New features in Web Author

We are continuing to add new features to Web Author, so I thought I'd give a rundown of a few of the more interesting ones here.

Search allows you to search for text in the whole model. It will look in every name and property of every object in the model. Clicking on a search result will take you to the relevant property in the Properties Inspector.

Resolving comments gives you the ability to provide feedback to commenters that you have acted on their comment and updated the model accordingly.

Resource icons. In the past, if a model contained many local resources, it could be difficult to distinguish between different types of resource (role, system etc) in the Table of Contents. With the latest Version 6 stencils, local resources now have different icons.

Syntax highlighting eases the editing of SQL in reports in Web Author. This requires the latest Version 6 stencils

Zoom to fit shows the whole of the diagram whilst maximising the size of the diagram, which is much simpler than zooming in and out until you find the right zoom level.

Most of these features are only available in Web Author. If you'd like to experiment with Web Author but are concerned about compatibility with Desktop Author, you can edit in one and then switch to the other without any problems. There is also no requirement to upgrade to Version 6 stencils and styles. When you do upgrade to Version 6 stencils, if you wish to use the Desktop Author then you'll need to install Version 6 Desktop Author on all your users' machines. Contact support if you want to upgrade.

There's a 'What's New' page in Web Author which gets updated as new features are added. Have a look at that to see what else has been added recently.