Editors

What is an Editor

An editor for the purpose of this discussion is a program that allows you to write and edit code for a web site. There are many WYSIWYG(What You See is What You Get) editors out there. These editors give you an editing environment that lets you visually see what the finished page will look like while you edit the page.

Should You Use One

There are quite a few editors out there, but if you have never used an editor, use Notepad. I'm dead serious about notepad. That's what I use to make this site. It is the easiest to use without a lot of programming knowledge, and notepad won't "think" for you.

The biggest frustration I had when I first started using an editor was that the editor I was using was trying to think for me and rearrange my code, adding and removing tags I did or didn't want. I wasted $60 on one editor and I almost gave up on making web pages because I was getting so frustrated. If you don't want to spend the $400 or whatever amount Dreamweaver is these days, look for an editor that gives you control over the html and doesn't try to think too much for you.

The editor I used may have improved since I last saw it heading for the trash bin in 2000, but I'll wait until I can afford Dreamweaver.

If you have never built a site before, use Notepad or a similar editor. Once you have a basic understanding of how HTML works, you will know if you want to spend the money on a web page editor and which features you will need in one.

Which Editors are Best

My recommendations from what I have used is either Notepad or Macromedia's Dreamweaver. Notepad, or a similar text editor, comes standard with most operating systems so it won't cost you anything. Downfalls of using notepad is that you have to hard code all of your pages. This really doesn't matter if you follow the guidelines on this site and use CSS(Cascading Style Sheets) to achieve layout and positioning of images, text, etc. on your site. Additionally, if you use Notepad, you will know exactly what you are doing and what to look for when you do purchase an editor to speed up development.

You can build a site using Notepad that will rival the best sites on the web. You can't of course make the graphics, but the underlying code can be done with Notepad. Once you start to get good at writing HTML, you will find most editors a complete waste of money. The exception to this rule is if the editor offers a lot of tools to get common tasks done quicker.

One such editor is Macromedia's Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver comes packed with tools to make site building, editing, and everything else you'll find out about as you go faster. In my experience using Dreamweaver, I never even used the "what you see is what you get" part of the editor. It is packed with tools though that make editing and creating pages a breeze. Is it worth the money? Download the free 30-day trial and find out for yourself. Just make sure you know how to make a basic site before you do. The link to their site is in the additional resources at the bottom of this page.