WYSIWYG Web Publishing Software

JQ Johnson
Academic Education Coordinator
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
<mailto:jqj@darkwing.uoregon.edu>

Abstract: Tools for web publishing are evolving almost as fast as the web as a whole. This session will review the current generation of low-cost HTML editors for Macintosh and Wintel, evaluating currently popular software and discussing the trade offs in selecting and using such software. Audience: librarians with some experience in web publishing interested in acquiring new tools for personal or patron use.

For web pages for this session see <URL:http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/presentations/olnw98/>.

Introduction

In the dark ages of web development -- let's say pre-1997 -- web authors typically used a text editor to manually create HTML documents. Either you'd use a mainframe editor like emacs or pico, or you'd use an editor on your PC or Mac like BBEdit or NOTEPAD. Some people tried to use the early HTML editors like HotDog or HTML Web Weaver, but most people who tried them decided that they weren't worth the effort.

Times have changed. A typical web site is much more complex than it was in 1996. A typical web page is much more graphical, more dependent on hard-to-code HTML constructs like tables, frames, cascading style sheets, or dynamic HTML. There are many more web authors, including many who don't want to invest the time in learning the details of HTML syntax. And, perhaps most importantly, the tools have matured to the point where they are usable by and even useful to a wider range of authors.

Much of the growth of tools has been a proliferation of HTML editors. In addition to tools targeted at the author who wants to see and manipulate her HTML code are a generation of low cost near-WYSIWYG editors that allow you to create web pages without (most of the time) ever looking at those pointy brackets. And there is also a large set of powerful, and often expensive, special purpose tools for creating and maintaining web sites; such tools often avoid the issue of HTML page editing per se by focusing on the creation of a complete site from data stored in a database.

With a wide set of tools available, how does one choose the one that's best for you?

Before looking at products, the place to start is by asking about the audience, goals, and environment. For instance:

Why a WYSIWYG editor? Typical reasons today include:

Depending on how you weight these reasons, you'll make different choices of tools.

Examples

The current generation of low-cost WYSIWYG editors includes dozens of products, with the list changing almost weekly. Some of the most popular (as of December, 1997) include:

product

current version

pricing

platform

Adobe PageMill 2.0

2.0 (winter 97; Mac)

(sitemill v. for PC soon)

$100; $50 acad.

Mac (PC)

Claris Home Page

2.0 (winter 1997)

3.0 beta Dec 97

30 day eval; $100; $30 acad. Q25

Mac+PC

MS FrontPage 98

Dec 97

$10; /$50 acad.

PC

MS FrontPage Express (AKA "Frontpad")

2.0.2 (fall 1997)

free; bundled with MSIE 4.0

PC

Symantec Visual Page

1.0 (spring 1997)

30 day eval; $80; $50 acad.

Mac+PC

There are, of course, many other similar products. And related editing products include:

Evaluation Criteria

Some evaluation questions you may find useful to consider:

References

Due to frequent new product introductions, on-line sources are often your best reference. However, early versions of HTML editors have been around for a while, so many web sites evaluating editors (e.g., Yahoo!) are hopelessly out of date. The best references are often, unfortunately, the reviews in the trade press.

CIO Communications, Inc. (1996). "Webmaster's Resources: Authoring Tools," On-line: <URL:http://www.cio.com/WebMaster/wm_authoring.html> [10 Dec 1997]

A typical online discussion of authoring tools, now quite outdated but still containing some useful perspectives.

Goodman, Ben (November, 1997). "Set your Sites on the Web", Computer Shopper 17(11), pp. 332-336, 338. Also on-line: <URL:http://www5.zdnet.com/products/content/cshp/1711/cshp0084.html> [10 Dec 1997].

A good review of 6 currently popular products, including Claris HomePage 2.0, Adobe PageMill 2.0, and Microsoft FrontPage 98.

Mandelson, Edward (March 4, 1997). "Grand Designs", PC Magazine, 16(5). Also on-line: <URL:http://www5.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmg/1605/pcmg0026.html> [10 Dec 1997].

Although now quite out of date as to specific products, this review provides lots of advice on evaluation criteria.

ZDNet (1997)."HTMLUser: WYSIWYG Tools". On-line: <URL:http://www.zdnet.com/products/htmluser/wysiwyg.html>. [10 Dec 1997]

Links to an excellent collection of recent reviews published in various Ziff-Davis magazines.

In addition, each of the vendors of web publishing tools of course maintains its own web site.

Many of the more recent "advanced" web publishing books include some discussion of WYSIWYG HTML editors. However, few printed books look in depth at the subject, and fewer offer comparative information. There are now many "how to" books (of varying quality) focused on using one particular editor, e.g.:

Buyens, Jim (1997). Running Microsoft Frontpage 98. Microsoft Press.

Gray, Daniel (1997). Web Publishing with Adobe Pagemill 2: The Ultimate Guide to Designing Professional Web Pages. (Ventana).

Langer, Maria (1997). Claris Home Page Companion, Ap Professional

Lemay, Laura, and Ned Snell (1996). Laura Lemay's Web Workshop: Netscape Navigator Gold, Sams.

Randall, Neil, and Dennis Jones (1997). Using Microsoft Frontpage 98. Que.