Vendor info on mentioned apps: FrontPage HotDog Pro HotMetal Pro HotMetal Intranet Publisher Internet Assistant for Excel NetObjects Fusion Additional HTML editors From Webreference.com. Contact Mark Gibbs

By Mark Gibbs
IntraNet, 7/21/97

"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." - Anonymous

Just as a craftsman needs hammers, screwdrivers, pliers and a host of other tools to accomplish various tasks, you'll need authoring tools that span your publishing needs and user skills. And you'll have to cater to naive users, technically proficient users, users with special needs, IT staffs, knowledge workers and Web designers.

You'll want tools that can create and edit HTML, manipulate image files, incorporate and manage applets and scripting languages, plus manage workflow and analyze content. Putting your intranet authoring tool kit together won't be easy. The challenge will be identifying and then deploying solutions that meet the changing needs of users.

Remember, your choices may influence user enthusiasm about the intranet. If all users have at their disposal are simple authoring tools, they might quickly lose interest.

The basic tool groups

These Web authoring-enabled tools typically offer limited control over the final appearance of the document - what you see isn't quite what you get. It is a bonus if the tool can import HTML as that makes it possible to repurpose existing intranet content.

This class of tools is exemplified by Microsoft Corp.'s Office97 applications suite. Word and Excel can export their native formats into HTML while retaining a reasonable amount of basic document formatting.

Perhaps even more impressively, the Access database can export a whole database in a static form - that is, as a sequence of interlinked Web pages - or as a database ready for integration with a Web server.

Next are HTML editors. Some of these programs give you full, detailed control over all aspects of Web document content, down to manipulating obscure attributes such as metatags. In this class are programs such as Sausage Software's HotDog Web Editor and SoftQuad, Inc.'s HoTMetaL Pro.

The third class of tools comprises those that provide a complete Web editing environment that extends from document editing through Web visualization, creation, manipulation, modification and analysis. Microsoft's FrontPage 97, NetObject, Inc.'s Fusion and SoftQuad's HoTMetaL Intranet Publisher (HiP) are examples of offerings in this group.

Making choices

Cost may be a factor if you choose a product from the second or third categories. HTML editors range in price from shareware starting around $10 to about $100.

The complete editing environments are more of a commitment, ranging in price from around $150 for FrontPage 97 to $500 for Fusion.

But whatever the price, one of the greatest concerns must be training - the more sophisticated or technical the tool, the more the user needs to know.

For products like HiP, FrontPage and Fusion, formal user training is a must. These tools are as complex as top-end word processors.

It may help to divide your user population into two categories: general and expert.

You should give general users authoring tools from the first grouping. These tools are often the best choice for users who aren't technically sophisticated or don't need advanced features; they allow the creation of Web documents with minimal effort.

Expert users will get the most benefit out of the third group, the complete Web editing environments. They provide not only the actual editing functions, but also the site organization and analysis tools that really aid productivity.

The tools in the second grouping, the HTML editors, are often overwhelming for nontechnical users as they expose too much of the underlying complexity of HTML. And while they are certainly within the grasp of the more sophisticated user, they are often too complex for routine production purposes.

A universal requirement is a graphical user interface that doesn't overwhelm the user with technical detail. Luckily, user publishing on intranets is still in its infancy and for the next few months the pressure is off to take the plunge and create a corporate standard.

But watch out, when your intranet takes off and content creation becomes something everyone wants to do, you'll need to be prepared. Not everything will be a nail.