost identically to the standalone FirstClass client, so you can read the rest of this help for instructions. This document details the major differences between the two clients.
To access the standard FirstClass menus, click FirstClass Menus:
Installing FirstClass Plugin
To use FirstClass Plugin, you must be running Internet Explorer in Windows.
FirstClass Plugin is not installed by default with the client. If you don't have FirstClass Plugin installed:
1 Go to your organization's web site home page.
2 Click the client download link.
3 Scroll to the FirstClass Plugin section.
4 Follow the instructions.
The FirstClass explorer bar
You can open an explorer bar for FirstClass Plugin, to aid in navigation. When the explorer bar is open, FirstClass operates much like the standalone client in Explore view.
 ExceptionTo select an object, click it. To open an object, double-click it.
The explorer bar is similar to other explorer bars on your browser, such as Favorites. You can open and close the FirstClass explorer bar by choosing View > Explorer Bar > FirstClass, or by clicking the FirstClass toolbar button:
 NoteFirstClass Plugin doesn't have to be running when you chose this menu item or click this button. If FirstClass Plugin wasn't running, it starts, and you see the FirstClass Login form.
This is a typical view of FirstClass Plugin with the explorer bar open:
 The explorer bar consists of an upper and lower pane. The upper pane is the same as the left pane in the standalone client's Explore view (a hierarchical view of FirstClass objects). The lower pane shows the contents of an object selected in the hierarchical view.
The right pane shows the content of any object opened from the explorer bar.
NoteTo open an object in a separate window, select it, then choose Open in New Window from the shortcut menu.
How FirstClass Plugin integrates with your web browser
With FirstClass Plugin running, you can use both the client functionality of FirstClass and the web functionality of your browser. For example, you can:
• open external web pages while still connected to your FirstClass server
This means, for example, that you can be looking at a web page and still be notified that someone wants you to join an instant messaging session.
• use your browser's Back and Forward buttons to scroll through the pages you have visited, just as you normally would on your browser
If you have visited a mixture of FirstClass pages and web pages, you will see them all in sequence.
• drag URL icons from your browser's "Address" field (or links on a web page displayed in the right pane) to your Bookmarks folder, or any other folder, in the FirstClass explorer bar
Because these folders are stored on the FirstClass server, you can access the URL links from any computer you use to connect to your server.
• view links to the FirstClass pages you have visited by showing the History explorer bar and opening My Computer
• add FirstClass pages to your browser's Favorites explorer bar, or to the Links bar.
 TipIf you want to start FirstClass Plugin without an existing fcp URL, and you don't want to open the explorer bar, you can put a link to your FirstClass Desktop (or any other FirstClass object) on your web browser's Links bar. Use FirstClass Plugin to go to the object (make sure the object's URL is displayed in your browser's "Address" field), then drag the URL icon to the Links bar.
Quitting FirstClass Plugin
Because you are running your web browser, you don't have to quit FirstClass Plugin the way you do the standalone client. However, if your computer might be used by others before you quit the browser, it's important to log out (Collaborate > Disconnect) when you are finished with FirstClass Plugin. If you don't, someone else could navigate to your FirstClass content.
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