Tools

The first thing to say about tools is that a word processor is not appropriate for creating HTML pages. The word processor may be useful while the text of the document is being edited, but as soon as it is ready the text should be exported to an editor specifically designed for working with HTML.

The choice of tools for writing HTML is quite wide, but there are two main types, HTML editors and text editors. HTML editors tend to focus on providing a "WYSIWYG" interface—what you see is what you get, but unfortunately this is a red herring for various reasons. For instance, browsers vary so much in how they display the same content that relying on the display in the editor can be misleading. Also these editors tend to generate code which, while not necessarily broken, may not be the ideal code for our purposes.1

A well-featured text editor help the writer to become familiar with the code and so helps when trying to spot where it's wrong. Good ones have powerful functions which make marking-up text fast and easy. There are a lot of text editors available for users of Windows PCs, such as NoteTab Pro for Windows, and BBEdit for Mac OS.

A good HTML editor should include at least these features:

  • syntax checking
  • validation of code against a given DOCTYPE
  • syntax colouring
  • easy insertion of tags with contextual commands
  • use of templates
  • code formatting options
  • soft- and hard-wrap text options

Validation tools

While some HTML editors and text editors have excellent built-in code validation, there are a couple of other options.

The W3C MarkUp Validation Service allows authors to validate web pages by entering a URL or by uploading a file to the validator. (W3C is a major body involved in developing the web.)

The Dumb Terminal HTML Validation service is another web site worth trying.

CSE HTML Validator may be a useful tool for code validation but their comparison with the W3C validator highlights several "problems" which are not actually syntactically wrong, and one statement (at least) is absolutely incorrect. It is a commercial product.

TopStyle Pro is a commercial Windows package which integrates with the W3C validator—that is it takes the page and sends it to the W3C validator for you.

1. Since first writing this page the recent versions of the heavyweights such as Dreamweaver and GoLive have improved their act to the point where they now produce much better code which complies with standards. This move was largely due to the persistent helpful criticism and badgering from the likes of The Web Standards Project and A List Apart and influenced by new accessibility laws brought in by various jurisdictions. However, I maintain that a getting up to your elbows in code is inevitable when producing the kind of pages this guide is directed at, and so while the WYSIWYG tools are now a more useful part of the workflow, a text editor is still an essential tool.