I'm looking for a free WYSIWYG HTML editor for a spare laptop. I can't afford Dreamweaver, and can't stand NVu (it re-indents my code, and you have to fill out a dialogue with 20 fields just to do something like add a checkbox to a page!)

I'd love to just work in code, but sometimes you just need to play with the 17-deep nested tables on a client's legacy site, or throw together a few dozen form fields without aggravating your carpal tunnel ;-)

Any recommendations? Something with a good code view and that won't mess around with existing code (including PHP) would be preferred.

Thanks!

http://www.scintilla.org

It's not free but its only $50 (you get a 14 day trial)
Try SiteSpinner by Virtual Mechanics
It has worked great for me

I use Dreamweaver MX alone. My Free Editor is Notepad which comes along with Windows.

I use Dreamweaver MX alone. My Free Editor is Notepad which comes along with Windows.
Notepad is good but it's not WYSIWYG ;)

Adobe Dreamweaver... great editor

Consider using linux, Ubuntu 7.04 = dream work station

Editor: Quanta Plus
Free and Easy

Screenshots: http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/viewscreenshot.php?id=4&application=quanta

The only other editor that can compete is on Mac, Textmate

Adobe Dreamweaver... great editor

But decidely not free, as what the thread is about ;)

Intype http://intype.info

A search in google , yahoo and live bought these results

Google

http://www.google.com/search?q=Free+HTML+Editor&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_enIN205IN205

Live

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Free+HTML+Editor&go.x=0&go.y=0&form=QBRE

Yahoo

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Free+HTML+Editor&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&vc=&fp_ip=IN

NOTEPAD!

(Or Nvu)

I`m using weaverslave.ws it`s open source.

Wow, guys -- great list of tools! Even the ones that aren't what I'm looking for have got to be useful for someone -- keep 'em coming!

A search in google , yahoo and live bought these results

<snip>

If you're willing to download and run software merely because it appears in the top results in Google, you are a much braver Windows user than I!

Consider using linux, Ubuntu 7.04 = dream work station

I'd love to cut Windows out of my life entirely, but the whole reason I bought this laptop in the first place was to be able to run Internet Explorer 5, 6, and 7 natively, to check websites in -- so it's got to be something Windows-compatible.

I'm amazed that there are so many great text editors out there for Windows but so few WYSIWYG HTML tools -- there seem to be a half dozen for Mac OS X, with a tenth the user base!

HTML-Kit is pretty nice. I haven't used it as much as I would like to but it's free.

http://www.chami.com/html-kit/

You can always use Virtual Machines to run IE 5,6, and 7.

vim (www.vim.org)

No its not wysiwyg but what is, really, given that IE 5, 6, 7, Firefox, Safari, Opera, KHTML, etc all look different? WYSI-not-WYG.

No its not wysiwyg but what is, really, given that IE 5, 6, 7, Firefox, Safari, Opera, KHTML, etc all look different?

Different, but not too different. Don't get me wrong, I've yet to find a WYSIWYG that I'd trust to choose my markup or to actually create a usable stylesheet.

But having something that provides easy text formatting, will let you drag-and-drop in a couple form fields, will insert an image for you and link to (or de-link) another file on the same site without having to think about the paths...

Let you actually visualize the page on your client's site with the 12 nested tables so you can figure out which one of them is breaking it....

Let you mock up that form really quick-and-dirty so the client can sign off on it before you go in and type up all the label tags and ID attributes....

All things you can do in a text-only editor. But why do most people use Word/Wordperfect/OpenOffice rather than TeX? Sometimes it's just easier to be able to concentrate on the big picture of what you're writing, rather than on the details of what codes you use to display a bulleted list, and oops, you missed a closing bracket and that typo means everything on the page below it disappears.

A good WYSIWYG will simply provide shortcuts to do what you would do anyway, and let you preview the results. I love Dreamweaver, because it gives you a nice simple preview, makes it super-simple to apply semantic markup as you type (or easily re-mark-up something that's been cut-and-pasted), and doesn't get in your way if you want to do things by hand (oh, and it has a killer Find/Replace dialog and code-reformatting facility). Unfortunately, all the other tools I've found so far have been light-years behind where DW was even 5 years ago.

