HTML Quick Tags

Version 1.2B

Thank you for trying the BETA version of HTML Quick Tags (HQT). I found as I was writing my HTML documents that the current low cost HTML editors were just not meeting my needs. I wanted the power and flexibility of the professional word processors; but why pay $100.00 or more for an HTML editor when I own several word processors already? To me that was silly. Especially since HTML documents are just text documents and editors like WordPad or Notepad work just fine. All I really wanted was relief from having to write the same tags over and over again. This is the concept and the purpose of HQT. To help you write your HTML documents, and not get in the way.

This program is not an editor. Rather, it uses the editor of your choice to paste HTML tags into your HTML document. It should work with most windows editors. The HQT menu choices include the WordPad and Notepad editors that come with windows, or you can set up your own editor by invoking the Set Path menu item. In my working copy of HQT I have Microsoft Works set up as my User Editor. If the WordPad and Notepad programs are in your path, you do not need to set the paths for these programs.

Under the Editor main menu item is also a selection called Browser. Using the same Set Path dialog, you can set the path to your browser so that you can test your HTML document. I have mine set to Internet Explorer that I run as I write my documents.

A new feature is Auto Load that you can set in the Set Paths dialogs. If the Auto Load check box is set, HQT will automatically load the programs when it starts up.

The operation of the program is very simple:

Start the HTML Quick Tags program.
Start your editor from the Editor menu, using the editor selection of your choice (if not auto-loaded).
Start your browser from the Editor menu, using the browser menu item (if not auto-loaded).
In the Editor Title Bar textbox enter enough characters from the editor title bar to uniquely identify the editor program. For example, I am using the Wordpad program to edit this document. The Title textbox reads "quick". If the information you enter is not unique, the program won't find your editor and strange things may happen.
Begin editing.

This program has three tabs, crowded with buttons. I admit, this is not a pretty program, but it is functional and that was my goal. Each button has the name of an HTML tag on it, and by clicking the button, the tag is pasted into the editor. Some tags pop up a dialog box to enter additional information, but most just paste the tag into the document.

The Tags tab has the common HTML tags. I have not included all the tags that have been defined or proposed (but you can add your own. I’ll explain that in a minute).

On this tab are two special buttons:

New HTML: This is the skeleton of a new HTML document. Click this button to get started.
Forms: This will pop up a dialog with the common form elements on it. Again, I haven’t included all the tags, just the most common.

The color button deserves a special note. Clicking the color button brings up a color dialog that displays the 16 basic colors and a red-green-blue scale. To paste the color code into your document, click the color square. The color format is “#rrggbb”. The program remembers your last custom color between sessions.

The other dialogs are self explanatory.

The User Tags tab allows you to enter in any text information and to save that info to the program database. This text can be anything. Tags I haven’t defined, notes, your own special outline - whatever. Clicking the Paste button will paste the information into your document. Use the data controls to move through the record set and click the appropriate button to add, delete and update your tags.

This tab also has a Macro button that you can use to build your own little macro programs. If you can do it with keys, then you can do it with the macros.

There is a Date button that will paste the current date into your document. It uses the Long Date format.

The Table tab has many of the tags used to build a table. Take note of the Build button. By defining the columns and rows and clicking Build, a table shell will be pasted into your document. Checking the Border checkbox will add the Border tag to the table definition. You can paste in the other table elements by clicking the appropriate tag button.

System Requirements

The program requires Windows 95. It was programmed as a 32-bit application. It may operate under Windows NT, but I don’t have access to NT so I don’t know for sure. I have 16 megs on my machine, but it should run with 8 megs.

To install the program, download the zip file and unzip it to a temp directory. Run Setup.exe to install the program. As with any install program, be sure you have exited all other programs before you attempt to run the setup program.

Remember, this is a BETA version of the program, so it may have bugs in it. I have found it to be pretty stable, but you never know. If you find a bug please email me at clarkr@flash.net so I can correct it. I believe I have all the tags defined correctly, but if you find an error, please let me know so I can correct it.

Also, if you have any suggestions, please let me know. If I can, I'll get it in the next version.

This program is free and is provided as is. Use at your own risk.

This HTML document was written using HTML Quick Tags.