HTML Editor Reviews

FlexED

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FlexED V1.7

Found: http://www.infoflex.com.au/flexed.htm

Overview:

• Windows 95, 3.1, NT (FlexEd32 was tested)
• Stand alone program
• Text Style
• No HTML checking or validating
• Very Stable
• Shareware: 30 day trial $29 Australian (conversion to USD??)
• Screen Shot
• User Comments

Nice features found in this package include:

Nice combination of button bar and tabbed buttons.

FlexED combines standard button bars and a special tabbed button list (I use list, because the buttons are text not icons) to form a very useful interface (see the screen shot). The button bars are dockable around the perimeter of the screen or can float. The tabbed list separates all the supported tags into several categories (document, text, form, list, and custom), which switch the buttons when the tab is selected. Other editors use this approach, however I especially like the combination of the traditional button bar with the tabbed button list. This places typical tags (like headings and horizontal rules) always available and still allows a comprehensive button. Everything can be only a mouse click away.

Built in previewer which handles tables.

FlexED include a capable viewer which handles tables. In addition, it supports DDE with Netscape Navigator. You will need to select a menu item to update your preview window. This extra step seems unnecessary because the program updated the window very quickly and probably could keep up with normal editing actions. However, this does allow the user to keep checking back to a previous iteration while finishing changes.

Simple table editor and easy to use Frame editor

The package includes a basic table editor where you can fill in a matrix of cells. Unfortunately, it does not allow the user to edit existing tables in the document. The frame editor combines several common frame layouts and alleviates the need to understand the nuances of frame syntax. A nice addition is the "new frame.." entry on the File menu. This will be bonus to new frame users who may forget that frame pages don't use a standard HTML document layout.

Built in client side image map editor.

A simple image map editor, which supports only rectangular hot spots, is also included. This tool is targeted at client-side image maps and will not create ".map" files.

Tag attribute "editor" dialogs

FlexED includes a feature I wish more editors did. Double clicking on a tag will bring up an "editor" for the tag's attributes. For example, double clicking on the BODY tags brings up a dialog for the background image and color selections (which can be quickly inserted using a drop down color picker).

You can add new tags to the tabbed button bar

You can add your own tags (or just text to insert) to the tabbed button list on the screen. I always appreciate being able to add commonly used text or new tags (FlexED doesn't support DIV for some reason).

Other features

FlexED includes a good right button pop-up menu (including cut, copy, delete). In addition, the help file includes a simple reference to HTML. The syntax color highlighting reacted very quickly.

Missing/Poorly Implemented Features:

Missing a few tags.

I found a few tags which were missing that I use often. The DIV is the most obvious. However the PARAM tag was a curious omission because FlexED supports the APPLET tag.

Color coding implementation.

Although this is a design decision on the developers part, I did not like the way ending tags were color coded. Only the <, /, and > characters were colored with the text remaining black. This might have been done to visually separate the beginning and end tags, but defeats the reason I use color coding in the first place (a different color for end tags would be better).

Conclusion:

FlexED is an easy to use editor with a simple user interface. As advertised in the help file, you will be able to quickly create your homepage using this application. The tag editor will help users who aren't familiar with all the options and formats (especially when adding color to FONT, BODY, and TD elements!) However, it is missing some "power" user features that are expected in high end editor (spelling checker, publishing tools, macros). However, looking at the price, it does not pretend to be targeted at the professionals. A good editor for most uses and using some of the newer ideas to come out (Frames and applets). For beginners who are looking for a text based editor, this might be a place to start.

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