HTML Editors: Offline and Online:

Notepad, Arachnophilia



Offline

Okay, you have copied the Template, pasted it in a blank Notepad, and saved it on your Hard Drive as Template.txt.
  1. Open it
  2. Go to File - Save as, and save as index.html - if this is the first page of your site. If it is not index.html, it will not show when you put in your address like http://myname.50megs.com/ or whatever. Index.html is the page a browser looks for as the default for an address (or index.htm). You can have a bunch of nice pages, and if none of them are index.html or .htm, no one will see them by your address, and the search engines do not like it either. Continue with #7, or if you have closed this Notepad, go on to #2.
  3. To work on an HTML file you have saved and closed, Right Click on your file - index.html or othername.html.
  4. Choose the "edit" command as shown here: Windows Explorer "edit" command (Note: you can also do this using My Computer, but I prefer Windows Explorer)
  5. You should see this: Notepad HTML document 1   Could not take a Screen Shot of the whole document; this is the top half. Also, could not name it index.html in MY files or it would replace the Main Page to this site!
  6. Here is another one, the html file for the "Feather Background" showing the BODY tag by Color Picker: Notepad HTML document 2
  7. Replace the text (not the basic codes) on your Notepad HTML file that you just named index.html, or later brought up with "edit," with your own text, image names urls, etc,, using the tags given on the Template. Between the <body> and </body> tags put the 'Content' of your page. This can be as short or as long as you wish. Move the image or link tags to where you need them by cut or copy, and paste. Be sure to put in your own image or url names as needed. Use the Paragraph, Break, Bold, Italic, and Center tags as appropriate. BE SURE TO GO TO "FILE" AND CLICK SAVE!!
  8. Right Click on index.html in your files again (in Win Explorer or My Computer) and now choose Open, which is at the top of the list. Your page will open in your default Browser. This will show you how the page looks.
  9. Make changes in the Notepad HTML file as needed.
  10. Each time click "Refresh or Reload" in the Browser window showing your page, and this will show you how the changes look.
  11. When finished Upload your page to your Server by going to your Online files and using their Upload function, or with your FTP program (links to two programs are on Upload page).

Besides Notepad, I use ActiveX Control Pad when I am editing a bunch of related pages, because it saves resources. The pages can be cascaded, or minimized at the bottom of the Program window - not in my task bar. Have had 12 and more pages open with no problem. It is awkward to have a lot of Notepad pages open at the same time.

Arachnophilia: This is the Editor I use when I am making a page in a new Format - different than ones I have already done. Usually I just bring up a page in Notepad or ActiveX that I have already done and just replace the title, image name, text, etc. (inside the tags already there). But with something entirely new it is quicker and easier to use Arachnophilia. Just place the cursor where you want something, click on the button for that tag, and the Editor puts it in for you. The text in the Editor changes color if you make a mistake. It also has a Preview button that you can preview your page with as you go along. Or you can have two windows and see the changes as you type. It also has a good tutorial for beginners! and best of all it is Free. Read the CareWare page below. It is the reason I have done all the work to build this HTML Help site.


Online

I used the online "Text Editor" (they call it "Advanced") and the online (HTTP) upload function for about a year when I first started. I switched to the Text Editor after trying the Page Buider because I could not get the page to look the way I wanted with the Builder. Learned HTML to use in the Text Editor from online classes and a printed "Guide" similar to the Beginner's Guide to HTML listed on the HTML Builder page.

The places that provide Free Web pages space all have a "Text Editor." You can start with their Page Builder (whatever they name it) if you wish. If there are three choices, like with AOL, choose the medium or advanced, so you can edit with their Text Editor as needed. The "Advanced" is almost always their Text Editor. It was slow as I was learning, but after a while you build up a system and can build pages fairly quickly, especially if you use a page you have already done as a "template."

The work space (where you paste/write/edit HTML) of these Text Editors is very similar to that of Notepad or ActiveX Control Pad (see Example images above); or of Arachnophilia minus the handy buttons. They have a 'View" or "Preview' button, as well as "Save", so you can check your work as you go.

The links at the bottom of the page open the above images in a FULL SIZE Browser window.



Arachnophilia
Download Download Arachnophilia Right Here
the CareWare Idea

Win Explorer "edit" command | Notepad HTML doc 1 | Notepad HTML doc 2 | ActiveX Control Pad | Arachnophilia
NBCi Files | 50megs File Mgr

HTML Builder