SiteScribbler
January 31, 2001
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SiteScribbler is a program that offers something for everyone in
the Web building business, from those with minimum experience to
seasoned pros, and it has one special feature that makes it well worth a
look — it's free.
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SiteScribbler's interface is simple though slightly different
than most. The difference is that rather than offer all tags
needed to build a site, the program has an area to the left of
the main screen where frequently used tags are stored and can be
used by simply placing the cursor where you want the tags and
clicking on the tag of choice.
This also means that if the user does not already know the tags, there
isn't much help available. While tags are easily learned, it is
easier and quicker to click on a button — as is the case
with most programs — to insert them rather than having to
type them out.
It also means that the user cannot see the files in a particular
directory as part of the interface and must access those files
from the "New," "Open", and "Save" menu choices across the top of
the main screen.
SiteScribbler, whose creators have made a program that is more
stable than most, enables the user to preview Web pages in an
external browser or within the program's own viewer in real time.
That is not to say the program is totally weak when it comes to
file management, for one of its wizards is devoted to that
specific process. Site Manager enables users to view contents of
folders. However, the drawback is that the user must know the
complete path to the item.
When the user selects a particular area in which to work, the
options across the top of the menu change to provide the
appropriate areas. A click on "Wizards" — the choice most
likely to be made — brings up a menu with wizards for
hyperlinks, images, scrollers, fonts, forms, styles, tables,
frames, and JavaScripts.
Each of those wizards offers something more than usual:
- Hyperlink: This wizard has the standard URL, alt
text, and target options, but it also offers users options for
assigning onmouseover, onmouseout, and onclick events.
- Image: In addition to the usual path, alt text,
border and border size, this wizard inserts the image size and
enables the user to easily make the image itself a hyperlink.
- Scroller: The user can select the size, method of
scrolling, background color, and text used, then click a button
to insert it in a file.
- Fonts: The wizard lets users see what each font will
look like, choose a size, color, and many other features in the
"bold", "italic", and "underline" vein.
- Forms: The user can select the type of form entry, give
it a name and caption, and edit overall form properties.
- Styles: An easy wizard to set style properties for
an entire document or site.
- Tables: Enables the user to apply properties to
individual cells or the entire table.
- Frames: Offers three of the basic formats, but the
user can then edit them into something entirely different.
- JavaScripts: Includes four basic messaging scripts,
but does not go beyond that.
The program has an "Undo" feature, but because there are no Help
files to explain how it works — and it appears to work
differently than most — it didn't work at all in our trials.
SiteScribbler has a good HTML check feature and handles the color
coding of tags better than most in one aspect, that being that if
the front part of the tag is blue, the closing part of the tag
will be dark blue so that the user can more easily see where tags
begin and end.
The user tackling large files can take advantage of the program's
bookmarking abilities that make it easier to return to the spot
the user was working on when they left to go to another area.
While SiteScribbler has a unique "Help" program, it doesn't
provide enough depth. Further, when a user need help, having to
wait on a "Flash" introduction to the minimal help files is not
particularly high on the "fun things to do" list.
With screen space at such a premium these days, SiteScribbler's
biggest flaw is having an inch across the top of the screen that
is devoted to its own advertising. While information, news, and
links from its Web site can be handy, they are also annoying.
Further, although the program says you can turn them off, each
attempt to do so resulted in an "error" message.
The bottom line is that SiteScribbler isn't perfect, but it
offers a lot of good things for a free program.
What is it called again? SiteScribbler, Version 2
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Where can I get it? http://gunsoft.nlns.com/sitescribbler/index.html
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How big is the download? 1.52 MB
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How much does it cost? The big ZERO
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Is it worth it? It's a decent program
that in time may grown into an excellent one.
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