Revised July 31, 2009. Copyright 2009 © HTML-Kit.com. All rights reserved.
Nutrition Facts: 5% Fat, 0% Sodium, 80% Text, 9g Sugars, Serving Size - the whole thing. Caffeine content - 50 mg/8 fl oz. Not a significant source of funny jokes.
Contrary to popular belief, HTML-Kit is not a car that make web pages in parking lots. HTML-Kit started out as a simple text editor for HTML files. Since then it has grown to support dozens more file types, extensibility through plugins and numerous productivity enhancements. In a sentence, you can use HTML-Kit to manage web sites, from editing to previewing to testing to publishing. That's not all though, it can work with text files not directly related to the web as well.
HTML-Kit Tools is the latest version of HTML-Kit. Tools, short for HTML-Kit Tools, was developed after HTML-Kit 292. Bells and whistles are nice (and flashing LEDs), but web developers liked HTML-Kit mainly because it gave them full control of their code, provided useful shortcuts and kept a small footprint. HTML-Kit Tools builds on these attributes while adding improved editor, projects for organizing multiple sites, plugins without programming, USB portability and multi-monitor previewing, to name a handful of the new features.
A web designing car would definitely need to carry a jumper cable. Happy tagging.
If you have a question that's not answered in this document, or even if it's answered here, feel free to post it on the support forum for a speedy answer.
Feedback is to computer programs as water is to plants. So keep HTML-Kit hydrated by sending your feedback using "Help > Feedback" menu options in HTML-Kit Tools.
Not tested on Commodore.
A computer with the following minimum requirements is needed to run HTML-Kit Tools.
Make sure that you discharge any static electricity before touching the setup program. You might even wash your hands just to be on the safe side.
You can install HTML-Kit Tools using its guided setup program. The setup program, named HKToolsSetup.exe, has a wizard-like interface with step-by-step instructions.
If HTML-Kit 292, the previous version of HTML-Kit, is already installed on your system, it's not necessary to uninstall it. You can continue to use HTML-Kit 292 after installing HTML-Kit Tools.
If this is your first time downloading HTML-Kit Tools, please read HTML-Kit User Assistant help page for information on how to download Tools. If the download dialog displays an option to run the setup, you can start installation directly from the browser. Otherwise, save HKToolsSetup.exe to your local computer and double click to run it.
Then follow the setup wizard to get HTML-Kit Tools up and running on your computer. The default settings can be used in most cases.
Once the setup wizard finishes installation, select "Programs > HTML-Kit Tools" from the Windows Start menu to open HTML-Kit Tools. If the option to create an icon on the desktop was enabled during installation, you can also double click the HTML-Kit Tools icon on your desktop.
Windows 2000: When running on Windows 2000, the .NET Framework 2.0 may have to be installed if it's not already present on the computer. If your computer requires it, a message box will display more information during installation. You can download the necessary files for free using the Windows Update option on the Windows Start menu.
You can keep HTML-Kit Tools updated using the "Help > Check for Updates" main menu option. This provides the latest and the most complete information related to updates.
If you prefer RSS, login to HTML-Kit User Assistant, select "Downloads > HTML-Kit Tools" and subscribe to the RSS newsfeed.
Do you stay in the loop through your social networks? Catch outgoing HTML-Kit on Facebook and Twitter.
HTML-Kit alphas require an update approximately every 60 days, or sooner if you'd rather not wait. If this doesn't work for you, please don't install alphas at this time.
One of the first screens of HTML-Kit Tools running on your system will have the following look (once you put all the red stickers on your monitor):
A. Title Bar; B. Main Menu; C. Actions Bar; D. Channels; E. Actions Bar Quick Icons; F. Kit Menu; G. Document Tabs; H. Editor; I. Gutter Area; J. Editor Context Menu; K. Customized Editor Context Menu; L. Project Windows; M. Project Toolbar; N. Plugin Window Tabs; O. Editor Tabs; P. Status Bar; Q. Status Bar Quick Access Area
There's nothing special to see here folks. It's an application title bar like any other, with maximize, minimize and restore icons.
Most commands in HTML-Kit Tools are accessible through the Main Menu. Menu options are usually written in the form "File > Projects > New Project" where the first item -- "File" -- refers to the top-most sub menu on the main menu. You can follow "File" menu to "Projects" and then invoke the "New Project" command.
These sub menus are located at the top of the main menu:
After the main menu, the Actions Bar holds the most number of command icons. The Actions Bar is divided into major sections by tabs at the top, such as "Start" and "HTML." Icons on each tab are organized into smaller groups. Some groups have at least one icon that's larger than the rest of the icons in that group. Depending on which icon sat on the chair first, or more likely, because larger icons are used for frequently used commands such as "File Open."
Many icons can perform at least two functions -- invoke the command that's directly assigned to the icon and display more choices on a drop-down menu when the down arrow is clicked (if there's one). Some icons can perform a third function -- make you lean forward and stare at the screen.
You already know that you can select Actions Bar tabs by clicking on them. Did you know that you can scroll through tabs by moving the mouse wheel? If you prefer to use the keyboard instead, try Ctrl+F11.
