|
|
|
|
||||
1st Page 2000
Evrsoft Software Requirements
· Microsoft Internet Explorer v3.02 or higher Cost: free |
Review of 1st Page 2000
People always say there is no such thing as a free lunch. That is unless you're a journalist. It's the only kind of lunch since we don't get paid enough to buy our own. So I went out searching for some free software and found a real gem in Evrsoft's 1st Page 2000. It is an HTML/Script editor that is completely free and can be downloaded from http://www.evrsoft.com/1stpage.
For those of you currently doing Web development, you'll undoubtedly have some sort of software for creating your Web pages. That could range from Notepad to HomeSite to Front Page to Dreamweaver. I happen to use HomeSite as my regular editing tool. So I discovered 1st Page 2000 by accident and thought it might be nice to have on my laptop as a "lite" editor to make quick changes. Boy was I in for a pleasant surprise.
As a HomeSite user, I found 1st Page 2000 to look and work almost exactly the same. On the features side, it certainly was not a "lite" version as it was loaded with great features. In fact, I found that it had some features that I had always wanted to find in HomeSite.
When editing HTML files, Windows Notepad is a great editor. But it sure doesn't provide you with a lot of help that makes the job more pleasant. Simple things like Syntax and Tag highlighting make a world of difference. This just means that things like your HTML tags are displayed in a different color. But 1st Page doesn't stop with just HTML; it also supports Perl, ASP, Cascading Style Sheets, Javascript, VBScript, CFML (Allaire Cold Fusion) and Java. At right is an example of the code highlighting. Note that this also shows the interface in "Hardcore" mode.
Another set of great editing features are tools for cleaning up your code. It will automatically "tidy up" the code for you, strip all formatting tags, convert the code to XML or several other tasks. They even had a tool for compressing your source code to make it more difficult to dissect. While it won't protect the file from prying eyes, it does make it much smaller and harder to read. Of course this compression can be easily undone with the "Tidy" command mentioned earlier.
So that you can preview your work, 1st Page has an integrated preview that uses Microsoft Internet Explorer as shown at left. Future versions promise to use the Gecko engine from Netscape as well. Plus you can designate up to four external browsers for preview. Better yet, it automatically detects installed browsers for you. With the internal browser, you can even set up a split screen so that you can see the source code and browser at the same time. Have I mentioned that it was free yet?
We all make mistakes and a few typos can make your page look very unprofessional. So 1st Page includes not only a spell checker, but also LiveSpell that will check spelling on the fly. That means it underlines words with a red squiggly line just like your favorite word processor. I didn't even realize the feature was in HomeSite until I was checking for comparison's sake. They even give you the ability to search a thesaurus if the current word isn't exactly what you want. Hmmmm, I wonder if they realize that people would pay for a product this good. If you don't tell them, I certainly won't.
One task that I always find a little confusing in an HTML editor is the insertion of color codes. Sure there are color pickers, but they always seem a tad difficult to use. That wasn't the case with 1st Page's nifty Side Color Picker. Just click on the color you want and click an insert button to get the hexadecimal color code inserted in your HTML code. At right, you'll see the color picked in an undocked state. The only downside I found was that it didn't have a way to limit the color picker to only Web safe colors.
For me, one of the most interesting features was the huge library of scripts that can be easily incorporated into your HTML files. A large percentage of these are supplied as JavaScript files referred to as InstanzScripts within 1st Page. Most of them can be inserted with just a click or two. Others may require minor configuration. It isn't that these same scripts can't be found out on the Web, it is just nice that they are all supplied and categorized for you within 1st Page. At left you'll see just a small sampling of the scripts available and how easy it can be to insert them. Even more scripts are supplied in DHTML, Perl and/or CGI format. These require more work on your part and the ability to host scripts on your Web site. But you'll find a script to do almost anything you need.
