EZ-NetTools is pleased to announce the Advanced Text Block, which includes a great many new features. Some of the new functions include:

• Quickly and easily change the font size and color.
• Mix fonts and colors within the same block.
• Insert a link to a graphic or another web page within the text.

Once you have become proficient with the Advanced Text Block you can do many of the same functions as the Title, Graphic, Bulleted Text, Horizontal line, Button Bar, and Table blocks. These other blocks will continue to be available for those who are more comfortable with them and to maintain compatibility with existing pages.

The Help Text associated with Advanced Text block will not be in depth. The functionality of this block is so similar to most word processing software that we assume that most computer users will feel very much at home and not require additional help. Those who are not comfortable can continue to use the other blocks, which is not a bad solution either.

Limitations and Restrictions

Normally all the software we develop for EZ-NetTools is vigorously tested using a number of different versions of browses. Normally, any tool must be functional in browsers that have been around for two to three years. The Advanced Text block is a departure from that practice. We know that this block may not function correctly in all but the most recent web browsers such as Internet Explorer 6 (with the latest upgrades) or Netscape 7 (Mozilla 1.5).

The reason we have accepted these limitations is because the features are so useful and heavily requested. Those people who could use these advanced features are most likely to be using the most recent browsers. The bulk of the programming code for the Advanced Text block comes from an Open Source library. An Open Source library is software that is distributed for free and developed by a large number of independent programmers. To ensure future compatibility with changes in this Open Source program, we will keep our modifications to a minimum. We will not leave anyone "out in the cold’ because we will continue to support the existing blocks that can function with a large variety of browsers.

The Advanced Text block itself will hold as much text as your browser will support. That should be a very large page.

Knowledge of HTML is Helpful but not Required

You will be able to use the Advanced Text block without knowing any HTML. After you have used the icons for a while, you should be feel very comfortable with most of the function. However, since this tool is basically an HTML editor, using only the standard HTML codes, the more knowledge you have of HTML the better you will understand how to get the affects you want and why it behaves the way it does. Also, you may want to make some subtle changes that may be difficult to achieve with the icons. HTML is not very hard to learn and there are some very good reference materials and classes available.

Overview of the Features of the Advanced Text Block

There are drop down boxes or icons associated with each of the following features. When you mouse over an icon, a description of the feature will appear.

Text Editing. You can have the normal text editing features of copy, cut, paste as well as undo and redo.

Text Justification. You can specify and change the justification of the text from left (normal) to centered or right justification.

Ordered / Bulleted Lists. You can quickly and easily generate ordered list in an outline format. This feature is used in conjunction with the Indentations feature to created indented lists.

Indentations. You can indent paragraphs or elements of an ordered list. You can also decrease the indentations.

Horizontal rule. You can place a horizontal line in your text. This is one feature that does not give you the same options as the Horizontal Line block of EZNetTools, which gives you a choice among a variety of graphical lines.

Embedded Web Links. You can now place a link to a graphic or another web page right in the middle of your text. This solves one of the problems we have always had with the other EZ-Nettools blocks.

Image Insert. You can place an image on the pages. This is where some knowledge of HTML will help you place the image where you want it. You will even be able to get the text to wrap around an image.

Tables. You can add and modify tables to your text block. This is the most complicated feature of the Advanced text block. When working with Tables, an number of additional icons are activated. You can place text and images within a table, thus accomplishing many of the same functions that the Layout Manager does. Using this feature will likely require some additional knowledge in HTML.

HTML coding. Clicking on this link will switch between the page as it will appear and the HTML code that formats the page. You can tweak the HTML code if you wish and then return to the other mode.

Enlarge the editor. If you have a large block, you can open a second window that you can enlarge to fill your entire screen. Note that when you do this, you will have two window open that will be displaying the same information, a little confusing at first, but a handy feature.

Conclusion

The Advance Text block greatly expands the functionality and flexibility of EZ-NetTools. For those with little web experience, it can help them change fonts and colors more easily. For those who are more experienced, they can have more control over the look of their pages. While there are some limitations caused by web browse advancements, it should be a powerful and useful tool.