Curated by: Luigi Canali De Rossi
 


Monday, September 1, 2003

Webmaster Killer Application: "View Page Source" Replacement Does Better Than A Swiss Army Knife!

Sponsored Links

WebTools
http://www.iconico.com/webtool/
= must have
Software Utility (PC only - requires IE)
Free + Pro version USD $ 20

swiss_army_knife.jpe

webtoolsinterface.gif

WebTools is a breakthrough utility that provides any Webmaster or indipendent publisher with a wealth of tools to access, visualize and test any Web page accessible online. WebTools literally simplifies many Web publishing tasks and allows even non-technical users to peek into a Web page and find links, images URL or test the page at different screen resolutions.

Tasks for which previously I had to send out an email to my Webmaster, I can now take care of by myself and within two clicks!

WebTools is basically a complete replacement and space-age evolution of the Page Source or View Source command that is often used to look at how a page is built, or to find a link to a clip, image or audio clip.

WebTools makes View Source a thing of the past and teleports you into usable x-raying and inspecting of any Web page you meet online.

The utility is a little vertical HTML panel that appears on top of your other windows. All of its commands and tests can be immediately applied to the Internet page that you are looking at.

To give you a simple idea of the fantastic power packed into this little obedient tool let me mention that with it I have been able to see, detect and identify lots of things which I normally would delegate or request a mor technical person to solve for me. With WebTools I can find out with one click the URL of any image displayed on a Web page. Seems stupid? Try to tell me the URL of the my photo at the top left of this page. How do you find that out? You have to guess. Or you have to call up the View Page/HTML Source menu command and start inspecting the HTML code of that Web page.

No more. WebTools solves all that.

Definitely something that as an independent publisher I have needed many times in the past and which I will hardly let go.

WebTools is designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind and Nicholas, the author, did indeed an excellent job at this, The tool is easy to learn and to use. It packs a lot of power in a little space.

The report pages that are created are well laid out allowing for effective legibility without too much ink wasted in heavy lines and borders.

Though not immediately evident to the novice user, WebTools is organized in four sections:

a) Page Info - One of the two most interesting and feature-rich components of WebTools, the other being Change Page. Page Info contains a set of 11 inspection and analysis tools that work like a breeze.

b) Navigate - a very basic facility that allows easy navigation to other URLs or within directories of a Web site. (buggy)

c) Change Page - A feature-rich facility allowing the testing of any Web page across a number of components. Images can be turned on and off, resolution can be changed, borders can be hidden and more. The core components allow you swift and immediate switching of any web page to 640*480, 800*600 or 1024*768 page size to do effective page design and compatibility testing. Invaluable for junior webmasters and indipendent publishers.

d) Find - Also this fourth component provides some smart functionality by allowing the user to search any text on the selected web page while having it highlighted, find anythin related on Google, identify the owner of the Web site and other registration data including address and telephone number when available (through an official WhoIS search) and finally inform you about the type of Web server and operating system used by the owner of that Web page/site (Netcraft search).

To give an idea of the usefulness of this tool let me briefly summarize what are the main features available just within one of the above FOUR facilities: the Page Info. Once I activated Page Info a list of options allowed me, with one click of my mouse to:

1) See a list of all the links contained on a Web page on a separate Web page. The links are listed in association with the image or the text link they refer to.

2) See a detailed report of the scripts contained in the page.

3) Analyze and x-ray the HTML behind any section of the page. Simply select it and click on the appropriate command.

4) Inspect all of the stylesheets connected to the page you are viewing including all of the styles and classes contained.

5) Get complete overall information about the Web page you are looking at including last date effectively modified, total page size and image size, and more.

6) Scope the document tree and edit its contents directly.

7) Analyze and edit in detail the content of any forms contained in the selected Web page.

8) Receive all information relating about the frames making up a page. The URL and name of each frame, the size in pixels and the links for each one. Very useful.

And several more!

System Requirements:
PC and Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher.
Open connection to the Internet.

WebTools is free to use for an unlimited time. A Pro version packing even more great features and commands (see list at http://www.iconico.com/webtool/)is also available.

In the free version not all of the Advanced features are active and ads are shown at the bottom of the WebTools window.

webtoolsinterfaceChangePage.gif

To use the fully-featured version purchase the full version, available for $20 for an individual license.

Download the free version of WebTools here.

Kudos to Nicholas Michael Westerdale for this excellent tool. The guy is available for freelance work in interface design and can be contacted at mailto:freelance@iconico.com. I would personally recommend him.

Both in the free and Pro versions I couldn't recommend this tool more. I find it absolutely outstanding.

 
 
 
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posted by Robin Good on Monday, September 1 2003, updated on Tuesday, May 5 2015


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