Ideas, page 2: Computer Tips Go to page contents ... ............................

Valerie Coskrey's Classroom Tools and Ideas

Computer Tips: Using Notepad®

Using Examples in Science ..go from page 1 of ideas

On this Page

Using Microsoft Notepad ...for copying code..go with image..go...for fixing webpages ..go with image of log..go with Dreamweaver(c) ..go

Virus Scanner

Site Contents

Find these items on the linked page.

Presentation Design Previews

Free Presentation Design Samples

Free stuff to download

Teacher Sites

Virus Map

My classes on-line

Science Sites

Read about Valerie's Adventures in Computing.

Using Microsoft® Notepad® for Copying

Wow, what I learn by chance!

When I was writing my shopping cart I had so many questions about what to do. I remembered reading in Mridu Khullar's newsletter Writer's Crossing her permission to copy the source code for an item on her web page. “Aha!” I thought, “But how?”

Naturally, I asked my husband Wayne, the computer expert (see multifacet.com), “What is she talking about?”

What I found out is that anyone can view the source code on your web page by –in Firefox: Go to View ’ ’ Page Source-- and read the code in the drop-down window. From examples of other shopping carts, I managed to write my own—combining the examples with some background reading, of course.

One of the first times I copied the code to past it into my web page, I got garbage. I had copied the code onto a word document and did not keep the source format. Then I found out that I could copy the code into a Notepad ® file, which saves as a .txt file with your chosen code encoding language by default. Now I could simply select the code I wanted and copy it into my page of code. PayPal buttons and Google Adsence Ads—all become a breeze with Notepad ® .

The Notepad® window with the copy of the selected code from the Firefox® window.

The Excel® window with the copied text from Notepad®

Using Microsoft® Notepad® for Notes

Another challenge of maintaining a website is keeping pages up to date and correcting errors after the page is posted to the web. Whew! When I first began this web site I had little trouble keeping up. But the site grew. Before long I was having trouble remembering what I had done and what I needed to do.

“Keep a log,” advised the Computer Guru and others, including my sister Sue Lannen—Yep, the lady who did the Cougar in Stained Glass stained glass pan, who happens to teach computer science classes at a junior college in Texas. Well, I lost every scrap of paper and index card that I used for a log. Never could keep up with a pen.

Then I remembered Notepad® that would appear as a pop-up window on top of whatever file I had opened. I remembered that I could write to Notepad® and still use the file beneath it without loosing my place in that file. By keeping my notes in Notepad®, I could keep them minimized on my taskbar and click them up for viewing instantly. I viewed each page of my web site on line, taking notes as I went. The secret is not to maximize the notes, but to keep that window small when opened. I could even move my notes around on the page so that I could read different parts of my web page as I recorded my comments.

Could I have done this with Word® ? I don’t know. I would have had to get rid of all of my toolbars so that I would have room take notes, at the very least. Of course, using Word® for email and for text when designing Access ® reports and forms works the same way.

But, I could make no columns in Notepad®. What to do? I wanted to make checklists, and columns of notes next to my checklist. I wanted a list of files that I had fixed in a column with my checklist. So, I started an Excel® worksheet to make my notes into a checklist. Then I decided I wasn’t going to retype all of that. I selected a cell on the right side of my spreadsheet and copied the notes to the cell. Lo and behold, the .txt file of my notes (I had selected all of them for the copy and paste act) floated across the spreadsheet covering a space about the width of the original Notepad® window and as long as the entire set of notes. The cells of the spreadsheet appeared beneath the notes. Futher examination revealed that each line of the floating notes was associated with the cell at the beginning of that line. Where I had skipped spaces (enter for new paragraph), the cell at that position was empty. Mmmm. Automatic columns and row with data.

My checklist had made itself. All I had to do was label the column to the immediate left of the notes as “Completed, mark with x.” Another three columns for “Web Page,” “Uploaded,” and “Notes on changes made” and I was ready to start logging corrections.

Then I remembered that I would be doing this often. Would I want a permanent log, or a throwaway when done? Undecided, I saved the file as a workbook so that I could use different pages for different dates or cycles of maintenance.

I am really enjoying this web page development stuff. Not being an artist, I can still be creative. There is enough planning and decision-making to challenge me. I must learn as I go, so I read technical literature (for beginners, mostly) to find out how to do things, then I get interested and keep on reading. Best of all, I get to see a finished product that I will share with others.

Teachers, does this sound like a perfect project for students, or what? If students must do a 5 page web site or set of pages on a specified topic, just think what they will learn!!

Using Notepad® with Dreamweaver®

I knew that keeping files in the same local folder as my web pages would serve to (a) keep them from getting lost and (b) remind me that the files existed. I could open Notepad® from my Office® toolbar and then cut and paste the text as needed in my web pages. I need not upload the files, so all should be fine, although a bit confusing until I figured out the file structure in Dreamweaver®.

Then one day, I clicked on the file by mistake while working in Dreamweaver®. Lo and behold, the file opened just like a web page file would have. Being a .txt file, the code that I had copied and pasted onto the Notepad® file was written on the code page. Yes, the .txt file of Notepad® opened as text as a page in Code view of Dreamweaver®. I then selected all and turned it into a new snippet. Another time I turned the code into a library item.

Of course, I had not written anything on the page of code that I had pasted to the Notepad® file. Also, I knew what the code did because I had named the Notepad® file with a descriptive title.

I tried the same trick with the links that I had copied into Notepad®. No, not the way to go. I ended up with links printed onto the code view page of Dreamweaver®, but no href commands in the code to make the links work.

To sum up what I learned: (1.) A notepad file to which code has been copied and pasted can be stored in a Dreamweaver® web page file and opened in Dreamweaver®. (2.) The Notepad® file will open in the Code view of the Dreamweaver® page. (3.) Links will open as plain text, not with the code required to actually link somewhere. (4.) Links copy from Notepad® best when you select, copy and paste the link into a Dreamweaver® page in the Design view.

// Home // All Stores // All Essays // Product Catalog // Shopping Cart // Privacy // Contact //

Site Map and Pages Sorted by Subject Matter with a list of All Valerie's Sites

Copyright 2005-2006 by Valerie Coskrey All rights reserved.