[WEB4LIB] Column on HTML Editors

[J.M. Latham]

Hey Lady of Leisure,

When I was at CPL we started out having librarians use FrontPage to create
their pages -- usually not very complex, but of some size.  Because of the
heavy extra coding, we would clean it up in CS, usually using Dreamweaver.
Then, the page would be posted to the main server.

However ... next time it was edited by the librarian, all that extra code
was re-loaded, and it had to be cleaned up again.  So, we got rid of FP,
and went to hand coding: anyone who wants to work on the web site had to
know enough basic HTML to do the editing of an established page.
Dreamweaver was used by the high end folks who did alot of formatting.  No
training was offered in Dreamweaver because the learning curve is rather
steep, whereas quick and dirty HTML is fairly easy to come by.

Now, at UofI, where I am teaching that stuff,that is what I am teaching --
basic HTML/CSS; the idea of editors comes later.  Actually, we have just
started playing with Note Pad Lite, a freebie, which I think is a good
bridge between hand-coding and high end editors.  My former webmaster is
coming to demo Dreamweaver tomorrow for class.

I am adamant about librarians knowing the basics of HTML and CSS.  We
teach them basic cataloging -- we should teach them basic coding.  Now, on
to XML, which is another heavy-duty debate I am having with my students
...

BTW, I just found that check you wrote me for DC -- can I still cash it?

How is the move going?

Joyce



On Sun, 8 Jul 2001, Karen G. Schneider wrote:

> My next column for American Libraries is about HTML editors.  I'm focusing
> on three commercial editors: Front Page, Dreamweaver and Homesite (which is
> now bundled with Dreamweaver).  I plan a brief mention of two or three of
> the best free/dirt-cheap editors.
>
> I'm soliciting input in the following areas:
>
> 1.  Strong opinions (based on real experience) about any of the three
> commercial editors
>
> 2.  Recommendations for a good freebie (e.g. Arachnophilia)
>
> 3.  Also... if you migrated from one package to another (freebie to
> Homesite, FrontPage to Dreamweaver, etc.)... what was the outcome?  (Did it
> speed up your production, lead to better websites, improve the accuracy of
> your code..?)
>
> I did note the April Web4Lib thread (which is imbued with wonderfully
> passionate language--"love," "adore," etc.) as well as the July thread about
> Dreamweaver.
>
> Comments are due to me by Friday, July 20, 2001; please include your name,
> organization, and city/state/country.  Thanks!
>
> Karen G. Schneider kgs at bluehighways.com
> Lady of Leisure (until 8-27-01)
>