Tools
Software to help you create and manage your website and email.
If you have a designer creating your website, you may not need any of these. However, if you're the type who likes to do it yourself, these tools can help. *
Website Creation toolsYou can create HTML pages with any text editor (SimpleText, Notepad) or even your favorite word processor. However, a good web editing program will greatly simplify the process and reduce errors. |
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Adobe (Macromedia) Dreamweaver: The undisputed king of
web tools. Intuitive enough for amateurs and the power-tool of choice
for web professionals. Has a reasonably easy "what you see is
what you get" (wysiwyg) graphical mode, and powerful tools for
editing, managing and uploading. Mac and PC. www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/ |
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Microsoft Frontpage: We don't recommend it, but
if you have a Windows PC, it may be provided free. Tends to create
web pages that look great on Windows browsers, but may not be so
hot if your visitors use a Mac. Being phased out by Microsoft. office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010858021033.aspx |
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Adobe GoLive: You may have a copy of this lying around on an older Mac. The main complaint with this is that it creates ugly, hard
to manage, non-standard html. We do NOT recommend this - there are many better options to create your own web pages. www.adobe.com/products/golive/ |
File Transfer (FTP) toolsYou'll eventually need to move your web pages and images from your desktop to your web server. FTP is the tool you use. All three programs above include file upload/download features, but if you prefer to do this separately, or need more control, you'll need a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program. |
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Fetch: The grandaddy of Mac file transfer programs.
Chances are you already have this somewhere on your desktop. Getting
a little dated now, but still works. fetchsoftworks.com/ |
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Transmit: A very slick interface and powerful
file management. These guys even claim FTP can be fun! www.panic.com/transmit/ |
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CuteFTP: Simple drag and drop program for Windows. cuteftp.com/ |
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WSFTP: This one has been around a long time, and
shows it with a confusing interface. wsftp.com/products/ws_ftp/ |
SilverType provides both regular POP email accounts, that you
download to your own computer, as well as browser-based access
to your email
- useful if you're on the road or your home computer isn't working.  |
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Thunderbird: A free program from the same people
who make the Firefox browser. Very easy to use, has excellent spam
and virus filtering,
as well as rules and archiving. And the price is hard to beat. www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird |
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Eudora: A very capable and easy to use program.
Simple setup for casual users, but also plenty of power for advanced
users. A free, full-functional
ad-supported version is available, or you can upgrade to ad-free
for minimal cost. www.eudora.com |
A few words about Outlook Express: Many people use Outlook by default because it came free with their computer. While we fully support users who choose to stay with it, we cannot recommend it. It poses too many security risks, as well as being extremely confusing to normal users. With other excellent programs available, there's just no reason to get stuck with this. Note that most other programs can easily "import" all of your existing Outlook folders and address book. |
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Image Creation and Editing |
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Adobe Photoshop: The default standard for digital
photo editing. However, for creating images specifically for the
web, it can produce very large files (=long downloads for your visitors)
unless you really know how to tweak its settings. www.adobe.com/products/photoshop |
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Adobe (Macromedia) Fireworks: Not as strong on photo editing
as Photoshop, but if you want the best quality images with the smallest
files sizes, this is the right tool. Fireworks is THE tool for creating
graphics specifically for the web. Also excellent for vector art. www.adobe.com/products/fireworks/ |
If you have a favorite tool you'd like to recommend, or
any corrections to the above listings, please contact us at 
* Silvertype neither endorses nor recommends any of the above programs or tools.(However, we do have opinions!) These links are provided purely as a service to our customers. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
