Chapter One - The Tools of the Trade
Where to Download the Software
The fastest way to locate shareware and freeware on the internet is at the Virtual Software Library (Shareware.com), also known as shareware.com. The website provides an interactive form which allows you to specify your operating system (Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, etc.) and permits you to search for software available in many key archives across the internet. You can search for a product by name (i.e. "Eudora"), by function ("mail client"), or browse through the latest arrivals or most popular downloads.

You can access the Virtual Software Library at: www.shareware.com, although you may prefer the more lean Power Search Form

CLIENTS REQUIRED FOR THE Shareware.com

You will need to have certain software in order to fully utilize the Shareware.com. To reach the website, you will obviously need a web browser. Netscape will not only allow you to access the website, but will also allow you to download the software once you find it.

If you don't have Netscape (or another browser that supports ftp downloads, like Cyberdog or Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE)), you can use a dedicated ftp client like Anarchie or Fetch (for mac) or CuteFTP or winftp (for Windows) once you find the location of the target software. FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol," and is the process by which a remote internet site interfaces with your computer to download and upload files and programs.

Finally, you will need a file decompression program to expand the software file. Files archived on the internet are nearly always compressed in some format or another to reduce storage space and download time. Popular compression formats (and their suffixes) include Stuffit (".sit"), Gzip (".zip," Windows), Binhex (".hqx," Mac), MacBinary II (".bin.bin," also Mac), and a few others you will find for images stored on newsgroups (i.e. UUencoded - ".uue").

Here are some decompression programs you can use and the file types they'll open:
Macintosh
• Stuffit Expander - expands .sit, .hqx
• Stuffit Lite - compresses .sit, .hqx
• Macbinary II+ - compresses and expands .bin.bin
• UUundo - expands .uue
• ZipIt - expands .zip
  
  Windows
• WinZip - expands .zip and several others
• Stuffit Expander - expands .sit
• PKunzip - expands .zip
  
  This listing is not complete - if you find that some of the above information is inaccurate, or you would like to add a utility to our list, please write us at: manual@teachers.net



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The following information is from the Shareware.com Help Page located at http://www.shareware.com/SW/Help/Download/:

how do I use downloaded files?

To cut down the time you spend downloading software, practically all the files you download have been compressed. To use a program you have downloaded, you must follow three steps:
1. copy it into an empty directory
2. decompress it
3. install it
On DOS/Windows machines, most files are archived using Phil Katz's PKZip software and end with the three-letter extension .zip. To extract the program from a ZIP file-or unzip it-use the DOS-based PKZip or a Windows program called WinZip.

On the Macintosh, files are compressed using utilities such as StuffIt, Compact Pro, BinHex, and DropStuff.

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Essential Web Authoring Tools

A Word on Shareware and Freeware

This section discusses the tools I consider essential for internet authoring. Lucky for us, many of them are freeware, others are inexpensive shareware. Let me take a moment to explain the difference:

• FREEWARE is software that is distributed freely on the internet
• SHAREWARE is software that you may use freely while you evaluate it, but if you like it, and continue to use it, you are expected to send in a small registration fee. The fee ensures that these "cottage" software developers can continue to develop these great applications, and be assured without them and the competition they spur, you would be paying a GREAT deal more for these same applications made by other nameless software giants.
  
  While no one will police your use of these programs, you are on your honor here. Some of these programmers have even installed little "splash screen" notices to remind you every time you start that this is shareware.
• LITE VERSIONS - are stripped down versions of the commercial product. If you pay the registration fee, you will get the full version with all the bells and whistles.
• DEMO VERSIONS - are versions of the commercial version which expire at a certain date.
• BETA VERSIONS - are the pre-release test versions of commercial software. The idea is that the software is distributed free to a group of users, and they evaluate it and provide feedback to the authors. Often the software expires at a ceratin date. Netscape has been releasing free beta versions of Netscape all along, so there are always free versions to test. Why buy the product when you can get the next generation for free? Well, it must be working, have you seen Netscape's stock lately!?
• POSTCARDWARE - my favorite - use it, if you like it, send the author a postcard!

Clients & Servers

Undoubtedly you have heard the term "clients" and "servers" in the internet world. Let me briefly explain what these are, so you'll understand the difference. When you are on the internet, your computer is almost always interacting with another computer. Sometimes you are sending information, other times you are receiving it. When two computers interface, one always acts as the server, the other as the client.

