Lee Hogan KompoZer is an open-source software based on the antique Netscape Composer. Open-Source means the programming work is achieved through volunteers, and it’s unfastened (even though donations are widely widespread).
You may see some references on Mac websites to an HTML editor known as NVU (stated N-view). You would possibly even see a few references to an editor called Sea Monkey. These are all primarily based on the Composer thing of the Mozilla Application Suite and Gecko 1.7 (they all have a Mac version).
What’s the difference between them? KompoZer is the most actively updated and most malicious program unfastened. I have attempted all 3, and while the interface of the three packages could be very comparable, KompoZer works quality in my experience. (In fact, Nvu has now been discontinued.)
The scenario around KompoZer is something like that of NeoOffice, an updated OpenOffice model (lately renamed LibreOffice). OpenOffice came first, and NeoOffice became spun off of it with the aid of different volunteers. Unlike NeoOffice but exclusively for the Mac, KompoZer is cross-platform and runs on both Macs and PCs.
If all this seems puzzling, that is because it’s far! However, all you need to keep in mind is that for open-source office packages for the Mac, NeoOffice is the manner you want to move, and for open-source HTML editors for the Mac, the pleasing desire is indeed KompoZer.
KompoZer is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor, which means that you create your web page in a word processor like interface. The HTML coding is completed automatically inside the historical past through the software. You can view and edit the HTML code if, for instance, you need to add Google Analytics code or every other piece of code that provides more functions on your website using clicking at the HTML Tags tab at the bottom of the KompoZer window.
KompoZer is remarkably capable (however no longer ideal) at reading HTML and decoding it effectively. You can open sincerely any website you can find in KompoZer, and it’ll look quite a whole lot the same as it does in your net browser.
In truth, KompoZer even has an “Open Web Location” command under the File menu that allows you to type in the URL of a web page, and the program will download and open it in its very own window, equipped for editing. This approach that you may paintings with sophisticated templates you discover online without trouble.
The feature is correct; however not the best. For instance, open Apple’s homepage in KompoZer, and it’ll look pretty suitable in preview mode, but the formatting gets messed up while you switch to enhancing method. On the opposite hand, KompoZer is standards-compliant and does not add atypical tags to the HTML it creates, in contrast to older HTML editors you’ll be familiar with if you’ve been around web site advent for a while.
However, just because you could open a complex template does no longer mean that you will be able to edit it to your liking. A novice may additionally locate it impossible to figure out a way to upload and remove columns, sidebars, or different elements without destroying the overall formatting of the web page. If you want to begin your internet site from a template, you’ll be counseled appropriately to check it very well first to make sure you may make the modifications to it over time that you’ll be wanting to.
The KompoZer interface is relatively Windows-like but no longer overly unintuitive. I observed the net assist for the software program to be commonly desirable. There are energetic message boards staffed with passionate volunteers to be had on the way to get your questions replied to.
KompoZer can open multiple tabs at an identical time, so you can see paintings on different web pages (as an example, to duplicate and paste elements from one web page to some other) without having a group of separate home windows open and cluttering your screen. It has unlimited undo, features tables and paperwork and boasts assistance for cascading fashion sheets (CSS).
CSS is a fashion that permits web designers to set numerous fashion elements, including fonts, colorations, indentation, and other formatting, while not adding individual HTML tags. Like the style sheets in your phrase processor, you may set a heading to be boldfaced and a specific size, and then you could practice this formatting to all relevant components of your website for steady outcomes. If you convert your mind approximately the characteristics of the style, you could edit the style sheet, and all instances of that fashion that you have defined on your website could be modified for this reason.
Although KompoZer is a development on NVU and SeaMonkey, in addition to the issues beginning some webpages, a truthful number of insects nonetheless mar the interface. For example, the amount of space it adds between strains on the page is regularly inconsistent and might require quite a bit of struggling to get the page to appear like what is needed. After last all home windows, it now and again refuses to open every other, until you give up and relaunch the program. Sometimes, using a headline style to selected textual content does nothing, and occasionally, a few keyboard commands prevent operating until a relaunch.
KompoZer additionally lacks capabilities that include the capacity to create picture maps. The software program would not come up with many assists in deciding on fonts that can be cross-platform or available on maximum computers. However, you can’t beat the charge. If you want an HTML editor that allows you to without problems inspect and edit the underlying code for the best flexibility, KompoZer is your great unfastened desire.
KompoZer also has a site management feature; however, don’t permit the call idiot you. This is only a built-in FTP software. Suppose you seek quality like the one discovered in Adobe Dreamweaver that allows you to trade your website’s organization and circulate pages around among diverse folders in your Mac without breaking any internal links (often helpful in operating with templates). In that case, you might not find it here.
And as aways as FTP goes, I opt to pay a little more money and use the industrial application Transmit, one of the pleasant FTP programs to be had for the Mac (Panic software program – $34). Transmit functions an intuitive two-panel window that makes it easy to upload your website and carry out other FTP operations. On the left side of the interface is a panel that works much like a Mac Finder window, and on the left side is a panel that represents your FTP area. Uploading or synchronizing your website is an easy drag-and-drop operation from the Mac side of the interface to the FTP site or via clicking the Sync button. A bookmarks function lets you shop the login info for all your websites so that the login method is as smooth as clicking a button.