I know I can use notepad but I have a weakness for expensive software. I took a look at Dreamweaver but it's way over my head. Is there a good editor that has a really intuitive interface that I can "grow with?"<!--content-->Another question: If I'm going to start learning HTML should I just go ahead and learn XHTML instead?<!--content-->If you learn html properly - e.g. at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.w3schools.com">www.w3schools.com</a><!-- w --> you will pick up xhtml in about 3 minutes. I'd learn html first.<br />
<br />
I use <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chami.com">www.chami.com</a><!-- w --> and a package called html-kit - but it's not wysiwyg. There isn't a good, free wysisyg really. How much do you want to spend?<!--content-->Originally posted by DaveSW <br />
If you learn html properly - e.g. at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.w3schools.com">www.w3schools.com</a><!-- w --> you will pick up xhtml in about 3 minutes. I'd learn html first.<br />
<br />
<br />
I completly agree with Dave on this one.<!--content-->Nothing like a good forum to cut right to the good stuff. I've been playing around with alot of tutorials on the web and that w3schools one is by far the best. Thanks.<!--content-->As a person who just happens to be reading "Designing with Web Standards" by Jeffery Zeldman and at this very moment I'm actually on the page where it lists the top 10 reasons to convert to XHTML, I would say learn XHTML first. You'll be learning it anyway, it provides a more logical way of doing markup, so it should make more sense to a newbie, and it forces you to not get into some bad habits which you would have to unlearn when you switch over to XHTML.<!--content-->Originally posted by spufi <br />
As a person who just happens to be reading "Designing with Web Standards" by Jeffery Zeldman and at this very moment...Not to get OT, but that's a great book, eh? I've read it through from cover to cover, and would highly recommend it. It's excellent.<!--content-->Originally posted by mgdpublic <br />
I know I can use notepad but I have a weakness for expensive software. I took a look at Dreamweaver but it's way over my head. Is there a good editor that has a really intuitive interface that I can "grow with?" <br />
<br />
I started with Namo WebEditor 4 years ago and I still use it for most of my design. Very easy to learn basics, lots of advanced stuff for later on.<!--content-->Originally posted by spufi <br />
I would say learn XHTML first. <br />
If he learns html at w3schools then he's not likely to have time to get into any bad habits. Personally I haven't seen anyone teaching xhtml that doesn't assume a small knowledge of html.<br />
<br />
Starrwriter: How did I know you were going to say that?<!--content-->Originally posted by DaveSW <br />
If he learns html at w3schools then he's not likely to have time to get into any bad habits.<br />
<br />
I'll disagree here because while they do a good job of showing examples of code, the code they provide can be far from valid.<!--content-->And so where do you recommend he goes to learn xhtml?<!--content-->No you cannot pickup XHTML within 3 minutes though you can probably learn the basics within 30 minutes though to understand XHTML properly you need to learn both XML and HTML 4.01 from the W3C Technical Recommendations.<br />
<br />
The w3schools are geared towards teaching though a lot of their material is narrowly focused; even their "XHTML Quiz" is inaccurate. <br />
<br />
It's highly unlikely they even explain the significance of XHTML as an application of XML though if you want a quick "for dummies" fix then yes go there.<!--content-->Originally posted by Robert Wellock <br />
No you cannot pickup XHTML within 3 minutes<br />
<br />
Well I converted my first xhtml page from html after 3 minutes reading of it. How do you define proper?<!--content-->Originally posted by DaveSW <br />
And so where do you recommend he goes to learn xhtml? <br />
<br />
Take a well written book on XHTML to show them examples of how to put the code together. Add in W3C's specs for XHTML and use of W3C's validator would put them on the right path. I will admit that there is a lack of the well written XHTML for beginners books out there though.<!--content-->Mr Anne van Kesteren has a good example here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.annevankesteren.nl/">http://www.annevankesteren.nl/</a><!-- m --> being a close example to how XHTML 1.0 should by structurally served though as an interim; <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.xhtmlcoder.com/beck/">http://www.xhtmlcoder.com/beck/</a><!-- m --> (which is still beta and on ice hence the errors).<br />
<br />
For example how many HTML 4.01 authors forget the following two rules? <br />
<br />
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html"><br />
<meta http-equiv="content-style-type" content="text/css"><br />
<br />
Yes, I probably made my first XHTML page within a couple of minutes though there is a lot more to just the <elements> themselves.<br />
<br />
Properly understanding and authoring are two different things<!--content-->to get back to the original question- Dreamweaver is one of the best ones out there, but one that's free and OK is the netscape one<!--content-->Netscape Composer (and better yet, Mozilla 1.4 Composer) is the best freeware visual HTML editor. You'd do just fine laying the site out using tables. One thing I found interesting: It reads stylesheets that are embedded in HTML documents and CSS imported via the <link> tag and the @import method. Composer even recognizes CSS 2.0 and will visually lay out the page like it does in the browser window.<!--content-->Originally posted by toicontien <br />
Netscape Composer (and better yet, Mozilla 1.4 Composer) is the best freeware visual HTML editor. You'd do just fine laying the site out using tables. One thing I found interesting: It reads stylesheets that are embedded in HTML documents and CSS imported via the <link> tag and the @import method. Composer even recognizes CSS 2.0 and will visually lay out the page like it does in the browser window. <br />
<br />
Just note that Mozilla 1.5 Composer uses a Doctype that will validate your page, but since it is a incomplete Doctype, some browsers will throw your code into quirks mode.<!--content-->Originally posted by mgdpublic <br />
