Subhash's Guide to HTML Editors

Features of Good HTML Editors

1. Instant preview, at least in two browsers.
2. Easy navigability between various HTML files. A directory tree on one corner cold do miracles.
3. Should be able to open multiple documents at one go. Tabbed interface is also great.
4. Real-time tag coloring.
5. An integrated color-value tool.
6. An integrated image mapping tool.
7. A good table wizard.
8. A good help file explaining various tags.
9. There should be provision for inserting various 'HTML Special Characters'.
10. Provision for making a page with frames.
11. HTML-aware spell checking utility.
12. 'Refresh from Disk' option. This is particularly useful when you are using multiple programs to edit your page.
13. The <IMG> tag should be inserted with image dimensions. There should be live preview while selecting the image to be inserted. Before inserting the selected image you should be able to experiment with various dimensions.
14. Ability to create custom buttons in toolbar.
15. Support user defined keyboard short-cuts to insert tags, code, etc.
16. Should use common Windows short-cut keys. Example:
• Ctrl+o
• Ctrl+TAB
• Ctrl+a
17. Should have extensive support for JavaScript & Cascading Style Sheets. Other newer concepts and server side programming components like XML, PHP, Server Side Includes, ASP, etc. should be supported, either through plugin architecture or directly.
18. 'Open from the web' & 'Save to the Web' features should be available. A fullfledged FTP client can also be bundled.