Q: What is Pote?
A: Pote is a Web-based text editor.
Q: Who is responsible for Pote?
A: I am.
Q: What is Pote good for?
A: Pote allows its users to compose and edit text documents using just a Web browser. All documents are stored on the Pote server, so you don't need to carry disks around with you or email documents to yourself if you work on multiple computers. If you suddenly find yourself on a far-off continent, just go to a public terminal, Internet cafe, or what have you, log in to Pote, and there are all your documents!
Q: Who can read my documents?
A: Only the people you give your password to. They are stored securely and privately on the Pote server and can only be accessed via Pote.
Q: How do I start using Pote?
A: Go to the login page and pick a username. Your password will be emailed to you. To create your first document, type its name in the little box next to the button that says "Create," and then click the button. Voila. The big window on the next page is where you do your writing. Click Save when you're done.
Q: Should I save often?
A: Couldn't hurt. If your browser crashes, everything you've written since the last save will be lost.
Q: I lost my password! Can you help?
A: No problem. Go here.
Q: How many files can I have?
A: 25 to start with. Donors and other special persons can have more.
Q: How can I adjust the size of the edit window so it fits in my browser better?
A: Click "options" from your start page or an editing window to specify the size you want.
Q: Can I do bold, italic, and underlining? Can I change the font? Can I make tables or embed images? Can I?
A: No. Pote deals just with plain text, not styles. You can change the appearance of the text on the screen by changing the font settings on the options page, but if you need to use bold or something, you'll need to copy the document into a word processor or make it bold with HTML tags.
Q: When I am done writing, will the next person at the computer be able to click the Back button and read my documents?
A: Yes, at the moment, unfortunately. To prevent this, if you are at a shared computer, you need to exit your browser completely–every window.
Q: Something seems to be wrong with the ZIP files I download from Pote. What's going on?
A: Are you using a Mac? There's a bug in a couple of the Mac unzipper programs. Try Stuffit version 8, or the free Untar.
Q: Is that word count accurate?
A: It's off by one or two at most.
Q: Why does Pote look like it was designed by a programmer?
A: Um, guess.
Q: So, what happened to the bland grey interface?
A: Years ago Mark Abrams came up with the fantastic design you see now. My inability to find time to integrate the design into the code drove Heidi insane and eventually inspired her to shoulder the implementation.