Re[2]: Mac Web Authoring Tool Needed

[Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM]

      All Mac software *should* be easy to learn and use, but, alas, such
      is not always the case. Any recommendations, Wayne?

I'm not Wayne, but here's some I've bumped into:

AOLPress -- It's free, but the built-in browser doesn't support frames.
Slow, but good site-management tools. Can directly edit HTML as well as use
the WYSIWYG view.

PageMill -- It's from Adobe, retails at about $99. Produces good pages,
includes the absolutely essential ability to edit the HTML directly. Had
some problems getting it to co-exist with HotMeTaL Pro; apparently some of
the tags PageMill uses caused some indigestion there, but not on any
browsers I tried. SiteMill is its companion site management tool.

NetObjects Fusion -- No idea of the Retail, just started playing around
with this. Doesn't handle existing sites well, but I'm told that capability
is improved in the next version. Is faster than AOLPress, and as good or
better at site management. The HTML code it produces can be nightmarish,
however, as it tries to give you PageMaker-like control of the placement of
text and graphics on the HTML page. Because of the difficulty of importing
existing sites into it, I haven't used it on my production site.

I've also used several shareware tools, the best of which was probably
PageSpinner, with Arachnid and WebWeaver coming in just behind it. As is
usual with shareware, there were some sharp edges on all three.

Right now, I tend to switch off between AOLPress and a simple text editor
with some HTML macros. I haven't found a WYSIWYG editor on any platform
which I enjoy using, probably because HTML is, as yet, too fluid; the
language has changed by the time the editor ships, so some codes I'm using
will have to be entered by hand. I'm also doing some server-side includes
in my pages, and none of the editors I tried handle that except through
direct editing of the HTML codes, so if I'm doing that much manually, it's
not a hardship to write the rest of the HTML code.

AOLPress has some good site management functions, so I fire it up for tasks
like that. (I tried the SiteMill beta, and found it did these functions
well, even catching some "errors" that AOLPress didn't. I used quotes,
because the errors didn't affect the site's function. It walked the site
manually, and flagged me when the case of the filename and the HREF didn't
match exactly, including case. AOLPress walked the links as well, but used
the web server to do it, and since the file system I'm running the server
on isn't case sensitive -- "Fred.html" is the same file as "fred.html" --
it didn't flag the errors. Good to know, if I ever move to another system,
but not essential right now. SiteMill requires PageMill to view/edit
individual
pages.)


Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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