Evaluating XHTML Editors - HTML Gate 2005
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For the home enthusiast, or developer on a budget, I seriously recommend the outstanding HTML Gate 2005 from MPS (www.mpsoftware.dk). The application is absolutely free and is a fully functioning, multi-language wysiwyg editor. It has one of the nicest looking interfaces I’ve ever seen on a freeware program, far nicer than some of the software in the next bracket up. It is extremely intuitive; you can literally download it, install it and begin using it.
The program does seem tailored slightly towards HTML editing, but you can switch it over to default XHTML 1.0 Strict DTD with a brief forage into the Tools -> Preferences dialog box. Once you’ve updated the editor setting to XHTML, all of your new documents will appear with the DOCTYPE declaration present, in addition to the mandatory elements such as <html>, <head> and <body> tags.
HTML Gate comes with a massive code library, giving you the core components and often the reserved words of a large chunk of popular web languages such as HTML, JavaScript, PHP CSS and more.
There are two main modes of page creation: code edit and fast edit. In code edit mode, you are responsible for entering the tags and content, whereas in fast edit, you only need enter the content. I would recommend you use the code edit option if you are creating XHTML Strict documents, as the tags inserted by the program when using fast edit mode are often deprecated. This can cause the DTD of your document to be automatically changed to Transitional.
The code edit mode makes creating XHTML easy anyway--it can be set to close open tags for you if you forget, and even has a handy tag-prompter that opens when a left angle bracket is inserted.
Another useful feature is the W3 tidy mode. Best used once you’ve written the code for your documents, it checks your document for well-formedness and validity. It scans through the document you’ve written, closes any tags left open, and prompts you for missing attributes. It’s handy, but you should still check your documents manually for errors, as some of the invalid code I used when testing the program slipped through.
There are a few minor annoyances in the flow of the program, but overall, this is an impressive piece of software that would be at home in any Web developer's tool box. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s free.
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