Editing mobile websites shouldn’t have to cost money. Recently I have been hunting around for free HTML editors and free WYSIWYG HTML editors. I decided to compile a list and divide it into two parts.
The first one is a list of free WYSIWYG HTML editors which are ideal for someone who decides to create a website but really doesn’t know how to or has any coding experience. WYSIWYG editors are computer programs that allow you to create web pages without any technical knowledge needed. Whatever you see on your screen is how your webpage is going to be displayed after you publish it. What You See Is What You Get.
The second part is a list of free HTML editors which are perfect for professional designers. They make a living out of creating websites for others. They need to know HTML and CSS by heart in order to produce the desired result. As much as they use HTML editors, they also use WYSIWYG editors to create web pages because some designers (like myself) enjoy looking at how the website will look. Looking at code all day is boring.
Free WYSIWYG HTML Editors
KompoZer
KompoZer is a free WYSIWYG html editor. It’s an open source program that complies with the W3C’s standard and your pages are created according to HTML 4.01 and strict CSS for styling.
BlueGriffon
BlueGriffon is based on Gecko, which is the rendering engine used by Firefox. The program also complies with W3C’s web standard supporting CSS 2.1 and pages are created according to HTML 4, XHTML 1.0, HTML 5, and XHTML 5. The program has been awarded for Innovation during the Demo cup 2010 Open World Forum.
Aloha
Aloha is also a free WYSIWYG HTML editor that was released in 2010. It came out after the other editors but the program promises to address common problems encountered with the long-running editors. It does not require browser specific editing as the webpages are created to be compatible across major browsers such as IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera.
NetObjects Fusion
NetObjects Fusion could be the easiest and the fastest way to build a professional-looking website. Its main feature is its drag and drop website layout and capable of producing mobile friendly websites.
Trellian WebPage
Trellian WebPage is a free WYSIWYG editor that also uses drag and drop interface. It has a built-in spellchecker and capable of creating search engine friendly pages. It also creates pages that are compatible to modern browsers.
Best Free HTML Editors
HTML – Kit
Although some of HTML-Kit features come with a cost, the freeware has almost everything you will need to build a professional-looking website. It is designed to edit, format, validate, preview, and publish your webpages in HTML, XHTML, and XML languages.
BlueFish
BlueFish is a favorite of most developers. It is so easy to learn while it provides a lot of features to support the development of your website. It is available for major platforms such as Windows and Mac OSX.
Quanta Plus
Quanta Plus is capable of providing both WYSIWYG and HTML editors for HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML, and PHP. The program is easy to configure to your specific needs.
Now I can say X is my favorite or Y is the easiest but you really have to try them for yourself. I do use Kompozer and have an old copy of Dreamweaver I still use.
Do you use any of these free tools for your sites?
