Best Free HTML Editor

The integrated mail client in Seamonkey is also worth checking out if you like your browser to be so equipped. I much prefer it to Opera.

I agree with many things you say here. Most all of the HTML editors here are not very good for rank amateurs, and that would include me. But I still appreciate the efforts of the freeware programmers and this website which is EXCELLENT for all of us.

WYSIWYG HTML editors is one of those categories where there is no winning and no right answer. The problem is NOT that editors don't exist for beginners, but that web standards are so varied and browser capabilities are all over the map. No single editor package can possibly cover all bases. Even expensive programs like Dreamweaver fall short on being a true all-in-one editor for website development. Until all browsers and sites adhere to a single standard, the beginner is doomed to confusion and knowledge of HTML code as well as some CSS and Javascript code will be necessary in order to create good web sites.

One of the comments suggested that Word is far easier to use than any of the recommendations. I urge people to take that comment lightly. Two H-U-G-E problems with Word. As an HTML editor, the code it produces is HORRIBLE and so far from standards compliant it should be shunned. Also, most of the editors mentioned in the review have other features such as built-in FTP, design and code views, and some sense of web standards they follow in their code output. Word does not of that. If you need your website to show up and rank in Google, you are best avoiding Word as your editor.

If you are really looking for ease of use for site development, your best bet is to find a webhost that installs either Wordpress or any of the full-featured CMS (content management systems) and building your site off one of those platforms. Getting custom designed themes/skins/looks can still be a challenge for most people with a CMS, but at least the amount of coding you need to do or know will be minimal.

My own personal journey down this road had me starting with basic free editors and lots of frustrating moments. I then sprang for Dreamweaver thinking it would be the "magic elixir" to all my web design problems. It did help some, but not really. Today, I still use DW, but do 90% of my website coding in their "code view". Once you learn a bit of HTML, it is just much quicker.

Hopefully this explains some of the perceived attitude that my fellow editor takes with the review. We have obviously been down similar paths and I find the advice to be spot on. To allude to a beginner that there is an easy path is a disservice. We are best telling the complete beginner to roll up their sleeves and dive under the hood. All we can do is point out the path of least resistance.

so did i but it took a long time due to the low internet speed... so i know ur feeling on the internet speed...

An HTML editor is never going to be easy for a beginner. None of the available programs, free or commercial, are "easy" in the way you describe.

To be able to create anything beyond the most basic website you need a knowledge of HTML and (preferably) CSS. You don't need to be an expert, but you need to put some effort into learning the basics.

The nearest thing to a complete no-brainer web design program was Microsoft's FrontPage - now discontinued because it's no longer standards compliant. It produced very clunky HTML code and required the host to provide FrontPage Extensions.

It was useful in that a newbie could get up and running without any web scripting knowledge and then polish their pages' scripting after learning some HTML and CSS.

The nearest free program to FrontPage is probably KomPoZer.

I'm not an IT pro, but I've been tinkering with web design for a while and I've found that, unless you pay big money for Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expression, the best programs are not WYSIWYG. You're better off using an editor like Bluefish or Komodo Edit and viewing your pages in a browser.

You're right about some purists having the attitude that if you can't build a website with Notepad you're not a real web designer. That's just silly. The better editors use tools like code hinting and syntax highlighting which are a great help. To scoff at such aids makes no sense to most people.

There's no easy answer for a complete beginner.

I agree Anon, thanks for your input. I've just taken over this category and will be updating it within days. I'll be adding Netbeans, Bluefish, and maybe a couple of others.

Nvu development stopped long ago - 2006 I think. The development was taken over with improvements and bug fixes and published as KompoZer. If you like Nvu, you'll love KompoZer.

I agree Lou. Komodo Edit is an excellent editor and for HTML/CSS it stacks up well against Active State's paid version. It's in the review queue.

I've just been trying to find a good free wysiwyg and tried both Kompozer and Amaya: both were unstable to the point of being useless on my win7 machine once i started thrashing them a bit. A shame 'cause both looked good and up to the moment they fell down i was more than happy with them. Wish i knew why they were so unstable on my machine.

Next i tried Serif Webplus and am liking it a great deal. This really is an excellent app and so easy to use, not to mention fun to play with. For the average user the limitations on the free version are not a hindrance (it's not crippleware by any means)but your more serious hobbyist might want to buy a license as i will be doing, if only to access the HTML pane. The paid version also has a very neat image editor but nothing much you can't do with Photofiltre or such like. I've never used pro web design software so i have no idea how Serif would compare, but it seems to have all the functionality i need. I have looked at the code it produces in my browser and i would have to say "not pretty but functional" more or less describes it.

Each program's entry above has a link to take you to the download site. Marked by a downward pointing blue arrow icon.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=baa3ad86-bfc1-4bd4-9812-d9e710d44f42&displaylang=en

Office SharePoint Designer 2007 is free, and is the "next" Frontpage

For those who really do not want to worry about HTML coding but need to write web pages, I would suggest any modern word processor (Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Writer, Corel Wordperfect...), do all the formatting needed, and save as HTML. That's it!

Uploading the pages (and connected files, such as images) is another matter.

Thanks for that James, I've had a good look at Bluegriffon and you can wonder no more. It is most certainly worthy of inclusion. I need a day or two to test it but I suspect that it will soon knock KompoZer off its pedestal. It's very impressive.

Actually, I didn't say so. That was my illustrious predecessor. Although it wouldn't surprise me. Certainly in a large sector of the professional web design market Dreamweaver dominates. I've modified the wording to reflect my vacillation. :)