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Subject:Re: Your favoriate html editor From:Marilynne Smith <mrsmith -at- CTS -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 5 Apr 1996 15:07:00 PST
I notice when I went in with an ASCII editor to work on a file converted by
WordPerfect Internet Publisher that the code was all jumbled about. When
you apply some guiding principles to coding, it seems to work better.
That's why I prefer the HTML editors, even though they aren't perfect. Some
of my rules for code are mathematical in a way:
1. Nested codes should be complete from the middle out. That is, a
beginning and ending tag should be in the middle. The beginning and ending
codes for the next pair of codes should be on the outside of the first, and
so one. For example:
<a ><b>text</b></a>.
2. Put each major set of codes on a line by itself. This is one of the
principles of coding with a tagged language. When you put <p> on a line by
itself, it helps you see that a new paragraph is beginning. When you code a
heading
<h1>Heading text </h1>
on the same line, it's easy to see where the heading starts.
3. Keep the basic starting stuff at the beginning and space it out so you
can read it.
4. Don't scrimp on endings. A processor (your browser in the case of HTML)
can guess that you meant to end the heading, but it must continue on a ways
before it realizes there is a missing heading. It wastes time. When the
processor hits an ending code, it can continue on with the next instruction.
There are probably more guidelines for good HTML code. I am just becoming
expert in HTML.
Marilynne
At 08:42 AM 4/4/96 EST, Gene Cronin wrote:
>Since being asked to write user information for the web as well
>as hardcopy, I've been on a search for the perfect html editor
>(for web only from scratch) and html converter (for .doc to .htm
>while keeping a single source). I haven't found "it" and I certainly
>haven't found "them". I am beginning to think that, as David Blyth said,
>the best html editor is an ascii editor.
>Of the crop that I have tried, which includes HotMetal, Internet
>Assistant, and Web Publisher (this last one is a converter), none of
>them produce a web-viewable page for all browsers without additional
>editing of the source file using an ascii editor. It seems that they
>all put in too much. That is, they all add commands that cause some
>problem for some browser(s).
>I do think that the html editors serve to give me a starting point.
>That is, they either give me a template that I can populate with text
>and graphics and modify to meet the needs of most browsers, or they
>convert the .doc file into an 80% usable .html file. They certainly
>help to cut down the learning curve.
>I also think that going to pages I like and viewing the source to see
>what it is I like about it, is a productive way to spend a lunch hour.
>Thanks,
>Gene Cronin, Principal Writer
>Digital Equipment Corp.
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Marilynne Smith
mrsmith -at- cts -dot- com
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