by Ray Siemens (siemens@unixg.ubc.ca)

The first thing I noticed is that Internet Publisher has become well integrated with WordPerfect. For example, Internet Publisher now installs as part of the WordPerfect package proper (along with the Spell Check, Thesaurus and Grammatik modules), and documents in HTML format can be easily imported for editing.

For those users who come to this version of Internet Publisher with little knowledge of its predecessor, or little knowledge of HTML, improvements mean little. What matters is the quality of the interface, and the degree to which existing knowledge of WP can be transferred to the Internet Publisher. In this regard, there will be little disappointment.

Internet Publisher's interface does not change the look and feel of WordPerfect. Rather, it limits access to those commands that can be transferred to HTML encoding. The Button and Power Bars conveniently locate the most common authoring and editing functions—text appearance and size, lists, graphics, tables, and so forth. Useful WP features, such as Spell-As-You-Go, are available, and the process of document creation does not differ greatly from that to which WP users are accustomed.

Of course, those familiar with other HTML editors and authoring tools will ask if Internet Publisher recognizes the inherent differences between documents intended for paper and those for electronic distribution. This question, however, is overpowered by the magnitude of the WP environment. No authoring tool intended solely for online publication offers features of similar sophistication.

Those new to HTML, and perhaps even new to WP, will appreciate the interface. They will also appreciate the Web Page Expert, a feature that guides users through the steps necessary to create a basic HTML document. The on-line help also provides much practical information about HTML.

In Summary

Internet Publisher 7 is more than the glorified conversion utility that preceded it. It is a product that brings the power of a full word-processing environment to bear on the world of the HTML authoring tool. Those who choose to make use of it extensively will notice that it has many time-saving features and HTML conversion "tricks" (footnotes and endnotes are handled admirably). Others may wish to use it, as I have for the past several months, in conjunction with several other HTML authoring tools and with a good ASCII editor for raw encoding.

Unfortunately, those who use Internet Publisher extensively will encounter several shortcomings and bugs.

• When converting files with italicized text to or from HTML, there is a danger that spaces separating italicized words and those that immediately follow them will be lost, and the two words joined. Such operations do not always take place without loss of information—even information that Internet Publisher is capable of rendering.
• When paging down while a large file is being loaded, one runs the risk of a system crash.
• Tables, while intuitive in their composition, are not exported in a form that allows editing by some other authoring packages, such as that which comes with the Netscape Navigator Gold.
• WP will sometimes crash when attempting to publish a simple table (my test table, reformatted with Netscape's editor, can be found in Roy Flannagan's note in the December 1996 issue of Early Modern Literary Studies).

While Internet Publisher may prove problematic at times, one can find ways to work around its glitches while awaiting their remedy in the next version, and while enjoying Internet Publisher's chief strength: its solid integration with WP 7, arguably the most powerful document-creation program.

Dr. Ray Siemens is editor of Early Modern Literary Studies, an acclaimed electronic journal. He is doing post-doctoral research in English at the University of Alberta.

Product Title:
Internet Publisher
(WordPerfect 7)

Publisher:
Corel

Distribution Medium:
CD-ROM

System Requirements:
PC with 486/25 processor or better (486/66 recommended), Windows 95, CD-ROM drive (2x recommended), 8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended), VGA monitor, mouse or tablet, and 30 MB minimum hard disk space.

Test System:
PC with Pentium 133 processor, 16 MB RAM, and 8x CD-ROM

Screen Captures:
(Click on image for a larger view. Use your browser's "back" button to return to this page)

Internet Publisher Menu Bar

Conversion Dialogue Box