If you are using free or low cost software to build your website, it may not have full functions for certain tasks. Even if you use software you paid for, you may need additional functions for batch tasks, or to do something just a little better.

You can find free or paid software to do a range of single tasks. Sometimes a program that is designed just for a single task can offer more functions and features for that one task than a multi-function program. Additionally, you can find software to help you add Javascript to your site, and to manage your site better. The purpose of this page is to give an overview of some of the possibilities.

Single function programs are good for image processing for the web, as well as for tweaking your code. Images are covered in the Image Gadgets page.

Things you might want to do with a single function program are:

Clean up images and reduce file sizes. This has to do with the image file coding, not the appearance of the file. JPGClean is a program which strips out unnecessary data which some programs put in that applies only to that program.

Check which images on your server are still linked to your pages, so you don't use server space for images no longer in use.

Global search and replace in HTML code. When you need to correct an error that occurs multiple times, to change one background pattern to another across a range of pages, or when you need to replace a URL that occurs multiple times (or if you use absolute links and you change domains), then a program which can search for text strings across multiple documents is very helpful. We use one to help us correct inadvertent 404 errors, and to make many other changes. Our favorite is actually a Text HTML editor called Max's HTML Beauty. The Search and Replace features in this program are the best we have found.

Meta Tag Creation and Insertion - There are a number of meta tag creators available, and they each work differently. Many are freeware though, so look around and check out more than one if you need it.

Gallery Creators - There is a lot of software that can help you create a gallery. The simplest ones just batch process images into a standard size thumbnail. The more functional ones allow you to specify a layout, put in descriptions, and write the HTML code for you to insert into your page template.

FTP Client - An FTP program can be simpler and more flexible than the upload capability of HTML editing programs. Two of our favorites are AceFTP, and ALFTP. Both have a simple Explorer like interface that allows you to see your files on the server, and to move them, delete them, or upload from your hard drive by dragging and dropping.

Link Validation - Link validator programs are available in two types - desktop programs, and server based programs. One type you run from your own computer, the other type you run from a web page. Link validators can have limitations - one that we tried to use would only validate one page at a time. If I used that, I'd be giving it instructions all day! Another would check every link, and every link that those links went to. That means that it never finished the job, just kept chasing itself in circles. Some people love these, but I no longer use one, I find that frequent checking of 404 errors is more accurate.

Code validation - There is software, online and off, that checks to make sure your code is clean and proper. Some of it will correct it, but most only tells you there is a problem.

Pop up window creation. Personally, I don't use these, they are becoming increasingly ineffective, and they tend to annoy a large percentage of your visitors. Still, if you need one...

And JavaScript. There are a whole host of programs to help you write Javascript for various purposes. We have found programs to do the following:

Write pop up menus. There is software to help you design pop up menus for web pages, which can theoretically simplify the process.

Write code for Roll over or Clickable buttons. You know, the ones that change when you use them.

And there is the Javascript Vault. A collection of scripts to do just about everything you could want to do, with helpful info on using them.

If you have to do a task repeatedly, and your HTML program does not do it well (or at all), then there is a good chance that someone has written a program to do just that one little task, or a range of similar tasks. Many of them are freeware, or shareware, so you can use them and see if they work before shelling out the bucks.

I use several programs in addition to my HTML editor, and they save me time on batch tasks, and complex tasks that I simply do not know how to do properly without help.