The chapter reviews hypertext markup language (HTML) editors.
Creating HTML documents by hand can be a laborious process; it is easy to forget all the various tags and formatting rules. Consequently, there are a growing number of software tools available to make the HTML document creation process easier.
At the present time, there are four ways to compose HTML files. The first way is to compose your document using any word processor or text editor. When the composition of your text is complete, you can save the text as an ASCII file, and then import it into HTML editor to begin the mark-up process. The advantage of this method lies in the word processor's spell-checking and robust search/replace functions. This method also makes you focus on the content of your HTML document rather than its style.
The second method is the method most people use where they use their HTML editor to compose and format their documents all at the same time. This method is considered more direct.
The third method is to use a "converter" program. These programs take the output of one file format (like Rich Text Format, Word, WordPerfect, et cetera), and convert the file into HTML.
The fourth method, and the one holding the most promise for commercial developers, allows end-users to their existing word processor and use its Save As feature to create HTML documents. All four of these HTML-creation methods are described in the sections below.
(Note: These reviews have been done with your best interest at heart, but you should keep in mind that the author of this book is also the author of an HTML editor.)
Key:
| Alpha | Arachnid | BBEdit HTML extensions | BBEdit HTML Tools | High Tea | HTML Editor | HTML Pro | HTML SuperText | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preview | n | y | n | y | y | y | y | y |
| Headers/footers | n | n | n | s | n | n | y | n |
| Extended characters | y | n | n | y | n | y | y | y |
| Editable | y | y | n | y | s | y | y | y |
| Open URL | n | n | n | y | n | n | n | n |
| Netscape ex-HTML | n | s | n | n | n | n | s | s |
| Online help | n | n | n | y | y | y | s | y |
| Character translation | n | n | y | y | n | y | y | n |
| Command key options | n | y | s | y | y | s | y | y |
| HTML Tag Macros | HTML Web Weaver | HTML- HyperEditor | HTML.edit | HTML Writer | Simple HTML Editor | Site Writer Pro | Webtor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preview | s | y | y | y | y | y | y | y |
| Headers/footers | s | n | n | y | n | y | y | n |
| Extended characters | n | y | y | y | n | y | n | y |
| Editable | y | y | y | s | n | n | y | n |
| Open URL | n | n | n | n | n | s | n | n |
| Netscape ex-HTML | n | s | s | n | n | m | y | n |
| Online help | n | y | n | y | n | y | y | n |
| Character translation | n | n | y | y | n | n | n | y |
| Command key options | y | y | y | s | y | y | y | y |
Eric last edited this page on September 26, 1995. Please feel free to send comments.