Ok, this is the question. I know, it isnt' really related to Win ME, but hopefully the tech dudes will let it fly. To those of you who have done your own web pages or sites, or do them professionally - Is there any intrinsic value in coding with HTML as opposed to using a WYSIWYG web authoring tool such as Dreamweaver, FrontPage, or similar? It seems that hand coding is very tedious and time consuming as opposed to using a drop and drag tool. My theory is why do it the hard way when there is an easier way? Or is there some other reason that I don't know about to use HTML? I can understand the need to understand it and use if needed for corrections or something. Years ago I learned programming with Fortan and Cobol (before PC's - I am telling my age here) and I remember that one missed comma or period or wrong character would bring the entire program to a grinding halt. Is it the same with HTML? The reason I'm asking is that I am taking a (free) class at Barnes&Noble Univ. for creating web sites and most of the people, who are beginners like myself, are using HTML raw code. I am using CoolPage which is pretty easy to use and learn. Will post my homepage URL when it is finished. Thanks.

It's more of a personal preference thing. I personally use a program called 1st page (www.evrsoft.com) Exclent program. It's a program that allows you to code by hand, but it uses different colors to show different tags. I also think that HTML coded by hand allows you to keep tighter control of you web page and also keeps you source code clean. When I'm browsing the web some times I'll notice something about a page so I go to the source code, I read through it and pick up new little tricks. I would highly recommend using HTML rather than WYSIWYG

There is no intrinsic value in coding HTML unless it affords you an ecstatic mystical experience and makes you see visions like St. Theresa. Otherwise it's good to know just for tweaking and above all so that if something isn't working right you can examine the code and understand why. I use Dreamweaver 4 and it is VERY nice. The fact is, it's almost harder to learn how to master a wysiwyg than it is HTML, more complex, in my opinion. The purists out there might like writing code in hand but decadent sluggards like me prefer GUIs.

boojum - I think that you got it right. I guess I am a decadent sluggard (LOL) also. I want to get Dreamweaver 4 and learn it - that is my next goal. Question about Dreamweaver - when you are laying out your page with text, tables, graphics, etc., does it show you exactly what it will look like when published on the web? CoolPage has a preview feature that shows exactly what it will look like, on one's own brower anyway. Am I correct in that Dreamweaver is the same? That is the definition of WYSISWYG, right? Thanks.

Im not familiar with cool pages but i am familiar with Dreamweaver and other web authoring utilities. I use hand coded html and javascript along with dreamweaver. My favorite beginners program was NetObjects Fusion. Very easy to use and manage your site. For the typical home page builder this is more than enough but not as flexible as Dreamweaver and Notepad. I think they were purchased and dont offer the product anylonger. Everyone building a website should atleast learn the basics of html, the rest can be searched for when its needed at google. That class at barnes and nobles sounds like the ideal place to learn. I dont think one is better than the other. I think you should use whatever works for you. The most important thing is creating a logical system for storing files and folders so that uploading them is an effortless task. Good Luck.

Yes, dreamweaver has a preview where it will launch the browser of your choice and you can see what the page will look like (all you do is press F12 and the browser boots right up, very slick). The biggest advantage of a wysiwyg (at least with dreamweaver 4) is the ease of creating complicated page layouts with tables. Dreamweaver has a mode wherein you can just draw the tables out and the cells etc. Very intuitive and a huge advantage over the Excel type maze you fall into with other editors when trying to create page layouts through tables. What really converted me to a wysiwyg, and dreamweaver 4 in particular, was the ability to draw page layouts like a pen on paper. You just draw them with your mouse. I am just too lazy and impatient to learn how to lay out a page using Excel type rows and columns. It hurts my brain. But Shutmeupordown is right, it's subjective and personal. Whatever works for you.

Shutmeupordown is also right about the need to learn basic html. There's really no excuse not to, it's not a difficult programming language. It's one of the few programming languages that actually makes a little bit of sense in the real world. P stands for Paragraph, B for bold. Imagine that.