Commonly known as an HTML editor, a web editor is a software program designed to create and edit web pages, generally creating in HTML, the markup language for web pages.
There are three types of web editors appropriate for this category. These are WYSIWYG editors, non-WYSIWYG editors, and template-based editors. A newer form of WYSIWYG editors, known as WYSIWYM editors, may also be listed here.
WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get, and the goal of a WYSIWYG editor is to allow a user to design a website visually, allowing its content to be edited in a form that resembles what it will look like when displayed online in a web browser. A WYSIWYG editor features a user interface that allows the user to view something similar to the end result, and to do so while the web page is being created. Although many WYSIWYG editors also allow for direct HTML coding, the focus of the editor is to allow the user to create or edit the page without expertise in HTML, often using drag-and-drop features or by selecting components from a menu.
Examples of WYSIWYG editors include Adobe Dreamweaver, BlueGriffon, NetObjects Fusion, and Sandvox.
A newer alternative to WYSIWYG editors are WYSIWYM editors, for What You See Is What You Mean. Rather than focusing on the format or presentation of the web page being created, a WYSIWYM editor preserves the intended meaning of each element. With this type of editor, elements such as page headers, sections, paragraphs, and so on are labeled as such in the editing program and displayed appropriately in the web browser.
In a WYSIWYM editor, the user writes the contents in a structured way, marking the content according to its meaning and its significance in the document, leaving its final appearance to one or more stylesheets, in effect allowing the user to concentrate on the content.
At this point, there aren't very many dedicated WYSIWYM editors, although some vendors have integrated WYSIWYM featured into their WYSIWYM products. The WYMeditor is an example of a WYSIWYM editor.
Although most web editors, particularly the WYSIWYG editors, include galleries of templates that can be used to help users get started with their products, some web editors are template-based. An example of a template-based editor is RapidWeaver, produced by Realmac Software.
Non-WYSIWYG editors require users to code the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and any other languages or scripts required by a web page, although many of these editors will provide shortcuts and other featured designed to make the job easier. Editors designed for the creation of web pages will usually provide syntax highlighting, and may also include keyboard shortcuts that a user can use to quickly insert HTML elements and structures. Other features may include wizards, prompts, auto-completion functions, and tools such as version control, link-checking, validation, code cleanup and formatting, and uploading of the completed product via FTP or another means.
Well-known examples of non-WYSIWYG editors include Arachnophilia, Coda, CoffeeCup, and UltraEdit.
Some web editors are more of a hybrid, requiring users to supply the code, but including a facility that allows the user to view the page as it would appear in a browser. In these editors, there will usually be a field for the insertion of HTML code, and another window that displays the page as it would appear in a browser. Other features might include palette windows, dialog boxes, or widgets for selecting various options.
Not every piece of software that can be used to create a webpage is appropriate in this category, however.
Webpages may be created in a regular text editor or in an editor designed for programming. Unless the editor is designed specifically for HTML or website creation, a more appropriate category would be the Text & Code Editors category.
Similarly, a significant portion of the websites on the Internet was created through a content management system (CMS) or blogging platform. However, the Content Management Systems category or the Blogs category would be more specific for these types of applications, and online editors, such as Weebly, are listed in the Web Design & Development category. The most appropriate category for any resource is the one that is most specific to its content.
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Created by Macromedia in 1997, Dreamweaver has been an Adobe product since 2005. Previously available for purchase, the product is currently offered by a SaaS subscription model, alone or packaged with other Adobe products. The proprietary web design and development program serves as an integrated development environment that uses both a visual design surface (Live View) and a code editor. Its features and support services are outlined.
https://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver.html
Founded in 1998, Akmin develops software for web purposes, including SiteGalore and WebsiteForever. SiteGalore is a white-labeled, do-it-yourself website building solution used by ISPs, telecommunications companies, and service providers, and WebsiteForever is a portal solution for ISPs and telecom providers, the default landing page designed to engage customers. The company also develops DeepConnect, which provides a touchpoint with active subscribers.
https://www.akmin.com/
Created by Paul Lutus in 1996, Arachnophilia is a webpage development and general programming tool. Originally written for Microsoft Windows, as a protest against various Microsoft policies and behaviors, it was rewritten as a Java program. As a Java program, it will run on almost any computer platform and is available as CareWare, which is defined on the site, along with user documentation, installation and troubleshooting tips, bug reports, and a FAQ.
https://www.arachnoid.com/arachnophilia/
Based on the discontinued Nvu editor, and powered by Gecko, the rendering engine of the Firefox browser, BlueGriffon is a WYSIWYG web editor that runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems. Supporting HTML4, XHTML, HTML5, and XHTML5, as well as CSS, BlueGriffon also includes SVG-edit, an editor for SVG that has been adapted to BlueGriffon. A version without the CSS stylesheet is free, while the full version may be purchased online.
