Best HTML Editor?

D

DJInBoise

New member
I've used FrontPage 2003 for many years and have also tried Expression. I'm just wondering what others use for website design? I use FP because it's easy for me to crank out websites quickly. I've tried a few of the others. Most of my sites are coded in .asp with a SQL db. Any good free ones or at a reasonable price?

Regards,
 
Hello DJ Smith, firstly I’d like to side track for those who come across this topic new to coding and looking for a good editor. If starting out in web design please DO NOT use or learn with Dreamweaver, expression web, visual studio or similar, these packages place a lot of “rubbish” and disorganised code into your pages and firstly you will not understand or be able to edit your pages fully.

Please use something like notepad or more so notepad plus (freeware, highlights and organises code/tags) which will allow you to avoid this issue and also code hands on, however don’t make the mistake of using MS word or openoffice.

Now don’t get me wrong they are all good tools and personal i use Dreamweaver CS4 however at the bare minimum understand and be able to read and edit code without a visual editor before using one fully, this in the long run will allow you more knowledge and increase your productivity. That said the GUI of a visual editor as well as the shortcuts with some refinement is very beneficial after you have those skills mentioned.

Rant/warning over id recommend MS Visual studio 2008 for a free package that is fairly well rounded and expandable with plugin’s and it will feel and act similarly to front page as it is its official replacement. Though for a paid solution you do see many design firms using the Adobe CS4 range as fireworks and Dreamweaver is a very good combination for designers and coders to use as a middle ground as well as easily importing and exporting between the two including Photoshop.

There is a PHP,ASP and SQL/mySQL free editor available that includes a virtual server package for compiling and running scripts locally however the name escapes me, found it very useful when working with larger and some smaller PHP projects due to its organisation of code and inclusion of helpful menus (variables, locations, functions and values recognition as well as short keys) if the name springs to mind or iv got a link/installer somewhere I’ll get it posted :)
 
I'm going to have to disagree with your advice csn-uk. DJ was already using FP and Expression and said he's able to crank out websites quickly with them. I'll agree that FP uses a lot of additional code, and I'm glad Microsoft came out with Expression Web. I've learned both from scratch. Give me notepad like a lot of purists recommend and I'd be lost. Give me a split screen where I can see the code though and I can figure it out. Besides, Expression Web is W3C compliant and easy for even the newest of designers to build and manage their sites. :)
 
The only thing that concerns me about AlleyCode is that it's not recommended for Vista - what happens when I upgrade to Windows 7? I do plan to download it later today and take a look. :)
 
csn-uk said:
Hello DJ Smith, firstly I’d like to side track for those who come across this topic new to coding and looking for a good editor. If starting out in web design please DO NOT use or learn with Dreamweaver, expression web, visual studio or similar, these packages place a lot of “rubbish” and disorganised code into your pages and firstly you will not understand or be able to edit your pages fully.

Please use something like notepad or more so notepad plus (freeware, highlights and organises code/tags) which will allow you to avoid this issue and also code hands on, however don’t make the mistake of using MS word or openoffice.

Now don’t get me wrong they are all good tools and personal i use Dreamweaver CS4 however at the bare minimum understand and be able to read and edit code without a visual editor before using one fully, this in the long run will allow you more knowledge and increase your productivity. That said the GUI of a visual editor as well as the shortcuts with some refinement is very beneficial after you have those skills mentioned.

Rant/warning over id recommend MS Visual studio 2008 for a free package that is fairly well rounded and expandable with plugin’s and it will feel and act similarly to front page as it is its official replacement. Though for a paid solution you do see many design firms using the Adobe CS4 range as fireworks and Dreamweaver is a very good combination for designers and coders to use as a middle ground as well as easily importing and exporting between the two including Photoshop.

There is a PHP,ASP and SQL/mySQL free editor available that includes a virtual server package for compiling and running scripts locally however the name escapes me, found it very useful when working with larger and some smaller PHP projects due to its organisation of code and inclusion of helpful menus (variables, locations, functions and values recognition as well as short keys) if the name springs to mind or iv got a link/installer somewhere I’ll get it posted :)
Click to expand...

I actually agree. I started using Dreamweaver many years ago and was completely dependent on it. It held me back honestly. If you're in this business long term I'd suggest going to notepad++. At first it will be hard, but after a while you'll be a pro and wonder why you ever used anything else.

If you just need to create a few sites here and there, and don't feel you need to learn all the source than I'd say Dreamweaver is the best option.
 
I also have used dreamweaver for years doing web dev work, and notepad. Dreamweaver for me is the easiest because of the split screen function of code/wysiwyg.
 
I only use DreamWeaver because its much reliable than the others. Sometimes I use HTML editor on About.com for backup purposes.
 
Notepad is one of the best one, Everyone uses it these days, I never used Front Page but I want to get it soon.
 
Personally, I do my web development work with the help of Aptana and Notepad++. I love the speed of Notepad++ and the feature set of Aptana. Both are great and feature full HTML editors which satisfy my needs.
 
Used Dreamweaver and fell in love with their templating system.

But eventually I need more control over my HTML (and PHP), and thus now I use Komodo IDE (pricey, but I like it!).
 
It was a good and easy time when MS Frontpage was available, as it was the most basic and easy-to-use software for HTML editing and HTML web pages creation. But since its development was discontinued, the best to use now is dreamweaver which satisfies with nearly the name purpose and also multiple page editing is possible.

FoxEditor is another nice software for those who feel that dreamweaver is not with an easy interface. Notepad++ is also useful but for mac, there haven't been any real good apps to help for HTML editing.
 
siforek said:
I actually agree. I started using Dreamweaver many years ago and was completely dependent on it. It held me back honestly. If you're in this business long term I'd suggest going to notepad++. At first it will be hard, but after a while you'll be a pro and wonder why you ever used anything else.

If you just need to create a few sites here and there, and don't feel you need to learn all the source than I'd say Dreamweaver is the best option.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.

If you want to be doing websites professionally, hand coding is your best option. However if you have no need for compliant websites, Dreamweaver is in my opinion the best WYSIWYG editor out there.
 
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