The tools that allow a provider to create useful and attractive Web pages were once limited to Windows Notepad, Simpletext, or another text-only editor. This limitation meant that, if you wanted to create a page, you had to remember many obscure tags and adhere to the style of HTML. Fortunately, just as yesterday's early word processors have bloomed into today's full-featured applications, authoring tools have bloomed into powerful and feature-rich applications. But you still can find authoring applications that offer little more than Notepad does. Choosing which authoring tool to use depends on your authoring style. Of course, you shouldn't be surprised that Microsoft and Netscape have greater compatibility with their browsers than other products, but other vendors provide extremely useful and user-friendly tools.
Authoring tools for the Web can be divided into two categories: WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) and Near-WYSIWYG. Because they all allow the previewing of a document in any browser, the Near-WYSIWYG category is not a hindrance. In fact, because of the decreased load on a machine, some providers may choose to use Near-WYSIWYG tools to increase performance at the development stage.
When you're evaluating which tool to use, consider which features will be the most useful and necessary. If you constantly update documents by replacing selective previous information or tacking new information on to old sites, multiple search-and-replace is an important feature. If you frequently need tables, assistance with table creation is a must. Additionally, the ability to work from a standard template is useful in order to facilitate a consistent look.
Internet Assistant for Word, shown in Figure 20.1, is a low-powered and free add-on from Microsoft for users of Microsoft Word 6.0 and 7.0. This authoring application is best suited for users who readily handle many documents stored in a compatible format that traditionally would be distributed as paper handouts or packets. Loading a document in Internet Assistant (IA) and then saving it as HTML using the standard Save As dialog box produce documents that, when viewed with a browser, look much like the original document. Even tables retain much of their original look, which is impressive.
Figure 20.1: Internet Assistant for Word is simply a template for Microsoft Word 6.0 or greater.
Documents created with Internet Assistant often look much better when viewed with Internet Explorer than with Navigator or other products because Internet Assistant places some Internet Explorer-specific HTML code, or tags, into its output. This may be a non-issue by the time you read this book because Netscape and Microsoft are both becoming adept at copying each other's HTML tags.
The Internet Assistant does have some pretty impressive features. If you have embedded images, even PCX or BMP images, IA converts them to GIF format (the format compatible with most Web browsers) and saves them in the same directory as the HTML file. You also can create complicated tables easily by using the table tool. IA also allows you to color-code HTML tags within a document. This coding doesn't affect the appearance of the document but does help you to keep your document organized and troubleshoot problems if your document doesn't turn out the way you like it. With many editors, sorting out the tags when fixing problems in your page is sometimes difficult.
I recommend IA for any users converting lots of large documents from a word processor format, such as MS Word or WordPerfect, to HTML. The converter still doesn't work as well as it should. It tends to throw in lots of extra tags, like <br>s for line breaks, but using IA is an easy way to build usable HTML pages fast.
Microsoft also produces Internet Assistants for Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Schedule+. These products perform functions similar to Internet Assistant for Word, which is to format content for use on the Web. Internet Assistant for Access allows for the creation of HTML form database information for use on the Web. Internet Assistant for Excel converts Excel tables into HTML with as little effort as a few points and clicks. The PowerPoint version converts PowerPoint presentations and slides into HTML (Microsoft has also released an ActiveX control that views PowerPoint presentations without conversion). Internet Assistant for Schedule+ takes calendar information and formats it for viewing on the Web. These products, while functional, are not as commonly used as Internet Assistant for Word, and therefore when people refer to Internet Assistant, they usually mean the one for Word.
Netscape Communications Corporation does not have an entire office suite available to help with its Internet strategy. What it does have, however, is the leading market share for the browser market with Navigator. Navigator Gold is essentially the latest version of Navigator with an editor attached and integrated into the program. Figure 20.2 shows the newest Navigator. It comes with a free trial period from their Web site.
Figure 20.2: Netscape's Navigator Gold.
Gold is positioned as a competitor of Internet Assistant. It is the editor most capable of approximating the look of a true browser while editing because its preview mode is, in fact, Navigator. Image editing and general site management are easier than with Internet Assistant, and table support is quite good. Gold, however, does not support many of the tags that made Navigator so popular, especially the frames tag. Generally, Netscape Gold is suitable for those people who feel comfortable within the Netscape environment and who want instant editing capabilities for documents currently being browsed.
One nice feature is Gold's instant editing feature. If you are surfing a page on a remote computer and want to edit it, clicking the Edit button instantly downloads the HTML and all the images for the file to your machine. Gold also offers a great multi-level Undo feature that helps users who are not as proficient with HTML. The best feature by far, however, is Gold's Publish feature, which uploads the document to the server with the click of a button, without your having to launch a separate FTP application. This feature is great for users who edit documents on a UNIX or Linux server from a Windows or Mac environment. Gold is also a good editor for Web publishers in the UNIX or Linux environment, where good editors are few and far between.