http://www.bluegriffon.org/
Operating on a Windows platform, BlueVoda is a website creation software that requires no HTML web design knowledge, using drag and drop technologies and predesigned website templates and no restrictions on the number of websites that can be created with it. An image library includes free logos, templates, webpage background images, and web headers, as well as video tutorials. Customer testimonials are posted to the site, and the software may be downloaded.
http://www.bluevoda.com/
The web design and development application features a drag-and-drop interface, fully responsive and customizable templates, and several other components for building responsive pages, such as headers, footers, galleries, slideshows, and basic elements like spans and divs, as well as real-time preview features, and the ability to design in code or to import and edit CSS, SASS, JavaScript, and HTML within its Sublime Text-like editor. Tutorials and a discussion forum are included.
https://bootstrapstudio.io/
Developed by Panic Inc., Coda is a proprietary web development program for the macOS. Although not a WYSIWYG editor, Coda does include a built-in preview, allowing users to preview the results of their coding at any time. The editor supports the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar operations and also features vertical indentation guides, a customizable column guide, and color-coded traditional or visual tabs. A site’s CSS can be overridden within Coda’s Preview. It is available by purchase.
https://www.panic.com/coda/
Founded in 1996 in a coffeeshop in Corpus Christi, Texas, the company is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, from where it develops and markets a large number of web products, its flagship product being the CoffeeCup HTML Editor, others including an HTML & CSS Code Editor, Responsive Design Pack, Site Designer, Responsive Email Designer, and Form Designer, including a free and commercial HTML editor. Its products, services, and special offers are highlighted.
https://www.coffeecup.com/
Licensed as proprietary, commercial software, the web-based WYSIWYG text editor is a platform-independent, web-based JavaScript and HTML text editor available through three license options: Basic, Pro, and Enterprise. The editor includes access to more than a hundred and seventy Bootstrap-based responsive design blocks, which are free to be used in web or mobile projects. The features of the editor and the design blocks are highlighted, and a JavaScript Page Builder is included.
https://www.froala.com/
GrapesJS is an open-source, multi-purpose, web builder framework that combines various tools and features to build HTML templates without expertise in coding. Designed to be a replacement for the common WYSIWYG editors, which are good for content editing but not for creating HTML structures, GrapesJS allows the user to build their own editors. Its features include built-in drag-and-drop blocks, a style manager, and an asset manager. The code may be accessed if desired.
https://grapesjs.com/
Developed by Chami, HTML-Kit is a Windows-based proprietary HTML editor that includes features for editing, validating, previewing, and publishing web pages. Previews are available in full-screen or split-screen, and previewing may be done as the user edits HTML5, Markdown, LESS, and other file types. The current version is available for purchase online, a trial version may be downloaded from the site, and the previous version is available for free. A discussion forum is included.
http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
HTML-Notepad is a WYSIWYG editor for structured documents, which are texts that have hierarchical and semantically meaningful structures, such as headers, plain-text islands, tables, and so on. Not intended for creating full-featured websites, the editor uses Sciter Engine for its UI, allowing it to work on all major desktop operating systems. The program consists of only two files, the executable and the Sciter DLL. Although installation is not required, installation packages are available.
https://html-notepad.com/
Created by Blumentals Solutions SIA, HTMLPad is an all-in-one HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code editor with several features and tools for creating, editing, validating, reusing, navigating, and deploying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, which includes CSS studio and a powerful JavaScript editor. HTML5 and CSS3 ready, the program operates on the Microsoft Windows platform. Other web code editors offered by Blumentals are compared, side-by-side, and may also be purchased.
https://www.htmlpad.net/
Originally released in 1995, NetObjects Fusion is a web design tool that uses a graphical user interface to generate HTML or XHTML through its own proprietary database. NOF uses a WYSIWYG visual design environment, in which users can drag and drop text, graphics, and multimedia into place, with no coding expertise required. Currently available for Windows only, the software’s features are highlighted on its site, along with its other products, support services, and a blog.
http://netobjects.com/
Published by Element Technologie, openElement is a freeware web design and authoring program. Powered by Chromium, the application runs on Microsoft Windows, with a promise of being ported to Linux and Mac in the near future. Supporting HTML5 and CSS, the editor creates sites with responsive design, and offers easy integration of scripts, the creation and sharing of elements, image and code optimization, and multilingual websites. A community forum is included.
