best WYSIWYG html editor?

[Matt T]

in your opinion, would is best best WYSIWYG html editor/composer that has a free trail/version available for download? I'm using Netscape Composer 7.1 at the moment and I'm looking to change to something else.

[Storm]

Dreamweaver MX 2004

[Chouzan]

Nvu is a free alternative, which is based on existing code from Mozilla Composer.

As far as retail products go, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 is the most extensive editor available.

[dougkinzinger]

Office FrontPage 2003.

[Schmoove]

Dreamweaver MX 2004 is by far the best editor available.

[realmccoy]

Dreamweaver MX 2004

[Fairlytayleree]

Dreamweaver is great. Try a few and decide on your personal preference, they all teach you something about design.

I find OpenOffice makes good HTML documents of the traditional type. Max's HTML Beauty 2004+ is also worth looking at if you want to get closer to the code level of HTML, thoguh it's not What You See Is What You Get. When it comes down to it you could use ASP.NET'se one or AceHTML too.

[ctomer]

  dougkinzinger said:

Office FrontPage 2003.

If you are serious about creating webpages, you probably should stay away from Frontpage. I'm assuming you want to make your webpages; cross-brower complaint, standards compliant, lean and efficient.

My vote would go for Dreamweaver MX 2004. I use it at work everyday, it's a brilliant product.

[dougkinzinger]

Prove it to us, Ctomer....show us that FrontPage sites don't work in Mozilla/etc.......

[Colin-uk Veteran]

depends how skilled you are

if you are a complete noob then frontpage is good for noobs ... lol

[Garrett Socling]

  dougkinzinger said:

Prove it to us, Ctomer....show us that FrontPage sites don't work in Mozilla/etc.......

http://www.pcspecialties.com/homeHC.htm

Which is why I am weening my wife off Frontpage and onto Dreamweaver.

Serious. Open the page, side by side, with IE and FireFox.

Then check out this page : http://www.pcspecialties.com/MiscGalleryHC.html

Again, with both IE and FireFox.

I guess technically it 'works'...but it sure doesn't work the same!!

G

[Chouzan]

  Colin-uk said:

depends how skilled you are

if you are a complete noob then frontpage is good for noobs ... lol

Microsoft FrontPage can be a very powerful assistant, despite what its user-friendly interface would lead most to believe. :no:

[dougkinzinger]

  Chouzan said:

Microsoft FrontPage can be a very powerful assistant, despite what its user-friendly interface would lead most to believe. :no:

Agreed.

[john smith 1924 Veteran]

Front page and dreamweaver have an annoying tendancy to producy crappy code -e.g. <br> not <br /> and <img xxxx > not <img xxxx />. Also, they tend to open and close tags at any opportunity- i.e. specifying the font at each instance rather than say setting it in a css style sheet. It might sound funny, but i found learning to hand code a lot more effective than using WYSIWYG coders. If your not into that tho - Dreamweaver!

[mswarts]

  dougkinzinger said:

Office FrontPage 2003.

dougkinzinger has just pointed out the only one you should NOT use.

It adds unneeded arbitrary code!! Standard-compliant? What a joke. People think FP is good because their web pages look right in it. That's a dirty lie for those of us using a standard compliant browser, and as you can see in a recent poll, most of Neowin is using a standards-compliant web-browser.

Dreamweaver is probably the best, but Mozilla composer and variants use the Mozilla rendering engine which is kinda nice.

I recommend DW, if you want a WYSIWIG editor. If you start scripting, then DW will fail you too, but its good for HTML/CSS :rolleyes:

[threetonesun]

Since when did Dreamweaver or Frontpage become free :huh:

Go with the newest version of the mozilla suite, it's a lot like Composer, but ... better in a it has a dragon on it kind of way. Everything else might be too overwhelming for you unless you're doing something in depth.

[Storm]

He said free trial

[dougkinzinger]

Microsoft has a FrontPage 2003 free trial on their website. Go get 'em:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/frontpage/...info/trial.mspx

[xxdesmus]

  Mr magoo said:

Front page and dreamweaver have an annoying tendancy to producy crappy code -e.g. <br> not <br /> and <img xxxx > not <img xxxx />. Also, they tend to open and close tags at any opportunity- i.e. specifying the font at each instance rather than say setting it in a css style sheet. It might sound funny, but i found learning to hand code a lot more effective than using WYSIWYG coders. If your not into that tho - Dreamweaver!

so true...frontpage creates some of the worst code i've ever seen. it's stupid to have to go back and clean up your page in notepad to fix the "work" you just did on frontpage.

as for a WYSIWYG, dreamweaver i guess, though i'd still recommend notepad or texulizer. :yes:

[dougkinzinger]

I'll agree that FrontPage code is quite a bit "heavier" than others, but that wasn't the point of this topic. It is indeed easy-to-use.

[threetonesun]

  dougkinzinger said:

Microsoft has a FrontPage 2003 free trial on their website. Go get 'em:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/frontpage/...info/trial.mspx

oh yeah ... well whatever :laugh:

[XanDaMan]

Mumblehomesiterulesallmumble...

Oh, WYSIWYG...DreamWeaver it is I guess...aint got around to testing the newest FP.

[mtrftw]

  Garrett Socling said:

http://www.pcspecialties.com/homeHC.htm

Which is why I am weening my wife off Frontpage and onto Dreamweaver.

Serious. Open the page, side by side, with IE and FireFox.

Then check out this page : http://www.pcspecialties.com/MiscGalleryHC.html

Again, with both IE and FireFox.

I guess technically it 'works'...but it sure doesn't work the same!!

G

from your website:

  Quote

and the free M$ Office compatible OpenOffice.

that's soooo unprofessional.

[chacho]

i suggest learning HTML/CSS/whatever you are coding in, and use notepad...and then validate the code so you know that it is standards-compliant....but thats just me :D

WYSIWYG editors are very sloppy.

good luck!

[Raum]

What's the difference with Dreamweaver and stuff? I downloaded a free trial but never installed it. I've always used notepad for making websites.

[Chouzan]

  mswarts said:

It adds unneeded arbitrary code!!  Standard-compliant?  What a joke.

All WYSIWYG editors have an inconsistency with do such things, Microsoft FrontPage is definitely not alone on this. Best choice would learned the language by hand and code without the aid of such an application.

  Raum said:

What's the difference with Dreamweaver and stuff?  I downloaded a free trial but never installed it.  I've always used notepad for making websites.

Aside from standard "hand coding", Dreamweaver is a fully-functional WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor capable of adjusting page assets with a real-time preview of the final product.