Computer Side Addins Frequently Asked Questions and Help

by Rob aka Photo Enhancer

This help page is for both the purchased version and the free version users of Computer Side Addins. The only difference between using the free version and the purchased version of Computer Side Addins is the free version is limited to running in the C:\ADDINS folder only.

Click on a question below to get an answer.
Questions:

How do I purchase Computer Side Addins?
Why should I buy Computer Side Addins if it works exactly the same as the free version?
Where do I find my Computer Side Addins files?
How do I create a New Folder for Computer Side Addins?
How do I download Computer Side Addins?
How do I Unzip the csaddins.zip file?
How do I initialize Computer Side Addins?
Do I have to close all other Program Files to Run Computer Side Addins?
How do I insert addins in a html file?
How do I run the Computer Side Addins program?
How does the Computer Side Addins program update html files
Where do I save the Addin text files?
What does it mean when the Program tells me tags don't match? This applies to Msg 75 through 95.
I bought Computer Side Addins but can't Download it or was not sent to the Download Page. What do I do now?
I bought Computer Side Addins and none of the above solves my problem. What do I do now?
How do I un-install Computer Side Addins?

Questions and Answers:

1. How do I purchase Computer Side Addins?

Click here to purchase Computer Side Addins.
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2. Why should I buy Computer Side Addins if it works exactly the same as the free version?

The advantage of purchasing the program will soon become apparent after you've used the free version for awhile. Namely:

no more copying files to and from the C:\ADDINS folder.
the ability to keep the addin text files in the same folder or path as the html files.
no time delay in running the program after the first 25 uses.

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3. Where do I find my Computer Side Addins files?

The Computer Side Addin files will be in the C:\ADDINS folder if this folder did not already exist when Computer Side Addins was initialized. If the C:\ADDINS folder already existed, then the Computer Side Addins files will be in one of the following C:\ADDINS1 through C:\ADDINS9.

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4. How do I create a New Folder for Computer Side Addins?

The steps outlined below can be used to create folders anywhere on your computer.

I suggest you create a C:\ADDINS folder for the Computer Side Addins files because that is where they will end up anyway.
Open Windows Explorer and click on [C:] for the C: drive.
Click File (on the top left corner of Explorer), select New and click Folder.
A new folder will show up under [C:] with the name New Folder highlighted.
If New Folder is not highlighted, press the F2 function key on the top of your keyboard.
Type ADDINS and press Enter.
You now have a ADDINS folder to download and unzip your Computer Side Addins Program to.
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5. How do I download Computer Side Addins?

I suggest you create a folder named ADDINS on the C:\ drive to download the csaddins.zip file to. See Question 4 for help.
When you're on the Computer Side Addins Download page, click on the "Download csaddins.zip file" link.
When you're asked to Open or Save the file select Save.
Save the "csaddins.zip" file to the ADDINS folder you created.
After the file has downloaded, select Open to Unzip the files.
Be sure to Unzip the files to the ADDINS folder you downloaded the "csaddins.zip" file to so you can find them.
csaddins.zip contains the following files: addins.exe, _addin.exe, addins.bat and readme.htm.
The _addin.exe file is a shortcut file to the addins.exe program. The _addin.exe file is the file you need to copy to your html folders to run the program. Do not try to create a Windows shortcut file instead of the _addin.exe file. It won't work because the _addin.exe program sends the path of the html file to the addins.exe program and a Windows shortcut file won't do this.
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6. How do I Unzip the csaddins.zip file?

You need an Unzip Program such as Winzip to Unzip the Computer Side Addins Files.
Note: You can download a free evaluation version of Winzip here
You can automatically run your Unzip Program by opening the csaddins.zip file or
Open your Unzip Program and use the Search, Browse or Open Option to find the csaddins.zip file.
Select Extract Files (or Next if using the Wizard) in your Unzip Program.
Select the ADDINS folder by using the Select a different folder or Browse Option.
Select Unzip Now or Ok or whatever is appropriate in you Unzip Program.
The following files will be Unzipped and placed in the ADDINS folder: addins.exe, _addin.exe, addins.bat and readme.htm.
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7. How do I initialize Computer Side Addins?

Open the addins.bat file in the ADDINS folder or the folder you unzipped the program files to.
Your Computer Side Addins will be initialized.
The initialization process will create and move the program files to the C:\ADDINS folder if it does not already exist or the program files are not already in that folder.
If a C:\ADDINS folder already exists on your computer that does not contain the ADDINS program files, the program will keep trying to create an ADDINS folder named C:\ADDINS1 up to C:\ADDINS9. If you already created a C:\ADDINS folder and download and unzip the files to that folder, the program will recognize it and use that folder.

You only have to initialize Computer Side Addins once.

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8. Do I have to close all other Program Files to Run Computer Side Addins?

No, you do not have to close any Program Files to Run Computer Side Addins.
I do suggest that if you have any html files open in a html editor such as FrontPage and you plan on updating them with the Addins program, you close them first. It won't hurt anything if you don't however.
The Computer Side Addins program does not change your operating system in any way.
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9. How do I insert addins in a html file?

Simply place two identical (before and after) addin tags in the html file where you want the text from the text file to be inserted.

Addin tag format and syntax:
The addin tag format is as follows: 
The addin tag syntax is as follows:

Only one space is allowed between <!-- and zaddin.
The equal sign must be the first character after zaddin.
A quotation mark must follow the equal sign.
The text file name must be placed between the quotation marks.
The text file name cannot have more than eight characters. It can be less.
The file name extension must be .txt (note the period).
A quotation mark must follow the file name extension.
There must be one space between the last quotation mark and -->

Inline addin tags:

Let's say you had the following line on several scattered pages on your Website:

There are 214 pages on this Website.

