Whenever I have had to write HTML for a webpage I’m working on, I have always used this online real-time HTML editor. But therein lies the problem – it’s online and if your internet connection blinks out for a while, you are obviously unable to use it. So I wanted an offline standalone application that could help me to write my HTML if I didn’t have an internet connection. I wanted it to be free and easy to use, as well as having a WYSIWYG interface (What You See Is What You Get) You couldn’t begin to imagine how difficult that made it finding something to fit all those conditions.

I finally found “First Page 2006” which is developed by a company called Evrsoft. It does a good job, especially the two paned windows so as soon as you input HTML at the top, you can see a few seconds later underneath what it looks like.

You can also specify particular features you would like and First Page automatically generates the HTML for you and inserts it into the document at the right place. So if you want a particular colour in the background or a particular font style, just input everything into the program and the HTML will be automatically generated for you. This is particularly handy if you are not a big HTML whiz and you are not sure which tag to use.

But the real killer here is the ability to generate instant scripts and have them automatically inserted in, including javascript and pop-up windows. But that’s not all – you can also make tables, anchors, meta tags, scroll bars, photo galleries and java applets – all at the click of a button. You can then use the program’s FTP function to upload everything to your domain.

Do you have another preferred program which is similar to First Page?

Tagged: html • webdesign • webmaster tools • WYSIWYG editors