Software Review:
HoTMetaL Pro 4.0 (Part 2)
By Scott Clark
But, and it’s a big but, if you try to import your already created Web pages into the HoTMetaL PRO editor, you’ll soon find that HoTMetaL PRO is not happy with the way you’ve used those darn Netscape extensions. So you can either allow HoTMetaL PRO to automatically fix them as best it can, or it will allow you to directly go into the HTML code and fix it yourself…even if it isn’t broke. HoTMetaL PRO doesn’t allow you the option of saying, "well, it may not look good to you, but it works on all the browsers and looks good to me, so lets just skip it." Then, when you do "fix" it, and go to HoTMetaL PRO’s browser view of it, it indeed has been "fixed," so much so that the page is now totally re-arranged and messed up. This is what happened when I imported the Web Developer® main page into the editor (See Figures 1 & 2).
Figure 1. HoTMetaL PRO's WYSIWYG view of the imported WD page.
Figure 2. A normal view of the WD page in Netscape.
So I figured I’d give HoTMetaL Pro the benefit of a doubt, and tried to recreate the Web Developer® page from scratch (since I couldn’t find a template which was similar enough). While doing a fair job with simple tables, tables which contained (or needed to contain) COLSPAN parameters were impossible to create. So after tinkering with it for about an hour and a half in WYSIWYG mode, I saved the file and took a look at it in Netscape 3.0. Whoa! For a WYSIWYG display, HoTMetaL Pro leaves a lot to be desired. The table looked fine in the HoTMetaL display, but in Netscape it was less than a piece of art. Rather, all the words were cramped on the left side of the right table (See Figures 3 & 4).
Figure 3. View of the table in "WYSIWYG" editor.
Figure 4. View of the same table in Netscape.
So much for the editor. The Information Manager is a slick tool which lets you have a look at all the files on your site in several different modes (Web View, Single File View, Tree View; See Figure 5). One very useful feature is a link checker which can check local and off-site links as well as look for orphaned files. That’s a time saver that more and more HTML editor packages should include. It also features the ability to "publish" your HTML files to your Web site.
Figure 5. View of the HoTMeTaL PRO Information Manager.
The bottom line comes down to your objective when you purchase this software package. If you want an all inclusive package to get you started in the Web site arena, then you won't be disappointed with HoTMetaL PRO 4.0 at all. If, however, you already know HTML, and have some corporate Web pages which you intend to import and work on, then you may want to reconsider...and after all, the core product of the HoTMetaL PRO 4.0 is supposed to be the editor, not the products which accompany it.
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