Legacy Applications

Tips and tricks for the AOLPress WYSIWYG web editor.

SUMMARY: Where you may still be able to download AOLPress, plus a few tips for using this editor.

Download AOLPress

AOL has long since stopped supporting the freeware AOLPress WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) HTML editing tool. However, the following web sites claim to still have copies of AOLPress available for download. Note that these links have not been personally checked by MalekTips and are being offered for informational purposes only.

Archive.org - http://web.archive.org/web/20000822050803/aolpress.com/aolpress-win32.exe

DaviesTrek / AOLPress - http://www.daviestrek.com/software/aolpress/

FreewareWeb - http://www.freewareweb.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?ID=926

Stop the Default Page From Loading

Tired of seeing the main AOLPress page load every time you start AOLPress? Go under "Tools," then "Preferences," then "General." On the dialog box that appears, click the "Nothing" radio button under the "Startup View" section and press the OK button.

Verify Your Links

AOLPress makes it very easy for you to check the validity of all of the links on a given webpage. Just open a webpage, select the "Tools" menu, then "Check Links."

Heading Shortcuts

Using headings is a great way to organize and layout text on a webpage. You can create a pseudo-outline form so people can easily read text on your page. Plus, some search engines gives a higher relevancy to text in heading format.

If you use headings frequently, don't go to the "Format" menu, then "Heading," and then select the heading style from there. Just press CONTROL-1 for the largest heading, CONTROL-2 for the second-largest, etc., down to CONTROL-6.

Borders and Working with Lists

When using AOLPress to design bulleted, numbered, and definition lists, it is sometimes difficult to see where the list code begins and where the list ends. Sure, you can just look at the raw HTML source, but AOLPress has a feature that lets you see the list borders. Just select "Format" and then "Show Border." To hide the borders, just select "Format" and then "Hide Border."

Modify the Toolbar Buttons

If you do not like the buttons visible on the toolbar or want other menu features available with one click, just choose "Preferences" then "Configure Toolbar..." to select your own buttons.

Keep Pages As Small As Possible

Although AOLPress handles webpages of virtually any length, it is best to keep your pages as small as possible using AOLPress. When entering text on a large webpage, AOLPress sometimes forces a delay between when you actually press a character to when it appears on a webpage. On faster computers, this delay may not be as noticeable unless you start to edit webpages of a size 30k or more.

Go To "Show HTML" Mode When Entering Text

Because AOLPress sometimes forces a delay between when you actually type characters to when they appear on a webpage, if you understand the HTML language, you may want to go to AOLPress's raw HTML mode before typing a large amount of text. To see webpages in their HTML source, just choose the "Tools" menu, then "Show HTML."

Remove Page Popups

If you leave your cursor on certain webpage elements for a second or two, a popup window will appear. For example, if you leave your mouse cursor on a link, a popup window will appear, showing the page that would appear if you followed the link. Most people like seeing these popups, but if you find them annoying, just select the "Help" menu and uncheck "Show Page Popups."

Be Careful With Type Format Shortcuts

If you are a 'power-user' that enjoys using keyboard shortcuts, take care in AOLPress when using shortcuts for type formatting, such as bold or underline. In most programs, CONTROL-B makes text bold. In AOLPress, however, this keystroke makes AOLPress go back to the previously visited webpage. To bold text in AOLPress, you must press the CONTROL-SHIFT-B combination.

Choosing Graphic Absolute or Relative URLs

If you find the need to change the URL for a graphic from a relative URL (an URL relative to the current page) to an absolute URL (an URL containing the absolute path to a file, including the domain name), highlight an image and select "Element," then "Image." On the window that appears, click the "Abs" button next to the "Browse..." button to change the URL from a relative to an absolute URL. The button will then change to "Rel," which you can click to revert the URL from an absolute URL to a relative URL.

Getting Attributes

To change the attributes for a table, you probably go into the "Table -> Alter - Layout..." menu. To change a link's attributes, you probably highlight the link and choose "Element -> Link." Forget about doing this. Just highlight or select any element on the page and press SHIFT-CONTROL-G. AOLPress will determine the element's type (including the page itself) and let you directly modify it.

Just Because You Can't See It

Just because AOLPress doesn't have menu commands for certain features such as changing fonts in a document doesn't mean it doesn't support such features. Try editing the raw HTML and adding your desired tags. Surprise! The internal web browser / viewer, though far from perfect, is smarter than the menu commands.

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