Re: Graphics/Text Overlap - HTML Editors good or bad?

> Unfortunately, he's right. There is no such thing as a good WYSIWYG(What
You
> See Is What You Get) html editor. They always, for some reason, produce
> sloppy, ugly code that, even if it works well such as DreamWeaver pages,
is
> hell to try and go in and manually change something. HTML editors are a
> useful resource, but they just can't replace knowing HTML, they merely
> supplement it.

Not to pick on just you Marty, but this thread seems to be going all one way
and I somewhat disagree with the conclusion we seem to be headed towards
here. It seems to pop up here about every six months and goes on and on
until someone finally disagrees.

HTML Editors are tools.  Like all tools they can be useful or they can make
a mess of something if you don't know how to handle them.  You still need to
know how to write code, but it's much faster to build web pages in an HTML
Editor, than it is to type it all out.

If I buy this idea I'm hearing about editors, next week someone will be
trying to convince me again that I should only scan 35mm photo's and throw
away my digital camera because photographs have a higher resolution.  I have
seen this argument here several times too.  Digital cameras are much faster
and cheaper than the old fashioned way of getting images into the computer.

Nobody can convince me that an HTML editor is slower, or bad, or a crutch. I
built my first WebPages by hand before Netscape was even a name.  As long as
there is a decent editor out there, I will treat it as a tool and use it to
build WebPages more efficiently.

Editors each have their idiosyncrasies I agree, but they usually build
reasonably solid code - read appropriate opening and closing tags, and they
somewhat guide the new users.  Are they everything for everyone?  No, but
they are a significant factor in building WebPages today.  You just can't
wish them away.  Sometimes I get tired of hearing "would someone look at my
code" but the reality is, that's what the HWG Basics area is about.

Try to build any kind of complex WebPages with a text only editor and it
will get very tedious fast.  Using Hotmetal Pro or Homesite I can make short
work of building a website or making global changes to an existing one.

How long does it take to build a complex table by hand?  With a decent
editor I can easily pop in a table already formatted to do what I want
simply by clicking on a few menu boxes.  With hand coding it would take
quite a while to type it all out, lets see did I get that <.td> tag before
the nested table or not?

With a good editor I can drag and drop an image into my table, with a text
editor I have to type it all out. Want to add a link?  Just highlight an
image or word(s) and click on an icon, pick from a list of real WebPages and
its done.  Not that easy with a text only editor.  You have to keep track of
the names and guess what?  No spelling errors allowed with a text editor.

You also don't have to worry about upper or lowercase letters because when
you chose the filename - you get exactly what is there.  We have all
accidentally capitalized the first letter in a filename.  No problem when
you actually select the filename as it is.

The other thing great about an HTML based editor is that it allows me to
think about what I want to say, or do.  I can slide over to a graphics
program and build a button or menu without loosing my train of thought about
where I was going. We all get those little insights, "if I just do this it
will be so clear and work slick."   Its too easy to forget what you were
trying to do when you are arm wrestling a table or anchor thats not working
right.

Another big distractor that can screw me up is if I am worried about closing
my tags in the right order or if a particular tag  is legal with HTML
version 4.1 strict.    A good editor somewhat takes care of that and Tidy or
an online error checking program can point to the occasional foible.

My feelings are that people that dislike editors usually don't spend enough
time learning how to use one.  You can't pick up one of these editors and
hope to build a WebPages in fifteen minutes.  Just like a word processor or
graphics program you have to invest a lot of time learning how to use it.

You have to learn what the editor can and cannot do and use it as a tool to
help you.....  but you MUST learn how to use it.  Another idea is that you
need to pick the best editor for your style of web design.  Hotmetal is
great for tables but is the wrong choice if you want any XML abilities.
Homesite supports a lot of newer features but is just average at building
tables.

Lets quit saying editors are bad.  Anytime you generalize like this you are
narrowing your own personal choices and possibly giving bad advice. Everyone
is entitled to an opinion.  What works for one person however does not
necessarily work well for another person.

Like any tool it's how you use them that counts. It's the content of the
webpages we build that count, and how efficiently we can build them because
for me time is money.  Anything I use to make me more productive - allows me
to do more with less effort.

Paul Wilson
webgooru(at)gte.net

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