Tinderbox hybrid template
Tinderbox allows a quick and dirty HTML export template and the construction of a course web site in a very short time. Having analysed my work habits, running a couple of course sites off Tinderbox on the iBook will probably save time compared to using a full WordPress installation or skimping with Blogger.
Tinderbox is client side (runs on your local computer – Apple Mac at present but soon Windows – and you have to define an export template for your collection of notes. The template above allows me to do seriously radical editing of the linking structure by dragging and dropping an outline. Just right for when you are modifying a structure in response to feedback. The software is easy to get started with (I’m productive after 1 hour with the PDF manual) but is deep – agents and actions can provide automatic indexing and customised actions.
Tinderbox is mainly a note taking application (styled text and bitmap images stored in one large XML file per project – no tables alas – but ‘notes’ can be manipulated in an amazing variety of ways) but can export notes as a coherent Web site with relative linking. Not cheap at $165 – ¬£100 or so – initial purchase plus $70 per year for updates but nice, deep, software with good support. I have not managed to crash it yet, and I’m throwing all kinds of JPGs and Preview scraps into my ‘misc notes’ file.