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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
Which HTML editor do I recommend? None of them (see addendum, below).
I've tried a bunch of HTML editors, mostly free versions. And, I don't like any of them. Of course, using the free versions limits my perspective. None of the free versions has a spell checker, for example. Some of the expensive versions are probably very good. But, I'm not going to buy an expensive version, when I don't like their free version.
I like Hot Metal pretty well. It's kind of half way between wysiwyg and text-based. It's tables are a dream. I don't know if they still have a free version, because I'm not using it. Their expensive version was too expensive for me, and there were things about the free version that I didn't like.
I've got Word Perfect. Their HTML editing features are wysiwyg. But, I have been very disappointed with the results. I used it for the December 1997 ACF Bulletin, from a Word Perfect file. I got a huge disgusting HTML file, which I used another HTML editor on, to modify. My tedious modifications resulted in reducing the size of the file by about half.
I also use Netscape. Their HTML editor is interesting, but not quite wysiwyg (pictures weren't were I put them). And, I never figured out how to do tables. I felt I didn't have enough control of the results. Anyway, I was not satisfied.
I tried Hotdog, and was not happy. I tried HTML Notepad, or something like that. What a headache. I bought a cheap editor, Professional Web Development Kit 2.0. More headaches. The one I'm using now is Webber32, which is inadequate.
It seems that I need an expensive one. But, I don't know which one to buy. I don't know if any of them is any good.
I am now using AOLpress. It is a free wysisyg editor, with a spell checker (which is missing many words, including most past tense verbs). It is doing fairly well, for a free editor. It is a little awkward, now and then. And Webber won't accept the resulting files. But, it's not too bad.
Note: You don't need an HTML editor. Windows Notepad will work just fine (use a .htm or .html extension on your files). And you will get useful insights into HTML, that way. I have actually done that. But, an HTML editor makes the process easier.
Addendum:
I have been using HoTMetaL Pro (which is fairly expensive) for a couple of years now. Although it has a few features that I don't like, it does very well. And I do recommend it. There may still be free versions of it. I recently received email recommending Crimson editor, which is free. I have not tried it.