Looking for an application to help me write HTML

[Bob]

What I am interested in is not a WYSIWYG application but something like
the old Hot Dog Pro (I think). Sometimes I have mistakes in my HTML like
a tag opened and not closed or a tag closed with no opening tag, or a
tag that is written slightly incorrectly (one character missing or in
the wrong place). I would like to be able to run my HTML through the
application and have the program fix tag typos for me. Are there any
programs like that out there. Notepad++ don't cut it, cuz it does not
find errors for me.

 

[Hywel Jenkins]

What I am interested in is not a WYSIWYG application but something like
the old Hot Dog Pro (I think). Sometimes I have mistakes in my HTML like
a tag opened and not closed or a tag closed with no opening tag, or a
tag that is written slightly incorrectly (one character missing or in
the wrong place). I would like to be able to run my HTML through the
application and have the program fix tag typos for me. Are there any
programs like that out there. Notepad++ don't cut it, cuz it does not
find errors for me.

http://validator.w3.org/

 

[Jonathan N. Little]

http://validator.w3.org/

You could also use a text editor with syntax highlighting which can help
you quickly identify typos, I personally like freeware Crimson Editor
http://www.nullsoft.com but there are many out there

 

[Andy Dingley]

What I am interested in is not a WYSIWYG application but something like
the old Hot Dog Pro (I think). Sometimes I have mistakes in my HTML like
a tag opened and not closed or a tag closed with no opening tag, or a
tag that is written slightly incorrectly (one character missing or in
the wrong place).

There aren't many of these, because it's a non -trivial problem to parse
properly. Some of the older ones aren't all that accurate. Many of them
today parse XML fine (which is easier) but can't do it for HTML. There
are still some though, if you look.

You'd do well do get a copy of HTML Kit for starters, because that
includes HTML Tidy.

For issues about appropriate nesting of elements, rather than merey
syntactic well-formedness, then look for a real validator, like the W3C
one.

The are also things like Albert the Spammer's CSE HTML which are _not_
validators. These should be avoided, because they're not what you need
at all.

 

[Jonathan N. Little]

Andy Dingley wrote:

The are also things like Albert the Spammer's CSE HTML which are _not_
validators. These should be avoided, because they're not what you need
at all.

I would disagree, yes CSE HTML Validator Lite is a linter not a
validator but it can have its uses. I have a tweaked copy and it can be
useful to catch many syntax mistakes. It can be a quick (since it is a
local program) to precheck a page but you should do the final run
through a real validator. The little templates macros are not bad,
certainly better than FP and DW! Lacks syntax highlighting. I don't
really use it but can be a useful tool. I haven't had any spamming from
it but maybe my copy is too old.

 

[Bob]

http://validator.w3.org/

I want something that fixes local tags, not online tags. I want an
application that runs on my hard drive so I can check plain text
documents. I already have the Tidy extension for Firefox but that only
works on webpages, not text files on my drive.

 

[Bob]

http://validator.w3.org/

Ok I can upload files to this thing. But a program might be simpler. Do
Coffee Cup and Hot Dog Pro do this?

 

[Bob]

You could also use a text editor with syntax highlighting which can help
you quickly identify typos, I personally like freeware Crimson Editor
http://www.nullsoft.com but there are many out there

Right, but it doesn't point them out for you. You still have to trudge
through the code, right?

 

[Bob]

There aren't many of these, because it's a non -trivial problem to parse
properly. Some of the older ones aren't all that accurate. Many of them
today parse XML fine (which is easier) but can't do it for HTML. There
are still some though, if you look.

I go through "fixing" my code, deleting old bad links and stuff, and I
end up with </a> tags stranded, and other stupid errors. I'm using
Blogger but I usually work in Blogger's HTML editor because it's Compose
window is so buggy. If there is even one screwed up tag, Blogger refuses
to upload the post. But it doesn't bother to point out where the
erroneous tag is.

Blogger's Composer is really bad. It throws in weird <font> tags with no
closing tag, sometimes 1000's of them. One time it put 100's of <wendy>
tags because the post was a conversation with "Wendy". It also does
stuff like taking every word in a given paragraph and making an anchor
tag out of it, really weird. It's just insane. Plus if you fix &'s with
&amp; Blogger goes through and reverts all the &amp; back to & if you
open the Compose window again.

Not only that, but it puts in an unholy amount of excess tags,
especially if you start cutting and pasting stuff.

You'd do well do get a copy of HTML Kit for starters, because that
includes HTML Tidy.

Ok, this runs on my drive like a program?

For issues about appropriate nesting of elements, rather than merey
syntactic well-formedness, then look for a real validator, like the W3C
one.

Yes. I usually use Tidy for that, once the page is uploaded.

 

[David Segall]

I want something that fixes local tags, not online tags. I want an
application that runs on my hard drive so I can check plain text
documents. I already have the Tidy extension for Firefox but that only
works on webpages, not text files on my drive.

Macromedia (now Adobe) Dreamweaver
<http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/> has a 30 day free
trial. You may not find it worth the purchase price if you only want
to use the inbuilt validator.

The open source Nvu <http://www.nvu.com/index.html> will submit the
page you are editing, regardless of location, to
<http://validator.w3.org/>.

 

[David Dorward]

Ok I can upload files to this thing. But a program might be simpler.

http://validator.w3.org/source/
http://arealvalidator.com/

 

[Jonathan N. Little]

Jonathan N. Little wrote:

Right, but it doesn't point them out for you. You still have to trudge
through the code, right?

Well you have to have some idea of the syntax, no it won't do the work
for you but if you have many a typo it will not be to correct color!

