CAn anybody recommend a Free,easy to use HTML editing app for a beginner?

If you'd like a free one, NVU is easy and a good entry level html editor. I have some free video tutorials showing you how to use NVU to create a site below (no signups to anything needed):

 

The Free one : ) The current DW out is I think CS3 with CS4 about to come out any minute or something. The previous one was 8.

I stand by all my comments about DW, however I have seen real professionals who still use it, either because they got started with it or were required by their companies to use it, and so already had it installed on their machines. If you already know what you're doing, you can turn all the useless "features" off and use it like a normal (if gold-covered) text editor. It does have some additional things people find useful like an FTP feature, however whether this is helpful depends on how you guys have been uploading your files all along (I use SSH).

You CAN learn to code on DW, but I wouldn't. Strongly strongly encourage you NOT to get started in that direction. Esp if you're like me-- I'm a pretty visual person, and if I'd started with a WYSIWYG (dreamweaver being just the most popular of the show-on-a-fake-browser What You See Is What You Get editor) I'd prolly never have been able to break out of the ideas you get when you think you "see" your code.

At the very least, if you choose DW, do NOT use the Desgin View (it tries to mimic browsers, real browsers that people surf with, but it cannot, as each browser is different... as deathshadow here says, we already have issues trying to get the same code to look the same between the existing browsers (IE, FF, Opera, Saffy, Konq), why add ANOTHER rendering engine to the mix?) and do not let it write any code for you (code completion, or starting with any templates).

Also, it tends to start people off with XHTML, which, while not being a Bad Thing, really depends on what your current guy is writing in and why. To tell the truth, since the dream of eXtensible HTML never became a reality, we actually still encourage HTML4.01Strict instead (yeah another thing is DW likes to default to a Transitional doctype-- there's no reason for that, stay with Strict so you learn the Right Way the First Time).

So, do what you want, but try not to make it harder for yourself by learning bad habits (always harder to undo a bad habit than to learn the right way the first time). Try to use your dreambeaver minimally (as a text editor, not a Desktop Publishing Application).

At the very least, see if you can get something like a student version or a copy from someone else. Do NOT pay $400 or whatever for a text editor. (but don't steal it either)

 

For Windows try with Editplus. On Linux you can use Gedit. Both have code highlighting and coloring features.

 

Dreamweaver is good at two stages in a programmers life, in the beginning to start at endless amounts of pointless HTML just to get a feel for the langauge, switching between the different views, and then again at the end, where server side develpment and testing is key - it's live edits over FTP are very useful when I am working on my development server - it's effectively a syntax rich auto complete text editor when you don't switch out of code.

I've previously used Notepad++ on Windows for code editing, and would highly recccomend that. In your spare time read up on HTML and PHP tutorials to get into the game - you'll never create decent code unless you sit and create it from scratch yourself.

 

May be for a beginner "Dreamweaver" is okay it is illusive. There is nothing better than hand code for professional. I have been using notepad++ for years now. It is free, it is small in size, easy UI and serves my purpose very well.

 

Dreamweaver is paid software, i have heard a lot about another software named as KOMPOSER.

 

I wouldn't recommend that KompoZer software. It looks so budget! (Although saying that I have nothing against Open Source/ Free software!)

The HTML shown in the screenshots looks clean and semantic - does it actually output clean (ish) code?

If it's reasonable code, it might be of use to a beginner - anyone else had experience with this?

 

It's not free, but Coffeecup is very affordable - way cheaper than Dreamweaver.

 

I tend to agree with Stomme poes and others who recommend against WYSIWYG editors - although for slightly different reasons.

For beginners - whether Dreamweaver, NVU or Komposer, all WYSIWYG editors have one big problem in common; they don't encourage you to code!
You design your page graphically - and hey presto! The code takes care of itself.
It's one step forward and to leaps back.

For the advanced user - I have written plenty of code, that also validates perfectly, shows up well on ie6-8, FF, Chrome, Safari, Opera... - but alas - cannot resolve properly on DW - say nothing about creating it on DW.

 

I suggest using software such as notepad + + to be more accustomed than dreamweaver and its free

 

KompoZer is a complete web authoring system that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG web page editing.

KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding.

http://kompozer.net/

 

I think people forget that dreamweaver is much more than a WYSIWYG program. I use it in "coder" mode and its great. I really like it to edit my stylesheets or debug my javascript. And I often use its helpers, like inserting a form structure real quick or picking an HTML special character. Plus it syncs well with my servers and I dont need to use any external ftp program.