HTML vs. Authoring Systems
by Robert Viers

If you've been around the Web for a while, you probably know that Web pages are created by talented programmers using a scripting language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). An HTML file contains all of the instructions a browser needs to display the text and images that make up a Web page. As more and more businesses move to the Web, workers with a strong knowledge of HTML--the language of the Web--are finding themselves in extremely high demand. However, creating an HTML document requires a fairly high level of comfort and proficiency with a keyboard. Although there are plenty of free validation tools available to check and correct typos in your HTML, those of you who type with one finger may find working with HTML slow and cumbersome.

Many applications have been developed to help fumbled-finger typists create web pages quickly and efficiently. These applications are known as 'HTML authoring systems.' An authoring system allows you to create a web page with as little typing as possible. All you have to do is point and click on a button or two and the authoring system writes the HTML for you. These authoring systems are very similar to modern word processors, in that they allow you to format your web documents in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. This is the main advantage of an authoring system over a text editor such as Notepad or Simple Text: When you use a text editor to change text size or appearance or insert an image into an HTML file, you really have no idea how the page is going to look until you save your work and load the file into your web browser. An authoring system allows you to create and view your web page simultaneously.

More advantages: Because most HTML authoring systems do not require you to type any HTML, problems caused by forgotten quote marks, angle brackets, and other typographical errors are almost entirely eliminated. Also, most authoring systems come with spell check capabilities and free clipart, background images, and buttons for you to use within your web pages.

But what about the downside? Unfortunately, most decent authoring systems come with a $100-$200 price tag. To make matters worse, HTML is an ever-changing language. If you want your authoring system to keep up with the rapid pace of change in the HTML language, you'll need to upgrade your authoring system (at your expense) at least once every 12 months.

Another problem with authoring systems: Although the features and capabilities of these applications are steadily improving, many do not support advanced HTML features. Changing the background color of cells in a table, optimizing your site for the best position in search engine rankings, and many other features are commonly left out of many authoring systems. Also, authoring systems tend to rely heavily on canned templates and graphics, so the pages they produce can tend to look a bit generic. And finally, the authoring system industry is still quite young. Most authoring systems contain maddening bugs that can interfere with your ability to build a page that looks exactly as you intended.

But remember, web pages are written in HTML, regardless if they're created with an authoring system or a text editor. If you know HTML, you can easily modify a damaged or unfinished or generic-looking web page created by an authoring system. If you know HTML, you can simply open up the HTML document produced by the authoring system in any text editor and customize the page to your heart's content.

HTML authoring systems are extremely useful in the formative stages of web site development. They're best used to help you rapidly produce a basic web site. However, you will probably still need to know HTML so that you can embellish your pages with the HTML tags that your authoring system forgot or to correct errors introduced into your pages by the authoring system.

Below are a list of links to some of the most popular text editors and authoring systems for PC's and Mac's:

PC Text Editors

Page Picker
http://tucows.tierranet.com/adnload/dlpagepicker.html

TexED
http://tucows.cyberspacehq.com/adnload/dltexed.html

Power HTML
http://hyperion.advanced.org/16728/msie/powerhtml.html

Mac Text Editors

Albert
http://www.wiktor.dk/~sankt/download.htm

Cinnamon WebMaster Suite
http://members.aol.com/dustynk/cinnamonsoft/

DoItAllText
http://www.nigrinsoftware.com/products.html

PC Authoring Systems

Microsoft FrontPage
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/

Symantec Visual Page
http://symantec.com/domain/cafe/vispage.html

Adobe Page Mill
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/pagemill/main.html

Netscape Composer
http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html

Hot Dog
http://www.sausage.com/

Macintosh Authoring Systems

Adobe Page Mill
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/pagemill/main.html

Claris Home Page
http://www.claris.com/products/homepage3.html

Netscape Composer
http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html

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