There are two types of HTML editors.
The first
one is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). The most popular ones are
FrontPage, DreamWeaver from Macromedia, and HomeSite from Allaire.
Personally I use Dreamweaver most of the times. Even though it is a WYSIWYG editor
(sort of), it offers me a complete control over my work.
I also use CuteHTML
to make corrections and more. I'll tell you about this great HTML editor a little
while.
But let's return to our discussion of WYSIWYG editors. Most of them
are bad because they add their own code to your HTML, which afterwards can be
displayed as an error in most browsers, and besides, you don't have the complete,
accurate control over your own HTML in this kind of editors. Frontpage 98
is one of them, but even so, it's very popular between beginners (who don't want
to learn HTML) and sometimes even professionals. Another bad thing about it is
that it costs a whole lot of money and might be unaffordable for most people.
Frontpage is not a way to go (but that's only my opinion. No offense FrontPage
users) to create 'best of the web' web sites, but it can save you a lot of time
by helping you create tables, frames, and more.
Another editor that
I'd like to tell you about is DreamWeaver2. It's been one of the most popular
editors for the past 3 years, and I completely agree with it. DreamWeaver allows
flexibility not only for beginners but also for professionals. It doesn't adds
any code to your pages and it got a lot of options to make HTML easier than Notepad.
And if you don't like to use WYSIWYG interface you can easily switch to notepad-like
html editor without changing anything. I think that DreamWeaver is one of the
best editors around, but once again, that's only my opinion. You can download
the trial version of it here and try it for yourself for 30 days for free.
All of the editors that I listed above offer you WYSIWYG interface and many
other options. They have a few flaws, but they do offer something unique. If you
are a beginner, I'd recommend you to go with Notepad for now. That way you'll
learn much faster and more.
If you already know HTML but don't like to
type lines and lines of code, you might try the editors above, but remember: they
are very expensive. And if you are intermediate or advanced designer, read on.
There are also HTML editors... that are very similar to notepad,
because they also offer full control and complete flexibility, but are made to
make your life a little easier.
One of them is CuteHTML. This editor
deserved it's name. It got a very nice and simple interface and lots of options.
It's better than Notepad because it automatically helps you choose the right tags.
It allows you to save JavaScripts and other kind of scripts for the next time.
It's not the best one but it is very good. And the best thing about it is
that CuteHTML is completely free. You can download it here. Another good HTML
editor is HTML-Kit. This is another free software which has hundreds of options.
It's especially good for intermediate designers. Remember that it is not a WYSIWYG
editor, so you do need to know HTML to use this one. It is completely amazing
freeware which I think you should download right now. You'll love it (i hope so).
Click here to download it.
One of the most important lessons, that I
hope you learned today is that you don't need to spend a lot of money to get a
great HTML editor to suit your needs.
Another thing that I wanted to
show you is that the easiest way (by that I mean WYSIWYG editors), are not always
the best ones, so be smart when you are choosing a tool for your future creations.
We will add a HTML Editors section to our Resources very soon, so come back
frequently. We'll be waiting. Boris, Editor
