Hi everyone
I’m learning html and css, and would like to use a free HTML CSS editor with Live Preview (to render the code in a browser in real-time).
This way I don’t have to save, then open close a browser each time. I only have time to learn css when I’m not at work, which is why I have to get a efficient as possible. I’ve not this week off work so it an ideal opportunity for me to learn it better.
I’ve tried CoffeCup HTML Editor but not impressed because I find the editor too fiddly but still want to stick to learning the coding side as much as I can.
Much appreciated to anyone who has any helpful advice.
Cheers
Matt
You can do it yourself with any editor. Simply have the web page open in the four or five browsers you need to check it in and simply hit F5 for each browser after saving your changes in the editor and you’ll see the effect it has for each browser.
I wonder how much calculation you think of! As a professional web designer if you will keep counting the clicks and finger movement then nobody will be able to help you. If you bother about these tiny things then I would recommend to look for an alternative trade. It sounds to me something like jumping in water to swim and worrying about how many hand movement required to float!!
Hi Sage
Whose counting the clicks?When I said that someone could be doing 3000+ needless clicks per project, t was an rough guess.
Also, web design isn’t my trade but something I do in my spare time so time and efficiency are of the utmost importance. I see your point but I think that all developers should always look for ways to be more efficient - what do use use Notepad?
Cheers
Matt
Sounds pretty good. I use Notepad++ and I agree with other members who say that browsers are the best place to check the design. I have given up using Dreamweaver for this reason ages ago.
Hi
I’m only at a basic level at the moment, so making sure it works in all the browsers is not so important.
At the moment, I’m just learning and experimenting. I’ve now heard that Visual Studio can give a Live Preview which using IE for the default preview. This also ties in nicely with me practicing ASP.NET as well. So I’ll either use VS or CoffeeCup for now - to see how it goes
Cheers
Matt
I’ve been using CoffeeCup for my recent projects and have found the instant split screen preview very helpful since I’m not a master programmer. It allows you to click in preview and find the corresponding code or click the code and see the element highlight in preview. Very much like developers tools as firebug and web inspector but right into your coding environment. You can also preview in various browsers before you publish to ensure the code displays properly within each.
Hi
To the CoffeeCup experts, is it possible to view say two files at the same time? For example, its useful to be able to view the html and css at the same time, to save clicking back and forth between files. Its certainly possible with Visual Studio.
Cheers
Matt
You can edit both your html & css files from within the same window. There is a slider which allows you to either focus on a single file or choose a split screen view of both files with the instant preview window still available. For the price (plus free upgrades) it’s hard to beat.
I think I used CoffeeCup a long time ago, but now I use WeBuilder.
It has everything I need, split screen, fast preview in IE and Chrome, I can save code I use frequently in sidebar as snippet, auto uploads to FTP, integrates with wamp/xamp for localhost, code validator… etc
Really happy with it
Hi astra
I’ve just looked at http://www.webuilderapp.com/ html-css editor and it does look pretty awesome actually. Your the first to mention webuilder and looks really good value for the price ( I usually haggle for a lower price in any case).
Cheers
Matt
Well I have been using WeBuilder for some time now, and I am really happy with it.
I know I switched to it from some other HTML editor, I believe it was CoffeeCup.
I have most expensive WeBuilder, I only use HTML/CSS/PHP, but ASP and Ruby support are welcomed addition for future use. Didn’t try Python there as I use Komodo for it and I need debugger since I use it for Desktop Apps.
Anyway, it offers free trial, so it doesn’t hurt to try it. But I believe you can use it 30 times, not 30 days, it was something like that.
Dreamweaver is to big if you ask me, I tried it once as trial and shut it down and uninstalled it shortly after that.
Hi Astra
I’ve just downloaded WebBuilder now. I must say that it looks more impressive than CoffeeCup, I’m just figuring how I would be able to view the html, css and preview windows all the at the same time - is this possible
Aha!!! In WeBuilder I like the Preview for Horizontal Split and Verticial Split tabs. Also I like the Code Explorer window which reminds you of the names of the classes and divs used so far etc…
Good product!!!
Cheers
Matt
Hm… no, at least not that I am aware of it.
I always code bigger pieces of code and I have 2 monitors, so that feature wasn’t important to me.
The features I wrote above were important, so it really perfectly suites my needs.
Yeah, that is great, but also, when you start writing class= or div= it will automatically give you drop down with classes/ids in your css files that you linked to html files., it also auto-completes, has options for your css markups, so if you write font-style, it will offer you choices you can make for it, etc… don’t remember if CC has that, probably does.
