Re: Web Authoring Tool

["Atkinson, Phil" <Phil -dot- Atkinson -at- BRAID -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

Please don't take this as flaming but FrontPage is probably one of the worst
HTML editors I have ever used (my opinion) ;-).

Of course, it's been some time since I last used FrontPage and it may well
have been updated and improved since then. The version I last used -
FrontPage97 - offered much and delivered little. It was quite obviously a
product thrown together with some thought and little time. I've experienced
a few editors since then and none have come even close to providing the
front-end services of DreamWeaver. Whether Dreamweaver will continue to be
updated as often as it may need to be to keep up to date with current HTML
features remains to be seen but at the moment I can't honestly say there's a
better editor on the market.

Download the evaluation copy from http://www.macromedia.com and have a look
for yourself.

- Phil

------------------------------------ * ------------------------------------
Phil Atkinson - Documentation Manager - Braid Systems Limited

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Moore, Tracey [SMTP:TMoore -at- PARKERVISION -dot- COM]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 1999 2:20 PM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Re: Web Authoring Tool
>
> You're going to get a lot of slams against FrontPage, but I like it.
> IMHO, I don't think one web authoring tool is necessarily better than
> the other. People complain about shotty HTML. Well, that's what you get
> when you automate something--code gets messy. The only way to keep it
> clean is to write it yourself. (Don't slam me, just my opinion!) :)
>
> I wouldn't use RoboHTML to create HTML files. Its main purpose is for
> creating HTMLHelp. FrontPage organizes your HTML docs much better. You
> do have to watch out for the Javascripting in FrontPage. What I do is
> just preview everything in a couple of different browsers before putting
> it out on the web. If I see a problem, I check the HTML CODE, not the
> wysiwyg. FrontPage has a tab to allow you to view and edit the HTML. I
> make extensive use of it. This does require that you learn enough about
> HTML and JavaScript to interpret the code. (If you haven't done this, I
> suggest doing it straightaway. This will ease many frustrations.)
>
> FrontPage tip: avoid all Webbots and STYLE tags (buttons in dialog boxes
> that read "STYLE" insert STYLE tags) like the plague if your users
> aren't using Internet Explorer.
>
> If you want to start publishing your manuals as an online help file,
> HTMLHelp would work (therefore using RoboHTML). Problem is, as has been
> discussed on this list ad nauseum, HTMLHelp requires Internet Explorer
> 4.0 or higher. If your users are using Netscape or any other browser,
> they won't be able to read the file.
>
> So why is the process so painful? Is it really a problem with FrontPage,
> or is it because conversion from FrameMaker to HTML isn't clean? (I
> don't know--never done it. But conversion from Microsoft programs is
> messy--there is ALWAYS lots of reformatting involved.) You may need to
> get specific about why this is painful, because I don't imagine a
> specific web authoring tool is going to make the process less painful.
> It may require a change in the process itself.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daruwala Rohina-ind295
> [mailto:Rohina_Daruwala-ind295 -at- EMAIL -dot- MOT -dot- COM]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 1999 12:01 AM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Web Authoring Tool
>
>
> Hello All,
>
> I need a little help on making a decision as to which Web Authoring Tool
> is
> the best to use/has good features. We are currently using FrameMaker 5.5
> on
> UNIX for our documentation. I save the files as HTML and put it on the
> web
> using FrontPage and a wee bit of Javascripting. (A very painful process
> I
> might add!!) Now I have been told that we may need to use a Web
> Authoring
> Tool itself to create our manuals for the web.
>
> My questions are:
> 1.      Since I am using Frame are there any Web Authoring Tools
> specifically for that? (Web Works publisher??? Or something!??)
> 2.      What are the best Web Authoring Tools available?
> 3.      How good is RoboHTML??
>
> Thanks in advance to all those to reply!!
>
> Regards
> Rohina
>
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