Graphical User Interface HTML Editors

CIW Website Design Manager Course Section 1, Part B, Chapter 8

Graphical User Interface Editors

You can create Web pages using a graphical user interface (GUI) HTML editor, also called a what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editor. These editors allow authors to create Web pages without typing the requisite HTML code. Many WYSIWYG editors exist, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Frontpage, Adobe GoLive and Netscape Composer.

Page Editors

GUI page editors help you create a Web page using your mouse and toolbar. Functionality is usually limited to creating individual Web pages. Software programs that provide this functionality include:

Netscape Composer
Microsoft Frontpage Express

Site Management Editors

GUI Web site editors provide both Web page creation and site management functionality. Once you create the Web pages, you can then manage the entire site as a whole. Site management includes task automation and workflow integration with other programs in a production environment. Software programs that provide these functions include:

Macromedia Dreamweaver
Microsoft Frontpage
Adobe GoLive

GUI Editor Functionality

GUI HTML editors allow you to create Web pages in a manner similar to word-processing applications. Images, tables, hyperlinks, bookmarks can be created from drop-down menus or toolbars with ease and simplicity. The following are features offered by most GUI editors:

Templates and Wizards - Create pages with just a few mouse clicks. Select a template enter some basic information and the wizard will do the rest of the page creation for you.
Text Style Options - Alter text size, colours, fonts and formatting such as bold face, italic or centre aligned or justified paragraphs.
Inline Images - Insert, position and size graphics in your web page.
Hypertext Links - Create links to other pages and other sites. Select the target window to retain some control over where your visitors go.
Table Creation - Insert tables after selecting the desired number of rows and columns. Insert additional cells, or merge cells to get the exact layout you require.
Publish Documents to the WWW - Once your pages are complete, publish them to your hosting company's site.
Manual HTML Entry - Allow HTML entry for features not supported by the editor, or to fine tune the code generated by the editor.