Best WYSIWYG editor <br />
<br />
I personally don't like WYSIWYG editors....The code they generate is vary hard to edit and sort through....I would stick with notepad
<!--content-->
<br />
I use <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chami.com">www.chami.com</a><!-- w --> and a package called html-kit - but it's not wysiwyg. There isn't a good, free wysisyg really. How much do you want to spend?<!--content-->Originally posted by DaveSW <br />
If you learn html properly - e.g. at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.w3schools.com">www.w3schools.com</a><!-- w --> you will pick up xhtml in about 3 minutes. I'd learn html first.<br />
<br />
<br />
I completly agree with Dave on this one.<!--content-->Nothing like a good forum to cut right to the good stuff. I've been playing around with alot of tutorials on the web and that w3schools one is by far the best. Thanks.<!--content-->As a person who just happens to be reading "Designing with Web Standards" by Jeffery Zeldman and at this very moment I'm actually on the page where it lists the top 10 reasons to convert to XHTML, I would say learn XHTML first. You'll be learning it anyway, it provides a more logical way of doing markup, so it should make more sense to a newbie, and it forces you to not get into some bad habits which you would have to unlearn when you switch over to XHTML.<!--content-->Originally posted by spufi <br />
As a person who just happens to be reading "Designing with Web Standards" by Jeffery Zeldman and at this very moment...Not to get OT, but that's a great book, eh? I've read it through from cover to cover, and would highly recommend it. It's excellent.<!--content-->Originally posted by mgdpublic <br />
I know I can use notepad but I have a weakness for expensive software. I took a look at Dreamweaver but it's way over my head. Is there a good editor that has a really intuitive interface that I can "grow with?" <br />
<br />
I started with Namo WebEditor 4 years ago and I still use it for most of my design. Very easy to learn basics, lots of advanced stuff for later on.<!--content-->Originally posted by spufi <br />
I would say learn XHTML first. <br />
If he learns html at w3schools then he's not likely to have time to get into any bad habits. Personally I haven't seen anyone teaching xhtml that doesn't assume a small knowledge of html.<br />
<br />
Starrwriter: How did I know you were going to say that?<!--content-->Originally posted by DaveSW <br />
If he learns html at w3schools then he's not likely to have time to get into any bad habits.<br />
<br />
I'll disagree here because while they do a good job of showing examples of code, the code they provide can be far from valid.<!--content-->And so where do you recommend he goes to learn xhtml?<!--content-->No you cannot pickup XHTML within 3 minutes though you can probably learn the basics within 30 minutes though to understand XHTML properly you need to learn both XML and HTML 4.01 from the W3C Technical Recommendations.<br />
<br />
The w3schools are geared towards teaching though a lot of their material is narrowly focused; even their "XHTML Quiz" is inaccurate. <br />
<br />
It's highly unlikely they even explain the significance of XHTML as an application of XML though if you want a quick "for dummies" fix then yes go there.<!--content-->Originally posted by Robert Wellock <br />
No you cannot pickup XHTML within 3 minutes<br />
<br />
Well I converted my first xhtml page from html after 3 minutes reading of it. How do you define proper?<!--content-->Originally posted by DaveSW <br />
And so where do you recommend he goes to learn xhtml? <br />
<br />
Take a well written book on XHTML to show them examples of how to put the code together. Add in W3C's specs for XHTML and use of W3C's validator would put them on the right path. I will admit that there is a lack of the well written XHTML for beginners books out there though.<!--content-->Mr Anne van Kesteren has a good example here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.annevankesteren.nl/">http://www.annevankesteren.nl/</a><!-- m --> being a close example to how XHTML 1.0 should by structurally served though as an interim; <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.xhtmlcoder.com/beck/">http://www.xhtmlcoder.com/beck/</a><!-- m --> (which is still beta and on ice hence the errors).<br />
<br />
For example how many HTML 4.01 authors forget the following two rules? <br />
<br />
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html"><br />
<meta http-equiv="content-style-type" content="text/css"><br />
<br />
Yes, I probably made my first XHTML page within a couple of minutes though there is a lot more to just the <elements> themselves.<br />
<br />
Properly understanding and authoring are two different things<!--content-->to get back to the original question- Dreamweaver is one of the best ones out there, but one that's free and OK is the netscape one<!--content-->Netscape Composer (and better yet, Mozilla 1.4 Composer) is the best freeware visual HTML editor. You'd do just fine laying the site out using tables. One thing I found interesting: It reads stylesheets that are embedded in HTML documents and CSS imported via the <link> tag and the @import method. Composer even recognizes CSS 2.0 and will visually lay out the page like it does in the browser window.<!--content-->Originally posted by toicontien <br />
Netscape Composer (and better yet, Mozilla 1.4 Composer) is the best freeware visual HTML editor. You'd do just fine laying the site out using tables. One thing I found interesting: It reads stylesheets that are embedded in HTML documents and CSS imported via the <link> tag and the @import method. Composer even recognizes CSS 2.0 and will visually lay out the page like it does in the browser window. <br />
<br />
Just note that Mozilla 1.5 Composer uses a Doctype that will validate your page, but since it is a incomplete Doctype, some browsers will throw your code into quirks mode.<!--content-->Originally posted by mgdpublic <br />
Best WYSIWYG editor <br />
<br />
I personally don't like WYSIWYG editors....The code they generate is vary hard to edit and sort through....I would stick with notepad
<!--content-->