[thelist] real men code by hand...

[Kathleen Heytink]

I started writing HTML when Notepad was about the only choice, but I really
hate typing -  especially having to hit the shift key all the time to get <>
I set up a text file I called "palette."    In it, I put all my favorite
code snippets - header code, ending code, basic table, etc.  When I created
a web page, I'd copy and paste the snippets I needed, then copy and paste in
the text.  The only typing I had to do were the paths for the images.

Then along FrontPage ::shudder::  The web site I was working on was hosted
by AT&T and they required you to use FP with their crazy interface.  You had
to use FP or you couldn't upload to the site.  FTP was not allowed.  I hated
FP from the beginning.  Every time I opened a page I had written in Notepad,
it rewrote it the way it wanted the code to be.  Hoping to tame it, I tried
using the HTML editor that came with it.  That didn't work either.  However
I did like the way I could check links and get rid of orphan files - made me
crazy though that it added all sorts of extra folders.

I changed jobs and was no longer a slave to AT&T's ways, but the site at my
new company had also been built with FP.  I went back to doing most of my
HTMLing in Notepad, but then I discovered Homesite.  It was love at first
site <g>  I've been using it ever since.

I learned early that "design view" was a bad thing and quickly disabled it.
I like the color codes because I find it easier to read.  Took me about 10
minutes to set up.  The best part is that I can use it in much the same way
as I used to use my Notepad "palette" except now I put the text in a blank
page, then highlight and click my way through the tags.  I love hitting the
space bar within a tag, then clicking on my choices within the pop-up list.


I love that I don't have to constantly shift, type  < let go, type
appropriate tag in lower case, shift type > type some more, then shift < let
go, type / then appropriate tag in lower case, then shift type >  Don't you
dare take away my Homesite! <g>

I'm very glad that there are other similar editors around, because I don't
want to go back to typing complicated tables, CSS etc, in Notepad - though I
can in a pinch.

I also use Dreamweaver if I'm feeling visual, or I want to drag elements
around to see how they will layout.  After I'm through I either edit the
code as I go along or I open the file in HS and code it my way.  I also like
Dreamweaver and Homesite for the global find and replace features.  And DW
for the site wide link check and orphan file search.  I would love to find a
separate program that does good site maintenance functions like this.  If
anyone knows of one, point me in the right direction please!

In the end, I think it doesn't matter what tool you use, so long as you know
the basics.  It's like learning to add, multiply, divide and subtract before
you use a calculator.  You need to know the principles so you can fix things
when they go wrong - and you know they always do!

-- Kath ...
work --> www.winebow.com
home --> www.cyber-kat.com --> topkat at cyber-kat.com --