/rant

Notepad. Gotta love it.

Another vote for vim and a vote for EditPlus

I use aptana, its great.

I'm using edit pad .it has syntac color coding, highlighted matching brackets, file type default, spell check, projects .

I use Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 but it is not free.

I use EditPlus, fast and simple.
Support autocompletion, syntax highlighting, etc.

But having something that provides easy text formatting, will let you drag-and-drop in a couple form fields, will insert an image for you and link to (or de-link) another file on the same site without having to think about the paths...

Let you actually visualize the page on your client's site with the 12 nested tables so you can figure out which one of them is breaking it....

One would hope that there aren't 12 nested tables occurring too many times these days... but the world moves slowly at times. ;)

While responding to this thread earlier I was considering how long ago it was since I last used a GUI "designer" style tool for writing web applications. It quite literally has been years. I don't find myself hurting for this. My "html" and "css" is very modular and everything are objects or functions within an application; I don't find it difficult to visualize what the end result will look like, but I guess that is a matter of experience. I really don't need to look at the GUI preview feature to see what the effect of float:left; border-top: 1em solid #669; background: #ffc url(/foo/baz.jpg) repeat-x; will be, but I will have to consult multiple browsers in the end to affirm that all is hanging together on other platforms.

Since I look at web applications primarily as code that produces HTML output for http clients, rather than HTML applications that might have some code, its no surprise that my project orientation is code centered, not GUI centered. Dreamweaver wouldn't help me personally, but a text oriented editor like vim really does.

When I show a form off to a client, its a working prototype, completely XHTML Strict compliant and even includes field validation logic, and in not too many lines of code, either. No, I don't get to benefit from quick drag and drop design; and yes, it probably takes me several minutes to do what you might do in 1. However it takes me almost no time at all to take that form prototype and plug it into an application, so I get my several minutes back many times over.

The state of wysiwyg tools has improved over the years, but it wasn't all that long ago that most GUI design tools produced abominable, non standards compliant code (another of my reasons for shunning them at the time).

I don't dismiss out of hand the value of a wysiwyg tool; when designing the overall look of an application there are times when I will use such a beast. But I still believe that most HTML/CSS newbies ought to get more hands on with the code and become less reliant on tools, at least until such time as they really understand xhtml and css.

Didn't see it mentioned, I use notepad++, line numbering and color coding.

i use notepad

You can't go wrong with vim.

I'd highly recommend nVu (and KompoZer - which is based on nVu). Give it time to get to grips with it but considering it's free it's absolute magic!

i like ultra edit 32

but that isnt anything visual either just color codes the scripts but makes looking at php js html easier on the eyes

ive used it for C++ and java also but that was a couple years ago for some really small projects

On my Mac I LOVE Panic's new Coda (not WWYSIWYG)
http://www.panic.com/coda/
It has a texteditor, (visual) css-editor, previewing mode, DOM-checker (to visualize which nested table breaks the page, BTW why are you still using tables ;) ) and much much more.

curious why you ask why he is still using tables?

sorry i am not an active coder anymore lol

just interested in why you said that = )

It's (becoming) standard to use divs instead of tables.
This follows the concept of seperation between style and content that was introduced with CSS.
One of the advantages: interpretation of layout by a browser is less ambiguous if you seperate, which makes it easier to code cross-browser.

I realize this might be too purist for all purposes, sometimes it's just easier to use tables. But avocado talking about twelve nested tables sounds like old times. ;)

ah yeah i see what you mean

i use div for overlapping images which looks pretty good

what i find that sucks is using div AND tables (centered on the page) the div never is in the same place compared to the table whenever i use it so i have to normally always use DIV or always use tables

for instance when a browser is opened fully it would appear in one area in relation to the table, but if is minimized a bit then it is off in relation

never really looked into the situation i just always use one or another, but 12 inbedded tables is very deep lol

Guys,not to sound like an ***,but cant you damn read what the guys asking for? A *FREE*,*WYSIWYG*,editor. No Dreamweaver, no Notepad a similar stuff. I'd suggest you to search at FreeWareFiles.

