The online help system can be accessed by clicking here.

BENEFITS
StartGen was written to make your Web browsing experience more efficient and effective. Searching is one of the most frequently performed activities while browsing. StartGen eliminates the time it takes to load the search form from the search engines home page by allowing you to store it in a start page located on your local hard drive. The 80/20 rule applies to the browsing experience to varying degrees. If you find yourself spending most of your time revisiting a relatively small set of links, consider using StartGen to store these links on a generated start page loaded automatically each time you start your browser, and each time you click the "Home" button. This eliminates the need to traverse submenus of favorites and bookmarks in order to get to these frequently accessed links. All you do is click the browsers "Home" button and there they are. They load very quickly since the start page is stored on your local drive and contains no time consuming graphic images.

Taking control of your start page adds structure to the browsing experience. This helps minimize the number of decisions you must make each time you browse the Web.

The top part of the start page contains frequently used bookmarks organized by Category and Subject. The html user guide gives you instructions on how to customize these selections.

Shareware gives you a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue to use it, you are required to register it. You can do this by completing the registration form and sending $29 as explained in the registration section of this document. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and retail software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below.

LIMITED WARRANTY AND DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS (INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE) ARE PROVIDES "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. FURTHER, BRAINDANCE.COM, INC., DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF USE, OF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. IF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS ARE DEFECTIVE YOU, AND NOT BRAINDANCE.COM, INC. NOR ITS DISTRIBUTORS, DEALERS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

THE ABOVE IS THE ONLY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT IS MADE BY BRAINDANCE.COM, INC. ON THIS BRAINDANCE.COM, INC. PRODUCT.

NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY BRAINDANCE.COM, INC., ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY AND YOU MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

NEITHER BRAINDANCE.COM, INC. NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION OR DELIVERY OF THIS PRODUCT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH PRODUCT EVEN IF BRAINDANCE.COM, INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

This Limited Warranty shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
BY USING THE SHAREWARE VERSION OF STARTGEN YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS' TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THE LIMITED WARRANTY IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND SUPERSEDE ALL PROPOSALS OR PRIOR AGREEMENTS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTIES RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE LIMITED WARRANTY.

Use of this software is permitted only to the extent reasonably required to determine whether to purchase the software, a period not to exceed 30 days. After payment is made, use of this software is limited to use on only a single personal computer or workstation which is not used as a server. An additional payment is required for each use on another personal computer or workstation. Only a single copy may be made of this software solely for backup or archival purposes. The software may also be transferred to a single hard disk. Any use of this software in violation of the above is not licensed.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR REGISTERED USERS
Limited technical support for StartGen can be obtained by sending email to sgen@BrainDance.com

DISTRIBUTING
You are encouraged to pass a copy of the shareware version of StartGen along to your friends for evaluation. If you do so, you must provide them with the entire set of StartGen shareware version files.

PURCHASING THE LICENSED VERSION
You may use the shareware version of StartGen for a 30 day trial period. If you would like to continue to use StartGen after the 30 day trial period, you are required to purchase the licensed version. Click here to view the order form.

INSTALLING STARTGEN
StartGen will run on any version of Windows. After downloading the sgen30.exe file (or sgen30sm.exe file if you already have the VB DLLs), run it from within Windows and it will guide you through the installation process. Click on the StartGen icon to begin using the software. The sgen30.exe file can be deleted after StartGen has been installed.

UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
FOR EXTRA INSURANCE, MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR ENTIRE STARTGEN DIRECTORY AND THE ZZSGENZZ SUBDIRECTORY BEFORE UPGRADING. IN PARTICULAR, BACKUP THE DASH*.MDB, WMODES*.MDB and ZZSGENZZ\????PWDS.MDB FILES.
Installing version 3.1 in your current StartGen directory will preserve your existing data and automate the transfer of existing passwords and engrams. Links must be imported manually using the "Import from StartGen Database" options from the File submenu. These options allow you to import links one page, category or link at a time. It is recommended that you import start page links one at a time. Directory pages are best imported in their entirety using the "Page" option. If you decide to import your entire start page, note that the "My Start Page" that shipped with version 3.1 might be pointing to the same "mystart.htm" file in your StartGen directory. Change one of them using the "Page Settings" form to correct the conflict.

