|
[ Go to July 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinLab Reviews
-- by Warren Ernst
Starfish Software has a knack for releasing programs that cleverly solve problems you didn't know you had. Sidekick Web Publisher is one of those solutions. It instantly transforms your Sidekick 97 calendars and contact lists into a collection of winning Web pages that anyone with a browser can view and navigate. Its only flaw is that it works exclusively with Sidekick, Starfish's personal information manager (PIM) Web Publisher seamlessly integrates with Sidekick 97 and generates HTML-based calendars and contact lists directly from your Sidekick Schedule and Card File. The entire process is controlled by a simple wizard that asks you to specify your choice of HTML tables and Web-page colors, which dates you want the calendar to cover and whether you want daily, weekly, monthly or complete calendar listings. In our testing, Sidekick Web Publisher created 60 perfectly linked, attractive HTML and GIF files in about 3 seconds. Generated pages feature an easily mastered interface, including simple push buttons and a table-based calendar grid. The wizard doesn't post the pages to the Internet-you must manually copy the files to your Web server. Sidekick isn't the only PIM that can post its calendar on the Web. Many PIM users have discovered the benefit of providing accessibility through the Web, allowing anyone with a browser to view their schedule; PIM vendors like Starfish and Lotus are eager to accommodate them. Lotus currently provides Organizer 97 Web Calendar, a CGI application, as a free download to enable users to share their Organizer 97 (see WinLab Reviews, November 1996) files over the Web. Since this utility works only with Sidekick, we're not adding it to the WinList. But if you're a Sidekick user, there's no better way to make your calendar available to others on the Web.
|