Monthly Archives: January 2006

TextWrangler

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A great little free text editor.

I thought I’d take a moment to praise the folks at Bare Bones Software for their free text editor, TextWrangler.

TextWrangler is a kind of pared-down version of BBEdit, Bare Bones’s super powerful text editor for programming types. TextWrangler is perfect for editing text files created for Web publishing, including HTML, PHP, and JavaScript files. Unlike other programs capable of saving in “plain text” format (TextEdit and Word come to mind), TextWrangler saves in real plain text that doesn’t include any extraneous codes that a Web browser or other client software might choke on.

TextWrangler also has a number of features that make it excellent for editing text to be used on the Web. For example, TextWrangler has FTP built right in. That means I can open a file on my Web server with TextWrangler via FTP, modify it, and save it — all without launching a separate FTP client. (This has got to be my favorite feature.) TextWrangler has commands for turning smart or curly quotes into straight quotes (or vice versa) or stripping quotes out entirely. It has an extremely powerful Find and Replace feature that supports Grep and pattern matching. The feature list goes on and on.

TextWrangler also has an extensive onscreen support system with detailed Help information and a tutorial. So if you need help figuring out these features — I needed help with Grep — help is there.

Looking for a text editor that leaves TextEdit in the dust? Check out TextWrangler. And if you need even more power, be sure to take the next step and look at BBEdit. I don’t think either program will disappoint you.

Extend Your Wireless Network and Play Tunes with AirPort Express

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New article on InformIT.com.

Informit.com Article

With my AirPort Express, I’ve figured out a way to get some phenomenal sound from some of that ancient Mac equipment collecting dust in my living room (along with the more modern stuff, of course).

Read all about it in “Extend Your Wireless Network and Play Tunes with AirPort Express”.

Five Funky Finder Features in Mac OS X

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New article on InformIT.com.

Informit.com has published my latest article for them, “Five Funky Finder Features in Mac OS X.”

When I presented these features to a group of long-time Mac users at my Macworld Expo presentation in the Peachpit Press booth, I taught them a thing or two. So check it out and see what new things you might learn.

WordPress QuickStart Q & A

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Post your questions about our WordPress 2: Visual QuickStart Guide here.

Have a question about something in WordPress 2: Visual QuickStart Guide? Here’s how to get the answer:

  1. Browse through the comments at the end of this article to see if someone else has already asked your question. You might get the answer without even asking!
  2. If your question is not asked (or answered), use the Leave a Comment form at the bottom of this post to enter your question. (If the form does not appear, click the Comment link below to display it.)
  3. Check in once in a while to see if your question is answered. I usually answer questions within 48 hours, unless I’m out of town. To have responses to your question delivered to you automatically by e-mail, along with other Q & A comments submitted for this book, turn on the Notify Me check box at the bottom of the form when submitting your question (step 2). You can unsubscribe to the notification feature at any time.

Please do not use the Contact form to ask me questions. I won’t answer them. I want the questions and answers here, where everyone can see them, so I don’t have to answer the same questions over and over again.

Remember, I can only answer questions that clarify or correct information in my books. If the answer to your question is in my book, I will provide a page number reference to help you find it.

October 27, 2011 Update: Due to the age of this title, it are no longer supported. Comments have been closed but remain in case you have a question that has already been answered here. I no longer provide support for my Lynda.com WordPress titles as those titles were turned over to another author.

Word Books Q & A

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Post your questions about my Word books here.

Have a question about something in one of my Word books? Here’s how to get the answer:

  1. Browse through the comments at the end of this article to see if someone else has already asked your question. You might get the answer without even asking!
  2. If your question is not asked (or answered), use the Leave a Comment form at the bottom of this post to enter your question. (If the form does not appear, click the Comment link below to display it.)
  3. Check in once in a while to see if your question is answered. I usually answer questions within 48 hours, unless I’m out of town. To have responses to your question delivered to you automatically by e-mail, along with other Q & A comments submitted for this book, turn on the Notify Me check box at the bottom of the form when submitting your question (step 2). You can unsubscribe to the notification feature at any time.

Please do not use the Contact form to ask me questions. I won’t answer them. I want the questions and answers here, where everyone can see them, so I don’t have to answer the same questions over and over again.

Remember, I can only answer questions that clarify or correct information in my books. If the answer to your question is in my book, I will provide a page number reference to help you find it.

October 27, 2011 Update: Due to the age of these titles, they are no longer supported. Comments have been closed but remain in case you have a question that has already been answered here. Support for my Lynda.com titles can be found on the course page on Lynda.com.

Excel Books Q & A

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Post your questions about my Excel books here.

Have a question about something in one of my Excel books? Here’s how to get the answer:

  1. Browse through the comments at the end of this article to see if someone else has already asked your question. You might get the answer without even asking!
  2. If your question is not asked (or answered), use the Leave a Comment form at the bottom of this post to enter your question. (If the form does not appear, click the Comment link below to display it.)
  3. Check in once in a while to see if your question is answered. I usually answer questions within 48 hours, unless I’m out of town. To have responses to your question delivered to you automatically by e-mail, along with other Q & A comments submitted for this book, turn on the Notify Me check box at the bottom of the form when submitting your question (step 2). You can unsubscribe to the notification feature at any time.

Please do not use the Contact form to ask me questions. I won’t answer them. I want the questions and answers here, where everyone can see them, so I don’t have to answer the same questions over and over again.

Remember, I can only answer questions that clarify or correct information in my books. If the answer to your question is in my book, I will provide a page number reference to help you find it.

October 27, 2011 Update: Due to the age of these titles, they are no longer supported. Comments have been closed but remain in case you have a question that has already been answered here. Support for my Lynda.com titles can be found on the course page on Lynda.com.

Mac OS QuickStart Q & A

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Post your questions about my Mac OS Visual QuickStart Guides here.

Have a question about something in one of my Mac OS Visual QuickStart Guides? Here’s how to get the answer:

  1. Browse through the comments at the end of this article to see if someone else has already asked your question. You might get the answer without even asking!
  2. If your question is not asked (or answered), use the Leave a Comment form at the bottom of this post to enter your question. (If the form does not appear, click the Comment link below to display it.)
  3. Check in once in a while to see if your question is answered. I usually answer questions within 48 hours, unless I’m out of town. To have responses to your question delivered to you automatically by e-mail, along with other Q & A comments submitted for this book, turn on the Notify Me check box at the bottom of the form when submitting your question (step 2). You can unsubscribe to the notification feature at any time.

Please do not use the Contact form to ask me questions. I won’t answer them. I want the questions and answers here, where everyone can see them, so I don’t have to answer the same questions over and over again.

Remember, I can only answer questions that clarify or correct information in my books. If the answer to your question is in my book, I will provide a page number reference to help you find it.

October 27, 2011 Update: Because I no longer have access to previous versions of Mac OS, I may not be able to answer questions about Snow Leopard or Leopard. Feel free to post them; I’ll do my best. I will not answer questions about versions of Mac OS earlier than 10.5.