Also, if you import your start page, you will want to make it the page that SGenMenu looks to when constructing it's popup menu links. You can do this by selecting "Options" from the "View" menu. A new field was added to each add link dialog called "Add to SGenMenu Popup". Checking this box tells SGenMenu to include the link in it's popup menu.

REVISION HISTORY AND NEW FEATURES

Version 3.1

1. Added standalone version of StartGen's Find utility for searching bookmarks, favorites, links and your personal knowledge base.
2. Added SGenMenu module displaying a popup menu for more convenient access to your favorite links. SGenMenu also can be used to quickly add new links, access your passwords or engrams, or load StartGen.
3. Fixed the following bug: when a new "Directory" page was created in a subdirectory other than the one in which StartGen was installed, supporting frame files were built in the StartGen directory instead of the one specified for the new page. As a result, when you opened the new page, it couldn't find the files.
4. Minor bug fixes to power search feature.
5. You can now resize the main screen.
6. Bookmark and favorite searches were completely redesigned so you don't have to import them. All searches go against your latest bookmark file and favorites directories. The previous version required you to re-import them periodically.
7. Added the ability to automatically assign subjects to links imported from an HTML file. If you are using an older browser, you may also need this version to display the online help.
8. When you use the KBFind feature to search for a string in your knowledge base directory, it automatically positions the cursor on the location of the string in the "View Text" window.
9. Slight improvement to the format of generated directory listing pages.
10. Enhanced the form wizard parsing routine that extracts FORM tags automatically.
11. You can now specify the location of your browser by selecting "Options" from the "View" menu. This tells StartGen and SGenMenu to open links in a new browser instance. Previously, when StartGen opened a multi-url link, it used the same instance for all links. Consequently, only the last one could be viewed. This new feature has no effect on links opened from your start and directory pages via your browser.
12. If you are using an older browser, you may also need this version to display the online help and open URLs directly from StartGen.
13. When importing shared multi-url links and powersearch forms, you no longer have to edit them in order to complete the import process.
14. Fixed bug that prevented you from copying a link to a subject that has no links.
15. Added ability to import links a page at a time or one link at a time.

Version 3.0

1. User interface completely redesigned for ease of use. Wizards were added to simplify the process of setting up new pages and adding search forms without knowing anything about HTML. Included toolbar icons and popup menus.
2. Support for short forms added (these appear next to the links on the start page).
3. Support for multiple-URL links added. Includes support for IE popup menus.
4. Support for "directory of links" page format added.
5. HTML help system implemented.
6. Ability to extract links from any HTML text file.
7. Added support for IE favorites and long filenames.
8. Search dialog expanded to include searches of IE favorites, StartGen links and text files in any directory.
9. Password list module added.
10. Engram module added.
11. Share module added that allows you to distribute and/or publish elements of your start or directory pages including search forms, multiple-URL links or entire subjects.
12. Added ability to open HTML files from StartGen using your default browser.

Version 2.0

1. Added ability to define multiple pages containing various combinations of categories. Note that all start pages that you define share the same categories. However, each start page can contain different combinations of the categories and they can be arranged in different orders. The key point to note is that if you delete a category, you will delete it from every start page that included a reference to that category. The benefit of this approach is that you can easily include the same category on every start page if you wish. The combobox in the toolbar allows you to easily switch between your start pages.
2. Added option for organizing links vertically on your start page. To set this, select the "Page Properties" option from the "View" menu (or click the Page Properties icon in the toolbar) and click the "Arrange Items Vertically" checkbox.
3. You can now view descriptions of the links on your start page by clicking the subject name.
4. You can assign colors to each category (select "Edit" button above the category list.
5. You can disable underlining of links and show visited links in the same color as nonvisted links for a cleaner look.
6. On the new Start Page propery form, you can specify cell padding, border width and disable underlining for a cleaner look.
7. You can import search engine interface HTML from previous versions from the "Add" interface form.
8. Fixed minor bug with Item form whereby subjects were sometimes listed twice in the combobox.
9. Changed licensing method to allow you to register your existing version by entering a key sent by email after payment is received.
10. Updated and enhanced the search engine HTML forms that ship with StartGen.

1. Fixed minor bugs.
2. Added ability to disable filename prompt when regenerating your start page.