https://www.openelement.com/
Pinegrow is a Linux, Mac, and Windows web editor that creates responsive websites with live multi-page editing, CSS and SASS styling, a CSS grid editor, and components for Bootstrap, Foundation, and WordPress. As a downloadable and installable program, sites can be built offline, saving standard HTML and CSS files rather than a proprietary file format that may one day become inaccessible. Available through an annual license or as a one-time payment.
https://pinegrow.com/
Not specifically an HTML editor, the Quick ’n Easy WebBuilder is a visual website generator with outputs for HTML4, XHTML, and HTML5, allowing sites to be built using drag-and-drop features, along with form layout objects, form fields, and validation tools, producing responsible web design based on CSS media queries. Available for the Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems, the application may be purchased online, and a 30-day trial period is included.
http://www.quickandeasywebbuilder.com/
The UK-based software company’s main product is RapidWeaver, a template-based web editor that has been on the market since 2004, although it has others, such as Squash, an image compression app. RapidWeaver may be purchased from the site, which also includes video and text tutorials, a community support forum, training courses, and suggestions for hosting services. Other resources include an overview of its affiliate program, a blog, and a newsletter.
https://www.realmacsoftware.com/
Featuring a free online website editor, accessible to those who host their site with Site123. With no need for knowledge of HTML or coding, the program creates sites that are responsive to all screen sizes. Offering free hosting, as well as premium hosting plans, the premium hosting plan includes free domain registration. Various search engine optimization tools are also provided, and additional resources may be purchased from its online store. Its pricing plans are highlighted.
http://www.site123.com/
Available 24/7, Template Monster has been in business since 2002, specializing in website templates, including WordPress themes and plugins, e-commerce themes made for a variety of platforms, CMS templates for Drupal, Joomla, and MotoCMS 3, which may be purchased individually or through an unlimited download plan. Also available are website templates with a drag and drop builder, and premium graphics, and marketing, design, and development services.
https://www.templatemonster.com/
Specializing in CMS, e-commerce, and web templates, Template World includes WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and MotoCMS 3 CMS templates, e-commerce templates based on a variety of platforms, including Magento, PrestaShop, Shopify, WooCommerce, osCommerce, OpenCart, VirtueMart, ZenCart, X-Cart, and MotoCMS e-commerce templates. Web templates include responsive templates and those based on Bootstrap and HTML5, and others. Purchases may be made online.
https://www.templateworld.com/
Developed by Lauyan Software, TOWeb is a template-based website creator made particularly for small businesses, clubs, associations, and individuals who want to create a website quickly without technical knowledge. Its features include responsive design, WYSIWYG content editing, several templates to choose from, and a CSS3-based theme editor. Supported are e-commerce solutions, SEO-friendly pages, multiple languages, and the ability to be published to any web host.
https://www.lauyan.com/
Although UltraEdit also supports programming in Unix shell scripts, C++, PL/SQL, and Visual Basic, its primary purpose if programming for the web, offering features for HTML, PHP, CSS, and SAS. Compatible with the Linux, macOS, and Windows platforms, the editor includes native FTP, an SFTP browser, and an SSH/telnet console, as well as a fully integrated file compare, allowing for a visual diff of entered code. It is available by purchase, subscription, or as part of a suite.
https://www.ultraedit.com/
Available through a personal, professional, or team license, WeBuilder is developed by Blumentals Solutions SIA, which also offers other web development products, compatible with the Microsoft Windows operating system. The all-in-one code builder is designed for web developers, offering features for the creation and management of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Python, ASP, SSI, and Perl code. Its features, screenshots, prices, and support options are stated.
https://www.webuilderapp.com/
Made for macOS and iOS, both of which are sold separately, Wolf 2 is a website editor and builder that is integrated with the Bootstrap Framework, generating responsive layouts that display appropriately on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. The desktop version uses drag-and-drop features, while the mobile edition uses tap-and-pan. Demos of its features are available online, and purchases may be made from the Apple App Store. User guides and videos are available.
https://wolf.aidaluu.com/
The WYMeditor is an open-source, web-based WYSIWYM text editor designed for editing content on web pages. Unlike WYSIWYG editors, it explicitly shows the XHTML structure of the content to the user, and to conform to the W3C XHTML specifications. Licensed under the GNU General Public License or the MIT License, it may be freely downloaded from the site. Its features are highlighted, and a demo is available. A list of applications using WYMeditor is included.
http://www.wymeditor.org/
Available for recent versions of the Microsoft Windows platform, a 30-day trial version of the software may be downloaded from the site, after which the payment of a license fee is required. Featuring tools for beginners and professional designers and developers, the web editor builds responsive websites and supports web fonts, animations, pre-made blocks, form tools, images, and other media, icon libraries, navigation tools, and hundreds of extensions are available.
https://www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com/
