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Writing for the Web: A Primer for Librarians
by Eric H. Schnell
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A simple HTML Web document can be written in plain ASCII text
and created using any simple text editor. In the past, most
Web documents
needed to be handcrafted in this manner. The availability of inexpensive
programs, which work like word processing
software, make it much simpler to create new documents. Newer
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors allow the author to edited documents
displayed the same way they appear in a browser.
Most major word processing packages now include the capability
to save and convert files into HTML. Desktop publishing programs such as Adobe's
Pagemaker 6.5 and Microsoft's Word 97 are two which have this ability. These programs allow authors
to save files as Web documents and reduce dependence on having to hand code using HTML. However, since these programs are still not perfect, the documents created often need to be
fine tuned with hand editing. Since many libraries can not afford to upgrade all their word processing software
to versions which supporting saving to HTML, there are
filters available which convert word processed files into HTML.
More specialized editors have been proposed for HTML. With the evolution of HTML towards
a richer structure (including tables) and a number of additional formats (graphics, objects,
multimedia, style sheets, etc), more sophisticated tools are needed. One such tool is
Amaya. Amaya has been designed
as the next generation of client software that integrates all aspects of the Web and that
still remains user friendly. Amaya will not only be a browser but also an editor for HTML
documents with both functions integrated seamlessly.
For More Information:
Lists of HTML writing tools:
NSCA The World Wide
Web Organization
Yahoo!
Lists of HTML filters and converters: The World Wide
Web Organization
Yahoo!
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