                      M A G N E T I C  P A G E S  v1.30
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Introduction:
    Magnetic Pages is a software package consisting of 3 programs, that
allow you to create and display a disk-based magazine. The magazine produced
is of a similar format to that of a traditional paper magazine. You can
combine text and graphics on a single page, you can branch to different
sections of the magazine by clicking on icons on a page and you can play
sound and music.
    Magnetic Pages was born when I took over the job as editor of the
NZ Amiga User Group magazine, Amsmag. Disk-based magazines have several
advantages over the traditional printed magazine. Possibly the biggest
advantage is they're easy to copy and distribute which makes it very
economical for a user group to publish a monthly magazine. The other main
advantage is the material you publish remains in a computer readible format,
which means you can distribute software, source code, graphics, audio, etc.
The reader can then use their computer to access and manipulate the material
as they see fit. This flexibility has been acknowledged by many of the
professional Amiga magazines which now include a 'coverdisk'.
    Standard text displayers do a good job of displaying text, but that's
about it. To make a magazine more interesting and visually appealing it would
be nice to be able to add graphics, fancy titles, interesting page layouts,
sound, and music. This is what Magnetic Pages has been designed for.
    The three programs that make up Magnetic Pages are the Editor,
the Organiser, and the Displayer. The Editor lets you create articles,
the Organiser allows you to assemble the articles into a magazine and the
Displayer will display your magazine.

    Below is a brief description of Magnetic Pages features.

1)  Text and graphics can be displayed on the same page using an 8 or 16
    colour hires screen. Text is flowed automatically in the boxes (columns)
    you define.

2)  An all graphics page allows you to display any IFF picture in any screen
    mode. (eg HAM, Half Brite, etc)

3)  By clicking on certain boxes, the reader can branch to different
    articles in the magazine. This allows a magazine to be divided up into
    various sections.

4)  Digitised Sound and MED or Soundtracker Music are supported. Sound or
    music can be played when the reader first turns a page or when the
    user clicks on a box (icon) on the page.

5)  The Editor provides an easy to use, intuition based interface for creating
    articles.

6)  Different text styles and colours are supported. eg Bold, Italics,
    Underline, etc.

7)  Page colour, box colour, shadows and borders are user defineable.

8)  Boxes can have several frames of animation or be simple push buttons.

9)  Articles can be compressed using PowerPacker.

10) Articles may be printed, or saved as text or graphics files by the reader.

11) The Displayer allows the reader to perform text searches on the current
    page, article, group of articles or whole magazine.

12) All text in the Displayer can easily be customised, making it possible
    to translate the program to any language.

13) PAL/NTSC, Workbench2.0/A3000 compatible.


To get a better idea of its capabilities, take a look at the demo magazine
in this package.

Distribution:
    The Magnetic Pages package contains the following files. They must be
distributed together and may not be altered in any way.

     Displayer (dir)
          ExampleMag (dir)
            AmigaTrek.1                      DPaintAnim
            GraphicPage                      M&M
            MainContents                     Mediaphile
            NTSCArticle                      SoundPage
            TitlePage                        UsingDPaint
       Changes                          Demo
       Displayer                        Displayer.docs
       Displayer_Help                   Displayer_Text.example
       Displayer_Text.Spanish
     Editor (dir)
       Changes                          Editor
       Editor.docs                      SamplePicture
       SampleSound                      SampleText
     Organiser (dir)
       Changes                          Organiser
       Organiser.docs
  Magnetic_Pages
  Order_Form
  Registered_Users


    Magnetic Pages is not public domain. However the Editor and the
Displayer are freely distributable. No fee may be charged for their
distribution, apart from a small copying charge for the disk.

    The Organiser is NOT! freely distributable.  You will notice that the
Organiser included in this package has the Save command disabled. To obtain
the full version of Magnetic Pages you must register. To register, fill out
the order form in this package, and sent it along with the $25 US shareware fee
to:

                            Mark Gladding
                            66 Churchill Rd
                            Murrays Bay
                            Auckland 1310
                            New Zealand.


    Allow about two weeks for postage time. I usually process orders within
24 hours. If you have any suggestions on improving Magnetic Pages or have
found any bugs, please let me know when you register. Many of the improvements
in this version have been suggested by other owners. If you do find a bug
in any of the programs, I can usually fix it quickly, so I can send you the
new version.

    Once you register, you're entitled to free updates of Magnetic Pages at any
time in the future. To receive an update write to me at the above address and
I'll send you the latest version. I'm always interested to see what others have
done with Magnetic Pages, so you might also like to send me a sample of your
work. Any major update will be distributed through the reputable PD libraries,
such as the Fred Fish Disks.

    The latest versions of the Displayer and the Editor will also be available
on the New Zealand Amiga User Group BBS (phone (+64) 9 4730352). Users may
also call this BBS for help in using Magnetic Pages and to report any bugs.
All messages can be left to Mark Gladding, and will usually be answered in
under 24hrs.

    I can also be reached by email at mgla1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz for the rest of
1992.

    If you need to talk to me urgently or don't have a modem, you may call
me at home on (+64) 9 4794619. Make sure you take any time differences
into account. People calling outside the times 8.00am to 9.00pm will
receive a less than friendly response.



                             COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Magnetic Pages is Copyright (C) 1990-1992 by Mark Gladding. All Rights Reserved

                                DISCLAIMER

No warranty, either expressed or implied, is made with respect to the
fitness or merchantability of Magnetic Pages.

                             ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to Simon Frantzen for the excellent artwork. Many of the
graphics used in the example magazine were drawn by Simon as well as the icons
for the Editor, Displayer, etc.

Thanks to
Jorge Asch for encouragement, suggestions, material for Amsmag and his great
    magazine 'Amiga Hoy'.
Harry Blackman,  for his suggestions and magazine 'Amiga-MEDIA'.
Mark Coldwell of Commodore NZ for providing invaluable technical support.
Thomas Daroszewski for his magazine 'Yaknews'.
Fred Fish for the best PD disks.
Nico Francois for creating the excellent Powerpacker.
Teijo Kinnunen for MED, the MOD player and well documented source code.
John Kriegel  for his suggestions.
Bernal Rodriguez for his suggestions, Spanish translation of the Displayer text
    and magazine 'Ventanas'.
Henry Scholz for the jigsaw puzzle Christmas card.
Tim Strachan for producing the excellent Amiga magazine MegaDisc.

and all the other registered users of Magnetic Pages, without whom there would
be no new version.
