May 18, 2010
It's with great pride that I can finally present you with the very first beta version of TSW WebCoder 2010. If you have been following this blog, you already know that I created WebCoder 2010 by taking WebCoder 2009 and then adding the best from phpCoder 2008 and quite a bit of new features, to create the ultimate web editor. In case you missed all the information that has been posted about this new version of WebCoder, here is a list to catch up on:
Of course that's only the major additions. In fact, my TODO list currently consists of around 300 items, big and small, which have all been marked as done, so while this is beta and will contain bugs, it should be ready for actual use - I know I use it every day and have been for several months now :)
Download TSW WebCoder 2010 beta 1 - please provide feedback in the beta forum
So let the testing begin! I'm eager to hear what you think :)
May 15, 2010
Right from the very first paid version of WebCoder and up till now, there has been a personal and a commercial license available. This policy had only one purpose: To be able to sell a cheaper license to all the hobby-coders and students out there, by letting the companies and the professional web developers, making a living off their work with WebCoder, pay for it. Unfortunately, a lot of people found the principles hard to understand - when did they need to purchase a commercial license and what was the difference?
Another problem was that with all those great features contained in WebCoder, some people simply didn't need them all. For the same reason, I created WebPad, a cheaper version of WebCoder with a limited set of the features. However, maintaining yet another application means extra work and less time to focus on the stuff that really matters, so when combining WebCoder and phpCoder, I thought to my self: Why not throw in WebPad as well? So instead of releasing three different application, each in two different editions, WebCoder will be THE application, released in three different editions, where price and the amount of included functions will be the key difference. Hopefully that will be easier for everyone to understand and I know it will be easier to maintain, allowing me to make the single best product possible.
For now, I'm probably going with the names "Light", "Standard" and "Professional". The beta version will default to the Professional edition, while trial users of the final version will be given the choice to try it in different editions during their trial period. I haven't entirely decided on pricing yet, as well as the features contained in each edition, but your feedback is obviously welcome. I hope you like this change, as I believe it will be the best for everyone and on top of that, a lot less confusing.
May 11, 2010
In WebCoder 2009, I introduced the new Inspect mode. In WebCoder 2010, this function has been revamped and renamed to WebDebug and is now offering some pretty cool, new functionality. If you have ever used Firebug for the Firefox browser, you will probably recognize some of it, but in WebCoder you can use the same functionality with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. WebDebug is all about allowing you to see your websites in the internal preview browsers, while being able to make changes to the underlying HTML and CSS and see the result in realtime, and as shown in the demo video, you can even debug live websites and then have WebCoder upload the changes to your FTP server. So without further ado, here is a little video of the function in action and the very first glimpse of WebCoder 2010 in fullscreen. As you can see, I have hidden the top toolbars and side tool windows for this demo, to make room for properly showing you WebDebug:
Watch a video of the TSW WebCoder 2010 "WebDebug" in action
Please let me know what you think of this and be prepared, because the first beta version is getting close :)
May 5, 2010
One of the single most requested features has been support for the jQuery JavaScript framework, and since I have been using jQuery for pretty much all my projects for the last couple of years, I can certainly understand why. In WebCoder 2010, I have added support for using jQuery, but I hope that you guys will help me add even more great JavaScript frameworks before the final version is released. More about that later in this post - let's see some screenshots of the new functionality:
I really hope you like what you see! Be sure to let me know what you think :)
Now, as I already said, this isn't only about jQuery. I have added general JS framework support in WebCoder 2010, and the jQuery part is really just an XML file of information, used by WebCoder. It is my great hope that you guys will work with me to create XML files for other JavaScript frameworks, so that we can support at least the most commonly used frameworks. I will be happy to reward you guys with free licenses for your work, and as soon as the first beta version is released, you can have a look at this XML file and see how simple it is. If you're eager to get started already now, feel free to contact me and I will send you a copy of the current jQuery framework XML file. Until next time, I'm eager to hear your feedback :)
May 2, 2010
Two new features for this post, both IntelliSense related. First of all, HTML 5 has been included in WebCoder 2010, allowing you to specify it as the desired standard for your documents. This will be reflected in the IntelliSense, where you get access to the new tags and attributes, as well as in the Code Inspector, and your markup will be validated against the HTML 5 specification.
Another cool HTML IntelliSense feature in WebCoder 2010 is the path IntelliSense. It will help you fill out most of the attributes which specifies a file URL, for instance the href attribute of the <a> tag or the src attribute of the <img> tag. Here is a couple of screenshots where you can see it in action:
I hope you like what you see, and as always, I will appreciate your feedback! :)
