Is there a wyswyg html editor out there that actually works?

M

Michael Laplante

I've tried the following:

Frontpage Express : Dated, doesn't support newer html or css.

Pagebreeze : Just went nagware. Previously my favourite though.

NVu : Tried latest incarnation, still bugs in fundamental operations (e.g.
pasted image into table cell with text, then wouldn't let me wrap text
around image.) Problems with layers. . .

Trellian Webpage : Appears abandoned, buggy (e.g. once a table is created no
means to then modify table via the wysiwyg editor)

Amaya : Lousy, non-intuitive interface. Isn't really a wysiwyg editor --
requires user hand code a lot of stuff.

Open Office : Just 'decoupled' the style sheet from the page I opened in it
and spontaneously rewrote some style elements. Emphasis is on word
processing, not web page editing.

Webdwarf / DHE Editor : Use proprietary formats which allow only for "one
way" editing. Can't import & edit existing html pages.

Eversoft SiteGenWiz : Possibly the dumbest of the bunch. Unbelievably
inefficient and non-intuitive.

Sublime / Selida : Both buggy and periodically freeze / crash on my Win98SE.
Don't believe they handle CSS, IIRC. Abandoned by now I think.

Web Builder by Pablo Software : Terrible. Uses "behind the scenes" tables
and spacer gifs which leads to issues with screen size, etc. Doesn't handle
CSS. Can't edit contents of "in front of the scenes" tables.

Have I missed any? I can't believe that it is that hard to come up with such
a program. In theory, HTML is easier than word processing, but you wouldn't
know it from the editors out there.

BTW, html purists, spare me the "learn to hand code" line. I've heard it, I
can do it but find it far faster to do page layup with WYWIWYG then clean
and fine-tune by hand afterward. If you don't have anything to suggest,
please don't reply. . .

M
 
D

Don Boring

1st Page 2000 is about the best you can
get for free. It may not be 100% wysiwyg
but it is the best FREE web browser around
IMHO. And I use Macromedia Dreamweaver MX
but occasionally use some of the many JAVA scripts
from 1st Page in my page work.

Read all about it and download here.
http://www.evrsoft.com/1stpage2.shtml
And it wouldn't hurt you to learn a bit about
html. It will make your pages look better regardless
of what program you use.

As the saying goes, if I can learn the basics
anyone can. It takes about 2 hours to learn everything
you need to know to make a nice basic page with tables.
Frames may take a bit longer, but once you get the hang
of what Frames are all about it is a piece of cake.

DB
 
M

Michael Laplante

Don Boring said:
And it wouldn't hurt you to learn a bit about
html. It will make your pages look better regardless
of what program you use.
Frames may take a bit longer, but once you get the hang
of what Frames are all about it is a piece of cake.
Click to expand...

Don, not to discourage or disrepect you, but the use of frames for serious
web design went out about the time of grunge music. See:

http://www.html-faq.com/htmlframes/?framesareevil

I know how to handcode HTML / CSS but prefer wysiwyg for speed, followed by
corrections and fine-tuning by hand afterword. That's why I explicitly asked
that readers here NOT recommend a text-based editor.
It takes about 2 hours to learn everything you need to know to make a nice
Click to expand...
basic page with tables.

Thanks for that. FYI, even tables are being used with less frequency in
favour of CSS. See alt.html and the many web tutorials for alternatives.

Finally, I did use 1st Page many years ago. . . fine program as I recall,
but has been abandoned for some time I believe.

M
 
P

(ProteanThread)

Michael said:
Don, not to discourage or disrepect you, but the use of frames for serious
web design went out about the time of grunge music. See:

http://www.html-faq.com/htmlframes/?framesareevil

I know how to handcode HTML / CSS but prefer wysiwyg for speed, followed by
corrections and fine-tuning by hand afterword. That's why I explicitly asked
that readers here NOT recommend a text-based editor.



basic page with tables.

Thanks for that. FYI, even tables are being used with less frequency in
favour of CSS. See alt.html and the many web tutorials for alternatives.

Finally, I did use 1st Page many years ago. . . fine program as I recall,
but has been abandoned for some time I believe.

M
Click to expand...

What about the program from serif ?
 
T

Thorsten Duhn

Hello,
Problems with layers. . . [...]
Uses "behind the scenes" tables
and spacer gifs which leads to issues with screen size, etc. [...]
BTW, html purists, spare me the "learn to hand code" line.
I've heard it, I can do it but find it far faster to do page
layup with WYWIWYG then clean and fine-tune by hand afterward.
If you don't have anything to suggest, please don't reply. . .
Click to expand...

what I read from your opionions is that you tried to do some
complex print style layouts with free positioned elements. I
do not believe, this is the right way creating useable web sites.
I don't even trust professional payware like GoLive for this.

