WebLord

Introduction to WebLord

WebLord is a powerful tool. Unlike toy software, you need to spend a little time learning about WebLord. This section introduces you to the software and the concepts that make it powerful. Read on!

HTML Editors are for whimps!

HTML is so amazingly primitive that the only people who have trouble with it are those who still think that Microsoft's Visual BASIC is a pretty neat language.

OK, so HTML editors are a great help when you don't know HTML, but all of the really important stuff about HTML can be printed on a single sheet of paper. How long will it take you to outgrow HTML editors? How long did it take you to outgrow HTML editors? How long before you became frustrated with their limitations?

Enter WebLord!

WebLord came to life to help build web sites. I emphasize the word sites because WebLord will do little for you if you need to maintain one single page or two.

WebLord uses patterns of objects, combining them according to your instructions and thus building sites with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of pages, all fitting within a certain framework, and thus presenting themselves in a highly consistent manner!

Yes, you could just cut-and-paste the correct pieces, fill in the blanks afterwards and enjoy the fruits of your labour. But what next? What if you decide to replace the text of a footer at the bottom of every page, or you now wish to center the titles of all pages? What if you replace an oft-repeated image with another? What if you want to change your email address on all pages?

Search & replace? Cut & paste? For one or two pages, sure, but for a dozen? I feel your pain. Try it for thirty pages and watch the clock ticking, your fingers trip, your brain ache, and listen to a little voice hammering inside your skull: You should have used WebLord! You should have used WebLord! ;-)

What does WebLord offer?

First of all, WebLord has no fancy graphic user interface (GUI). In fact, it has no GUI at all.

You are surprised?

Think of WebLord as a web site compiler, a tool that translates your high-level site specifications into individual pages. To this end you employ your favorite text editor to create the specification file and WebLord compiles this, generating as output the pages for your site.

Don't worry: WebLord is designed for ordinary people, not programmers. Although a programming background will be useful, this documentation will teach you the concepts. And some useful "tools" are included for you to help you get started!

Second, WebLord provides the framework to produce highly consistent (and reliably constructed) pages. You will reap the greatest benefits from WebLord if you build and maintain a site of more than just a handful of pages. Even with a small site, WebLord can lend significant support by reducing the clutter of complex pages.

Here is a list of WebLord's features (don't worry if you don't understand what some of the terms mean; we'll explain them to you later):

• Constructs output from the patterns of objects,
• Object attributes are inherited dynamically,
• Object's values be the dynamic output of external programs,
• Conditionals provide for additional decision-making,
• Language independent¹ (can be used to generate HTML, VRML, LaTeX, TeX, Postscript, etc.)

WebLord is a Cool "Power" Tool and as such places a lot of power into your hands. You wouldn't want to use a chain saw that is fool proof, because it wouldn't even saw through a bowl of warm pudding. So, a chain saw can rip your arm off just as well as it can act as a precision instrument to help you cut down your neighbor's fence.

Likewise with WebLord: You can define constructs that recursively grow without bounds, until WebLord complains and terminates. But used with the skill and care you'd give any power tool, WebLord becomes a precision instrument to be wielded in your hands to almost unimaginable effect!

How to get started?

Like a programming language, WebLord is powerful and extensible through external software. You need to learn to use WebLord properly! If you don't make that effort, you will either remain perplexed in ignorance or become spiteful with frustration. Learn to use WebLord properly and you'll be amazed what WebLord can do for you!

This document is meant to teach you about WebLord. If you don't read it, you may well fail to understand the central ideas of WebLord and as a result fail to see its power, fail to exploit it; and then you might turn away, diminished for it.

So, read on, and read carefully! Read about the basic concepts!