What web page editor do you use?

[blueroomelectronics]

I've been using MS Frontpage 2003 for my site but would like comments as I would like to know what you use. I was thinking of upgrading to Expressions but after working with the excellent OpenOffice suite (see my blog for more on OO) and the equally excellent Paint.NET (I never got the hang of Photoshop anyway)
What's your favorite Web editor? Free would be nice

 

[Optikon]

Word pad.

Probably not what you wanted to hear but I keep web pages simple enough so that I can code them up easily with just an editor.

 

[3v0]

When I was doing web work I used Dreamweaver and Zend php debugger. For complex sites it is a good set of tools.

 

[Torben]

I use emacs. It's way more powerful than WYSIWYG editors and it doesn't introduce its own crap into the HTML so there are fewer surprises when I test for cross-browser compatibility.

I use the GIMP for complex image slices.

For complex site management I use a custom CMS I wrote in PHP and the Smarty template engine.


Torben

 

[UTMonkey]

Notepad, Lathkill Music Publishers - Music publishing for Classical Guitar

 

[HiTech]

Cut my teeth using Front Page, but now it's Dreamweaver software.

 

[3v0]

I still have some hope the Nvu will come into its own. The last time I checked it had a long way to go. This is what they are sayin on the home page. Is anyone using Kompozer?

KOMPOZER - NVU 1.0, released in June 2005, is the last official release that you will find at most download sites, however, it isn't the newest or best version of the Nvu software. An unofficial bugfix/update called "KompoZer" is available here. KompoZer is not a cure-all for all the bugs in NVU 1.0, but it does fix some of the major annoyances. If you use NVU 1.0 and it works for you, stick with it. But if you run into problems, give KompoZer a try and see if it helps.

 

[Gayan Soyza]

For web stuff I use Macromedia Dreamweaver & for Document edit stuff I use Adobe Professional.

 

[futz]

Windows:
Textpad. Excellent editor that can be used as an IDE with a little work. I really love this editor. It's a LOT deeper than it at first appears. Very configurable.

I've used Dreamweaver too. Not the WYSIWYG part, but the editor part and the built in FTP and automation for so many things makes it a wonderful tool.

Linux:
Bluefish. Quite good.

GEdit. Good all around text editor with syntax highlighting for all the usual things like C, Python, HTML, etc.

Tried NVU. Not impressed. It has a long way to go before it's useable.

Non-OS-specific:
Lately I've almost completely stopped hard coding sites and switched to the Joomla 1.5 CMS. Makes most of the kind of stuff I do SO easy. And you spend a few hours showing the customer how to do some things and turn em loose to maintain their own site. Saves them money and me aggravation (web work is definitely not my main business). If they muck things up they can call me to fix it. Wouldn't work for some customers, but for the kind I mostly work for it's great.

 

[arhi]

vi / vim
but not that I would recommend it :>

 

[Andy1845c]

I use notepad

I like to be able to easily read the code for my pages. I suppose WYSIWYG editor have gotten better, but when I tried one almost 10 years ago, it just churned out gobs of sloppy HTML and I didn't like it. Notepad suits me perfect for my sites, but they are also pretty simple.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Thanks I do want a WYSIWYG editor, like Frontpage. I'm looking at some of the suggestions above.

 

[Hero999]

I have never used MS Frontpage but I've heard lots of bad things about it. The main issue seems to be that it tends to create pages that only work in Internet Explorer.

 

[Dawny]

Notepad... I've tried many different HTML editors but I mainly use notepad and rarely DHE Editor...

 

[futz]

Thanks I do want a WYSIWYG editor, like Frontpage. I'm looking at some of the suggestions above.

If you want WYSIWYG (ewww! ), then, if you can afford it, your only choice is Dreamweaver. It's awesome! And it makes nice HTML. Not that disgusting, unreadable, error-filled crap that Frontpage churns out (at least it used to - haven't looked at it in many years). Nice neat, readable HTML. And it does so many other things well that site maintenance is very much easier. It automates a lot of the drudge work.

And if you decide to hand code instead of WYSIWYG, Dreamweaver is one of the nicest editors around. All the other nice things about it still apply.

 

[gramo]

I've been using Web Expressions and although my knowledge with HTML was limited, I still managed to go ok with the design at **broken link removed**

CSS style sheets is really the shebang if you were to compare Frontpage and Web Expressions

Although you could still use style sheets in FP, Web Expressions seemingly integrates its self with it, and the overall site design as a whole is very integrated and structured

One simple change, and I modify the color of every piece of text on the site, or another to modify the hover effects of hyperlinks, handy

 

[Torben]

If you want WYSIWYG (ewww! ), then, if you can afford it, your only choice is Dreamweaver. It's awesome! And it makes nice HTML. Not that disgusting, unreadable, error-filled crap that Frontpage churns out (at least it used to - haven't looked at it in many years). Nice neat, readable HTML. And it does so many other things well that site maintenance is very much easier. It automates a lot of the drudge work.

And if you decide to hand code instead of WYSIWYG, Dreamweaver is one of the nicest editors around. All the other nice things about it still apply.

I totally agree with Futz. If WYSIWYMG (what you see is what you might get) is what you are after, DW is the choice if you want decent HTML. As a full package, I am not aware of anything which can touch it. The learning curve is just about as steep as learning HTML/CSS though.

Maybe Frontpage has been totally rewritten in the past few years, maybe not.
In the past it has been a damned poor offering.

I can't think of any editor off the top of my head which works better and makes site management easier than a decent CMS though.


Torben

 

[Miles Prower]

Another vote for EMACS here.

 

[futz]

Another vote for EMACS here.

I used to use emacs. It was so long ago that I've forgotten everything. Early 80's, I think...

 

[Miles Prower]

^^^^

EMACS has been around for a dog's age, that's for sure. Still, I find it to be just about the best: write the code, and you can compile it or start up an interpreter right from the main menu. It really is a self-contained IDE. Also works great for manipulating lots of text easily. I do all sorts of coding from EMACS. For doing HTML, the best thing about it is that it doesn't decide for you to add junk tags you don't want. After trying an HTML editor, I had to redo it to get rid of stuff like that.