- From: Charles F. Munat <charles@munat.com>
- Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 10:18:15 -0700
- To: <webmaster@dors.sailorsite.net>, "'David Clark'" <dmclark@cast.org>
- Cc: "'Web Accessibility Initiative'" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Bruce wrote: "In the meantime, I am curious how ColdFusion Studio compares to that other HTML editor that I have heard good (i.e., accessible) things about, HoTMetaL Pro. Has anyone on this list compared both? Which did you pick and why? Is ColdFusion Studio's main advantage that it can naturally be extended to work with a server product (ColdFusion)?" Reply: First, if you don't need the power of the Cold Fusion markup language/server, then you should be looking at HomeSite. HomeSite is Cold Fusion Studio without the Cold Fusion. Compared to HotMetal Pro, well, there is no comparison. I shelled out hard cash for HotMetal Pro back when I first started coding (after rejecting FrontPage in less than a week). I ended up using Notepad. HotMetal Pro was so slow, so aggravating (it changed my code without my permission) that I actually preferred Notepad. A couple of months later, I downloaded a trial version of CF Studio 3.1. In less than a day I was hooked. In fact, I found it so useful that I actually experienced a high (a rush, if you will) when I used it. Now, I can't imagine writing HTML without it. Best $300 I ever spent. I've tried HomeSite and it is virtually identical. The new 4.0 versions have a sort of WYSIWYG mode, though I don't know why anyone would ever need it. You can hand code so easily in HomeSite. All tags are nicely color coded. You can toggle a tag completion feature that allows you to simply hit enter after the first few characters and HomeSite will do the rest. As you space for the first attribute, HomeSite gives you a list of choices, same thing when you're looking for values. Most importantly, HomeSite (CFS) NEVER reformats my code without my knowledge. If I do something wrong, it will warn me, but it never forces me to change it. There's a very good validator. You can check all your links easily. There's global find and global search/replace WITH regular expressions. I use these features daily. You can organize your work in projects, upload to a remote server (FTP included), share projects with version control, etc. The list goes on and on. The program is very savvy, and pretty much up-to-date with HTML 4.0 and CSS1. I expect that the next release will include XML, CSS2, and more. Best of all, if you're really serious, you can adapt the HomeSite environment to your needs. It is almost infinitely adaptable to the serious programmer. I highly recommend it. Download a trial version from http://www.allaire.com and check it out. (Note: I was so turned off by HotMetal Pro 4.0 that I haven't tried their latest version. It might be better. And the HotMetal folks have shown a great interest in accessibility.) Charles Munat
Received on Monday, 18 October 1999 13:20:25 UTC