 

[frederick]

The open source Nvu <http://www.nvu.com/index.html> will submit the
page you are editing, regardless of location, to
<http://validator.w3.org/>.

I think that recommendation should be caveated, since Nvu is incapable
of refraining from rewriting one's source code.


In theory, any HTML editor that uses syntax highlighting should be
useful for the OP's needs; similarly, any program that includes HTML
Tidy as a tool.

For CSS, TopStyle used to have a stripped-down version available for
free. I don't believe that they do this any more, but it should be
possible to find a copy online from one of the usual download sites.
Although very basic, the free versions had syntax highlighting,
code-completion, and a properties window, which all seem perfectly
adequate for the OP's needs.

 

[Bob]

Well you have to have some idea of the syntax, no it won't do the work
for you

I am not asking for that. I make stupid mistakes like stranding closing
tags with openers and leaving off " like <div align=center"> missing a
". I know how to write them correctly but I make dumb errors
accidentally. For correcting my syntax, I will use Tidy.

but if you have many a typo it will not be to correct color!

Ok, so the typos are highlighted as a different color.

 

[Bob]

I think that recommendation should be caveated, since Nvu is incapable
of refraining from rewriting one's source code.


In theory, any HTML editor that uses syntax highlighting should be
useful for the OP's needs; similarly, any program that includes HTML
Tidy as a tool.

For CSS, TopStyle used to have a stripped-down version available for
free. I don't believe that they do this any more, but it should be
possible to find a copy online from one of the usual download sites.
Although very basic, the free versions had syntax highlighting,
code-completion, and a properties window, which all seem perfectly
adequate for the OP's needs.

I would also like code-completion. Do Hot Dog Pro and Coffee Cup, etc.
do that. Also having the tags off to the site where I can just click
them to put them in instead of having to type them out all time?

 

[dorayme]

What I am interested in is not a WYSIWYG application but something like
the old Hot Dog Pro (I think). Sometimes I have mistakes in my HTML like
a tag opened and not closed or a tag closed with no opening tag, or a
tag that is written slightly incorrectly (one character missing or in
the wrong place). I would like to be able to run my HTML through the
application and have the program fix tag typos for me. Are there any
programs like that out there. Notepad++ don't cut it, cuz it does not
find errors for me.

In BBedit, for a Mac, you just press a keyboard command and it
checks the doc in no time at all and lists the errors according
to the doctype. In free Mac editors like the old BBEdit Lite, or
its modern equivalent, Textwrangler, you can put in plugins like
Tidy. You are right to want a facility like this. In the Firefox
(Mac or PC) browser there are extensions you can install that
make this process of checking reasonable easy on line but it is
not as direct and therefore as handy as. If you are on broadband,
it is probably pretty good though.

 

[Mark Parnell]

Deciding to do something for the good of humanity, Bob <[email protected]>
declared in alt.html:

[HTML-Kit]

Ok, this runs on my drive like a program?

It's an HTML editor. http://chami.com/html-kit/

 

[Bob]

Deciding to do something for the good of humanity, Bob <[email protected]>
declared in alt.html:

[HTML-Kit]

Ok, this runs on my drive like a program?

It's an HTML editor. http://chami.com/html-kit/

Homesite does this too. It searches for broken tags, etc. It also has a
"tag selector" which is something else I am looking for. Why would any
web designer prefer to use a Notepad-type application and type out all
their tags by hand instead of using writing HTML with one of these tag
selector programs that lets you grab the tags off a menu? It would seem
to be so much faster to use the application and just grab the tags.

 

[Bob]

In BBedit, for a Mac, you just press a keyboard command and it
checks the doc in no time at all and lists the errors according
to the doctype. In free Mac editors like the old BBEdit Lite, or
its modern equivalent, Textwrangler, you can put in plugins like
Tidy. You are right to want a facility like this. In the Firefox
(Mac or PC) browser there are extensions you can install that
make this process of checking reasonable easy on line but it is
not as direct and therefore as handy as. If you are on broadband,
it is probably pretty good though.

It works fine, but it's not that easy to check a local file. I guess I
could just rename it .html and then load it up in FF and have it run
Tidy on it, but it seems like a hassle.

I just figured out that Homesite and Dreamweaver also have something
like this.

Tidy works pretty good on broadband, but there are some scripts that the
prog uses to run and sometimes the script clogs up FF and its hard to
run Tidy on the page. Plus the extension really dislikes pages with tons
of errors on them, like say over 1,000 errors, esp 20,000 errors or so.
Those pages almost choke the extension.

In addition, for a novice HTML user like myself, the descriptions of the
errors are not always easy to understand. After you use it for a while
and learn more HTML and esp how to interpret the often-obtuse error
messages, you can use it a lot better. Plus, sometimes when Tidy "cleans
up" the HTML, the "cleaned version" of the page is somewhat broken,
visually-wise, so then I just leave the "errors" in.

All in all, it's one of the coolest FF extensions out there.

 

[Leonard Blaisdell]

Why would any
web designer prefer to use a Notepad-type application and type out all
their tags by hand instead of using writing HTML with one of these tag
selector programs that lets you grab the tags off a menu? It would seem
to be so much faster to use the application and just grab the tags.

I know nothing of Notepad, but it's faster for me to type *any* element
in a text editor than it is to select it by menu. I use a program that
costs quite a bit and I generally ignore that feature.
You need to become comfortable with typing <, >, and /. On my keyboard,
they're all together. Then HTML markup becomes lightning quick.
Struggle with CSS issues when your semantics are correct.

leo