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Web Page Editors
There are several different types of Web page editors. First of all there are the ones that are online and the ones that are offline. Of each of these there are the HTML type and the WYSIWIG type. Of each of these there are hundreds of different programs and online sites that can be used.
An HTML editor can be something as simple as the text editor that comes with Windows or something more advanced like Homesite or NoteTab. With this type of editor you must be knowledgable in HTML because you will have to do all the coding yourself. This is not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, once you learn HTML you may prefer to do it this way. When you use HTML you have more control over what your site can do than you do with a WYSIWIG type editor.
If you are going to use HTML to code your pages it would be to your benefit to download one of the more advanced HTML type editors. Like I mentioned before, you can use the text editor that came with your operating system but if you do you will be missing out on a lot. These programs often come with spell checkers, thesaurus', colored coding, templates, and other options that make editing much simpler.
WYSIWIG stands for "what you see is what you get" and that's exactly what they do. They allow you to create your Web pages without the use of HTML. All you have to do is start typing. To add your links you just click on the "links" icon and fill in the site title and site address and the program adds the link to the page for you right where you want it. If you have ever used a word processing program or a graphics program then you already have experience withi this sort of program. It really can't be any easier.
FTP Programs
If you design your site offline you will need a way to get it online. Some online hosting services offer an "upload" feature that makes it very simple for you but others don't. For these you will need an FTP program. As with everything, there are many to choose from. Your editing program may even have come with one that you can use. If not, you will need to download or purchase one. You can get one free off the Net but it will be limited as to what it can do for you.
All you have to do to use one of these programs is to know your username and password for your hosting service and also the hosts address. You can get the host address from the host themselves. Fill in the blanks and start sending files back and forth. When you update a Web page you just send over the same page again and it will overwrite the one already on the server.
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