Looking for a simple HTML text editor for Windows

Question

I'm looking for a simple free/cheap Windows text editor for a family member learning HTML. Ideally it would be as simple and non-intimidating as possible. Basically Notepad with code highlighting. Any help would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

I like HTML Kit.

Answer 2

Visual Studio 2008 Express... it's free and the HTML/JS/CSS editing is great.

Answer 3

I used NVU a while back. However, it appears Mozilla has suspended development on it (not that that means it's not still a good tool) - https://wiki.mozilla.org/NVU:Home_Page

I also use Crimson Editor

Answer 4

I like notepad++ lightweight and easy to use.

Answer 5

Notepad++ would fit the notepad + highlighting bill (and then some, but the other features won't get in the way).

But I think you may want something more specialized. Completion prompts, toolbar buttons for common tags, and an understanding of css all come to mind as being very helpful for beginners and experts alike.

With that in mind, you might try WebTide. It's freeware and seems pretty nice.

Answer 6

For a free solution, I recommend jEdit, but for a powerhouse, try IntelliJ. Both have great code completion and formatting. Also, they are scriptable.

Answer 7

I would recommend Aptana Studio. It is a full featured editor, but the extra features don't get in the way of just writing some html. My favorite feature though is the integration of a Firefox and Internet Explorer View. Just push the Firefox preview button, and you can see what it looks like and how your scripts are working,

Answer 8

I wouldn't trade my SciTE for anything else, but Notepad++ gives similar high quality syntax highlighting of compound documents (HTML/JS/PHP) with perhaps an easier/more familiar way of changing settings (plus it has some nice functionalities).

KompoZer might be a good choice if you want WYSIWYG edition without sacrifice on quality of generated code.

Answer 9

Back in the 1990s, I used Hot Dog Pro, HoTMetaL, Homesite, or Netscape Composer. Those were the glory days of HTML-specific editors. For HTML layout there was Visual Cafe, FrontPage, GoLive, and so many more. Ah, the 1990s, the halcyon days of high top fades, Jim Carrey on In Living Color, shirts that changed color based on your body heat, and fat stock portfolios for janitors.

Nowadays it's best to go with a general purpose text editor that supports syntax highlighting and plugins. Notepad++ on Windows is exceptional (and free). It's as simple as Notepad, but offers flexibility that will let your family member do more as she learns more (such as run HtmlTidy or validate XHTML).

Answer 10

Try Notepad2

Answer 11

I like notepad++ very much.Its a light weigh and with every feature you can think in a editor.

Other one is Kmodo IDE is use for the HTML editing.

Others are dreamveawer and microsoft product but they aren't light.

Answer 12

I've been using EditPlus for quite a while now. It has user defineable syntax highlighting, as well as useful HTML/CSS code snippets, multi-page searching/replacing, etc. No WYSIWYG, just the basics...but it does them extremely well. The whole program is about a 1 meg download...so it's more lightweight than notepad++...although not free ($35...but the trial technically keeps working 100%).

Answer 13

The Zeus edito does HTML syntax highlighting.

It can also do seamless FTP/SFTP editing, which is great when you have to edit a HTML page located on the web server.

Answer 14

Rapid Webpage Creator - works like the online editor at w3schools.com

• HTML, CSS and Javascript editor
• Preview at the same time
• Runs within IE offline

works nice for me and my students.

Answer 15

I like E, it is a windows clone of TextMate that works with the TextMate bundles. It is full featured supporting syntax highlighting, regular expressions, smart indenting and a host of text transformation utilities for programmers. On feature that I love is that the undo history is a tree; so if you undo a few times and make changes on top of the undo state in E you can access both branches if you need to when undoing.

"E is a new text editor for Windows, with powerful editing features and quite a few unique abilities. It makes manipulating text fast and easy, and lets you focus on your writing by automating all the manual work. You can extend it in any language, and by supporting TextMate bundles, it allows you to tap into a huge and active community"

http://www.e-texteditor.com/