Reading his other posts in this thread I think he might want to check out some none-WYSIWYG editors.
Coda seems like a new generation of editors.
Not WYSIWYG but much more automated and much more directly visual than texteditors.
Intelligent autocompletion, clever use of code-snippets. When you drag an image on the file it inserts a complete img tag. Many languages supported.
I think that's the type of stuff he wants.
There's probably similar apps for Windows or they are coming.

Guys,not to sound like an ***,but cant you damn read what the guys asking for? A *FREE*,*WYSIWYG*,editor. No Dreamweaver, no Notepad a similar stuff. I'd suggest you to search at FreeWareFiles.

I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but the last time I checked, the only way you can get a free Dreamweaver is by getting a cracked copy, which is illegal.

And by the way, if the template is pre-sliced, then it is WYSIWYG (for Dreamweaver) :stickout:

I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but the last time I checked, the only way you can get a free Dreamweaver is by getting a cracked copy, which is illegal.

Hmm....
No Dreamweaver

:angel:

Maybe anyone knows a programm to convert txt into jave code?

One would hope that there aren't 12 nested tables occurring too many times these days... but the world moves slowly at times. ;)

It does, unfortunately. I'd love never to have to look at a non-data table again, but I don't always get to choose. Sometimes we have to maintain legacy code, or code created by clueless "web developers" who don't know how to work with anything besides tables and WYSIWYG tools.

I really don't need to look at the GUI preview feature to see what the effect of float:left; border-top: 1em solid #669; background: #ffc url(/foo/baz.jpg) repeat-x; will be, but I will have to consult multiple browsers in the end to affirm that all is hanging together on other platforms.

Absolutely, and I'm not asking for a WYSIWYG to help me turn a design into code -- like I said, I wouldn't let even Dreamweaver near my CSS with a ten-foot pole. But WYSIWYG is extremely useful for inputting and formatting content -- I use Dreamweaver for this at work, and it saves me hours per week to be able to select several paragraphs, paste them into the page, and click the "list" button instead of typing in a bunch of tags.

One of the reasons I like DW and not NVu is that DW will let me do that without messing around with the lovingly handcrafted code surrounding the content.

When I show a form off to a client, its a working prototype, completely XHTML Strict compliant and even includes field validation logic, and in not too many lines of code, either. No, I don't get to benefit from quick drag and drop design; and yes, it probably takes me several minutes to do what you might do in 1. However it takes me almost no time at all to take that form prototype and plug it into an application, so I get my several minutes back many times over.

Agreed -- and I use a good text editor for scripting -- I don't know how anyone can develop logic with a GUI. But if, for instance, my client needs an immediate mockup of a form interface to show to a potential investor or customer, before we've reached that stage in development (or perhaps before he's even committed to the project, or finalized how he wants it to work) I want to be able to knock that off without worrying about the logic that's going to inform it. If it's nowhere near finalized, and is really a one-off throwaway, why bother typing out valid, semantic XHTML and cross-browser CSS? Why bother developing validation code, or something to generte your HTML? Just dump the darn thing in a table and let your client put it on a laptop and take it to the investor to display in a browser without worrying about having a PHP or Python (or Perl or ASP or whatever) interpreter available.

I still believe that most HTML/CSS newbies ought to get more hands on with the code and become less reliant on tools, at least until such time as they really understand xhtml and css.

Couldn't agree with you more. But there's a difference between a newbie looking to put something together without knowing what he's doing, and an experienced developer looking for a time-saving tool!

I started using Aptana. I love it so far and it's free.

Mozilla's Composer is best for the original post, though no CSS2, XHTML support yet.

I prefer the old fashion way. Notepad.

Nvu
Its awesome

I've always used Dreamweaver. I know it's not free, but I love the way it displays code... Even if it does it incorrectly sometimes ;)

I agree with you vihavainen, i also use Ubuntu linux and Quanta. Good choice!