A New Perspective on Webpage Editing

excellent
key review info
application features
  • complete Web Authoring System for Linux Desktop users as well as Microsoft Windows users
  • (4 more, see all...)

Are you a web developer? If you thought - maybe just for a second - to say yes, you should keep reading. As I've noticed it's becoming a trend to put up web pages, either for personal use or for commercial purposes, I thought of presenting a piece of software that junior developers, webmasters to be, can find very useful. Most junior web developers today can't write code directly, so they use various programs that help them edit web code in a simple, intuitive manner.

So, if you hate MS FrontPage and can't afford Dreamweaver, here's a solution (a quite good one, I must add). It's called NVU (the producer says it's to be pronounced N-view, from "New View"?nicely put, really) and it is open source, built under the Mozilla Public License. I must say it's impressive, for a freeware product (then again, more and more free products such as this have appeared, and many of them not disappointing). From basic functions and features to advanced web code management, NVU has it all. It even calls on the W3C page validator and checks whether your code is valid by the Web Consortium standards.

NVU is a multi-featured XHTML editor with lots and lots of options, I have no choice but to list some of them and focus on those I found particularly interesting. The installation is as easy as 1-2-3, you'll finish it in a minute.

The interface is "classic", a tabbed window with a project manager on the left. The tabs display the normal view, html tabs, source code and preview of a webpage. You can manage several webpages at a time, also by using tabs. You can easily navigate through and preview each small change with the built-in browser (it's all about the small things, right?). The toolbars offer various types of formatting options (same old fonts, sizes, colors, alignments and other, more interesting options, such as Emphasize, Definition, Description, page relative positioning - "glue to.."). Toolbars can be customized as you please.

You can either work on a new page, or open one. The menu consists of various mini-wizards to help you add all sorts of objects (much work was put in the table management and I think this is a good thing, because HTML tables aren't the piece of cake they may seem to be). Besides tables, you'll be able to easily add various types of forms (fields, buttons, lists and so on), images, links and named anchors. There's also a spell-check option - English only, and you have a custom dictionary. The program allows you to directly manage your pages through publish options and settings.

Well, I hope you got the big picture. Moving on to what I really appreciated, I'll name stylesheet attaching (CSS editing), DTD options (defining legal blocks for advanced page validation), adding metadata (a bit of SEO, perhaps). All this is a little passed junior development, so it's interesting to try.

The program also allows adding PHP code (just as simple text, no wizard?) and it's equipped with a JavaScript console, but nothing spectacular about that. It's there, so I'm mentioning it. Preferences are really interesting, lots of options to be seen. From font customization, page settings and char set choices to proxy settings, markup validation options and special characters management and encoding. I also noticed a hint of Semantic Web in Link Properties, but I can't exactly tell whether that works for anything.

The interface is very well done for a free product. Little things - like context menus and drag and drop support - make a developer appreciate the software. I'm really impressed by the amount of things this NVU can do, it's worthy of being called multi-featured. The Help files are ok, use them when in need.

I'm quite done now, but I saved the best for last: NVU works on ALL systems: Windows, UNIX, Mac. So no matter what you're working on, you'll be free to freely use NVU. Here are my ups and downs:

The Good

NVU is a truly multi-featured, easy to use XHTML editor that can be useful to both junior and experienced web developers. Good, customizable interface, multiple wizards, CSS, XML, DTD, PHP, JavaScript support, very easy to use. Best of all, it's a free product and works on all SO, so try it out!

The Bad

Not much to be said here...I'm really trying to think of something...Perhaps a little more work on advanced features, but that's it. Well done!

The Truth

If I were to recommend a HTML editor, NVU would be in my top 3. Easy to use, well featured, good interface....and it's free! It's mainly for beginners, but more experienced Web designers won't be disappointed.

Here are some snapshots of NVU in action:

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user interface 4
features 5
ease of use 4
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent