Easy question, need advice

[mike314]

I have to put together a website, just wanted some advice, should I download an HTML editor and spend about 2 weeks just getting used to the environment or should I just use Notepad and write the HTML there?

can writting HTML in NotePad do the same graphics and visual stuff as an HTML editor?

Thanks

 

[CoreyBryant]

You can use notepad if you know HTML. You do not need an "HTML editor" - well Notepad is an HTML editor. As long as you know what you are doing, notepad wil do everything as far as coding. You can add the code for your images & javascript as well.

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com

 

[ChrisHunt]

You've got 3 options:
[ol]
[li]Stick with Notepad to write your raw HTML. Tedious but functional[/li]
[li]Use a "HTML Editor" which (to my mind) is still a text editor, but with bells and whistles added to automatically insert tags, validate your code, do other useful bits & pieces. This is how I build, using a tool called Notetab Pro.[/li]
[li]Use a WYSIWYG web design tool like Frontpage (spit) or Dreamweaver. These let you draw your designs on-screen and build all the HTML behind the scenes. The generated code is less efficient than the hand-crafted stuff though, sometimes dramatically so.[/li]
[/ol]
Whatever approach you take, the end result will be the same - an HTML file that can contain whatever "visual and graphic" instructions you need.

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.extracon.com

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[LEICJDN1]

My piece of advice, learnt the hard way, is to use notepad to create your web, but go to the W3C validator early on, and validate your page frequently. THis will ensure you are writing correct code, making it more likely to display properly, and is also a good way to learn from your errors.

Don't do what I did and write over 100 oages before finding the validator and realising it was all junk!

Validator here:

http://validator.w3.org/

Also good HTML / XHTML stuff here:

http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp

Good luck.

 

[MichiganRon]

I use HTML-Kit by

http://www.chami.com.

It colorizes your code and had a pop-up menu for quickly inserting code. There are also hundreds of plugins you can use to further customize the interface. Tidy is built-in for fixing broken code.

-Ron

-We all play from the same deck of cards, it's how we play the hand we are dealt which makes us who we are.

 

[mike314]

ok thanks guys for your tips, but quickly is the WYSIWYG format similar to MS Front Page? like as you type in plain text the HTML appears on another section. Is Dreamweaver or similar?

thanks again guys

 

[MichiganRon]

WYSIWYG = What You See Is What You Get

Many editors perform this function. Basically, you design the page as you want it to look (similar to a word processor), and the editor writes the code for you.

Many purists (like myself) don't like using WYSIWYG editors because you generarlly don't get the finite control over the code that you get when you hand code.

No matter what anyone says, it's just a matter of personal preference (most of the time).

Of course, the extreme "never use" WYSIWYG editor is Microsoft Word. Yes, you can create web pages in Word, however the code that is generated is VERY bloated and full of useless junk. The pages are very inefficient.

If you decide to use a WYSIWYG editor, be sure to use one which doesn't add a bunch of proprietary code.

-Ron

-We all play from the same deck of cards, it's how we play the hand we are dealt which makes us who we are.

 

[MichiganRon]

P.S. Yes, FrontPage is a WYSIWYG editor (though it's generally thought of as an amature platform and not recommended for professional web development).

-We all play from the same deck of cards, it's how we play the hand we are dealt which makes us who we are.

 

[CoreyBryant]

Yes DW & FP are both WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Editors. There are some free ones:

http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/dwarf/

__________________________
Corey

http://www.merchantaccounts4less.com