Product Review: Zoop

The program is ZOOP from Inter Netion. It has been two years in the making, and the effort by the Singapore company shows. The program is very fast operating and is loaded with features, some of which the larger companies making HTML editors would do well to observe and emulate.

Notice that I have not identified ZOOP as a text editor or a WYSIWYG editor. The reason: it's both. While it starts as a text editor and can remain that way throughout, those wanting a WYSIWIG editor can get one by right clicking the mouse in the main screen and choosing "Edit File in Browser." Suddenly, that is exactly what you are doing. When finished, right click, choose "View Source", save the file and hit the at the upper right corner to return to the text editor and main screen.

For those of us who hate making tables because they take too long, ZOOP enables users to type this:

Users can then tweak the table as desired. It is a real time-saving feature and eliminates the confusion that can come from embedding tables within tables within tables. The program also allows users to make tables from templates or a wizard.

The file manager (left) enables users to see all the files in each directory, preview photos, copy, move, delete, determine the size, and link to listed files. Further, users can select a file and choose to launch the default application to edit that file.

At start up, users are given a choice of a basic HTML page or CSS-based HTML page (above). While the program does not allow movement of menus, it really does not seem necessary. Unlike many HTML programs, the editing area is large enough and the menus are arranged such that it all is easy to get to and see.

In addition to tag marking for HTML, that feature is also available for ASP, vbscript, CSS, javascripts, comments and include files.

In the lower right corner of the interface, there are more than a dozen popup buttons that provide the options available for forms, tables, lists, frames, headings, characters, links, and many more.

ZOOP (it stands for Zippy Option Oriented Programming - because it was written in Visual Basic - and also for the sound a speeding object makes because it truly is fast) also has a built-in image mapper, thereby eliminating another program users would have to obtain.

Unlike many image mappers included in HTML programs, users do not have to guess the parameters, simply draw the rectangle or polygon around the hotspots and let the program generate the code which can then be pasted into the HTML file.

ZOOP also has its own built-in FTP program, which enables users to upload multiple files and folders by simply dragging-and-dropping them.

While the help file must be downloaded separately, tag help is as easy to reach as placing the cursor over the tag and hitting the F1 key, at which point a box will pop up displaying the various options and an explanation for that tag.

ZOOP is a program that will appeal to beginners and advanced web builders alike. Its simple but highly functional interface is convenient to use and maximizes use of screen space. All that adds up to make the program efficient and fast - ZOOP fast.