WYSIWYG vs Notepad

In our HTML training DVD, we demonstrate writing HTML code using Notepad which is an easy to use and free software widely available on all Windows computers. Or if you are a Mac user, you could use either Simple Text or Text Edit.

But you might be wondering, “Why would I use the simplest text editor on my computer to create a killer web page? Hasn't someone already made the best HTML editor on the planet?”

The answer is yes they do exist. There have been many WYSIWYG HTML editors created since the start of the World Wide Web, and yes their creators make good money off of them, but that does not mean that they are right for you. If you're not sure what the acronym WYSIWYG means, it stands for "What you see is what you get". But what I really think it should stand for is "What you wish you saw is what you hope you got", but that's just my opinion.

There are many open source HTML editors, and many small utilities available that can generate HTML code, but the two most used applications in this area are Microsoft Office Front Page and Adobe Dream Weaver. Front Page and Dream Weaver generate HTML by using drag and drop WYSIWYG interfaces.

So why not use one of these programs to create my web pages? Wouldn't it save me a lot of time, and when I was done I would still have a great looking web page?

The difference is like finger paints compared to an artists brush. In general, HTML is meant to be human readable; that means that if you open an HTML file you can usually tell how the final page will look when viewed in a browser. The only thing in common between all of these WYSIWYG designers is that all of them create bad code, and I mean bad code; and while that may sound a little harsh, it is no secret. The code is difficult to comprehend and hard to maintain. But while all of these faults are bad individually, most of them you could live with if the program just generally worked well, and exported a web page that looked like what you expected.

Again these programs provide an experience that is less than perfect, and if you manage to invest enough time to design a fairly complex web page using one of these editors, I suggest you save your file often, because they tend to crash and burn and take your hard work with them.

If you are interested in learning more about our HTML tutorial DVD, you can check it out at http://HtmlTutorialDvd.com.