Editor or Hand Coding

Choosing an Editor

I bought my first version of Web Studio in March, 1999, wanting to learn how to publish a web site......I knew nothing about HTML. After looking through the various editors on the shelf, I chose Web Studio because it looked like the easiest. To this day, I'm not sure whether the words "drag and drop" caught my eye or the cost of the editor help make up my mind.

By using my new editor, I developed my first homepage called, "Jan's Jubilee," a simple 12-page website, which easily could have been listed as one of those web pages that suck. It was my 1st attempt at building a site, and I was proud of it. My next site, Circus World, was made using the same editor.

Several times I ran into obstacles, while using the editor, but nothing that could not be conquered. I was fortunate in locating a message board comprised exclusively of Web Studio users. Anytime I ran into problems using the editor, I'd post on the board and within hours my questions would be answered.

The following editors were recommended by some of my friends at the Web Studio message board:

• http://www.textpad.com/
• http://fixedsys.com/context/
• http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
• http://www.webstudio.com/site/default.asp
• http://www.evrsoft.com/download/
• http://www.editplus.com/
• http://www.allaire.com/products/homesite/

Hand Coding with HTML

But I wanted more knowledge. As time went by, I tried hand coding Circus World by learning HTML using Notepad. It seemed like it took forever just to understand coding basics, but I forged on. 2 years later......I feel very confident with HTML even though I still run into problems. With so many sites offering HTML help, anyone can put a web site online.

Here are a few of the sites listed in the "Top 10 Most Popular Sites for html" at the MSN search results. I found them after typing in "html" in the 'search' box:

• http://www.htmlgoodies.com/
• http://www.hwg.org/
• http://www.w3.org/MarkUp

WYSIWYG or HTML

Both ways can present problems to first-time users. So, whether you chose a WYSIWYG editor or use HTML to build a site......either one will help you in creating a site to be proud of. I recently purchased Web Studio version 3, and I'm still tinkering with all the features offered. But I'll still use HTML because I don't want to lose my hand coding skills.