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Subject:Re: HTML word processor? From:Brian Martin <martin -at- SODALIA -dot- IT> Date:Thu, 6 Aug 1998 10:11:30 +0200
David Meadows wrote:
>
> Only a slight exaggeration. When you publish your site on the web, let
> me have the URL. I will view it in Lynx and send you screen shots to
> prove my point.
OK. I stand corrected. The question that comes to my mind is the most
basic: Who is the audience?
If my audience is everyone, then, yes, I do have to worry about
text-only browsers. In this case, any GUI editor (or as I called it in
response to the originator of this string, "near-WYSIWYG") will have
many week points. It _might_ be better to hand code the pages. You
definitely need to decide what the lowest-common-denominator HTML
version you will allow your audience to use in viewing your pages. Are
you shooting for 1.0 or 4.0?
If you can or do define your audience in a more limited fashion, perhaps
only people with HTML 3.0 graphics-capable browsers, then the story is
very different. In my case, to be precise, I'm using Front Page to
create an HTML Help system compatible for UNIX and Windows versions of
Netscape 4.x. I don't have to worry about the whole world, let alone
text browsers (lucky me). So, in my case, Front Page is actually more
tool in some ways than I need. In fact, It probably offers features and
tags that I can't use if I want to maintain compatibility with Netscape.
Whether my audience includes text-browser users or not, it sure is nice
to see a Web and its component pages in several different ways at the
click of a button. Judicious use of a tool is always important. Just
because you drive a Ferrari doesn't mean you can drive 250 kph on the
autostrada all the time (although I'd like to give it a try once!).
My Web current Web pages will never be published on the WWW, so I have
more freedom than some. Sorry folks, you won't be able to take a test
drive with your limited-edition text browsers.
> Brian, you are talking about "GUI" editing. Your editor may have a
> graphical interface, but what you see in your editor is *not* what I
> will see in my browser. That's the point I was trying to make, and it is
> an important consideration in HTML page design.
Yes. It is an error to use the term WYSIWYG editing in discussing web
page design. I only wanted to make the point that it's not always
neccessary to deny youself the use of sophistcated publishing tools just
because the audience you're creating for uses 17th century goggles for
reading.
As regards my earlier comment about installing a Web server with Front
Page, I oversimplified to save time and appologize for not being more
precise.
In closing, just remember folks, keep a light touch on the gas pedal
while cruising L'Autostrada dell'informazione. : - b
