OT: website design and creation

[Bert Coules]

After all the encouragement in another thread to redesign my old webpages from scratch rather than using a fancy WYSIWYG program, I've embarked on just that.

Would any of you computer gurus recommend a straightforward text-type editor for working on HTML scripts? I'm using Notepad, which is certainly straightforward, but I wonder if there's anything out there which offers stuff like instant macro entry for frequently used commands, colour coding for various elements and the like. Googling has turned up lots of bells and whistles progs with display-as-you-type capabilities but I'm thinking of something rather simpler.

Many thanks.

Bert

[The Natural Philosopher]

I use Geany.

Its a free download, and works on all platforms I think

Though you will need to get GTK libraries for windows as well if that's your platform

I did use summat else years ago on windows that ran natively.

IIRC there's a mozilla editor as well which is almost WYSIWYG (Mozilla composer) bit its been a long time..

a good place to start.

[Bert Coules]

Thanks for that. I'll take a look. I do like the pleasing simplicity of Notepad but just a few more refinements would undoubtedly be handy.

Bert

[someone]

I've used Arachnophilia v.4.0 build 5309 since 1999 when I taught myself HTML. Arachnophilia is now Java-based, at v.5.5 build 2705 but comments I've seen indicate that the old v.4.0 is preferred by a lot of people, including me. Here's a link:

someone

[Andy Burns]

I use komodo edit, if you prefer something with built in FTP publishing you would need to look elsewhere ...

[Tim Streater]

TextWrangler I use all the time.

[mick]

How about Notepad++ ? It can probably be set up for HTML and supports macros.

[djc]

gedit but that's on Linux. I don't demand much apart from syntax highlighting.

[Bert Coules]

Many thanks for all the speedy replies and recommendations. I'm currently playing with Notepad++ which I'm finding very good.

I'm slightly surprised that it doesn't (seem to) have the sort of "hit F1 to enter

[The Natural Philosopher]

[Tony Bryer]

I use CoffeeCup HTML editor, which is basically a text editor with lots of useful options. Not free though ($69).

myself I don't want some WYSIWYG tool that turns out unreadable code.

[Mike Barnes]

Bert Coules :

I use UltraEdit, which is outstanding, but probably a bit of overkill for what you want.

Nothing to do with editors, but I'll make a tentative suggestion to you and would appreciate comments from those more experienced. In your position I'd write everything in PHP. Not as drastic as it sounds - I'd write HTML as usual but give every file a PHP extension. You then have the opportunity to add PHP code when you're ready. PHP, to put it at its simplest, will allow you to do proper programming in your web page with variables etc and the ability to include material from other files. So for instance a common menu or programmable content will be a doddle. I know you probably aren't thinking in those terms at the moment but it's as well to look ahead.

As I say, just an idea, might be a really bad one, comments welcome.

[Bert Coules]

Mike and others, thanks for the latest views. I still working away with Notepad++ which I think will suit me just fine. As TNP says, it's not really any great hassle to type in the HTML commands and it's a valuable learning tool, too, I think: it goes some way to cementing them in your brain in the way that automated entry possibly wouldn't.

Mike, I'm not familiar at all with PHP and while I'm grateful for the thought I think I've got about enough on my plate at the moment with relearning HTML and unlearning the various bad practices and now-obsolete coding that I used last time round.

Bert

[Martin Brown]

[The Natural Philosopher]

[Mike Barnes]

Bert Coules :

Next step is to make sure you have a browser with developer tools, so that you can see how the browser deals with your code. Getting to grips with the developer tools is yet another part of the learning curve, I'm afraid, but a very illuminating one. File that thought away for the first time you don't understand why the browser isn't showing you what you think it ought to.

I wish I had such a thing when I started writing HTML.

[Bert Coules]

I long have been a cordial disliker of the mouse especially when using a word processor: I find it crucially interrupts my typing to have to take my fingers from the keyboard and think them into doing something quite different. Fortunately both Word and WordPerfect can be run almost entirely from the keys (including - extensively - the function keys) alone.

Function kets might well be old hat but I sincerely hope I never see the day when PC keyboards start appearing without them.

Bert

[Andy Burns]

Already happening, several keyboards now need you to press Fn with the 'function' keys to actually get F1-F12, rather than weird and wonderful special functions when used by themselves, e.g.

[Andy Burns]

Bad example, that picture shows one where you press Fn with the function keys to get the special functions (like on a laptop) but there are models where that's reversed ...

[Bert Coules]

From what I can see, that's a special row of dedicated keys above the 1, 2,

3... row, right where the, er, function keys should be. Have they really replaced something versatile and programmable with keys that only do one thing? Logical...

Bert