If you only want to make an occasional web page, any of several WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors can insulate you from the underlying HTML code. If you’re going to be doing a lot of web work, sooner or later you will benefit from getting some HTML under your belt.

The HTML code of a web page can be scary at first. It looks so complicated. In fact there are only a couple of dozen tags that you have to know to roll your own. You will find that that overwhelming mess actually consists of the same tags used over and over.

If you understand those tags, even a little, you will be able to correct the inevitable goofs that even the best WYSIWYG editors will throw in occasionally. You will also be able to more fully optimize your pages for search engines, as well as add in the bits of code you need for affiliate programs, PayPal buttons or banner exchanges.

In short, if you are serious about your web site, you will need to get a handle on HTML. Where to start?

I’m going to make a distinction amongst HTML editors. There’s the text editor that has syntax highlighting, like TextWrangler or Smultron. Then there’s the web developer’s /programmer’s editor like BBEdit or TextMate. These both work best for an experienced HTML jockey. What I want to cover now is what I call a webmaster’s HTML editor.

Such an editor makes it easier on those who know a bit of HTML but can’t quite code in their sleep. It should have some built in wizards or templates to short-cut uncommon parts of hand coding. It should also have buttons to insert common HTML tags into the page. And, of course it should offer live preview of pages, built in FTP and some site-management capability.

There are several such programs. Today I’m going to focus on SEEdit Maxi by Sven E. Olsson, a Swedish fellow who has been putting out beta updates at a furious pace.

SEEdit has all the features I just mentioned as well as a handy built in CSS wizard and a Tidy syntax checker. It also has an editable auto-complete feature. I do love auto-complete.

SEEdit has BBEdit like HTML insertion buttons in a context sensitive palette. It also has a nice snippets in a click-to-insert floating palette, which has a pre-written RSS enclosure. It will even call you pages up from your built in Apache web server if you want to do some PHP coding.

All-in-all this is a nicely implemented too.

What separates it from a web designer’s editor? Most pros I know don’t use buttons, or even the mouse much, except to insert snippets of seldom used code. It’s the ability to quickly place page tags via keystrokes that greatly speeds up the process. And most people who code for a living simply don’t need HTML buttons. It’s generally faster to just type. It’s way faster to insert pre-defined tags with key commands.

Also, there are more programming languages than just PHP and JavaScript. A professional designer will need SQL, and possibly Python, Perl or Ruby. Typically a webmaster will only have to focus on a site or two, for which SEEdit is perfectly suited.

SEEdit also comes in a free, but somewhat crippled version, SEEdit mini. Not a bad choice for free. Both versions come with some decent, pre-designed XHTML/CSS templates. The full version has 20.

On the minus side, documentation is spotty and needs editing by a native English speaker if you don’t do Svenska.

There are a few little quibbles I have with SEEdit. Since it has some Tidy integration, I’d like to see the full set of Tidy features, especially code indentation. Come to think of it, indentation isn’t big in Olsson’s agenda. There is also no block indent/outdent function.

Preferences are a bit thin too. I’m pretty spoiled by being able to define my own syntax coloring, which you can’t do with SEEdit.

Still, for the price and its intended market, SEEdit maxi is a solid choice.

Publisher: [XHTML Soft] (http://www.xhtmlsoft.com/)
SEEdit Maxi $29.95

Requirements:

• Power PC G4 or G5
• 512 MB RAM
• OS X 10.3.x
• Screen resolution min 1024×768 – Recommended 1280×960

Features: 4
Ease of Use: 4
Documentation: 3-

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 11th, 2006 at 12:32 am and is filed under Editors, Software Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.