Jim said:
I use Frontpage
http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http://freespace.virgin.net/mr.jimscott/
, mainly because I have it, but there is lots written about
how it has lots of bloat etc.
Bloat is an understatement.
I am playing with both DWeaver (and Nvu/Composer) to see how they compare.
Generally, if you use any WYSIWYG editor, you're bound to end up with
major issues due to the fact you're trying to edit a non-presentational
language using a presentational tool. Unfortunately, good HTML requires
semantic markup which simply cannot come from the use of a WYSIWYG tool
without a lot of knowledge and experience of handcoding well structured
and semantic markup.
There's still no reason for the excessive use of layout tables and
presentational elements and attributes.
Compare the markup generated with frontpage with this sample of the kind
of markup *required* to produce a page like yours.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"
http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<title>Jim's Homepage</title>
</head>
<body>
<div id="header">
<h1>Jim's Website</h1>
<img src="/images/tn_Northunbria_flag_small.jpg" alt="..." height="44"
width="56">
<img src="/images/jimsmall48.jpg" alt="..." height="56" width="48">
</div>
<ul id="photos">
<li><a href="#"><img src="image" alt="" height="50" width="50"> Local
History</a></li>
<li><a href="#"><img src="image" alt="" height="50" width="50"> Jim's
Photos</a></li>
<!-- Add a new list item for each image and link -->
</ul>
<ul id="other-links">
<li><a href="#">LOCAL LINKS</a></li>
<li><a href="#">CHRIST CHURCH BELLRINGERS' PAGES</a></li>
<li><a href="#">FAMILY</a></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Seriously, that's about it! Of course, you'd need to fix up a few of
the links, image references, alt text, etc. But that's about the length
of the markup you'd need to create a page like yours. Isn't that easier
compared with trying to learn from the FP garbage?
Of course, it doesn't look anything like the current page in a browser,
but that's because HTML is *not* a presentational language and that's
what CSS is for.
There are two things FP does that I see no alternative to in either DW or
Nvu, well not without learning html and I'm too long in the tooth for that:
It may seem so when your presented with the monstrosity of code that FP
produces, but it's really not that hard. I wrote the above in about 15
minutes and it really is about all you need to markup that entire
document. A stylesheet could probably be done in less than 20 lines of
CSS (maybe as little a 5 lines), though CSS is a little harder than HTML.
these are rollover colour change in link (essential)
Using CSS, this stylesheet will do that.
Place this within the <head> section to achieve the same colours as your
current page
<style type="text/css">
body { color: black; background-color: #99ccff; }
:link { color: black; }
:visited { color: #000080; }
:link:hover: {color: #ff0000; }
:link:active { color: #003300; }
</style>
Use of an external stylesheet is recommend though.
and the ability to have fancy titles without going back to a graphics program (FP uses
Wordart).
You could always generate the images using FP if you like, then save
them and import them into another editor.
If I insist on these two things do I simply have to live with the bloat or
am I not looking in the right place?
No, you most certainly don't have to live with the bloat. Learn to hand
code properly, and you'll never go back to WYSIWYG editors again!
