When creating a website, you need to go through several stages: design, creating page layouts, filling it with content, maintaining the site and software base. Web design or visual design of pages is one of the stages of website development, similar to layout in printed publications. In the process, the site structure, navigation, etc. are designed, that is, the goal of web design is not only visual perception, but also convenience for users.
Programs used by web designers for layout are called HTML editors. There are two types of such editors:
- Visual, working on the principle “You get what you see” - WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). When working with WYSIWYG, the final result will look the same as it did during the editing process.
- Non-visual (text). The code for such editors needs to be written independently, so these tools are used mainly by professional web designers who disable the “default” option.
Editors have also been developed that combine both operating principles. It is difficult to choose the best HTML editor - some sell well, others are developed by leading companies, others are used by professional web designers, others are affordable, etc. There are many high-quality programs, they differ in functionality and require different levels of training.
Which editor is better
Supporters of text editors believe that code can only be created manually, and software markup is better than visual markup. Websites that are created using ready-made templates are indeed of the same type, but they have a right to exist and many are quite happy with them. When you need a simple “test” website or two pages of a personal website, the WYSIWYG option is ideal.
Professionals do not need ready-made layouts and tips, just as a high-class fashion designer does not need patterns and patterns, and a translator does not need a dictionary. Those who want to open their website without thoroughly studying HTML do not need text editors, and visual editors are too primitive for a web designer.
What are the benefits of WYSIWYG editors?
Visual designers or visual HTML editors online are an indispensable tool that allows you to insert elements and objects into the text in their original form. Creating a page containing text, tables and pictures with HTML code can be created by specialists, and the visual editor eliminates the need to create code. The webmaster receives a page with text in finished form. In this sense, WYSIWYG is reminiscent of the Microsoft Word text editor.
The toolbar has everything you need for typing and editing: buttons for the clipboard, printing, fonts and text design, inserting tables, images, forms and much more. To get the HTML source code, you just need to click on the button, after which the code can be edited, copied and transferred to the site. The WYSIWYG editor will allow you to get good results in a short time and display pages on a web resource.
The visual editor can be combined with tags from text HTML - this significantly simplifies the work of web designers.
Every web developer needs a convenient tool for creating and editing code, but not everyone is ready to shell out a decent amount for the purchase of the same Adobe Dreamweaver. Moreover, most people do not need to use such a range of functionality that this software combine offers.
Therefore, we have compiled for you a list of the best HTML editors that are distributed under a free license.
Notepad++
An excellent text editor that can be used as a more functional replacement for Windows Notepad, or as an editor with layout and web programming languages: HTML, CSS, Java Script, PHP.
Working in tabbed mode, syntax highlighting, encodings, macros, the ability to install additional plugins, code checking and file comparison - these and other features make Notepad++ a truly useful tool for a web developer.
It is worth noting the ease of the distribution and the speed of the program.
Komodo Edit
A general-purpose editor with support for HTML and CSS, which is a full-fledged platform, the capabilities of which can be expanded by installing various add-ons. The HTML Toolkit is highly recommended, adding features like CSS preview, auto-close tags, HTML 5 support, contextual autocompletion, and more.
Other interesting features include light and dark color schemes, flexible settings for code highlighting, block highlighting, connecting to a site via FTP, etc.
A high-quality help system and advanced functionality make Komodo Edit one of the best editors, and an excellent alternative to paid solutions.
Aptana
The main purpose of the program is to work with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and support for other languages is provided by connecting the appropriate plugins. HTML autocomplete and tooltips are a great bonus for a free editor.
Aptana partially supports CSS3 and fully supports HTML5. The distribution package of the program is quite voluminous, but this is explained by its extensive functionality. For a beginner, such a large number of different functions and settings can be intimidating, but in principle, no one bothers you to use the program as a simple editor.
Alaborn iStyle
Another well-made tool, the developers of which were able to find a compromise between the convenience of the interface, functionality and understandability for the user. The interface is completely Russian-language, and as a bonus - a well-developed help system.
Other features that this HTML editor offers include:
- speed of operation and low requirements for resources;
- a large amount of reference information built into the interface;
- working with several text buffers simultaneously;
- automatic step-by-step wizards to simplify common tasks.
KompoZer
If all the HTML editors listed above were text editors, then this one is the only one that allows you to work in WYSIWYG mode. In addition, it can deservedly be called the best of the free ones. Moreover, it can work in three modes: text, visual and combined. Thus, providing the necessary opportunities for both beginners and professionals.
The convenience of working with the code is provided by a convenient interface, a built-in CSS editor and support for all HTML elements.
