Web-site Development Tools

[Thomas Dowling]

Josh Kuperman writes:

>
> I have no idea how the notion that using FrontPage, PageMill,
> or HomePage
> is somehow easier got started.

In a graphical user environment, such programs have the advantage or
working more or less like other programs a user might already know.
Someone who can put out a badly structured memo with Word can put out a
badly structured web page with FrontPage.  The problems with such programs
are that:

  They bind users to the program's limitations and
    version support.
  The users' learning curve hits a ceiling beyond which
    they cannot go *even if they want to*.
  Too often they actually make it impossible to write
    HTML that complies with any standard version of
    the language.

My concern is that the markup languages we rely on are becoming
increasingly complex; HTML 4.0 has features--mostly not yet implemented in
browsers--that are quite a bit trickier than HTML 3.2, and of course XML
can become as complex as you want or need it to be.  At some point, almost
everyone will need to rely on authoring tools and if they haven't gotten a
lot better in the mean time we're in serious trouble.

See http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/archive/9709/0389.html for info on
how various HTML editors fare in creating compliant HTML.

>
> ...I am far from perfect and our home page here won't validate through
> http://validator.w3.org most of the problems have to do with a link to
> generate a map using ampersands, which is a violation...

That's a rather rigid interpretation, and I wish the W3C would pick up the
"Treat URL ampersands" option that WebTechs provides.  I can certainly see
an HTML document as having little pockets of text that are controlled by
other standards.

(Of course, I want my browser to understand that also.  If we shouldn't
need to ampersand-encode URLs, then <A
HREF="/cgi-bin/regulations.pl?volume=1&reg=35&para=35.b"> should not be
sent to the server with a registered trademark symbol and a pilcrow.)


Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu