WYSIWYG Web editor that can cope with php

[greg_in_london]

Okay - absolutely nothing to do with bikes, but I have to do web pages now and then for work and hobbies and have been getting frustrated with modern software that can't do what I took for granted 10-15 years ago.

 

I just paid to register some software (after downloading the trial, which I obviously didn't have enough time to check thoroughly) only to find it won't open or save .html pages. How is that a web editor ???? (For the less technically capable, that's like a photocopier that won't copy or print onto paper.) I've mailed their support, but will have to see what they say.

 

Anyway - what I'm looking for is a package that I can learn and use thoroughly without needing to upgrade to another package (and learn again) in a year's time.

 

• I want to be able to open and save html files so I can choose what web-space I load in onto without being tied to somebody else's 'wizard'.
  
• I want to be able to use .css
  
• I want to be able to preview the page without publishing it online and also look at the HTML
  
• Mostly though I want some way of being able to include php or javascript objects in the page. (The php editors are one step above notepad and make the html difficult.)
  
• It would be really good if the software made it easier to work with a database, so you could import forms and link them to the database fields so you could just query them and make the information interactive.
  
• A way of automating uploads and checking links would be useful, but not essential (Frontpage98 did this 15 years ago...)
  

None of that should be difficult, yet I can't find software that does these basics. I could keep randomly downloading software and see what works, but I don't have the time to experiment with each, don't like filling the computer with useless software and don't have the money to keep experimenting with high end software (I don't want to buy pirate software, but £4-500 for Dreamweaver is outside the budget.)

 

 

I know a lot of people won't need such software and will be happy with their facebook page and/or a homepage for their pics, but there must be a few members who do a bit more online. What are you using ? Can it do this ? What does it cost ?

 

 

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh10/greg_in_london/trailer.gif

[SilvrT]

Could you list some of the software you've tried. I have used a few myself and would be happy to put you onto them but I don't want to duplicate something you've found that you're not happy with.

[meach]

A fairly simple html editor from the early days of internet "Netscape Navigator" is still around as "Seamonkey" (http://www.seamonkey-project.org/) which I have used off and on for many years, and its free. I've used various windows versions, I've ditched windows and have gone to Linux only (except for my wifes MAC). I haven't used the linux version of Seamonkey. Many years ago used to teach a class on creating web pages using Netscape however we didn't get into very complicated stuff. I haven't had the need to do much lately. Had a web site I kept up for a while using Seamonkey to create the pages and then uploaded using ftp but eventually let it go.

 

Not sure how/if Seamonkey deals with php, might be worth looking into.

Edited April 3, 2013 by meach

[greg_in_london]

Hi SilvrT - this is what I've used:

 

Way back in the dawn of time I used the aol easy web editor and then FrontPage98.

 

I used nVU for a while and that was then replaced by Kompozer. nVU had been okay for making simple changes (like updating text) but Kompozer seemed more limited and messed up any .css formatting I tried. It also messed up in-page formatting. I had paid someone else to set up some pages, but Kompozer was just messing up their work and I had to make corrections in Notepad.

 

I downloaded and deleted a couple of programmes that I now can't remember, but I also tried phpEdit v4 and v4.0.5 and Bluefish. They had some php capability but were only one step above Notepad in the wysiwyg stakes for HTML.

 

Someone else recommended Quick n Easy Web Builder, which when I downloaded (trial version) it seemed to have some useful functionality, so when I wanted to update the music web page to advertise St George's Day I thought I'd pay to activate the software and use that, only to find it opens and saves files in its own format and not html pages ????

 

In between times I've either used Notepad for very simple changes or used the website wizard in 1&1 (which hosts my webspace) which is called Click and Build. That is based on a template, however, and is limited on size of site, whereas I really just want to be able to create my own web pages with tools that assist, but don't limit or control me.

 

Hi Meach - How many features did seamonkey have and does it work on modern platforms ? Netscape Navigator makes it sound like it will struggle today in the same way that I can't install or run software that had been quite useful in the past. Did it help with the php and scripts ? I know I'm going to have to put quite a bit of effort into learning new software, but only want to do that once.

[Condor]

I've been happy with MS Front Page. Started with FP98 and I think the lastest version I'm using to edit my website is FP2002??

[SilvrT]

Hi SilvrT - this is what I've used:

 

 

Greg, here are two that I use...

 

Web Easy Professional

http://www.avanquest.com/USA/software/webeasy-professional-9-158529

 

I used this to create the Kruisn The Kootenays website (which has since been taken down as it was not happening this year)

 

WebEasy generates html files when you choose to "Build" your web. You then either upload or publish them to your site.

 

A really good text editor that I use is Notepad++

http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

 

 

I also use Real Studio a lot.

http://www.realsoftware.com/realstudio/?lang=en

 

I doubt you'd be interested in this; however, as it's a high-end development environment that requires advanced programming knowledge and it's not inexpensive ($600 for the Web edition).

 

I don't do a lot of Web work but when I do, I like to be able to write code easily as well as connect to back end databases such as MySQL. I do quite a bit of database programming using Real Studio but most of that is non-web applications (desktop apps). Have used it for a couple of web-based database apps and found it one of the best to use for my needs and experience/familiarity. That is not to say there aren't others out there that are better.

 

In years past I've used Front Page and even taught it when I was an instructor; however, the newer versions suck IMO.

 

Oh, forgot to mention ... NetObjects Fusion

http://netobjects.com/

 

I have the current version but have not created any "live" stuff in it... just experimented. I used to use it for live work about 10 years ago and liked the ease of use. It does have some nice features so maybe check it out.

Edited April 3, 2013 by SilvrT

[FreezyRider]

Here is a free one....not sure if it meets your requirements or not. http://alleycode.com/features.htm

[meach]

 

... Hi Meach - How many features did seamonkey have and does it work on modern platforms ? Netscape Navigator makes it sound like it will struggle today in the same way that I can't install or run software that had been quite useful in the past. Did it help with the php and scripts ? I know I'm going to have to put quite a bit of effort into learning new software, but only want to do that once.

 

From their homepage:

 

"The SeaMonkey project is a community effort to develop the SeaMonkey all-in-one internet application suite (see below). Such a software suite was previously made popular by Netscape and Mozilla, and the SeaMonkey project continues to develop and deliver high-quality updates to this concept. Containing an Internet browser, email & newsgroup client with an included web feed reader, HTML editor, IRC chat and web development tools, SeaMonkey is sure to appeal to advanced users, web developers and corporate users. "

 

 

A new release was released yesterday (4/2):

 

"The SeaMonkey project is proud to present SeaMonkey 2.17: The new major release of the all-in-one Internet suite is available for download now! Building on the same Mozilla platform as the newest Firefox release, it delivers the latest developments in web technologies such as HTML5, hardware acceleration and improved JavaScript speed. "

[uncledj]

Got no clue what any of you are talking about.

Wish I did.

LOL:confused07:

[greg_in_london]

It all gets a bit mind boggling when you start to hear the acronyms roll out, but a lot of time it is just jargon talking about quite familiar things.

 

• HTML is just the way the pages links to things, like other parts of the forum or pictures.
  
• CSS is cascading style sheets, so you write down in one place what style you want the pages to be in and that flows (cascades) over other pages, so if you can choose another 'skin' for the page they will all be green instead of blue - whatever you choose.
  
• PHP stands for something, I don't know what, but lets you program in things like forms and lets a site collect your membership information.
  

Now everyone is an expert...

 

 

 

I've been reading up on some of what people have suggested:

 

• Seamonkey/Compozer is similar to Kompozer, but won't help with PHP.
  
• FrontPage2002/3 is good, but getting old and unsupported, so if I have to buy a new laptop which has Windows 8 might not work. I could dedicate an old machine to it (and might do that) but I'm trying to get something that I can use for the nest ten years. Microsoft seemed to do a number of updates that were free, but with all the useful features stripped out - you do wonder what MS are doing.
  
• WebEasy sounds like it has the same problems as Quick and Easy (can't edit HTML ??)
  