We deliberately did not allocate places in the rating, since each of the listed programs has its own advantages and disadvantages, which can play an important role for one person, and be completely insignificant for another. Therefore, we recommend installing and trying each of the programs in practice in order to draw conclusions for yourself. Moreover, it is completely free.
Code visualization has not been a priority for developers for a long time. This article provides a list of 9 WYSIWYG editors that are used for these purposes. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with it in case a similar task arises during the implementation of your project.
What is the best editor of 2016?
In this section of the article you will find some great editors that will make your work easier and faster. And which one is the best?
Editor's Choice: Atom.io
Many editors have been created over the years, but only a few have remained at a high level or become even better. Atom.io is used by all my programmer friends and I choose it too.
If you want the best HTML WYSIWYG editor that will reduce the time you spend writing or editing code by 10 times, then Atom is it. Try it and you will thank me. Atom.io is free and created by the Github team.
Another tool that deserves praise is Coda, a very cool editor for Mac users. It has a polished and beautiful interface, but it costs $99. My current preference is Atom!
Now a review of the remaining editors.
1. NicEdit
Demo | Download
NicEdit is an alternative to larger and more complex visual editors, it is small in size. It also boasts many of the features an editor needs, and this online WYSIWYG editor is easy to integrate into your website.
2. TinyMCE
Demo | Download
TinyMCE is an open source WYSIWYG HTML editor written in JavaScript. It integrates easily and is easily customizable with themes and plugins. TinyMCE is one of the most "complete" editors, offering functionality similar to MSWord.
3.CKEditor
Demo | Download
CKEditor is an updated version of FCKEditor, which was previously the industry leader. It was based on the desire to correct the errors of FCKEditor. The result is a high-performance visual editor that offers editing features comparable to MSWord and Open Office.
4. YUI Rich Text Editor
Demo | Download
WYSIWYG website editor YUI Rich is a UI control from Yahoo that turns a simple text panel into a full-featured WYSIWYG editor. The tool comes in several versions of varying levels of complexity and with different functions, but in each of them the authors manage to achieve excellent ergonomics ( without a clutter of buttons clogging the interface).
5. MarkItUp!
Demo | Download
Markitup is a jQuery plugin that allows you to turn text areas into markup editors of your choice. HTML syntax, Wiki and BBcode are just some of the supported options. Markitup is not a WYSIWYG editor, but that doesn't mean it doesn't offer all the features you need. It is also compact and easy to use.
6. FreeTextBox
Demo | Download
FreeTextBox is an online WYSIWYG HTML editor specifically designed for ASP.NET. The editor's appearance is very similar to Microsoft Word. The free version does not include several advanced functions, but the available set is more than enough for full-fledged work.
7.MooEditable
Demo | Download
MooEditable provides simple but effective functionality that is implemented using a well-written JavaScript library. If you're a fan of Mootools, you won't have any problems with this.
8.OpenWysiwyg
Demo | Download
OpenWYSIWYG is a cross-browser simple WYSIWYG editor with all the necessary functions. It has a beautiful user interface that includes flyouts and buttons. One of its distinctive features is high-quality work with tables. At the same time, OpenWYSIWYG is still not supported in Google Chrome.
9.jHtmlArea
Demo | Download
jHtmlArea is another WYSIWYG editor designed as a plugin for the popular JQuery library. It is easy to use and contains only the most necessary options. This makes it very easy to customize all its components: from appearance to language.
If you want to develop websites, you need to get an HTML editor. Of course, you can use a regular notepad, but it is unlikely to be convenient. It's important to note that HTML editors need to perform two important tasks, code highlighting and autocomplete. Naturally, additional functions are also welcome, various themes for example. There are many such additional functions. For now, let's take a look at a few free HTML editors that do the job well.
Free code editor - Programmer's Notepad
This editor offers a modern interface that comes in two types, light and dark. In addition, the syntax highlighting is very successful, the colors are well chosen. I think that this editor will meet all your requirements.
HTML editor - SynWrite
SynWrite is a cool editor with a wide range of features. The idea of this editor was to combine all the advantages of other HTML editors in one high-quality product. Its functionality can be significantly expanded with the help of additional plugins written in Python. In addition to standard functions, SynWrite allows you to immediately edit several pieces of code at the same time:
This feature will save you a lot of time.
Free HTML Editor - PlainEdit.NET
This editor can open several files at once, and plugins can be added that will significantly expand the functions of the editor, including design themes. In addition, you can add and change text using regular expressions, even in documents that are not currently open. It is worth noting that PlainEdit can also work from a USB drive.
