Everyone needs a little help now and again with their Web site, especially if they don't have a Web guru or two on staff to assist in some key areas such as graphics, HTML coding, link verification and Web-based chat. In this roundup you'll find a overview of the features and licensing information for 10 Web site helpers that we downloaded, tried and recommend for small Web shop owners. Best of all, they're free.
Free Graphics Tools
When posting images on your Web site, one consequence that often gets overlooked is that it can be quite easy for others to download, save and then use those images. If you are publishing your own images on your pages you need to consider watermarking them.
Watermarks are lines of text or logos that are embedded in your images. By creatively placing watermarks you can make it quite difficult for others to use your images, but still provide a nice graphical display of your products for your Web site visitors to peruse.
Watermark Factory is one program that is easy to use that lets you add watermark text or images. In addition to using Watermark Factory to help protect your copyrights by inserting visible watermarks, you can also use the program to add date stamps and prepare your images for use on Web pages with cropping, rotation and resize tools. The program also includes batch rename options, a tool to convert file formats and a feature that lets you apply comments directly on the photo.
For those looking to convert large image files to smaller file sizes for Web publishing or for e-mailing, PIXresizer is a free image utility that generates screen-friendly versions of your images in a reduced file size. You can choose a single image to work with, or resize an entire image directory while saving the originals so you always have a copy.
PIXresizer includes several resizing options and also has a "recommended setting" that automatically calculates the best resize options for you. You can also use PIXresizer to convert different image file formats.
VicMan Software's Cartoonist program used to be available only for limited time periods as a free trial, but now the company is giving it away for free. Cartoonist adds funny caricatures and creative effects to your images, providing some extra appeal for your site visitors.
Using Cartoonist you can warp images, load or save in several image formats including JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF or TIFF, and also specify image quality when saving. You can also change the background color of the image, and much more.
Free Link Checker and Verification Tools
Broken links on your Web site are an annoyance to users and reflects poorly on your business acumen-shoppers may think you are unprofessional because you don't spend enough time keeping your site updated. Visitors to your e-store will expect everything to work, and that includes links to other pages in your own Web site as well as any external links. If you recently changed advertisements or page code, it's always a good idea to verify your links.
One tool that can help you do this is Xenu's Link Sleuth, which will check a Web site for broken links. You simply install and launch the tool, enter the URL, choose your options and click start. A validation report can be viewed as the program scans.
Xenu will scan and report on correct or broken hyperlinks, image links, frames, background images, local image maps, style sheets, scripts and java applets. In your user options, you can also choose to detect redirect URLs, re-check broken links and even have the report e-mailed to you. There is also an option to view only the broken hyperlinks within the report.
Another program that can help you verify links on your Web site is Web Link Validator 4.7 by REL Software. The evaluation version of the tool will allow you to verify sites or pages with less than 500 links. Link Validator scans your pages to find broken links caused by JavaScript or Flash errors, HTML code or spelling errors.
When you run Link Validator you can also view reports for slow-loading or outdated pages as well. Web Link Validator can be used to validate links on a live site, or you can specify a location on your hard drive where you can check a local copy of your site. Web Link Validator supports JSP, ASP, PHP, FCGI and CFM pages, and can also work through a proxy server.
- Web Link Validator 4.7 - Shareware 30-day usage with 500-link limit. The cost to purchase starts at $95 for a 2,000-link license.
Free Web Site Design and Editing Tools
If you find that your daily and ongoing update tasks are too small or infrequent to dedicate to a full-time staff person or third-party, there are lots of HTML and Web site editors you can use to make changes to your Web site pages.
One that we tried and liked is Evrsoft First Page 2006, a shareware HTML editor that can be used to help you write, edit and improve your HTML. It allows those unfamiliar with HTML to easily edit without having to go through the tedious process of using text-based editors and HTML code charts. You can access local and remote files, easily insert bookmarks, hyperlinks, preview pages and other basic editing tasks. First Page 2006 supports HTML documents from 1 to 5.0, Perl, ASP, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript, VBScript, CFML and Java.
For those who want to add video to their Web site, The CoffeeCup Web Video Player 4.7 allows you to convert your digital movies (MPG, AVI, MOV or FLV formats) to Flash [define] for publishing on a Web site. Designers can choose different player sizes and designs to match their Web site style. You can create playlists if you have multiple movies you want displayed, and CoffeeCup Web Video Player also includes a preview tool so you can see what the final version will look like before uploading to your site.
Free Web Site Search
For e-commerce Web sites, especially those with large volumes of inventory, an efficient product/catalog search is a must.
Bravenet offers a selection of free Web-based tools, including a site search. You can customize the site search to match your site layout, allow visitors to search the Web as well as your own site and track keywords and phrases used for searching. To use Bravenet Site Search you must first register for an account, then provide the pertinent details about your site online and copy and paste the generated code onto your own Web page.
- Bravenet Site Search - Free version is ad supported. Professional version (no ads) available starting at $4.95 per month
Free Web-based Chat Tools
Adding live chat to your e-commerce site is all the rage these days, but many Web-based chat interfaces can cost you in monthly subscription fees. These subscription services will provide you with transcripts, analytics and logs, but if you're just looking for a way to connect with visitors while they are at your Web site, you can always try instant messaging based chat widgets.
Google Inc. offers a Google Talk-based gadget that you can display on your Web site. If you are currently using Google Talk, you can display your contacts in your Google Talk Gadget and chat right on the Web page. To use this widget you will need to have a Google Account and sign up for the Google Talk services.
Meebo me is another embeddable instant messaging window that you can add to a Web page to chat with site visitors in real time. Using the tools at the meebome.com Web site, you can build and design a customized chat widget. When an IM friend visits your Web site, he or she appears in your chat widget and you can begin a conversation. While this differs from customer support chat applications, you could use meebo me in conjunction with customers on public IM networks such as AIM, MSN Messenger, GoogleTalk or Yahoo! Messenger to schedule Web tutorials or online site assistance.
Vangie Beal is a frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com.
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