Learning HTML & HTML Editors
Learning HTML & HTML Editors by Kalina of Affordable Web Design
I hold a firm belief that all webmasters should practice validating their code, so
all advice I give in this site will be centered around that
belief.
If you'd like to create/maintain a website, having some HTML
knowledge is necessary in order to create a standard page on the
web. HTML is also very easy to learn, you can learn the basics
in about an hour. First you'll need some type of software/editor
to create your html pages. Here's a few to try out (or not) and
see which you feel most comfortable with.
Editors for Hand Coding:
Notepad - This easy-to-use
HTML editor is FREE (for Windows version 2.0 and above). If you
are interested in learning how to code by hand then this editor
is highly recommended. It is not cluttered with tons of features
and is handy for all scripting languages, html, perl, php, etc.
Advanced Source Code Editors:
These editors are similar to Notepad by allowing you to create
your webpage via hand coding, but they help to speed up the
process of coding by hand with features such as syntax
highlighting, spell checking, global find/replace, code
libraries, code snippets, file explorers, page previews, and
much more. Ideal for all scripting languages.
AlleyCode - This award
winning HTML editor is fast and comes with many great features.
You can view your progress in real time using it's Synchro View
feature. Another great editor if you want to learn to code by
hand, comes with handy code snippets. Supports all scripting
languages. Alleycode is FREE!
1stPage -
This html editor comes packed with many features you won't even
find in the high-priced editors, and it's free. This editor is
perfect for everyone, from novice to expert. Some of it's
features include, 400+ javascripts, 15 dhtml scripts, 17 perl
scripts, 6 html scripts, 2 cgi scripts.
HomeSite
- $99 (Free 30-day trial). HomeSite provides a lean, code-only
editor for web development. Advanced coding features enable you
to instantly create and modify HTML, CFML, JSP, and XHTML tags,
while enhanced productivity tools allow you to validate, reuse,
navigate, and format code more easily.
WYSIWYG:
(What You See Is What You Get)
I do not personally recommend using these. Reason being that the
code can be messy, unnecessary tags can get put in, and most
importantly, the code will NOT be valid. Valid code is important
for a properly functioning, SEO-friendly webpage. Once you learn
how to hand code you can use these editors to save time and just
go over the source code and clean it up to be sure it's valid.
We will get into valid code later. WYSIWYG is a type of
editor/software which allows the user to see the web page as
it's being created. In other words, you can drag and drop images
exactly where you want them, place text where you want it and
not really have to deal with the code side of creating a web
page.
DreamWeave
r 8-Free to try; $399 to buy. Generally known as the best of
the WYSIWYG editors. Comes with an easy to use interface,
expanded CSS support, background FTP.
Fron
tPage 2003 - 30 Day Free Trial, $199 to buy. While being a
popular choice and commonly used, FrontPage is also known to
produce bloated, messy, invalid code, you're best not to use
this program. Features include the ability to upload your web
site without requiring an FTP program, hit counters, feedback
forms, and more. GoLive
- $399. Adobe