Notepad++
This editor is a classic. It is very popular all over the world. Notepad++ has everything a text editor should have. The interface can be customized according to your wishes, and free plugins will help expand the functionality of the editor.
Free editor - jEdit
With this editor you can open and edit almost any file. It greatly simplifies the task of opening several files at the same time. Any missing features can be supplemented using a variety of plugins.
Out of the box, jEdit comes with built-in necessary functions, for example, code folding, marking tags and elements, a file manager, and many other functions.
Sublime Text 2
This is the most popular editor among programmers and web developers. No similar editor has had such a triumph as Sublime Text 2. It is praised by many programmers. The editor is highly customizable through different resolutions and JSON files.
For this popular editor you can find extensive libraries of documentation, both official and non-official. Sublime Text 2 tutorials can be found everywhere.
Sublime Text 2 is partially free, the license costs $70.
New editor - Brackets
Brackets is a modern open source editor with some interesting features. It works with Adobe Creative Cloud to pull colors, fonts and more from a PSD file. It can also extract layers as images. Very comfortably
Unfortunately, Adobe Creative Cloud is a paid service.
This editor has all the necessary functions for a modern code editor. There are many different extensions that are released every 2 - 3 weeks.
Aptana Studio 3
The editor's greatest strengths are its customizability, Git integration and built-in terminal. Aptana Studio 3 supports the latest web standards such as HTML5 and CSS3.
Conclusion
There are a lot of HTML editors out there, but only a few of them are actually usable. For non-daily use there is Notepad++, but for daily use it would clearly not be enough. There are better options for this such as Sublime Text 2 which can be customized as per the requirement of the user. Curious to know which editors you choose?
The best real-time online HTML editor software kit with dynamic instant live visual preview and inline WYSIWYG editor using CKEditor and markup clean-up feature. Includes a HTML viewer, editor, compressor, beautifier and easy formatter. It's impossible to create invalid code with this tool.
How To Use The HTML Editor?
Activate automatic scroll. The two editors will scroll together when this option is enabled.
Adjust the font size according to your preferences.
Execute all options that are checked in the settings (see gear icon above).
Other important editing features
You can try these HTML editor features to practice and to maximize your coding efficiency.
- Document converter- To convert any visual document like Excel, PDF, Word to HTML just paste the doc in the visual editor and the markup will show up instantly on the right.
- Online text editor- Compose documents, just like in a rich text editor. Use the control panel to include images, tables, headings, lists and other items to your paper.
- Copy-paste- The editor won't allow you to save the documents. For this you have to copy your generated code into a blank text file, change its extension to .html and open it in a web browser.
- Work with tables- Using the WYSIWYG editor panel you can create a table of any dimmension in only 2 clicks. There"s a cleaning option to convert them to styled DIV tags.
- Undo- Both editors have this function which allows to revert back the document to a previous state, ie. before the cleaning has been performed.
- Interactive demo- Take a 4-step tour going through the features clicking the Quick Tour menu item. Learn how to use the editor and experiment with the demo text.
Never forget:
- Have a backup before using this tool to make sure you can always revert back to your original document.
- Always check your code before publishing on a live website.
- This editor never saves or sends out your document, all operations are performed on your local computer.
- Like most websites, this one uses cookies.
Div Table Styling
Make sure you apply the CSS code below when you publish tables converted to div elements. Try the interactive online table styler which can generate grids from both div and table elements. These are both supported by this editor.
Please note that the class names used by us are slightly different than the ones used by DivTable.com.
.rTable ( display : table; width : 100 % ;) .rTableRow ( display : table-row ; ) .rTableHeading ( background-color : #ddd ; display : table-header-group ; ) .rTableCell , .rTableHead ( display : table-cell ; padding : 3 px 10px; border : 1 px solid #999999 ; ) .rTableHeading ( display : table-header-group ; background-color : #ddd ; font-weight : bold ; ) .rTableFoot ( display : table-footer-group ; font-weight : bold ; background-color : #ddd ; ) .rTableBody ( display : table-row-group ; )Click and copy the code from the field below: .rTable ( display: table; width: 100%;) .rTableRow ( display: table-row; ) .rTableHeading ( background-color: #ddd; display: table-header-group ; ) .rTableCell, .rTableHead ( display: table-cell; padding: 3px 10px; border: 1px solid #999999; ) .rTableHeading ( display: table-header-group; background-color: #ddd; font-weight: bold ; ) .rTableFoot ( display: table-footer-group; font-weight: bold; background-color: #ddd; ) .rTableBody ( display: table-row-group; )
