The Web Wizards Guide to Freeware/Shareware Chapter Four Essential Tools for Web Page Authors

Chapter Objectives Find out what a freeware FTP client can do for you Look at freeware HTML editors and HTML validators See what you can do with freeware and shareware graphics utilities Investigate freeware and shareware link checkers Learn how to save time with image mappers See what other special purpose utilities are available as freeware

FTP Clients An FTP client makes it easy to move files between Internet hosts. Full-privilege FTP sessions allow you to upload files to an FTP server as well as download files (but you need an account on the server for this). FTP clients are similar to download managers but with uploading capabilities.

HTML Editors and Validators Tag insertion based on a single button click Automatic color coding for tag names, tag attributes, and visible text Automatic syntax checking Additional authoring tools These tools offer a variety of time- saving features, including:

Graphics Utilities A image viewer makes it easy to view image files on your hard drive, and do some simple image editing operations as well. An image converter can open an image file in one format (e.g..bmp) and convert it to another format (e.g..gif).

Link Checkers When a browser encounters a file that requires a special application, it can automatically launch an stand-alone application (e.g. a.doc file could launch Microsoft Word). Plug-ins never open new windows in order to display a file, but helper applications always open new windows. Helper applications are integrated with browsers whenever you are asked what application should be used to handle a specific file type.

Image Mappers Download managers Password managers Cookie managers Ad filters

Special-Purpose Tools Image splitters Button generators Site Grabbers URL Managers There are many special-purpose tools, including: