Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

iOliverC · Feb 20, 2005, 01:09 PM

Hi guys,

I've recently been in the midst of creating an application that can basically clean and optimize your whole website. Whether it be the actual web page, the stylesheet or the images.

You can see a screenshot below:

So, the reason for this thread is that I need a name for the app, frankly the current name I have (Net Tidy) kinda sucks in my opinion. If anyone can come up with a winning name I will give them a free license when it is released. Ideally, I'd prefer a 1 word name and relate the internet and cleaning aspects.

Thanks,
Oliver

Simon X · 09:04 AM

---

OptimusG4 · Feb 20, 2005, 02:05 PM

You could try Web Tidy (or WebTidy, however you want it)

HTML Tidy is already taken though.

iOliverC · Feb 20, 2005, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
You could try Web Tidy (or WebTidy, however you want it)

HTML Tidy is already taken though.

I think WebTidy is used on Windows. So that counts that one out. And HTML Tidy is too general, in that my app cleans pages, styles and images.

Keep the names coming

Thanks,
Oliver

Randman · Feb 20, 2005, 02:46 PM

WebDoctor.

OptimusG4 · Feb 20, 2005, 02:53 PM

WebClean, PageClean, SiteClean, PageSweep...off the top of my head again

iOliverC · Feb 20, 2005, 03:17 PM

Originally posted by Randman:
WebDoctor.

Ooh, I like that. Number 1 so far :-). The only problem is that this is a completely different metaphor than my icon, as below:

Thanks,
Oliver

OptimusG4 · Feb 20, 2005, 03:19 PM

Hmm...WebScrubber, WebWasher?

iOliverC · Feb 20, 2005, 03:37 PM

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
Hmm...WebScrubber, WebWasher?

I like WebWasher, goes well with the icon too. Keep em' coming

Simon Mundy · Feb 20, 2005, 06:09 PM

Webwipe?

Big Mac · Feb 21, 2005, 10:18 AM

My suggestions are no better than anyone else's:

BugBeGone

CodeScrubber

CodeSoap

CodeCleaner

CodeAuthority

WebShiner

WebReady

WebPolish

Anyway, kudos on your new app!

leira · Feb 21, 2005, 01:35 PM

SiteScrubber

iOliverC · Feb 21, 2005, 04:20 PM

Originally posted by Big Mac:
My suggestions are no better than anyone else's:

BugBeGone

CodeScrubber

CodeSoap

CodeCleaner

CodeAuthority

WebShiner

WebReady

WebPolish

Anyway, kudos on your new app!

One of these stood out, CodeSoap. So I kinda twisted it around to be SiteSoap, as it is really cleaning a whole site, not just one page. I think I am going to go with this name, and as such, you win a free license

. If you email me at oliver at talacia dot com, I'll make sure to note your address to send it to.

Thanks to everyone who helped!
Oliver

OptimusG4 · Feb 21, 2005, 05:22 PM

lucky bastard

Big Mac · Feb 21, 2005, 07:16 PM

Originally posted by iOliverC:
One of these stood out, CodeSoap. So I kinda twisted it around to be SiteSoap, as it is really cleaning a whole site, not just one page. I think I am going to go with this name, and as such, you win a free license . If you email me at oliver at talacia dot com, I'll make sure to note your address to send it to.

Thanks to everyone who helped!
Oliver

Wow, I seldom if ever win contests like these! Definitely the coolest thing to happen to me online in a while. Thank you so much. I sent a message to you from my acolyte address on .Mac.

OptimusG4 · Feb 21, 2005, 10:26 PM

So um when can we see this app in action?

iOliverC · Feb 22, 2005, 04:05 AM

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
So um when can we see this app in action?

Its nearly done in a sense, but I am hoping to find an image optimizing library, but I have yet to find one.

If anyone has any ideas I would really appreciate it

. I mean things like converting formats, optimising for smaller file sizes etc.

Thanks again,
Oliver

Randman · Feb 22, 2005, 04:15 AM

Originally posted by iOliverC:
SiteSoap

Not very catchy.

wataru · Feb 22, 2005, 09:53 AM

Originally posted by Randman:
Not very catchy.

What are you, trying to be fashionably late?

Randman · Feb 22, 2005, 09:56 AM

Originally posted by wataru:
What are you, trying to be fashionably late?

Not sure what you mean, but was giving my opinion.

iOliverC · Feb 22, 2005, 12:19 PM

Originally posted by Randman:
Not very catchy.

Sure beats Net Tidy

.