If you got here while searching for MTV, wrong page! Channels are a brand new feature on HTML-Kit Tools Actions Bar. Instead of making tabs hold more and more icons, which may require more and more scrolling, Channels help reduce clutter on the Actions Bar. To find out what's on each tab, hover the mouse pointer over channel numbers. Channels are sometimes referred to as "Actions Bar > CH-1" or "CH-1" for short.
Shift+F11 can be used to toggle Actions Bar channels.
There should be a better name for this area, but it contains commands related to creating, opening and saving documents. The difference being that these icons stay visible regardless of the currently selected Actions Bar tab or channel.
No, this menu doesn't come with a toy. Although part of the main menu, the Kit Menu is a bit different in that "Kit Hints" are displayed in this area. As you use HTML-Kit Tools you'll see certain hints, called Kit Hints, that point to the Kit Menu.
Options on the Kit Menu include: Start Window, Start Dialog, Homepage on the Web, Profile+, Language+, User Interface Theme+, Edit Miscellaneous Styles, Advanced+, Portable Installation, Send File Content to HTML-Kit 292, Send File to HTML-Kit 292, Restart
Document Tabs display a list of currently open documents. It also displays buttons for closing documents and buttons for scrolling through tabs when there are more tabs than there is screen space. The order of documents can be changed by dragging tabs (left click and drag).
There are several ways to close documents, including pressing the middle mouse button (or the scroll wheel on some mice) while the mouse is pointing to a document tab.
For more document related commands, right click the document tab.
This is the main Editor area. The documents you open will fill this space. To view two or more documents side by side, drag a document tab towards the bottom of the screen until it fills one of the corners.
There's more to the editor (just a little bit) which will be covered in detail elsewhere.
The Gutter Area of the editor is used to display line numbers, bookmarks, code folding points, and line modified indicators. What were you thinking?
Also known as the right click menu, the Editor Context Menu appears when you right click inside the editor. It contains commonly used text commands such as Undo, Redo, Copy, Paste, as well as custom commands, snippets, and more.
To keep the selection while right clicking, right click inside the selection itself. Otherwise the selection will feel abandoned and disappear.
As part of the Editor Context Menu, custom commands and snippets that you create can be accessed through the right click menu.
Yes, you can get to custom commands through the Editor Context Menu, but to save time you can right click while the Ctrl key is pressed (Ctrl+Right Click). This will take you directly to your custom commands.
Ready-made plugins, called Caret Actions, are available for extending the context menu. Snowman nose is not included. Is your bunny looking over your shoulder? Nothing? Is this thing on?
Most of your site management functions are located in Project Windows.
If you're upgrading from HTML-Kit 292, project windows can do Workspace tasks and more. One glaring difference is that you can open multiple project windows if needed, where as you could only open one Workspace window in HTML-Kit 292. When you install HTML-Kit Tools for the first time, it'll create a default project with all the local and remote folders from your HTML-Kit 292 Workspace. Making it easier to start accessing files and FTP sites from HTML-Kit Tools.
In addition to the project context menu, project items can display two other types of right click menus. To quickly access commands related to the system and third-party applications, such as SVN, right click while pressing the Shift key (Shift+Right Click). Right click while pressing Ctrl to jump to custom commands (Ctrl+Right Click).
Can you think of a joke about projects? Something that doubles as a good ice breaker on a date.
The Project Toolbar provides shortcuts for accessing project related commands otherwise available on the right click menu. So you could go directly to Batch Actions without having to browse through a long menu.
Don't want toolbars to take up space in project windows? Turn it off by going to "Edit > Preferences > Projects."
Similar to Document Tabs, tabs at the bottom of "Plugin Windows" display a list of currently open Plugin Windows. Examples of Plugin Windows include Start window, project windows, snippets, templates, the dorm room window with the extra air conditioner box, and more.
There's one more type of tabs. Tabs on the bottom of each editor window makes it easier to switch between the editor, preview, output and Tidy windows.
F12 key is a quick way to toggle between the editor and the preview.
The Status Bar is used to display the current line number, tag position, hints and other document indicators. When in the preview window, the Status Bar displays links and browser messages.
Did you know that clicking "Line" on the Status Bar brings up incremental Go To dialog? Did you also know that clicking on Column does nothing? Strange.
This area, with its lazy made up name, is currently used to display the default project icon. When no project is open, this icon brings up the default project. When one or more projects are open, it displays information about the current project.
There are many ways to preview HTML files in HTML-Kit Tools. This is probably the quickest:
F12 key is a shortcut for previewing the current document while editing. Pressing F12 again, while in the preview, brings back the editor.
Since CSS files are there to provide style information, there's nothing to preview in the CSS file itself. However, HTML-Kit Tools makes it easier to test style sheets by letting you select a HTML file to go with a CSS file that's being previewed. This HTML file is called the "Host File" that host style information.
Working with extensible stylesheet language files (XSL) and XSL transformations (XSLT)? Previewing XSLT files in HTML-Kit Tools is easier than remembering those terms.
HTML-Kit Tools preferences are categorized into the following main sections.
Not all frequently asked questions are frequently asked. Some weren't even asked once.
A computer with the following minimum requirements is needed to run HTML-Kit Tools.
In addition to the standard installation, HTML-Kit Tools can also be installed on portable devices such as USB drives.
To be continued...