If you are creating large sites, you can easily group all the pages together in a project. And with built-in FTP capabilities, you can upload the finished work directly to your Web host from within 1st Page. For users who want to work with the latest technologies, you can also convert HTML files to work with Cascading Style Sheets. Documentation is provided to explain more complex subjects like Server Side Includes. Speaking of documentation, I was fairly impressed with what was supplied. There are lots of good explanations of HTML and other Web-related subject. The only thing really missing is documentation on how to use the program itself. Some is supplied and more can be found on the Evrsoft Web site.
So far this may sound a little bit over the head of a novice user. What Evrsoft has done is provided four modes of operation based on a user's skill level. In Easy mode, the most common functions are big buttons as shown at right. Combine this with various wizards and even a novice could create a nice Web page. A good example would be the JavaScript Rollover Wizard. It asks for the various graphics and automatically creates all the codes to get cool rollovers. As you get more skilled, you can move on to the more advanced levels all the way up to "Hardcore" where all the features are exposed. You'll also find support for templates, though only a handful were supplied. But if an advanced user were to create a template, novice users could tweak that template into a great page with very little effort.
What started out to be a download of a "lite" tool turned out to be a fantastic product. 1st Page 2000 has all the features of the high-end products and then some without any cost whatsoever. Sure there are a few features that I'll miss from HomeSite, but nothing that I can't live without. Had there been a cost, I would have given 1st Page a slightly lower score. But given the price, it earns perfection from me. And it definitely works as I used it to compose this Web page!
Do you have a product you would like to have reviewed? Send press releases to reviews@unleash.com.
Foster D. Coburn III has written six best-selling books on graphics software and is currently the Webmaster of the Graphics Unleashed Web site.
|
|
CorelDRAW X6 Font List · CorelDRAW X5 Font List · CorelDRAW X4 Font List · The Terms of Adobe Photoshop and Corel PHOTO-PAINT · CorelDRAW X3 Font List · Cropping and Rotating Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · The Magic of Color Styles · CorelDRAW's Find and Replace Wizard · Shorten Your Design Time with Templates · CorelDRAW's Multi-Faceted Eyedropper Tool · CorelDRAW and Special Characters · The Easy Way to Create Calendars in CorelDRAW · The Wide World of Labels in CorelDRAW · Including Variable Data with Print Merge · Resaving, Resizing & Resampling Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · Creating Your Own Fonts in CorelDRAW · The Evils of Using JPEG Files · Speeding Up CorelDRAW 11 and Windows XP · Symbols and Imposition · The Easiest Way to Recreate Logos · A Few Guidelines to Follow · Square Corners Can Be Sticky -- Rounding Corners in CorelDRAW · Creating Complex Shapes Easily with CorelDRAW · Identifying the Mystery Font · Two Ways to Create a Split Front Design · Last Word in Font Management · Calibrating Your Printed Colors with a Color Chart · Graphics Computing in 2001 · Hottest R.A.V.E. In Town · Get the Red Out of Eyes · Secrets of Color Management · Dressing Up Your PDF Files · How Adobe Acrobat Can Make Life Simpler · Why You Want PDF in Your Workflow · Converting a Scanned Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Designing 360 Degrees · Customizing Your Interface in CorelDRAW 8.0 · Fitting Text to a Path · Creating Cool Graphs Without a Spreadsheet · From CorelDRAW to Macromedia Flash, A Simple Example · Getting Rid of That Darned White Box · Converting a Bitmap Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Finding Clipart with ROMCAT
Xara Xtreme Pro 5.0
Serif WebPlus X2
Xara Web Designer 5.0
Xara Xtreme Pro 4.1
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Professional
Fuji FinePix 2800 Zoom Digital Camera
Procreate KnockOut 2
Hemera Photo Objects Volume I and II
Wildform SWfx
Macromedia Fontographer 4.1 and FontLab 4
Caligari iSpace v1.5
Xara X
Macromedia Fireworks 4
Web Site Design Made Easy
Alien Skin Eye Candy 4000
Swish 1.51
Macromedia Flash 5
Corel KPT 6
Dreamweaver Ultradev
1st Page 2000
Adobe Illustrator 9
Corel KnockOut v1.5
Xara 3D 4
Cool 3D 3
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 1995-2007 Unleashed Productions, Inc., All Rights Reserved. |
||