No, I don't tell you, you should "learn to hand code", but you
should understand HTML. Web is not print, browsers are lousy
in needs of display compability, and content is what matters.

I personally would prefer NVu, it is still buggy und incomplete,
but on it's way and nearest to professional solutions like
Dreamweaver. But even in Dreamweaver you should only use a
portion of it's features, when layers/DHTML come in, problems
arise with them. And you _must_ understand HTML basics. (I for
myself use also CSS positioning with much care, but in my job
business content matters, and unfortunally that means, *cool*
layouts get lost along.)

Regards,
Thorsten
 
M

Michael Laplante

What about the program from serif ?
Click to expand...

I have used. It falls into the Web Dwarf category -- proprietary format
which is then exported to HTML. Can't edit / import HTML unless it has
changed since I last used it. In that regard, I'd use Web Dwarf before
Serif.

Paradoxically, the one I keep returning to is Frontpage Express. It was
cleverly designed to allow for the evolution of HTML in that one can insert
HTML markup without regards as to whether FP recognized it. The downside, of
course, is that you lose wysiwyg although you get a close approximation
depending on what you're doing.

Guess I'll keep looking. . .

M
 
M

Michael Laplante

what I read from your opionions is that you tried to do some
complex print style layouts with free positioned elements.
Click to expand...

Actually, my layout is about as simple as it gets. One column, the odd
image. . . I use "safe" CSS, i.e. primarily for text formatting, but use
tables for layout until such time as all browsers can agree without needing
kludges for each of them. (If you go to alt.html, 95% of the issues relate
to page layout - vice text formatting - using CSS. )
No, I don't tell you, you should "learn to hand code", but you
should understand HTML. Web is not print, browsers are lousy
in needs of display compability, and content is what matters.
Click to expand...

I understand HTML fine thanks. Yes, there is the issue of browser
compatibility (see above). There is also the philosophy that web designers
should allow the end-user control over the display. This mantra leads to
bland vanilla-style web sites because they need to be max flex to allow for
the user to control the display. I'm growing weary of these one-column, 60%
wide, centred CSS web sites popping up everywhere. The web is this rich
visual and audio medium but the CSS "purists" are turning it into drivel.

CSSZenGarden is a perfect example of where the DESIGNER controls the look of
the website in order to get his/ her message across in a particular way.
That's intelligent and beautiful use of CSS to my mind.
I personally would prefer NVu, it is still buggy und incomplete,
Click to expand...

Yes, based on recommendations here, I keep coming back to this one. However,
I'll try to do the simplest of things with it and it'll completely ignore
me. I'm baffled why people love this thing.

I really liked that PageBreeze for simple stuff but was peeved to learn it
goes nagware on you after awhile despite descriptions to the contrary on the
website. For more complex stuff, I use SiteSpinner which is the professional
version of Web Dwarf. I use PS Pad / Notetab to clean up afterward. However,
SiteSpinner is overkill for most of my needs. For now, I'll revert to
Frontpage Express (!!) which is actually pretty damn flexible despite its
pedigree and age.

M
 
M

Michael Laplante

David said:
Mozilla Composer. I've never experienced any problems with it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, may try this one again. Didn't do everything I required but at least
what it did do it did well.

M
 
J

jmatt

A few more to look at .

WebPlus
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/serif/wp/wp6/index.asp

Why ASP.NET?
Writing dynamic, high-performance Web applications has never been
easier
http://www.asp.net/
http://www.asp.net/whitepaper/whyaspnet.aspx

Web Matrix
http://www.asp.net/webmatrix/

FuzzPad
http://www.fuzzylu.com/docs/html/js/home.htm

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/
http://www.all4you.dk/FreewareWorld/links.php?cat=002

* Posted via http://www.sixfiles.com/forum
* Please report abuse to http://xinbox.com/sixfiles
 
M

Mike Dee

I really liked that PageBreeze for simple stuff but was peeved to
learn it goes nagware on you after awhile despite descriptions to
the contrary on the website.
Click to expand...

Have you had any response from the creators of PageBreeze, Michael?
Your experience is certainly different from their License and
Distribution of PageBreeze comments at their web site.

I use mainly "Namo WebEditor" (my needs are very basic and Namo is
excellent for this IMO), but I got my copy from a PC magazine's freebee
software for the month cover CD, and is otherwise a commercial
product so it's OT for here.
 
M

Michael Laplante

Mike Dee said:
Have you had any response from the creators of PageBreeze, Michael?
Your experience is certainly different from their License and
Distribution of PageBreeze comments at their web site.
Click to expand...

