Choosing an HTML Editor

What you see is what you get

A Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)editor is definitely one of those software packages you choose based on personalpreference. Some people just want to convert Word or WordPerfect documents toHTML and be done with it. Other people want the ability to tweak the heck out ofa page after converting it to HTML.

HTML editors come in many different flavors and have different abilities.Although some editors offer the same abilities, how they let you use thoseabilities is what makes some stand above the rest. I recently looked at SoftQuadHoTMetaL PRO 3.0, InContext Spider 1.1, Microsoft FrontPage 1.1, and NetscapeNavigator Gold 3.0 beta 4.

HoTMetaL PRO 3.0
HoTMetaLPRO 1.0 was one of the first true HTML editors available. HoTMetaL PRO 3.0 hascome a long way since version 1.0, but then so has the Web. HoTMetaL PRO 3.0 isa powerful editor that's easy enough for the beginner yet lets the experienceduser manipulate a page beyond belief.

HoTMetaL is a near-What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) tool, meaningthat if you leave the markup tags (the icons that show the type of formattingapplied) turned off, you can see what the document will look like--almost. I sayalmost because the tables aren't exactly as they'll appear in the browser. (Ofcourse, why would you want to turn off the tags? I like the markup tags becausethey let me see what's really going on in my document.) HoTMetaL lets you easilymanipulate almost everything on your page. Place your cursor within just aboutany tag pair, press F6, and HoTMetaL shows you a whole field of options to letyou manipulate your page. You can see a sample HoTMetaL PRO page in Screen 1.

HoTMetaL supports the latest HTML version (3.0), including Netscape andMicrosoft Internet Explorer (IE) extensions. This support means you can workwith the newest HTML tags available. HoTMetaL runs HTML rule checkingcontinuously. If you turn on rule checking, HoTMetaL won't let you proceed withan action if it violates any HTML rules.

HoTMetaL converts Word, WordPerfect, and other documents to HTML pages. Theproduct also includes a spell checker, and it has a thesaurus.

Just a right mouse-click away is HoTMetaL's built-in graphics tool,MetalWorks. Now, Adobe PhotoShop it's not, but MetalWorks lets you create sucheffects as embossing, raised or inverted borders, and transparent GIF files. Youcan also create client-side and server-side image maps.

HoTMetaL lets you specify default settings to help keep your pagesconsistent. For example, if you have a background image and copyright footer youlike on every page, you can configure HoTMetaL to automatically include thosesettings on new documents. The button bar is easy to use and even has atear-away function that lets you place a button bar along the side of yourscreen.

HoTMetaL is a great tool for both power users and beginners. The product'sadvanced tools will make most power users happy. HoTMetaL comes with a completemanual and is full of samples and templates on line that get beginners on theirway.

InContext Spider 1.1
InContextSpider is different from any editor I've seen. After you open a template, yousee the workspace on the right and the Element bar on the left. The Element baris a somewhat graphical representation of the HTML code in the workspace. Theworkspace is not WYSIWYG, and you have to check the Element bar to see thelayout, which becomes especially tedious when you create tables. You can see asample Spider page in Screen 2.

Incorrectly believing that few people use browsers that can view tables,InContext has no quick and easy way to create tables. Even when you open thetemplate for creating tables, you face building the table column by column, rowby row, rather than just telling the editor how many columns and rows you wantin the table and then letting the editor build it.

InContext has automatic HTML rule checking. The product also supports HTML2.0 with Netscape and Microsoft IE extensions.

InContext has a spell checker and automatically converts word processor andtext files into HTML pages. In my tests, the conversion worked fine with plaintext but made a mess of a Microsoft Word table.

This package doesn't support centering, background images, or default pagesettings, and what it does support is either difficult to find or difficult touse.

Spider's documentation is on line. It is easy to use and helpful.

InContext Spider probably has enough built-in abilities to improve somepeople's productivity. I think you're better off spending the time you need toget up to speed learning a more intuitive, more enabled authoring tool.