When your web browser connects to a website, the computer that sends the information is using special software that allows it to interface with your computer (regardless of operating system), and your computer is using special software that allows it to receive the information. This is known as a client-server relationship. When your computer is using Netscape, or Homer, or Newswatcher, etc., it is the client. When the remote computer program has the ability to service many connections at once, it is acting as the server.

On the internet, the programs that we use to access these servers are often simply called clients. Now you know what a client is! The following section describes only the clients you will need (or that we recommend) to create and maintain your own World Wide Web site. You will need at least one from each category. Some clients have advantages over others, like running multiple uploads in the background (Anarchie), others are more limited, but are free (like SimpleText). We recommend that you download and evaluate each of these programs, then decide which one works best for you.

• File Compression

  You will need these programs to expand the software and files you download from the internet.
  *NOTE* many programs like Netscape and Anarchie allow you to specify "continue expanding" in the preferences settings. This allows the proper expansion program to automatically kick in and expand the downloaded files.
  *NOTE* many programs like Netscape, Anarchie, and Stuffit Expander allow you to specify what folder you want the downloaded files to go, and to delete or save the compressed file after expansion.
  
  Here are some decompression programs you can use and the file types they'll open:
  
  Macintosh Software
  • Stuffit Expander - expands .sit, .hqx
  • Stuffit Lite - compresses .sit, .hqx
  • Macbinary II+ - compresses and expands .bin.bin
  • UUundo - expands .uue
  • ZipIt - expands .zip
  
  Windows Software
  • WinZip - expands .zip and several others
  • Stuffit Expander - expands .sit
  • PKunzip - expands .zip
  
  

• FTP Software

  FTP stands for "file transfer protocol" and is the language two computers use to exchange files across the internet. When you download a program from the Shareware.com, or InfoMac, or any other software archive, you are using an ftp transfer. Netscape has the ability to download files in ftp. However, you must use a dedicated ftp client, like Anarchie or CuteFTP, to upload files to remote servers. You must have an ftp client to upload your web pages to your web server.
  
  For Macintosh uploads, you may want to have both Anarchie and Fetch. Anarchie has the ability to upload files into a folder in the panel, without opening the folder. It also permits easier multiple connection uploads. Fetch, however, may be necessary when you need to download an ASCII text file that doesn't have a recognized suffix. You can force Fetch to download these files as text, Anarchie seems unable to do this. So if you ever need to download a log file called "error_log" and you know it's text, not binary, you will need Fetch. (This will be covered in more detail later).
  
  Macintosh Software
  • Anarchie
  • Fetch
  • Netscape only downloads from anonymous FTP sites
  
  Windows Software
  • CuteFTP
  • WinFTP
  • Netscape only downloads from anonymous FTP sites
  
  

• Text Editors

  Your text editor is your best friend. It can make your job a misery or save you hours with a keystroke! On the web mailing lists, many long flame wars are started by mentioning that one text editor is better than another, so you can see the importance of this tool, and how loyal some authors can be.
  
  There are two types of web authoring programs, the "text editors" and the "WYSIWYG editors." Each has its inherent advantages, and there are many crossover applications that seek to capture the best of both worlds.
  
  "STRAIGHT TEXT EDITORS" include Plaintext and BBEdit-Lite for the Mac, and TextPad for Windows. These text editors allow you to work with the raw source code that makes a web page, and the more advanced ones allow you to do powerful find-and-replace and macro-scripting. I prefer the Plaintext for the Mac, it's very easy to use, has excellent find-and-replace capabilities, and can convert files from DOS to UNIX to Mac. TextPad is a very capable text editor for Windows.
  
  "WYSIWYG EDITORS" (What You See Is What You Get) allow you to type your words right and place your images right onto your webpage, and the editor takes care of the formatting code. This may seem like the easiest way to create pages, but if you plan to make changes to your pages, or implement features not covered in your editors bag of tricks, you'll need to get your fingers dirty and learn the code. Knowing this, and appreciating the added control, most web authors at least have a copy of a good text editor.
  
  Popular WYSIWYG editors include Claris Homepage, PageMill, PageSpinner, Web Weaver, and Microsoft's Front Page. From all reports, Claris Homepage is a very capable commercial product, and PageSpinner is the hands-down best freeware WYSIWYG editor for the Mac.
  
