Let’s face it, most people that are making web pages these days are novices. They don’t know how to program. They want to get started in web design, but don’t want to shell out too much money while they are learning. The two major webpage editors out there are Dreamweaver and Microsoft Expression Web. Neither of these are free, and are out of most people’s budget range, especially in these hard economic times.
But like almost all programs available, there is an alternative. And the free open source html editor of choice is NVU. NVU (”New View”) is a What You See Is What You Get Editor (WYSIWYG). What this means is that you can make a web page without knowing a bit of code, which makes it easy for anyone to publish a webpage.
NVU supports Windows, MAC, and Linux and here are some more of its features:
- WYSIWYG Editor – Easily turn images and design into web code
- Integrated web file management
- Easy widget maker
- Advanced handling of forms and templates
- Tables and abilities to integrate advanced code such as javascript, php, and more
- Visual code editor for easy changing of code snippets
- Actively being developed
The only downside to NVU is it was an abandoned project for some time, leaving it out of date, despite the fact that it has much more powerful and better code than Microsoft Frontpage, the predecessor to Expressions Web. Luckily, a new owner has picked up the project and is actively promoting and developing the software, so it is only a matter of time before this great web editor is up to par with the other commercial editors.
One more feature is if you purchase webhosting or domain registration through them and Dotster.com, not only do you get 15% off but 5% of the purchase goes to the NVU project to continue its support and make it better.
In conclusion, NVU is a great product for the new user, but more advanced users will probably want to move up to Dreamweaver or Expressions Web, because they have more advanced features.
