Welcome to HoTMetaL PRO

Welcome to SoftQuad HoTMetaL PRO, a professional HTML editor.

About this manual

This manual consists of the following chapters:

• Welcome to HoTMetaL PRO.
• Getting started, an introduction to HoTMetaL PRO.
• A tutorial on HoTMetaL PRO and HTML.
• A quick reference to the core elements of HTML.
• A guide to common extensions to HTML.
• Chapters on each of the main areas of functionality:
  • Working with files
  • Markup
  • Spell-checking and thesaurus
  • Links
  • Images and image maps
  • Tables
  • Local styles
  • Searching and replacing
  • Macros
• A glossary.
• Appendices on file conversion, X resources, and SGML conformance

Using the manual

The `core' chapters of the manual are Getting started, the tutorial, Working with files, Marking up documents, and URLs.

If you've never used HoTMetaL PRO before, we strongly suggest that you work through the tutorial. We estimate that it will take about two and a half hours to complete the entire tutorial; if you do not need to do the Forms section, it should take about an hour and a half. If you want a quick introduction to the product, you can do just the first section of the tutorial, called Getting started: a basic document.

Even if you are familiar with HoTMetaL 2.0, you should read the Getting started, Core HTML and Extensions to HTML chapters to become familiar with changes to the HoTMetaL PRO user interface.

Throughout this manual, steps that you need to carry out in order to complete a task are marked with a solid bullet, i.e.:

• Do this!

On-line help and other useful resources

The following sources of information are available from the Help menu. Each item in the menu launches a browser displaying separate menu items, which contain links to the other resources.

• The HoTMetaL PRO manual.
• The file readme, which contains last-minute information on HoTMetaL PRO.
• The HTML Reference Guide, a detailed reference guide to all of the HTML elements and attributes.
• How-To Index, short exercises that teach you how to carry out a particular task. Some topics that are covered are frames, Java, marquees, and image maps.
• Technical Reference, a page containing numerous URLs on Web topics: HTML references, styles guides, design tools, plug-ins, and programming tools.
• Tips and Tricks, a page of `power-user' techniques that will speed up your work with HoTMetaL PRO.
• Image Catalogue, which allows you to browse thumbnails of the images that are included with HoTMetaL PRO.

CGI scripts

A number of sample CGI scripts can be found in the cgi directory within the HoTMetaL PRO installation directory. Each script comes with an explanatory readme file.

Sounds and images

The m_media and images directories within the HoTMetaL PRO installation directory contain a large number of sound and image files, respectively. All of these files are in the public domain and can be used freely in web pages.

Testimonials

If you would like to read some comments from satisfied HoTMetaL PRO users, browse the testimon directory within the misc directory.