Future of WYSIWYG Editors?

[DNPetrie]

Just stirring the pot here...

With increased use of CSS and XHTML, and the drive to seperate content from presentation, will there be a future for WYSIWYG editors? I know that FP3, when it is finally delivered, is supposed to have at least *some* WYSIWYG capability, but I have difficulty seeing how that way of doing things will be possible for sites that rely on external style sheets.

Any thoughts (including Napoleon/Admin)?

Thanks,
David

[Terminator1138]

Well I can say that Dreamweaver reads external stylesheets in preview so it does have a future. Only if someone takes the time to program/code it in.

[DNPetrie]

Well I can say that Dreamweaver reads external stylesheets in preview so it does have a future. Only if someone takes the time to program/code it in.

Many editors seem to be able to read stylesheets (FP2000 can read CSS v1 sheets) because the use the IE or Netscape engine to render a page in preview mode. My difficulty is in seeing how a WYWIWYG editor will *construct* a style sheet.

David

[Terminator1138]

No WYISIWG editor automatically makes/contructs its CSS external or internal. You have to do that, but some have pre-made templates for that sort of thing to give a start and an understanding however, many do allow external stylesheets to render in preview mode. So any changes to the CSS can be viewed also and quickly I might add.

[DNPetrie]

No WYISIWG editor automatically makes/contructs its CSS external or internal. You have to do that, but some have pre-made templates for that sort of thing to give a start and an understanding however, many do allow external stylesheets to render in preview mode. So any changes to the CSS can be viewed also and quickly I might add.

I kinda figured that CSS/XHTML would be the death of WYSIWYG editors - not a problem for me, since I've been hand-coding since 1994 (even using FP). However, given how hard the push has been for WYSIWYG, I thought it worth a comment :) .

I'm actually surprised there are templates available. I imagine they are pretty basic?

I've just built a site using CSS/XHTML and now my client tells me she wants to look after upgrades. She has no knowledge of HTML at all, and I was thinking about the utility of a WYSIWYG editor for her. Specifically, since she doesn't want to change everything, but only to add new material and delete out-of-date stuff, I was wondering about Macromedia's Contribute. Have you heard anything about it?

Cheers,
David

[Terminator1138]

Macromedia Contribute is good for cms for newbies who do just that, you can give them control over certain aspects, but there is a cost for the program and it goes along side of Dreamweaver.

I'm actually surprised there are templates available. I imagine they are pretty basic?

some are basic templates and some are advanced, an example is three column width will the works. I think there will always be a place for Dreamweaver and Frontpage by MS since they are large companies. Adobe is doing some good work too, but their prices are a bit more, but then again the features are rich.

She has no knowledge of HTML at all, and I was thinking about the utility of a WYSIWYG editor for her

Be carefull on this aspect on what you chose since some editors put extra code in. I would tell her that she must get the basics down of html via tutorials. If she wants to change a small thing here and there, then she can look at the code and change it (like text). She will also most likely need FTP or similar to upload changes. The real question is does she want to spend more money?