Re: WYSIWYG editors, and an IE rant

Barbara:

As I, (and others), have said over and over again. As long as it is valid
code - - [That may be too strong- let me rephrase] As long as the code is
valid enough to work properly in the browsers of the intended viewers, then
it matters not a whit whether it was written by Hotmetal, FrontPage, hand
coded in NotePad or typed on a typewriter and OCR'ed into a text editor of
some sort. HTML is HTML.

We make a lot of noise about validation, and for good reason. The syntax
must be correct. If you use "contact" as a verb, those more educated in
"English" may roll their eyes but they still know what you meant even if you
did not use the correct phrase, "make contact with".

However--if you screw up the syntax or word in HTML, it probably will not
work. Hence, the need for validation. That having been said, there is
validation--and then there is validation. In other words, several different
"standards". That's why many web authors use the DOCTYPE statement. To let a
Validator know which standards they are validating for. It also tells
browsers and such the same thing.

Although most do not seem to realize it--and others deny it with both foam
and venom --all WYSIWYG editors--by their very nature--validate as they go.
And programs like FrontPage can be set to validate at different standards
either with a Mouse click or different DOCTYPE statement. FP-2000 can even
be set to limit code to that valid in both NN and IE.

As to IE-5. All I can say is that if you are NOT using IE-5, you are
probably missing some of the "good stuff" as you surf. You mentioned that
you use Windows 95 and don't want to upgrade to Windows 98. Well, IE-4 and
IE-5, when added to Windows 95 will allow, (if the features are turned on),
you to use many of the features of Windows 98. Such as automatic thumbnails
of your images and web pages in Windows Explorer. For example, all my
Canvas-6 files show thumbnails of the art work in those files. And of
course--much more. It will turn your computer into a big giant web page.
(Well-sort of ..)

BTW -- I am running IE-5.5, Netscape 4.7, Opera 5 and WebTV Viewer all on
the same drive with no problems that I am aware of.

Now--Should you use the same program you are going to suggest to your
client?? Take it from a guy that spends a lot of hours on the phone, helping
clients and/or friends with their use of software, it sure helps to know the
program they are using. [Big Grin] Of course, they always ask about a
feature you haven't used in months ... What else??

Although I think Hotmetal Pro is a great program and have nothing but praise
for it, do yourself a favour and have your clients use FrontPage. Tell them
to forget the FP Extensions and FTP their sites just like you do. They will
lose only a very few features. Because FrontPage is so easy to use--it's
just like Word or the other Office programs they are already using, it is
going to save you hours and hours on the phone.

Best wishes
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/
www.newsredding.com/


> Hi all,
>
> If you think this is off-topic, I apologize, and if so please reply
> privately.
>
> Someone (I forget who, offhand) said they used Hotmetal Pro 6 as their
> wysiwyg editor, as it made valid code, was faster than hand coding etc.,
> etc. Not to rehash the debate over hand-coding vs. wysiwyg, I'm
> wondering: when an editor  is required, say for a client that wants to
> do their own updates to save money (a non-profit), what is the cheapest,
> simplest, least offensive editor? If I create the web site in Homesite,
> will the client be able to import it into their editor? If I'm asked to
> train them in doing their own updates, shouldn't I have created the site
> in the same editor, if for no other reason than to know it well enough
> to train them?
>
> I ran into a problem with Hotmetal Pro 6, while it seems like an
> excellent product, and not expensive and less offensive than FrontPage,
> it requires IE 5+ for full functionality. To me, this is like being held
> hostage. So many programs are written this way. Now I know why IE is the
> most popular browser; it's not because people like it better, it's
> because they are forced to use it because other programs require it.
> Also because they are lazy, and it comes with Windows so why take the
> effort to download a different browser?
>
> What do the rest of you think -- are you running IE5+ alongside of
> Netscape on the same machine with no problems? I've heard there can be
> serious conflicts. I run Win 95C on a Pentium II. I do very little
> business, so can't afford to upgrade to Win 98 just for one thing, since
> there's so little difference between them.
>
> I have heard I should just upgrade my DUN and Winsock files, and I'll be
> all set. What do you think? Thanks in advance for your thoughts/advice.
>
> Barbara Money
> The Essential Image
>
>

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