DocPad includes many useful editing functions not found in Notepad, plus some handy tools: A better character map than the one included in Windows, a calendar that stays on top of the editor window, a color picker for working with HTML files, and a calculator that stays on top, as well.
The toolbar is customizable, and so is the interface. If you don't like the skins, you can pick one and edit the colors and sizes of all the app's elements to suit your taste. The default skin seems to work best for that. The result can be a very nice-looking GUI.
A few drawbacks:
1) Although you can choose a font face for documents, the sizes are designated as small, large, huge, etc. with no way to select exact point sizes.
2) It's not possible to display or search for invisible characters, such as tab characters or carriage returns, or to insert or delete them via the find and replace dialog. Not everyone needs these capabilities for general text editing, however.
3) Multiple files are opened in separate instances of the program, as tabs are not supported, whereas most of today's text editors have tabbed interfaces.
4) DocPad keeps its installer and uninstaller in the app's installation folder, taking up roughly 18 extra MB on the disk. Delete them and you won't be able to uninstall the program through the control panel; you'll get an error message. You can remove all of DocPad's files manually, but the app will still show up in the control panel.
Review details
- Interface
- Features
- Ease of use
- Value
- Recommend to a friend? Yes
- Posted Jun 25, 2015 for v15.0