Simon Mundy · Feb 22, 2005, 06:28 PM

Originally posted by iOliverC:
Sure beats Net Tidy .

Hi Oliver

This may be jumping the gun, seeing as you haven't even released this app yet, but I was wondering if you're sticking to the UI as you've posted at the top of this thread.

It looks like a wonderful app, but I was concerned that there was too many preferences up front and it wasn't clear enough how to start the 'tidy' process (or is that the 'soap' process

IMO the HTML Tidy prefs should be something you set from a preference panel or a sheet - it's only visible when you choose to alter settings. The 'main' interface would be a lot simpler and cleaner if you had a dropdown for 'Sitesoap settings' which had some presets and then also allowed you to create 'sets' of settings and then a simple 'start' button.

I love the simplicity of the tidy broom but it may not be intuitive enough to know that it will kickstart the clean process. Also now it's called SiteSoap it may be a mixed metaphor.

The left-hand panel too is a nice quick indicator of what is/isn't being cleaned, but it may be difficult to quickly determine the difference between a number of 'index.html' files if you have a deep folder structure. Would it be possible to replicate your site structure from the 'root' folder (i.e. the folder you nominate when you're entering your SiteSoap settings) and allow the user to open/close folders to see more graphically the hierarchy of the files you are cleaning? They could even have a small indicator next to them to show they are either 'selected','modified' or greyed out to show they are excluded.

Hope this is constructive for you (and relevant) - already it looks like it will be an extremely useful little app!

iOliverC · Feb 23, 2005, 04:11 AM

Originally posted by Simon Mundy:
Hi Oliver

This may be jumping the gun, seeing as you haven't even released this app yet, but I was wondering if you're sticking to the UI as you've posted at the top of this thread.

It looks like a wonderful app, but I was concerned that there was too many preferences up front and it wasn't clear enough how to start the 'tidy' process (or is that the 'soap' process

IMO the HTML Tidy prefs should be something you set from a preference panel or a sheet - it's only visible when you choose to alter settings. The 'main' interface would be a lot simpler and cleaner if you had a dropdown for 'Sitesoap settings' which had some presets and then also allowed you to create 'sets' of settings and then a simple 'start' button.

Thanks for the comments, I actually implemented something similar to the presets thing last night, basically, you can choose and create a preset of Option settings, it'll ship with a few basic ones like "Full Clean" and "Make It Validate As XHTML".

As to your suggestion about their being too many preferences being upfront, I have a little idea, that may not help too much. Basically, I'm going to have a little starter tutorial, explaining how the application works, so it'll explain what each thing in the UI means, maybe with some cool OpenGL stuff

. The reason the Options are all there, is because many power users may wish to change settings and maybe experiment with Options, I may even provide a type of "Code Preview", a before and after type thing, so you can see what the code would look like if you did clean it with the selected options.

I think I'm rambling now , but I'll take all your suggestions and consider them.

I love the simplicity of the tidy broom but it may not be intuitive enough to know that it will kickstart the clean process. Also now it's called SiteSoap it may be a mixed metaphor.

The left-hand panel too is a nice quick indicator of what is/isn't being cleaned, but it may be difficult to quickly determine the difference between a number of 'index.html' files if you have a deep folder structure. Would it be possible to replicate your site structure from the 'root' folder (i.e. the folder you nominate when you're entering your SiteSoap settings) and allow the user to open/close folders to see more graphically the hierarchy of the files you are cleaning? They could even have a small indicator next to them to show they are either 'selected','modified' or greyed out to show they are excluded.

Hope this is constructive for you (and relevant) - already it looks like it will be an extremely useful little app!

I was actually thinking of doing something like this, but the small space you have in their would mean it might not be very useful for things like large numbers of folders with lots of depths. I have made it so you can drop folders onto the Files List (via Drag & Drop of-course) and it'll auto go through those folders and add all the appropriate files it can find.

I may try and go with something like NewsFire's group list, all needs a lot of thinking

.

Thanks again for the suggestions,
Oliver

betoranaldi · Feb 23, 2005, 10:58 AM

Here's my contribution, after seeing your icon...

WWWasher

Tried to get the whole "World Wide" aspect of it seeing how there is a globe in your icon

Simon Mundy · Feb 23, 2005, 02:35 PM

Heh, or even a play on the 'WWW' and bathtime with Rub-a-dub-dub-dub

betoranaldi · Mar 7, 2005, 01:33 PM

Just qurious if you picked a name...

Big Mac · Mar 7, 2005, 02:54 PM

Oliver picked the name SiteSoap, a permutation of my suggestion.