Guide Dogs for the Confused
Created | Updated Jun 20, 2003
Ahh, yes: your very own page on h2g2, in real GuideML. You want it. You need it. It clings to the very essence of your trembling, computer-fed being like the unsatiable need for a really good cookie. The problem is, you can't discern a GUIDE from a /GIVE_UP_AND_CRY. Or worse, you thought you could, until your page appeared three times in chartreuse and without that adorable picture of 'Rudnitsky', your pet iguana. Where to go? What to do? The world was clouded in darkness, until...
... trumpets bellow, in rides a black stallion with a small 'winzip' icon on it's back
Winzip Icon: Never fear, GuideDog is here!
Audience: Huh?
Alright, so maybe I should explain before the Nobel Prize-winning epic dramatisation. Ffmike, in all his ingenuity, has developed GuideDog: a somewhat WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get, or Clicky-Button) GuideML editor especially for h2g2 users' needs. If you're one who hasn't got the time or excruciatingly massive amount of patience needed to learn and utilise GuideML, this programme's for you. It's user-friendly, offers most of the GuideML features you see around, and amazingly bug-free for version 0.5.0 (mostly due to the endlessly helpful Madmunk, who gave it a thorough look-through, and of course the daddy of the programme, Mike Gunderloy, who has been fixing and revising like mad). Most functions are as simple as clicking a small icon at the top of the programme's interface, and then typing away.
Granted, the programme has got it's faults: every now and then the font doesn't quite feel like returning to Arial after a box; the bold, italic, and underline font styles cannot be used simultaneously on the same text; etc. The typical problem is always there: such editors never seem to give people familiar with the coding language enough flexibility or freedom. But let's look at things rationally here: if they know enough to notice that, they can make their own damned webpages. ;-) The group which will benefit from this... and trust me, they will benefit... is just about everyone else. I recommend that if you're even the slightest bit interested, you check it out. There is a sample page created solely by the programme at: This Page and there are more explanation/download sites Here