• Realstudio sounds good, but at around £500 would be quite a plunge for me, especially without knowing much about it. It does have a 30 day trial though, so I would have to wait until I was really ready to invest time in it. I worry about all that wasted effort if I don't produce anything in that time and don't like the software :-(
  
• The alleycode one looks promising as it at least refers to CSS and PHP. The download site says that it is unsupported and a legacy product. Whether that means there is an improved version I don't know.
  

If no-one else has an even better idea, I'll have a look at alleycode over the weekend and report back. In the meantime, I think I should say something about Quick and Easy:

I mailed them and said I wasn't happy - a web editor that handles html should be able to open, edit and save html files. I said that there was nothing on their website that would lead me to suggest otherwise. I had played with the software a few weeks ago to see what the features were, but hadn't used it to actually change my live web pages.

 

They wrote back to say that their webpage was quite clear that it was not an HTML editor. Fortunately I had not shut the laptop down and could still get a screenshot. Can you spot the difference I wonder ? One is from yesterday, the other is today.

 

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh10/greg_in_london/originalpage_zps0143028a.jpg

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh10/greg_in_london/amendedpage_zps98fedf99.jpg

[sIGH]

At least they listened to what I said I suppose. I've sent them the pictures, so I'll have to see what they do next. It's only $25/£19, so not worth losing sleep over, but annoying all the same.

[And how does everyone else get those thumbnail pictures working - I always get the big pictures filling the screen :-( ]

 

[EDIT] - I had to threaten that I would ask for a recharge, but they've agreed to refund the money. It really is a reminder just how much you have to use software to know if it will do what you expect though.[/EDIT]

Edited April 4, 2013 by greg_in_london

[SilvrT]

WebEasy sounds like it has the same problems as Quick and Easy (can't edit HTML ??)

 

You can't edit the HTML inside the program; however, when you "build" it, it creates all the html files for you. You can then edit them afterwards but you might not be able to bring those edits back into WebEasy's wysiwyg designer. It can import a web site but it's not necessarilly going to be able to import everything .... kind of a "trial and error" situation. I haven't thoroughly explored this feature. It's a good tool for initial designing ... then if you want to get into the "meat" of things and get real fancy (coz you have the knowledge to write html, php, java, vb, etc code) you can then do that.

 

It really is a reminder just how much you have to use software to know if it will do what you expect though.[/EDIT]

 

Yup, been there, done that more times than I can count. Been in the computer consulting/training/programming, etc biz since 1987. If I could have charged a fee for all the time I've spent researching and testing software apps to determine which would work best for my clients, I would be an extremely rich man today.

 

Here's another app that you might want to look into (not sure of the cost)...

 

Adobe Dreamweaver

 

I've used this a few times to make changes to our intranet and you can switch between wysiwyg designer and html code no problem. It is; however, a "higher end" development environment and has a longer learning curve.

[greg_in_london]

Amongst people I know Dreamweaver is the number one program. I could have a pirate copy but want to stay legit. Those I know that use it don't use php, so I wasn't sure how that side worked. It costs about £450 over here, so I suppose I've been frustrated that there isn't something else between free and that price that does what I want.

 

I'll try the alleycode one when I have time to look at it properly and I have met some deadlines.

[SilvrT]

Amongst people I know Dreamweaver is the number one program. I could have a pirate copy but want to stay legit. Those I know that use it don't use php, so I wasn't sure how that side worked. It costs about £450 over here, so I suppose I've been frustrated that there isn't something else between free and that price that does what I want.

 

I'll try the alleycode one when I have time to look at it properly and I have met some deadlines.

 

You could always get a pirated copy to "test drive" it .... (just sayin)

 

Or, there is a trial version ....

[alwrmcusn]

I tried several different packages a few years back when I was designing and setting up our STAR chapter website. I finally settled on software from Intuit (the Quicken folks). It was easy to use. That was my very first (and only) website design. It ran $97 a year including extra space and the domain name.

JFI: We closed down the website a couple of months ago. Seems Facebook is the choice for most of our members. I now do a PDF every month with the info and photos.

[Gray Ghost]

I haven't used PHP in years, but the editor I use is HTML-Kit Tools. There is a free version. While it isn't a straight up WYSIWYG, there are tabs for previewing what you are doing on the browsers of your choice. I also edit my CSS using it. http://www.htmlkit.com/