Editing HTML Website

[Mechanic]

Hi

Is there an easy way to edit a HTML website?

As I look at it now its just lots of words and tags,I can change words here and there but after that id only mess it up.Say if i wanted to add a new column or box somewhere i wouldn't have a clue,id love to be able to do this myself!!!

Thanks in advance

[BusinessIdeas]

You need a wysiwyg editor nvu is a free one, similar to frontpage

http://www.net2.com/nvu/download.html

[Mechanic]

Hi

Thanks.......but how do I know which to download, the exe or zip...or other?

Is it easy to use.....say for a computer dummy like me? :)

[DanHarrison]

You can make odd changes, etc, without damaging the website. However, before you get too stuck in, I do thoroughly recommend you backup all files before you make any changes.

If you need a reference, I recommend http://www.w3schools.com/ for free HTML (and other web technology) advice.

Dan

[themobilephonesite]

yea..its highly recommended to back up your site first, so if you do make mistakes you can restore your site.

[JMCDesigner]

You want to do it as a hobby or what? Like Dan said THE best place to go to learn actual HTML is the w3c schools. Or you could set up something like a wordpress website, then updating it is far easier than having to mess with html.

[FireFleur]

If you want to learn HTML and a bit more, then one of the best books is Dynamic HTML (http://library.poisedsolutions.com/coding/browser/dynamic-html-the-definitive-reference.xhtml) , but it is a large book and covers CSS and JavaScript it is a sort of bible for most web developers, and it is a reference rather than a tutorial.

If you want something that will hold your hand a bit, then Teach Yourself HTML (http://library.poisedsolutions.com/coding/browser/teach-yourself-html.xhtml) is a good one, that is the one I often give to clients so they can make alteration and just gain an appreciation of HTML.

On the whole HTML is not hard, it is just a markup language, and markup is actually all over the show, in word processors and other document tools, but it is normally hidden and you get an immediate representation. If you think how you would do it though, you would need some way of defining a start point and an end point, and that is all that it does really.

Here's a diagram from a site I have in production at the moment:

http://html.poisedsolutions.com/img/anatomy-of-an-html-tag.png

[cruisery]

The principal theatre of action in your free website template is the index.htm file and you can use a WYSIWYG editor, an HTML editor or any old plain text editor to edit it.
WYSIWYG editor ~ If you want to edit your index.htm file the easy way (but you won't learn anything) then just use Composer which is a WYSIWYG editor that comes free with the Seamonkey or Netscape browser packages. Please see Seamonkey or Netscape users for more info.
HTML or text editor ~ If you want to get a little more serious about web designing then I suggest you edit your template's HTML source code directly. You can do this with any text editor like Windows Notepad. To open and edit your template in Notepad, do the following:
1. Go to the directory to which you extracted the contents of the template zip file.
2. Right click on index.htm
3. Click on Open with Notepad
OR
1. Go to the directory to which you extracted the contents of the template zip file.
2. Hold down the Shift key and then right-click on index.htm
3. Click on Open With...
4. Select Notepad in the list of programs
5. Click OK.
Please see What to Edit in the Template HTML for a complete tutorial on what to edit in the HTML source code. You can also peruse this list of free HTML editors for an alternative to Notepad.

[KM-Tiger]

If this is a business site and you have a business need to alter the content from time to time, then, much as learning html could well be fun, you should perhaps consider having your site in a CMS (Content Management System) so that making changes is quick and easy, and could also be done by others.

Many use Wordpress for exactly that reason. Joomla and Drupal are other possibilities, and there are lots more that you can compare at www.cmsmatrix.org.

[tomsk]

Hi
,id love to be able to do this myself!!!

Thanks in advance

Have you taken a look on youtube? some good stuff on there if you look through.

[CannyInvestor]

Google offers free web-hosting, and you don't have to meddle with the HTML if you don't want to as they make it easy for you.

Jut go to Google and search for Gears, and choose their free package rather than their paid package.