  There are other options for people who need to occasionally create web documents, or who want the ease of a WYSIWYG and the control of a staright text editor. Many of the newest versions of popular word processors (like ClarisWorks 4.0 and Word 6.1) allow you to convert your web pages into HTML documents. This is usually done from the "File-Save as..." menu. If you take this route, be sure you name the created file with the suffix ".html" (or".htm" if you have Windows 3.1) and you can't use spaces or other illegal characters in the title.
  
  If you like the convenience of the WYSIWYG's and the control of the text editors, new products like PageSpinner (for Mac) and PageMill 2.0 are supposed to be cutting edge. Users of PageSpinner are very very enthusiastic about this product, because it shows you the code it's inserting, and specifies whether the code tag is HTML2.0, HTML 3.0 (newer browsers only), or a Netscape extension (looks good in Netscape, but unpredictable in other browsers).
  

• Web Browsers

  Web browsers are the driving force behind internet growth at this time. Web browsers allow users to access sites across the globe and view text, images, sounds, 3D websites, hear sounds, complete forms, play games, and promise many other exciting uses in the months to come. This section includes a summary of the major browsers.
  
  You must have some kind of web browser to creat web pages. You will edit your pages in the text editor, save them to your desktop, and then view the results in the browser. NOTE - if you view your pages in one browser, there is no gurantee the page will look the same in any other browser, a different version of the same browser, or even the same browser on a different platform (like Mac<-->Windows). If you are doing advanced or commercial web page production, you will need to cross-check your work on different browsers and platforms.
  
  You should also note that many new web authors create pages with features not available in many of the browsers on the internet. For example, frames and tables (a HTML 3.0 improvement) cannot be seen in the majority of older browsers. Netscape extensions like <font color> are not (yet) implemented in the standard HTML specs. These page "enhancements" may cause very unpredictable results in other browsers. Use them at your own risk. Better yet, if you use them, provide a second page not featuring that style, which you can link or send automatically to these browsers.
  
  But wait - it gets better - the Mac and PC have different color palettes! A picture that looks great in Mac may "dither" into an ugly mess when viewed from PC browsers. This is because the Mac is optimized for graphics, and the PC is not. (Also, even PC's that come out of the box with advanced video cards usually have the system set to a default 16 colors. Most users don't even know they can increase this!!!). The color palette difference between the Mac and PC's set below thousands of colors will confound new web authors. For more information on cross-palette web authoring, click here and download this handy color palette. (Note - I have changed the light blue color value from "#A6CAF0" to"#99CCFF" based on my research into the Windows 3.1 System Palette. Use this at your own risk!)
  
  Here are the major web browsers in use today:
  

  • Netscape

    This is the web browser largely responsible for starting the phenomenal craze for internet and web access in the past year. In addition to allowing users to see images and text, Netscape employs a system of "plug-ins" which allow you to add software to increase the capabilities of the web browser. Current innovations include an Apple Quicktime plug-in for Quicktime movies and animation, a 3D plug-in, and plug-ins for live audio "streams," videos, and there are more very exciting ones in development. For the latest plug-ins, visit the Netscape Plug-in Registry.
    

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer

    A new arrival reported to have some speed advantages, although not implementing all of the Netscape extensions... yet!
    

  • Cyberdog

    A new technology from Apple, still in its infancy, yet promising some pretty ambitious results. Here's what their press release says:
    
    The advantage to Cyberdog is that it offers the first Internet suite of products with a common look and feel, offering easy drag-and-drop control across different Internet services, as well as tight integration with the Mac OS and Macintosh OpenDoc-compliant applications. The result is that Cyberdog's browser, mail reader, Internet address notebook and news reading components are completely integrated with one common interface to accomplish Internet tasks. Cyberdog's ntegration with the Mac OS and Macintosh applications embeds Internet resources throughout the user's work, making Internet connectivity an extension of the desktop. For example, a user can drag and drop a live URL to the desktop, driving Internet links from the operating system rather than a browser.
    
