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So you've read all there is on the power and functional beauty of actions and are convinced that they are here to save you from web site production nightmares but want to get down and create some of your own?
Over the following pages we'll outline how you can get yourself on the actions development ladder and what you can expect en route.
The action writer's shopping list
There are a few bits and bobs that you will need before embarking on writing actions for Freeway but chances are you will already have something you can use.
Run out and find yourself the following;
- Freeway 2.0 or above
As actions were first introduced in version 2 this is the absolute minimum for creating actions. If you have version 3 or above then even better as these will also run complex (JavaScript enabled) actions as well.
- A text editor
As actions are nothing more than formatted text files a good text editor will become one of your most cherished tools when developing actions. Although you can use any application that can output pure text files (without any formatting information) it's recommended that you get yourself an application designed for the task.
Bare Bones Software have been making just such tools for a fair while now and their BBEdit application comes highly recommended. There is even a fully functional demo that should get you started.
If BBEdit seems a little overly complex (it is very powerful) then you may want to have a look at Text Wrangler (also from Bare Bones). It still contains much of what we require for creating actions but falls short of some of the more complex features contained in BBEdit.
If you can find a copy then have a look out for the sadly discontinued BBEdit Lite as this was a free version of the full application that would, again, do all we needed in terms of action development.
Other that those the only other things you will need are time and a bit of perseverance.
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