But what can you do if you do not know how to create a HTML document? You could use an HTML editor or, if you just need to turn a plain text file into HTML, use the free software Text2HTML.

You should not expect wonders though. Text2HTML is as basic as it gets. More about that later.

When you start the portable software you will notice several configuration options at the top of the window. Here you can change the background and text color and the font size of the HTML document. And that’s it.

No title, headings, images or other features are supported by the application. The program displays a preview of how the text will look like in the HTML document.

To convert text documents all you need to do is to drag and drop files or entire folders with files into the program interface.

Text2HTML will list all files in its interface. All that’s left to do now is to click on the Make HTML button to turn all listed text documents into HTML documents. The file is created in the same directory as its source text document.

Please note that the program supports HTML tags in those documents. If you know your way around HTML you could add formatting options directly to the documents. The more you work on the documents this way the less helpful the software becomes on the other hand.

Text2HTML is a handy program for users who do not know HTML but need to create HTML documents, for instance to publish them in the company Intranet or on the Internet. If the provided options are not sufficient you could look at free HTML editors such as BlueGriffon or Bluefish (Linux) instead which offer more functionality but are more complex to work with at the same time.

Interested users can download the portable software Text2HTML from the developer website. The application is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Sometimes though WordPress is not an option, which is for instance the case if no database is available which the blogging platform requires. Plain HTML sites or pages are then an option. I usually hack them right into notepad but some users may prefer an HTML editor for that.

BlueGriffon is a free portable HTML editor for Linux and the Windows operating system that can be used to create websites in a graphical user interface.

The HTML editor uses Firefox rendering engine and an option to display any website directly in its interface. That’s great for testing HTML code on the site or “borrowing” contents from it.

The editor comes with the usual features and options one would expect. A lot of HTML elements are selectable from top including tables, links, images, forms, text formatting options, media. Stylesheets are supported as well and it is always possible to switch between the what you see is what you get editor and the source editor.

The editor does not seem to support projects with multiple pages at this point in time which means that users who need to create several pages for the same web project need to do some extensive copying and pasting to do so.

The use requires knowledge of HTML elements even if they are selected from the menu in the WYSIWYG editor as the program offers no explanation of their functionality. Adventurous users can use trial and error to find that out but it definitely helps to know the majority of HTML elements to avoid this situation.

BlueGriffon is available from the project website for Linux and Windows.

For those Linux (and BSD, and Mac, and Windows) users, the tool by which most measure the standard is Bluefish. Bluefish is a GPL software that was started in 1997 to facilitate web development on the Linux platform. Although the programmers and the name has changed over time, the intent has not. Bluefish was and is a fantastic HTML editor.

Features

• Lightweight
• Fast
• WYSIWYG interface
• Multiple document interface. Opens 500+ documents simultaneously.
• Project support.
• Multi-threaded support for remote files using gvfs.
• Powerful search and replace.
• Open files recursively.
• Snippets sidebar.
• Integrate external programs.
• Integrate external filters.
• Unlimited undo/redo functionality.
• Program-language aware in-line spell checker.
• Auto-recovery of changes.
• Character map of all unicode characters.
• Upload / download synchronisation.
• Full screen editing.
• Customizable programming language support.
• Multiple encodings support.
• Bookmarks functionality
• HTML toolbar and tearable menu’s.
• Compliance with the Gnome and KDE.
• Translations into ten languages.

Installation

The installation of Bluefish is simple:

Open up your Add/Remove Software tool.

Search for “bluefish” (no quotes).

Mark Bluefish for installation.

Click Apply to install.

Figure 1

You will have to enter your administrative password and accept any dependencies that might be necessary. When Bluefish has completed installation you will find the application in Applications > Programming. When the tool starts up you will notice a ton of features quickly available (see Figure 1).

Once you start working with the editor you will want to start immediately using the syntax highlighting. In order to do this you will first select the type of document you are working with (click Document > Document Type > HTML if you are working with an HTML document). Once you have selected the type of document, update the highlighting by either clicking F5 or clicking Document > Update Highlighting.

You will also notice all of the toolbars in Bluefish. There is a Main toolbar, a custom toolbar, an HTML toolbar, and a sidebar. The HTML toolbar is exactly what you would expect – it contains all of the icons for adding tags to your document. The sidebar allows you to navigate your directory hierarchy as well as check reference materials for different styles or types.

Also included with Bluefish is the ability to preview your code in a browser. As any good HTML editor, you can view your code in multiple browsers – and even add new browsers from within the Preferences window. To add a new browser click the Preferences icon on the main window and then select the External Programs tab. Here click the Add button near the middle of the right pane and then double click under the Name column (and enter the name of your browser) and then double click under the command column (and enter the command necessary for the new browser).

After you add a new browser it will show up in the External menu.

Final thoughts

If you prefer to do your HTML work by hand, in an HTML-specific text editor, you can not go wrong with Bluefish.

Sticking to standards can therefore lead to issues with certain web browsers, which lack support for the latest tags or render pages wrong.

The W3C therefore has its own web browser and editor which adheres to standards more than many browsers and supports certain new technologies others don’t, such as RDF annotation. This browser is Amaya, an open-source and cross-platform browser.

Amaya can handle a wide-range of open file formats, including HTML, CSS, XHTML, SVG and MathML.

The software integrates the browser and web editor: when you go to a web page, it can be edited inside the browser. It also instantly displays syntactic errors.

It also integrates the mark-up languages. For example, in a web page, one can write formula utilising MathML or add SVG shapes inside the software.

Amaya is a reasonable WYSIWYG editor and a good web browser for developmental purposes. It is also good to produce rich web-pages, which include other pieces of mark-up than HTML.

Update: Amaya has not been updated in the last two years. While it is still possible to use the cross-platform HTML editor it needs to be noted that it does not support recent technology advancements. This includes no support for HTML5 or CSS3 in the last release.

Windows and Linux users find in Blue Griffon a suitable alternative. Blue Griffon user however need to know HTML to work with the program, as it does not display information about elements that can be selected in the editor. Users who know their HTML elements will find it to be a suitable alternative for Amaya.

Whilst KompoZer has not been updated since 2007, the major mark-up languages haven’t changed since then so it should still work. KompoZer is based on Gecko, the rendering engine which Mozilla amongst others utilise, and is a fork of Nvu (another WYSIWYG editor which is now not developed), itself a fork of Mozilla Composer!

KompoZer has all the obvious features of a WYSIWYG web editor: HTML and CSS can be edited; FTP support; tables; and tabs to navigate between pages and views. Some nicer features include an integrated W3 validator and support for XFN.

Binaries are available for Win32, PPC Macs (which will run on Intel-based ones) and Linux. Source is also available so it can be compiled for other operating systems.

Like Nvu, the application can be used from a USB pen.

I personally use KompoZer if I quickly need to whip up a webpage and I don’t have the patience to code it in Textmate. It’s certainly usable, produces relatively clean code and it’s £500 cheaper than Dreamweaver!