The number of pages can vary and is a good choice for an inline addin tag. To create the text file do the following:

Open a text file and enter 214 and save that file as say webpages.txt. You do not want to put a linefeed after the number 214 in the text file. If you do, the linefeed will also be placed on the webpage when the _addin.exe program is run. Moral: anything you put in the text file will be added into the Webpage when that text file is called.

Example inline addin tag format: 

The code in the html file for the the line that tells the number of pages on the Website would look like this:

There are  pages on this Website.

After _addin.exe is run in the folder that contains html files with the above addin tag, the code in the html file will look like this:

There are 214 pages on this Website.

After that, whenever the number of pages changes on the Website, you will only have to change and save the number in the webpages.txt file and then run the _addin.exe program to update every webpage that calls the webpages.txt file as an addin.

Group addin tags:

Group addin tags can be used for headers, footers, menus, copyright notices or whatever you want.

Example group addin tag format:

Please open the example_page.htm file for more detail information on how to insert addin tags.

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10. How do I run the Computer Side Addins program?

Copy the _addin.exe (note the underscore before the file name) file to any folder you have html files in with addin tags.
Open the _addin.exe file by left clicking on the _addin.exe file or right clicking on the file name and selecting Open from the popup menu.
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11. How does the Computer Side Addins program update html files and where do I save the Addin text files?

The Computer Side Addins program updates html files in a three step process.

The ADDIN Program first updates all addin tags of the format: 
The ADDIN Program then replaces all Computer Side Addins Frequently Asked Questions and Help, Computer Side Addins will insert text from text files into html webpage files with the click of the mouse. No limit to the number of files or folders the program can be used on: and computer side addins web page inserts server side includes ssi insert include text files html code web pages ssi online benefits lookout addin xp media center addins free powerpoint addin free ms access utilities ssi disability site developer web txt reserved words with the respective contents of the Title, Description and Keywords meta tags. This means you can put these reserved words anywhere on the Webpage and include them in addin text files.
The ADDIN Program then proofreads over 25 types of html tags such as and to insure they have a beginning and ending tag.
And finally, the ADDIN Program creates a _LOG_ADD.HTM file which gives you a report on the actions taken on every html file in the folder the ADDIN Program was run in.
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12. Where do I save the Addin text files?

The Addin text files can be saved in the same folder as the html files or
In a sub-folder named ADDINS (not case sensitive) to the folder that contains the html files or
A folder named ADDINS (not case sensitive) anywhere along the path to the folder that contains the html files.

Lets say you have the html files in a folder named MY_HTM_FILES and this folder has the following path:

C:\MY DOCUMENTS\MY WEBS\MY_HTM_FILES\

The Addin text files could be save in the MY_HTM_FILES folder or
they could be save in a sub-folder which would have the following path:
C:\MY DOCUMENTS\MY WEBS\MY_HTM_FILES\ADDINS\ or
they could be saved in the C:\ADDINS folder where the program files are.

When you open the _ADDIN.EXE program in the MY_HTML_FILES folder, the program will first look for the Addin text files in the
C:\MY DOCUMENTS\MY WEBS\MY_HTM_FILES\ADDINS\
If the above folder doesn't exist or the Addin text file is not there, the program will then look in
C:\MY DOCUMENTS\MY WEBS\MY_HTM_FILES\
If the Addin text file is not there, the program will look in the
C:\ADDINS folder where the program files are.

This means you can have several Addin text files named HEADER.TXT for example. Each of these can have different content and can be saved in separate folders and still be correctly used for updates.

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13. What does it mean when the Program tells me tags don't match? This applies to Msg 75 through 95.

Messages 75 through 95 are warning messages and do not affect the updating of the html files. You can ignore these warning messages if you like. But, it is best if you correct them.

Messages 75 through 95 identify html tags that do not have a matching beginning and ending tag. For example, if the html file has a tag and does not have a ending tag, the program will recognize it and tell you. There are over 25 tags the ADDIN Program checks.

The easiest way to find these incorrect html code errors is to search for the first two characters of the errant tag. This can be done in a html editor or in Notepad.

Example: Msg 75: tags don't match.
Search for tag before the next tag. Usually the ending tag is missing.
If you don't find the errant tag that way. Try searching for the ending tag and ensure there is a beginning tag before the previous tag.
Admittedly, this can be a real pain in the behind. But, having correct html syntax improves Search Engine listings because the Search Engine spiders can read the html code more easily and won't skip pages that have poor html code.
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14. I bought Computer Side Addins but can't Download it or was not sent to the Download Page. What do I do now?

Please email with an explanation of your download problem.
Please leave the subject line as is so it catches my attention.
Be sure to include the email address you used to send payment so I can confirm you purchased the program.
I will email your Program Files in a timely manner and investigate the cause of the problem.
Although it doesn't happen very often, Network Servers can be down and cause this problem at the time you placed your order.
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15. I bought Computer Side Addins and none of the above solves my problem. What do I do now?

Please email with a detailed description of your problem.
Please leave the subject line as is so it catches my attention.
I will do my best to find a solution to your problem in a timely manner.
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16. How do I un-install Computer Side Addins?

You do not have to un-install Computer Side Addins because it was never installed in the first place.
You can delete the Program files at any time without doing any harm to your computer by opening the REMOVADD.BAT file in the C:\ADDINS folder. This file will give you a warning before deleting all the program files it can find in the C:\ADDINS folder. If you have copies of the _ADDIN.EXE file in other folders, you can delete them at any time.
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