FrontPage, shown in Figure 20.3, is a high-quality product that provides a dizzying array of features that help create an entire Web presence. Every HTML 3.0 tag and Microsoft-specific tags are supported to the fullest extent. What will be the most important aspect of FrontPage to Web developers is the ability to map out a site visually in a flowchart style, as opposed to having to write on scraps of paper, like many programmers do. The editor auto-verifies links on the page to make sure that they are not dead links and changes the HTML for links if you change the name or location of a file. The editor also contains a built-in "To Do" list, which allows you to keep track of what needs to be done to finish a page or site. As this product matures with version updates, it will be able to automate the task of adding Java applets and ActiveX controls, further easing the process of site creation and management.
The frame support in FrontPage is better than many other editors. The process of creating frames is never fully intuitive, so any help offered is appreciated. FrontPage includes a Frames Wizard, which can help you make your frames work if you have the patience. You also can create custom templates if many pages on the site will have similar formats. This editor is better for users who have a working knowledge of HTML and plan to use advanced coding on their sites.
If you have some skill with HTML, if you like to be precise, or if you just want to get into the guts of your pages to make them work, near-WYSIWYG editors are what you want. This kind of editor lets you edit the actual HTML instead of manipulating text and images with icons and the mouse. The following are among the best near-WYSIWYG editors.
A classy name does not always mean a classy product. The reverse is also true. One of the best programs in the area of Near-WYSIWYG is HotDog Pro, published by Sausage Software. Aside from a juvenile-sounding name, it is a top-quality application from a company that is very prompt about updating its product as new HTML features become available. HotDog Pro, shown in Figure 20.4, includes an easy-to-use search-and-replace interface, as well as a customizable toolbar for common functions. Anything that can be automated by the use of questions in a dialog box has been, including color, font, and background attributes, as well as the final publishing of code to a site.
Figure 20.4: HotDog Pro in action.
The form and table support in this editor is phenomenal. You can write complex HTML in seconds. HotDog Pro offers drag-and-drop support for images, links, and text files right into the body of the document. HotDog automatically saves your work and creates backups whenever it saves. It comes with excellent built-in tutorials and examples. This editor is great for beginners and experienced HTML publishers.
HoTMetaL, shown in Figure 20.5, is another editor that allows you a little more control over the Web page by having direct access to the HTML tags. Using the powerful toolbars, you can create pages and insert tags quickly. In fact, with HoTMetaL, you can import not only Microsoft Word but also Word Perfect, Ami Pro, and many other documents directly into the editor and convert them to HTML automatically. The tables and forms support is adequate, though a little clunky. You can view your tables right in the editor.
One nice feature of HoTMetaL is the ability to perform simple
image editing from right within the editor. You can resize or
reduce the number of colors in an image for faster download or
do some special effects like embossing borders or making your
buttons 3-D. HoTMetaL is also one of the only editors available
with true support for frames. HoTMetaL is for users who want to
create basic pages quickly and who have a working knowledge of
HTML.
| Most of the information McKeon & Jeffries wanted to put up on its intranet was documents created in Microsoft Word. For this reason, and because the firm eventually planned to use Internet Explorer on all its machines within one
year, the most economical and efficient HTML editor to use was Internet Assistant. The intranet administrators merely had to install the program and then save all the files they wanted to publish in the new format. After that, combing through the
documents and inserting links where appropriate was a simple matter. Most of the several hundred pages of information was converted and ready to go within a few hours.
For future projects, however, the systems administrator has purchased HotDog Pro. She likes the Windows 95 interface and the ability to perform easy searches and replaces when making a change. She also likes the table support, which is very important for an accounting firm, whose needs often include producing complex columns of figures. |
| The SGAA had less need for an HTML editor, as most of the pages on their intranet site are dynamically generated. To produce template pages for the consultants to work with as they wrote the code for the site, however, the SGAA staff likes HTML Assistant best. It provided a simple and fast interface for them to tweak pages any way they wanted, down to the smallest nuance. Although most editors tried to guess what they wanted done, HTML Assistant let them experiment with different solutions with ease. |
Like the rest of the industry surrounding intranets and the Internet, the editor market is rapidly changing and growing. New products seem to be introduced almost as fast as you can learn the old ones. Because new products are introduced does not mean that you must upgrade to the latest and greatest products. If a 1.0 product version works well in an organization, for instance, you may find no pressing need to move on to 2.0. A single person or a group of people within an organization's intranet structure should be responsible for evaluating new products as they come out. Newer products, much like new versions of word processors, have features to ease the creation of content and make it more visually appealing. Much of the innovation is in the form of shareware or trialware that you can download from the Web for a free evaluation period. Do not disregard these products even if they come from new companies or even from computer hobbyists.
As for your decision to use WYSIWYG versus Near-WYSIWYG, the authoring tools industry is moving toward a more graphically oriented model, so WYSIWYG products will see the most innovation. The decision regarding which product to use is in important one, but fortunately, if you decide that a product is not powerful enough for your needs, you suffer no real penalty besides the cost of buying a new editor. The free offerings are good enough if most of your work is simply reformatting existing documents for Web use. If you must do more detailed work, FrontPage or HotDog is your best bet.