HTML Editor Reviews

EdWin

[Overview] [Scope] [Comparison Matrix] [Term Definitions] [Main Menu] [Home] [Davis Interactive]
[Comparison Table]

EdWin 2.1- Mike Sutton

Found: http://www.vantek.net/pages/msutton/edwin.htm

Overview:

Win NT/95 and Window 3.1
Stand alone program
Text Style
No HTML checking
Very Stable
Score = C
Shareware: USD$ $35.00
Screen Shot
User Comments

Nice features found in this package include:

Unique button bar: This package includes a unique button bar at the top of the window. The button bar is made up of tabbed sections which which will present a different set of button bars depending on which tab is selected. This allows the package to support a large number of buttons in the least amount of real-estate. See the screen shot.
Project manager: The package includes a "project manager" which will keep track of related pages. The 32 bit version I looked at was quirky however, and did not work as expected. Selecting from the list would produce an error about not finding the selected file name, and display the file the program was attempting to load. The name would only be a portion of the file name, which would indicate the program was corrupting its own list somehow. (Note: the 16 bit version may work).
Support current Netscape 2.0 and Internet Explore tags: This package includes support the HTML 3.0 and the new extensions from Netscape and Explorer. However, I did not find support for the applet tags needed for JAVA.
Right button support for attributes: Click the right mouse button brings up a list of all the attributes the package recognizes and can insert. Unfortunately, this list is not context sensitive, so you always get a list of all attributes.

Missing/Poorly Implemented Features:

Minimal help: The help file (32 bit version was reviewed) has large sections blank including block tags, forms, tables, and many of the basic HTML concepts. Obviously, this is an early version of the help file, but this is unacceptable in a package which has the 2.1 version label.
No menus for tags: The button bars are very useful, but menus are essential for showing shortcuts keys and to provide an alternative to the graphic buttons which might not be always intuitive (some people even prefer to read a menu item).
Common features expected today: Edwin is missing some of the common features found in most editors today, including table designers and dialogs for inserting images which include attributes. This package currently provides a quick way to enter tags, but relies on the user to know how to build the structure and attributes of the complex ones.

Conclusion:

The unique handling of button bars is an outstanding feature. However, the overall package falls short in every other area. Although it does support some of the latest extensions, it fails to provide anything above simple tag entry. Only an experienced author who is very familiar with all the tags and attributes, would feel at home in this package. The developers need to build on the button bar and provide context sensitive attribute editing, dialogs to simplify entry of complex structures, and learn from the current leading contemporaries. I like the feel of the interface, but hope the package reaches out in the future to become more than it currently is.

[Home] [Top]

Carl's Logo This page is brought to you by: Carl Davis