Using multiple HTML Editors

[Chris Murphy]

rich at richardwiggins.com wrote:
> One of the advantages of tools like FrontPage is supposed to be the ability to manage an entire site, supporting a team of content providers.  When you use a variety of tools such as you describe, do you ever have trouble managing where "the" version of a file is?  For example do you ever smotch a hand-tuned version by re-posting an older FrontPage version?
> 
> It seems to me site management capacity is as important as HTML authoring capacity.
> > ...
> > I use Arachnophilia to generate my pages, FrontPage to insert tables and cut/paste elements, Arachnophila to clean FP's mangled and bloated code, and Vi to make lightning fast edits.

I do not use FrontPage's site manager; rather, I mirror our web server's directory structure locally and use third party FTP software (WS_FTP Pro) to move files. I do not share Microsoft's logic of file management--I prefer the KISS method.

During development, draft pages are given local names that are changed to official (i.e., web server) names only when ready to be uploaded to the server. With consistent file name conventions such as suffixing each draft filename with, e.g., "_jul01.html", a global search and replace in Arachnophilia can change all new file names to official names with one command. Hyperlinking stays easy in the draft stages and keeps draft filenames separate from web server filenames.

I agree that site management capacity is as important as HTML authoring. For me, FrontPage's site managing features get in the way.

Hope this clarifies,

Chris Murphy

-- 
Christopher Murphy
Information Systems Manager
The Community Library, Ketchum, Idaho
chrism at thecommunitylibrary.org
(208) 726-3493 x111
http://www.thecommunitylibrary.org