The HTML Grinder is not an editor. It is not a WYSIWYG tag converter or a friendly tutorial for those trying to learn the Hypertext Markup Language. It╒s not like any other HTML utility you╒ve ever seen, but once you try it out, you may find you can't live without it.
The Grinder was developed to meet the needs of advanced Webmasters who need to manage sites comprising dozens or hundreds of pages. The Grinder won╒t write your pages for you the way an editor will, but it will help you maintain them and keep them in order far better than any mere editor could.
Say your Web site has been up for a while, and now you╒ve changed your email address. Say that email address appears on every one of your fifty pages. How is your HTML editor going to help? You have to open each text file in turn, make the change, and move on to the next. If you╒re quick, this will keep you busy for about fifteen minutes.
The Grinder lets you do it all in a single stroke. You just drag all your HTML documents on the Grinder icon, set up a single search-replace dialog box, and click the start button. All the changes in all your HTML documents are done in less than a minute.
Or say you want to make a table of contents to your site so folks can choose a page from an alphabetical list. Or have you ever wanted to put a date on the bottom of each page? Or maybe make a chain of pages, with next and previous links leading the reader from page to page.
An editor can put these kinds of elements on your pages. But you still have to do all the clicking and typing. The Grinder can put these elements on your pages automatically. You just drag the files you want onto the Grinder icon, set a few parameters, and the Grinder handle starts to spin!
Plug-In Tool Approach
The Grinder doesn╒t do anything by itself. It requires special plug-in tools, called ╥wheels,╙ to make changes to your HTML documents.
Each wheel is a miniature program that performs a specific task. One wheel does a find/replace, another wheel creates a table of contents, another puts a date stamp on all your pages, and so forth.
This modular approach makes it possible to expand the capabilities of the Grinder by releasing new wheels. New wheels become available every few months. And it lets you save money by purchasing only the wheels you find the most useful. A discount is available if you purchase all the wheels at once.
Demo Mode
The Grinder program and one of the wheels, the ╥Find and Replace╙ wheel, are free. You may use this software forever at absolutely no charge.
The other Grinder wheels ship in ╥demo mode╙ which allows you to try them out for a short time before purchasing. The wheels are fully functional, but they expire after a few weeks and you need to register them with a serial number to continue using them.
You can purchase the serial numbers directly from the Matterform Media web site (see above). You can buy numbers for all the wheels, or just for the ones you use the most. Once you receive your numbers and enter them into the software, you will be able to use the Grinder wheels indefinitely and without interruption.
Sound Interesting?
Want to learn how to use the Grinder? Read the new Grinder manual, included with this download. More than twenty pages with detailed instructions and illustrations. You can read it on your screen or print it out for study.
The Grinder Manual is a portable document, requiring no special application or resources. Just double-click the Grinder Manual icon and start reading or printing.
Packing List
Version 2.12 of the HTML Grinder includes the following files. If you are missing any, you can download a complete copy of the Grinder from:
Ñ Grinder Tools (folder, containing the following wheels:)
-Find and Replace
-Glossary
-Replace Tagged Text
-Appender
-Index Builder
-Date Stamp
-Color Calculator
-Filename Fixer
-Recreator
-Sequential Linker
-StretchList
Ñ StretchList Icons
(folder containing two .gif files for use with the StretchList wheel)
Ñ This ReadMe file
Ñ The Grinder Manual
Note: The Insert Image Size wheel has been recalled. It is not expected that this wheel will be re-released in the future.
Prices
As of November 1, 1995, the wheels for the HTML Grinder cost $15 each. The entire package of 10 wheels plus the free Find & Replace wheel costs $100 a savings of $50. Please check our Web site for the latest information.
Thank you for trying out the Grinder by Matterform Media. We hope you will purchase serial numbers for the wheels you like the most. Feel free to send us email with your comments and questions.
