How To Use Resource Panels/Managers

 

Introduction.

As more and more functionality was added to HotDog we had to look for a place to put it. Resource Panels were the ideal solution. A Resource Panel is a floating, resizable window that groups similar functionality into the same place. Each Resource Panel performs a specific task related to web authoring.

Usually, functionality that helps you create webpages but does not actually edit them directly can usually be found in the Resource Manager. There are, however, special resources that do edit your page, such as the Extended Characters resource panel, which lets you insert foreign characters into your document.

Resource panels are opened from the View menu or using the resource button on the "View" toolbar.

More details on how to move/resize Resource Panels...

Local Files

The Local Files Manager resource panel is very similar to Microsoft Windows Explorer™. You can use the Local Files Manager to manipulate or filter files. Using Drag and Drop, the Local Files panel provides an easy way of inserting links into your documents. The Local Files Manager was designed to aid with the file manipulation required of larger Websites.

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HTML Property Sheet

The HTML Property Sheet helps you code HTML. It contains all the tags and attributes used by the major browsers, Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer. As you type, it continually updates you as to the attributes available in each tag. It also lists each attribute by browser type. The HTML Property Sheet was designed because it has become clear that a professional web designer needs to know every bit of information about every tag/attribute he or she is using, including which browser supports which tag or attribute.

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Websites

Websites are collections of HTML documents. Using HotDog to create a Website on your local computer means that when it comes time to upload to the Internet, one click is all it will take to transfer your work. Using the Websites Manager resource panel greatly reduces the amount of organization required to get you up and running on the Internet.

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Macro Editor

The Macro Editor is used to insert text and tags into your document. Its key advantage is that it can insert text before and after selected text in the document.

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Supertoolz

For quick access to your Supertoolz, the Supertoolz resource panel can be useful. Just double-click on any of the Supertoolz to activate them. Remember, you will need to first install some Supertoolz.

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Internet Files

Using simple Drag and Drop, you can easily upload files to your server. Uploading and downloading files is as simple as dragging them to and from the Internet Files Manager resource panel. The Internet Files Manager also contains the Internet Site Wizard. The Internet Files Manager was created as an easy way to quickly upload and download files, whilst still inside HotDog.

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HTML Tags

HotDog comes with a complete listing of all the HTML Tags we could find - plus a few more. The HTML Tags resource panel is used to define different colors for different tags, create shortcut keys for different tags and for defining your own tags.

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MultiLine Clipboard

We found that it is very useful to be able to drop commonly used text straight into our documents. So we designed the MultiLine Clipboard. It is simply a clipboard with unlimited capacity. It is very useful for storing the syntax for commonly used images and colors.

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Internet Explorer Favorites and Netscape Bookmarks

If you want to insert a link to one of your favorite Websites, then just use the Bookmarks/Favourites resource panel to drag the bookmarked link into your web document and it will be automatically inserted.

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Extended Characters

If you need to insert foreign or unusual characters such as © or ™, use the Extended Characters resource panel. Just drag and drop the characters you need directly into your document.

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CSS

The Cascading Style Sheets resource panel groups your style sheets together and lets you create and edit styles (using a simple graphical interface) as well as organize your styles between different directories.

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Navigation Viewer

The Navigation Viewer panel displays your currently opened and selected webpage hierarchically. That is, it displays how each of the tags are nested in your HTML document, allowing you to see how your pages are structured. Structure is important from the point of view of accessibility. Having an accessible webpage allows all users the ability to easily navigate your webpage.

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Scripts

The Scripts resource panel lets you add events to objects on your web page. An "object" is a thing on your webpage, like a block of text, or an image. An "event" is something that occurs when a user does something to the object. For example, clicking on a link triggers the "click" event - telling the browser to load a new page. However, there are other events as well, such as when the mouse enters the object (mouse enter) or leaves it again (mouse exit).

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