Free WYSIWYG editors

He has: 688 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

I know similar topics have been discussed here before but they always veered off on the tangent of learning html.

I only hand code using editPad Lite. I swear by it. But a friend of mine with zero webauthoring experience (and no desire to learn details) wants to put together a small family website. I can help get them set up and teach them FTP but they will need to be able to add/build content on their own. Can anybody recommend any FREE WYSIWYG webpage editors for people who don't want to learn any html at all? They like stuff to be as simple (and limiting) as the building tools found on Geocities.

Depending on what you recommend, I want to encourage them to use the php file extention so that they can have includes to header/footer/menu files. WIll that screw up some of these "baby" editors?

:martian:

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

It's an unreasonable request. It takes a lot more resources to provide options and buttons and functions than a text editor. They should invest in Dreamweaver if they don't want to learn anything (and perhaps a more open mind).

That said -- if you're building it for them, you can create a CMS that will minimize their exposure, or use something like pmachine.com that does that for you. But it's not free.

Try moveable type or another content management system that allows for "no knowledge".

Though frankly that's like putting someone in a voice activated car who's never driven on a highway before. It's not the voice activation that's the problem, it's the ignorance of the experience they find themselves in.

Abhishek Reddy's picture

He has: 3,348 posts

Joined: Jul 2001

http://www.nvu.com/ -- there is a Windows version
Mozilla Composer

I agree with Suzanne, though. It'll still be difficult to squeeze out a satisfactory site.

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