I am looking for a HTML editor which enables both raw code and WYSIWYG editing, but one feature I really need is the ability to switch back-and-forth between the two methods of editing without the WYSIWYG editor affecting hand-written code in any way. This is especially useful to me when arranging controls in tables and constantly have to experiment with resizing rows and columns.

I also often have to design ASP-type pages, ie. script between %% tags, so the ability to highlight these chunks of code is important.

Bloat-free code is also very important (ie. unlike that which FrontPage generates).

I have tried a few try-before-you buy packages, but have not been comfortable with most of them. I like the look-and-feel (and price!) of CoffeeCup very much, but unless you have designed your pages from the start with the visual designer, most (or all) of your code is wiped-out when moving from the code-editor to visual editor.

The best package I have tried so far is DreamWeaver. This was version 4, and it looks a bit dated, but it seemed to do the job, and in my experience didn't change the code. I guess it has moved on quite a lot as it is now on version 8, but the hefty price tag puts me off. Is it a case of you get what you pay for? Any downsides to DW that I should be aware of?


Any opinions would be appreciated. What do other developers out there use and what would they recommend?

Alan Harris-Reid