An Interview with Peggy McCracken, Reporter & Webmaster

 Reprinted with Permission

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askSam: Which askSam product(s) do you use?

PEGGY MCCRACKEN: I am using askSam for Windows 3.0

askSam: Can you tell me how you use askSam?

PEGGY MCCRACKEN: We use askSam primarily to code news stories and classified ads for the Web.  After importing information from a .txt file, we use the point-and-click menu in askSam  to size headlines, make all type bold, create bookmarks and links, then export to an htm file. It imports graphics as well, but we use few of those.

In addition, we use askSam to create documents, such as templates for the header and footer on news files (most of our links are in those and don't have to be re-coded every time); create display ads with graphics; and create just about anything else we need.

I have downloaded information from the Internet into askSam to create a searchable database. Its filters allow almost anything to be imported, and I often import information from other programs, such as Word, to code and print out for our regular paper.

Before we began publishing on the Web, I tried askSam's Electronic Publisher to dress up and distribute to subscribers Associated Press stories that we did not use in the daily paper. I found it to be an excellent way to share a database.

In my volunteer work as a church librarian, I have used askSam's DOS version as a media database and word processing program for years. I recently converted the media database to askSam for Windows as part of a review I was doing, and found it even easier to use.

askSam: How has askSam made your job any easier, or faster or more efficient?

PEGGY MCCRACKEN: Converting daily news, sports, opinion and classified ads to HTML is a daunting task.  I tried HTML editors and found them to be too complicated. askSam makes the job so simple that I have trained one of our composition staff to do it. After she became familiar with the program, she could convert all four files in about 15 minutes.

askSam for Windows  is constructed so that it is easy for the beginner to operate, yet so sophisticated it can handle almost any task.

askSam: Can you tell me about what kind of customer support you have received as a user?

PEGGY MCCRACKEN: I haven't needed any customer support, because the manual is so thorough I can find the answer to any question.  But as a wannabe Web publisher, I got help from Janie Sites which was above and beyond the call of duty.  

askSam:  We're glad Janie was of help.  She is available to help anyone who has questions about the askSam Web Publisher and askSam's Web storage services.   You can reach Janie via email at < janie@asksam.com >

askSam: Peggy, would you recommend askSam and if so, why?

PEGGY MCCRACKEN: I recommend askSam to everyone who will listen. It is the most versatile program I have seen in 15 years of computing, and the professionalism of its creator and staff shows through in every facet.

askSam:  What applications do you plan for askSam in the future?

PEGGY MCCRACKEN: I would like to archive all our back issues (from 1916) in askSam so we can use its excellent search engine to find any topic.

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Peggy McCracken, Reporter

Pecos Enterprise

324 S. Cedar St.

Pecos TX 79772

Phone:915-445-5475

Fax:915-445-4321

Email:news@bitstreet.com

URL:http://www.pecos.net/news

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