Some of our favorite tools are developed out of necessity. Today, we feature Master Text To HTML Converter V1, a free CGI script that can be used to:

1. Quickly convert free site content from plain text to HTML.

2. Easily convert your own ezine articles into HTML for posting on your site or for syndication.

3. Offer your visitors "text to HTML" conversion services.

Some of the Master Text To HTML Converter V1 features include:

• The plain text content can be pasted into a form textarea, retrieved with a URL, or retrieved as a file on the server.

• Paragraphs are separated with one or more blank lines. Optionally, a BR tag can be inserted at the end of each hard wrapped line break.

• Ordered and unordered list items can be marked with any character or characters in the plain text version that you happen to use for that purpose.

• Ordered lists can be ordered with numbers, alphabet characters (upper- or lower-case), or roman numerals (upper- or lower-case).

• List items (unordered or ordered) can be formatted with paragraph spacing between each.

• You can specify the tags, alignment, and font weight for headings.

• http:// and https:// URLs can automatically be converted to clickable links.

• Email addresses can automatically be converted to clickable links.

• Converted content can be stored on the server as a file and/or copied from a form textarea on the conversion results page.

• The plain text content and conversion settings are remembered and presented as defaults when the program is next used.

The program was originally written to convert our own articles for syndication and those from other authors we reprint on our various sites. Then, installation was simplified and the control panel was refined to make the program easier to use.

A. Free Content For Your Site, Written By Experts

Make your site more useful to visitors by providing a content-rich site. People tend to bookmark sites with good content and they tend to tell their friends about it. Also, the more pages you have with relevant content, the more relevant pages search engines can index.

Part of your actions toward building a content-rich site can be:

1. Obtain free-to-reprint articles that relate to your site.

2. Convert the plain text articles with Master Text To HTML Converter V1.

3. Put the articles into web pages.

You'll probably want to touch up the code after the conversion, but the program usually does a decent job. After converting several articles, you'll realize you're saving yourself a lot of time.

Here is a short list of sites with free-to-reprint articles you can select from. Most require an author's statement be published with the article, a small price to pay for content written by experts in their field.

http://willmaster.com/possibilities/archives/
http://www.web-source.net/articlesub.htm
http://www.netterweb.com/articles/
http://www.authorconnection.com/
http://www.ezinearticles.com/

B. An Ezine Publisher's Tool

For ezine publishers, Master Text To HTML Converter V1 is a nice tool to have.

• If you're currently publishing your past issues between PRE tag sets, you can now publish with HTML formatting tags. Or, if you're behind in putting past issues on your site because of the work involved to convert them to HTML, it now takes less time.

• If you syndicate your articles, like we do, the program can quickly convert your text articles into HTML for publication on remote sites.

C. Offering a Conversion Service To Others

Master Text To HTML Converter V1 has been created so it's easy to offer a conversion service to others. When you install the program, type a Y or y for the variable indicating that others will be using the program. The instructions in the program provide details on how to do this.

Typing the Y or y directs Master Text To HTML Converter V1 to disable certain features that could be a security risk. These are:

• Retrieving a file from the server to convert.

• Storing a converted file to the server.

• Remembering the plain text content and conversion settings of the previous use.

It works exactly like the live demo at the URL below.

How To Get It

A license to Master Text To HTML Converter V1 is free to the public until April 22, 2002. You can use/download it at http://WillMaster.com/master/t2h/ After April 22, we will have it available only for WillMaster Possibilities subscribers.

As you use the program, we will appreciate it if you'll send a list of new feature ideas to possibilities@willmaster.com

By: Will Bontrager

Copyright 2002 Bontrager Connection, LLC
http://willmaster.com/possibilities/
subscribe-possibilities@willmaster.com