InContext released version 1.2 after I did this review, and the companytells me the new version rectifies the problems I found. Watch for a review ofversion 1.2.

FrontPage 1.1
FrontPageis more than just an HTML authoring tool. It's a complete Web-site-managementtool that includes server software for personal webs, multiuser remoteauthoring, an outline and link view of your site, autoverify for all links, andthe ability to recalculate back links for moved or renamed files. I'll focus onFrontPage's authoring capabilities but slip in some of its other abilities wherethey're relevant.

FrontPage is a true WYSIWYG editor. You can see it in Screen 3. What yousee on the screen is what shows up in the browser (assuming your browser iscompatible with the extensions you're using, such as tables and colored text).This screen display is handy for creating tables and wrapping text around animage. If you're familiar with any Microsoft Office products, you'll feel rightat home with FrontPage because it has the same look and feel.

The button bars are easy to use and help you find things. If you can't finda way to tweak an element through the button bar, a right mouse-click will bringup all options available for that element.

FrontPage supports HTML 2.0 and some HTML 3.0 extensions. Surprisingly,unlike many authoring tools, such as Microsoft's Internet Assistant add-on forWord, FrontPage does not support IE extensions such as the sliding text effectof marquees and table background colors. Perhaps Microsoft is trying toencourage people to author pages that will be viewable by most browsers;however, I figure that decision is the responsibility of the Web master. I'mdisappointed that Microsoft left out some of its own extensions.

FrontPage doesn't have a built-in ability to convert files or documents. Ithas a built-in spell checker and image map-maker. The product also has someimage-manipulation abilities. You can make images interlaced and transparent.

FrontPage offers two ways to control the look of your pages. One is to seta default look (e.g., set the default background color, link color, andbackground image). The other is to have your document refer to a style page thatcontains the elements you want on all your pages.

The documentation included is just enough to get you up and running. Thereal documentation is in the Help menu.

FrontPage makes HTML authoring easy for beginners but is powerful enoughfor power users, too. That capability and FrontPage's site-management packagemake it a good choice.

Navigator Gold 3.0b4
Nowhere's an HTML editor in the last place you'd expect to find it--inside abrowser. If I ever expected a package to be WYSIWYG, it would be NetscapeNavigator Gold, but it's only near-WYSIWYG. To see what your page will look likein its final form, you have to click View in Browser on the toolbar.

You rely on the right mouse button for most adjustments you make to yourdocument. If you select an image or some text and then right click, a propertiesbox pops up with options for adjusting just about everything on the page, suchas image spacing and alignment.

Gold supports the latest version of HTML, but doesn't have built-in rulechecking. This product doesn't have built-in document conversion ability or aspell checker, but it has an easy-to-use button bar for formatting. Gold doesn'thave a built-in image editing tool, but it lets you specify a path to your imageediting tool. This approach is similar to the way Gold treats helperapplications with the browser.

Gold lets you set up default styles so you can keep your site uniform. Ifyou want a different look, the package also offers color schemes for yourbackground, text, and link colors.

Documentation for the product is on Netscape's Web site. Though thislocation lets Netscape update the content frequently, it also means you must beon the Web to read the documentation. Even though I'm on line, many images weremissing from the documentation, which certainly reduced its effectiveness. Ican't tell whether it was simply a bad day on the Net or Netscape omitted theimages, but this problem highlights a layer of potential problems that onlinedocumentation creates.

Netscape Navigator Gold is a quick- and easy-to-learn package and givesbeginners a lot of capability. However, experienced users will require more thanit offers, especially if your content already exists in some other format.

Personal Preference
No two tools are alike, or as these examples demonstrate, even close. For ahobbyist looking to create some fun Web pages, I think Netscape Navigator Goldis a great tool. For a tool that will manage an entire site, I prefer a packagesuch as FrontPage. For a powerful, flexible package that will design thatperfect page, HoTMetaL Pro is the tool I want.