No I never did. As an experiment, I retrieved my older ver 3b and
re-installed it, after removing the 3c ver. Sure enough the same nag screen
showed up -- something that had never happened when I used that ver before.
So clearly, it's been disguised nagware for sometime and it was dishonest of
the author to misrepresent it on his site. Oddly, though none of the
freeware sites that review / recommend it make any mention of the nagscreen,
nor does it appear in their screenshots. I'm guessing they didn't use it
long enough for it to "time out" and revert to nag-status. Makes me wonder
if this was a deliberate strategy on the part of the author to get it "out
there" before its true status was revealed.

M
 
M

Mike Dee

So clearly, it's been disguised nagware for sometime and it was
dishonest of the author to misrepresent it on his site. Oddly,
though none of the freeware sites that review / recommend it make
any mention of the nagscreen, nor does it appear in their
screenshots.
Click to expand...

I must look into this more closely, it is indeed "odd".

In the meantime I came across this by accident:

WYSIWYG Web Builder - Version 1.7
<http://www.pablovandermeer.nl/web_builder.html>

**/
This project started as a replacement for ‘good-old’ Frontpage Express
that used to be part of Windows. Just a simple, easy-to-use utility to
generate web pages. Web Builder has almost all the features Frontpage
Express had, but gives you much more freedom of where you put your web
objects (such as images, text, tables etc). This means that the
finished page will display in your browser exactly the way it was
designed.
/**

Have no idea if it's good or bad, just thought the name of the software
was appropriate :)

Free for personal use. Hope it's of use.
 
M

Mel

I've tried the following:

Frontpage Express : Dated, doesn't support newer html or css.

Pagebreeze : Just went nagware. Previously my favourite though.

NVu : Tried latest incarnation, still bugs in fundamental operations (e.g.
pasted image into table cell with text, then wouldn't let me wrap text
around image.) Problems with layers. . .

Trellian Webpage : Appears abandoned, buggy (e.g. once a table is created no
means to then modify table via the wysiwyg editor)

Amaya : Lousy, non-intuitive interface. Isn't really a wysiwyg editor --
requires user hand code a lot of stuff.

Open Office : Just 'decoupled' the style sheet from the page I opened in it
and spontaneously rewrote some style elements. Emphasis is on word
processing, not web page editing.

Webdwarf / DHE Editor : Use proprietary formats which allow only for "one
way" editing. Can't import & edit existing html pages.

Eversoft SiteGenWiz : Possibly the dumbest of the bunch. Unbelievably
inefficient and non-intuitive.

Sublime / Selida : Both buggy and periodically freeze / crash on my Win98SE.
Don't believe they handle CSS, IIRC. Abandoned by now I think.

Web Builder by Pablo Software : Terrible. Uses "behind the scenes" tables
and spacer gifs which leads to issues with screen size, etc. Doesn't handle
CSS. Can't edit contents of "in front of the scenes" tables.

Have I missed any? I can't believe that it is that hard to come up with such
a program. In theory, HTML is easier than word processing, but you wouldn't
know it from the editors out there.

BTW, html purists, spare me the "learn to hand code" line. I've heard it, I
can do it but find it far faster to do page layup with WYWIWYG then clean
and fine-tune by hand afterward. If you don't have anything to suggest,
please don't reply. . .
Click to expand...
AceHTML Freeware is a powerful HTML editor that comes with all the
standard HTML editing features and also offers an extensive array of
additional features, including a HTML syntax checker, a code explorer
for source code navigation and over 175 built-in DHTML and JavaScript
samples. AceHTML Freeware also comes with a built-in style sheet editor
for adding CSS2 styles to your web site. The editor interface supports
syntax coloring for for XML, Perl, ASP and other languages and comes
with a built-in browser preview that allows you to switch between the
code and the browser view. Additional features include a file manager,
spell checking, syntax validation, custom tags, auto-correct,
multi-document interface, table wizard and much more. AceHTML 5 Freeware
is a very well featured HTML editor with many features and enough
flexibility to suit advanced webmasters and newbies alike.

http://www.webattack.com/get/acehtmlfree.shtml

HTML-Kit is a full-featured, highly customizable and free development
environment that can be used to create, edit, validate, preview and
publish web pages and scripts.

http://www.chami.com/html-kit/download/
 
S

Susan Bugher

Mel said:
You can download it from here:
http://www.webattack.com/get/acehtmlfree.shtml
Click to expand...

I think that might be an earlier version. The file sizes don't match.

http://www.webattack.com/php/download.php?id=105604
File size: 3576 kb
Version: 5.09

DL link:
http://softwares2.visicommedia.com/softwares/en/acehtml/acehtml5free.exe
(3554 KB)

The correct size for v 5.09.0 is (3,662,508 bytes). You can check the
version you downloaded by starting the installation process.

Susan
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