Some Super Simple Software For The Busy Web Designer

Here are a few handy programs for the busy web designer. Most are free, and make getting your pages on the 'net much easier. If you're taking a long time to do something computer-related, you're either doing it wrong, or you don't have the right tools!

(Note: Because some web publishers don't like having hyperlinks in their articles, I've omitted them here. The following programs can be easily found by typing their unique names in a search engine.)


1. Easy Text To HTML Converter.

This software can batch convert text files to HTML. A simple way to get your articles ready for the web. See also: dirHtml.

Another software, WordCleaner, can convert Microsoft Word documents to HTML.

2. WinSCP.

This is a very clever piece of FTP software. For newbies, you can drag and drop files as you would in Windows. For the more advanced webmaster, it has an SSH command line option; you can run commands on your server.

3. Putty Telnet/SSH Client.

A simple-looking, but sophisticated, freeware telnet and SSH client. Can be run from a floppy disk. Useful for the mobile webmaster. If you are an old-school designer, this is a must.

4. CGI-Telnet.

A cgi script that allows you to run commands on your server, even if your web host won't give you telnet access. Also good for getting at files generated by other scripts that are owned by user 'nobody', instead of your username. Ever tried deleting them? Well, now you can.

5. AXS Visitor Tracking System.

A very fine hit counter. Fairly simple to set up, if you use footer files on your site. Gives detailed information. Much better than the stats software that came with your web-hosting account.

6. Port 2096.

If your have CPanel on your webhost, yourdomain.com:2096 is the web address of your email accounts. Just go to it using https://, enter the username and password of one of your email accounts, and you can read your emails online.

7. GetColor!

This is a small, simple program to find out the colour code of any page or software on your desktop. A must if you want to track down a colour in a CSS file, for example.

8. Arctan Bulk Replacer.

This is that rare thing, a search and replace program for the Windows desktop. Need to replace a web address in three hundred HTML pages? This is the program to use.

9. 1-4a Rename.

A batch file renamer. If you have three hundred files with the wrong extension, this is the program to fix that. Very full-featured and an intuitive interface.

10. Netscape Communicator 4.8.

This has a very good email client (Netscape Messenger) and a decent WYSIWYG HTML editor (Netscape Composer) in it. The latter is not a patch on Dreamweaver, but it is freeware. Also, good freeware WYSIWYG HTML editors are rare. Worth a look, if you're doing simple pages.

With the softwares above you can get a lot more work done, much faster and more easily!