HTML Editor

      


The first tool you need to build a great website is a HTML Editor.

A HTML Editor is a software application to write web pages. HTML, which stands for Hypertext Markup Language, is the programming language you will be using. Okay, I am making it sound rather scary, but don't be afraid, it is really English with some programming codes peppered here and there! Technically, you can also use "Notepad" to write your html pages, and save them under .htm or .html, but that's a pretty awkward way of building your website - it's almost like trying to eat spaghetti with a remote-controlled fork.

So, the first tool you need to get is a HTML Editor. There are several brands in the market, including Microsoft Frontpage, Adobe Dreamweaver and so on. Personally I would encourage you not to use Microsoft Frontpage, as it tends to add proprietary codes to your pages, making it difficult to be edited with a different HTML Editor. The one I use is called Homesite, also from Adobe. I learned to write webpages with Homesite. Like an orphan that nobody wanted, Homesite was originally owned by Allaire. Later the company was acquired by Macromedia, and now Homesite has become part of Adobe family. It is still my favourite HTML Editor. You can download and try it out for 30 days at http://www.adobe.com/products/homesite/. After that you need to pay to continue using it.

If you want a totally free HTML Editor, I find one at PageBreeze, http://www.pagebreeze.com/. With a HTML Editor, you write the content of your pages by keying in the HTML Codes, and then checking it with the Preview function.

If you do not have a HTML Editor presently installed in your computer, I strongly suggest you get one immediately and start fiddling with it. Get used to all the functions. Learn what to click to make the text bold, italics, underlined, etc., how to hyperlink, how to insert picture, and so on. A good HTML Editor does a lot of work for you, so that you can concentrate on putting together a great website.

Different people will be using a different HTML Editor. It doesn't matter which one you use, as long as you get familiar with it. I will leave you here to install your HTML Editor and start playing with it.

Now let's go to the second tool:
Click here for Essential Tool #2 for a Great Website