    

  • SPRY's Mosaic

    Mosaic is the browser that started it all! This browser was originally developed by the NCSA (the supercomputer center that created the first web server, the CERN server). The latest version is available from SPRY, an internet access provider. (Update: the Mosaic system was purchased by Microsoft and became the basis for Internet Explorer)
    
    

  • Text-only and other browsers

    *** - Be aware that a large portion of web visitors across the globe have either text-only browsers, early (read more limited) versions of browsers, or slow connection speeds. These web visitors may not be able to, or may simply choose not to, view your image-heavy web page. You should always provide either a companion text-only page, or analogous text links somewhere on your web page to accomodate these visitors.
  
  

• Graphics Software

  If you are going to create web pages, you will almost certainly need a collection of graphics software. These programs allow you to resize, edit, and retouch images, change the file type, create animations, and measure the images dimensions.
  
  • Graphic Editors This is one area where what you spend will determine what you can do. If you do this for a living, you will undoubtedly want to drop some cabbage on the consummate image editing program, Photoshop. If you are doing this for fun, you will likely be able to get by with a freeware or shareware application. Check the Shareware.com for "graphic" and "edit" to see the latest software available on the net.
    
    Both Photoshop and CorelDraw are excellent (and expensive!) choices for graphic manipulation. Photoshop is the industry standard, and allows you to work with multiple layers, do incredibly complex filter effects, and produce razor-sharp images of a quality suitable for photographic production! I cannot say too much about this program, it is unsurpassed in capabilities and control.
    
    Photoshop lists for about $600, but there is a bright spot here. If you are planning on purchasing a scanner, they often bundle a "lite" edition (called Photoshop LE) with the scanner. This lite edition will allow you to do everything you can do with the full edition, except many of the filters (which do some dazzling effects, like create lighting effects, lens flares, unsharp mask, and many others) are not included. If you shop around, you might even find a good value on a scanner including the full Photoshop. (I purchased an Artec low-end 24-Bit legal size flatbed scanner with the full version of Photoshop for $550!!! That's less than Photoshop costs!). Check the MacMall on-line at www.macmall.com or call them for a catalog at 800.222.2808.
    
    Whichever program you choose, you will need to be able to save the image in both JPEG and GIF, and you'll want to be able to save them as either progressive jpeg or standard, and interlaced and non-interlaced gifs, with the option to choose one color as "transparent." (Wherever the transparent color appears, the background will show through, making the image appear to float off the web page).
    
    For more information on graphic editing and image manipulation, search Infoseek on +(web image effects tricks).
    
    
  • Image Map Software
    
    Image maps are the images you see on web pages that allow you to click in different areas, and you are linked to different sites. there are two types, server side image maps, and client side image maps. Server side image maps require high level server access, and require your server to process a calculation and return the proper coordinates, and thus take longer time to link you. For information on server side image maps, visit the NCSA Image Map Tutorial.
    
    Client side image maps, however, are able to fire up directly from the browser, and thus are quicker. The problem is, not all browsers support this type of image maps. the workaround (there's always a workaround!) is to provide an alternate text link somewhere else on the page. (You can also put both types of maps on the same image; browsers not supporting one default to the other). To find out more about client side image maps, visit the Imagemap Help Page.
    
    
  • Animated GIF Software
    
    Animated GIF's loop in Netscape and iterate once in Microsoft's Explorer. Other browsers will likely implement the feature in future versions. They are easy to make and can add a nice touch to your pages. Be careful, though, because every frame of the image is equal to one whole image of that size - in other words, a 10 frame image is equal to 10 of the pictures. large images are therefore not good candidates for animation!
    
    • Click here to learn how to make animated images.
    • Click here to find a mirror site for the latest version of GIFbuilder (for the Mac).
    
    
  • Miscellaneous Graphics Software
    • GIFScan - measures pixel dimension of GIFs on the macintosh. Why is this important? Because, if you specify the WIDTH and HEIGHT in the image tags, the web browser does not have to wait for the entire image to download to format the rest of the page. This *greatly* decreases the load time for pages with many images. The HEIGHT and WIDTH tags are used like this: <img src="some.gif" alt="My dog!" HEIGHT=110 WIDTH=185>
    
    NOTE - you can use other graphics editing programs, like Photoshop, to determine the pixel size of an image. You can also drag the image across Netscape and the image dimensions will show in the title bar (this doesn't work for animated gifs, you'll need to read the size of one of the component gifs)
  
  
• This list of software is by no means exhaustive. Please send any comments or suggestions for the manual to manual@teachers.net