World Wide Web Weaver v2.0
Company: Miracle Software, Inc.
Estimated Price: $89.00
http://www.miracleinc.com
If you’re a long time reader of My Mac, you may remember my review of World Wide Web Weaver v1.1.2 back in issue #17. You may also remember that I was not as pleased with Web Weaver as I thought I would be. Web Weaver 1.1.2 had some missing features that hindered its potential as a champion HTML editor. Well, I have to say that I am nothing but pleased with version 2.0. With version 2.0, Miracle Software has definitely taken a step in the right direction.
New Features
Probably my favorite feature in the new version is that it’s now PowerPC Native. The 68k emulation was really killing me, but that has been fixed now! Web Weaver 2.0 is super fast, and thus has become much more powerful. Another feature that was absent in Web Weaver 1.1.2 was a spelling checker. Web Weaver 2.0 includes a special version of Casaday & Green’s Spell Catcher, a wonderful program for catching all kinds of errors in your spelling and punctuation. Since I have been using Web Weaver 2.0 with the spell checker, I feel that my spelling and punctuation have improved. You may be asking: “How do you know?” Well, I have it set to beep any time a word is misspelled. It beeps quite often!!!
The main feature in v2.0 is a totally redesigned interface. The interface is now “Copland” style, with the 3-D shaded push buttons and all! The main window has been separated into 3 sections, the Header, the Body, and the Footer section. This allows you to know where special code like Java scripts go. There are four mini windows to the side of the main window. Two of these windows include key features like graphic and link editors, and when you click on one of those buttons, the editor is opened, presenting you with loads of options and attributes so you can get exactly what you want. The other two windows are customizable, whereas you can put whatever shortcuts you want in them. Other new features include New table, frame, form, list, link, and graphic editors. Following the Copland style interface, they’re now a lot easier to work with and to understand.
Tags, Tags, Tags!
Web Weaver 2.0 supports Anchor tags, body tags, form tags, glossary and definition tags, graphic tags, head tags, horizontal line tags, link tags, list tags, mail-to tags, table tags, and all of the format, header, size and style tags. Also supported are forms, frames, tables, lists, and a whole slew of special characters. Speaking of those special characters…. there are some characters that I never even knew existed!!!
As I said above, there are now two windows which you can customize to your needs. When you click on an item in one of those windows, such as the “Center” command, it automatically types the center tags around your selected text or right in the document. Very clever!
The Preferences
On a whole, the program is much more customizable, letting you choose everything from the color of the text, to whether you want it upper case or lowercase!!! You can have more than one preview browser defined, and you can switch between them at any time. You can add new colors for your links. You can choose whether you want the tags to display in semi-WYSIWYG style, that is, if you want something to be in font size=5 it will be displayed in the window exactly how it will be shown in the browser. One more thing, you can now edit tags or create new ones directly in the main application.
Pricing and Availability
World Wide Web Weaver 2.0 sells for $89.00 plus tax, and an upgrade from version 1.x.x is $35.00 plus tax. You can download fully functional demos of Web Weaver 2.0, without the spell checker, at Miracle Software’s web site, http://www.miracleinc.com.
The Summary
The money that I spent for Web Weaver 2.0 was worth every penny. It is my HTML editor of choice, and will be for a very long time. I have tried other text editors, and though they’re nice, none of them really compare to the speed and power of Web Weaver. If you don’t want to learn HTML, or you like a WYSIWYG interface, there are some great editors out there such as Claris Home Page. But if you want an HTML editor that can work for anyone from a beginner to an advanced webmaster, Web Weaver is the way to go.
-Adam Karneboge
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***Announcement:
This issue marks my one year anniversary of writing for My Mac. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tim Robertson for giving me the chance to try out my writing skills, and continuing to permit me to write for My Mac, and to be My Mac’s Webmaster, which I have enjoyed more than anything. Over the last year, I have been working with some of the greatest people anywhere, the staff and readers of My Mac. He has also become a very good friend. Thanks, Tim.
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