Rating: Summary: Great if you can work it out Review: The software is good and does what it says it can do. There are more features there than I will ever use.The wizards are OK but inflexible. For example, it creates a site for you with duly labelled nav buttons, which you can't edit 'cos they're single layer GIFs. You have to remake the buttons yourself. The User Guide is a parson's egg too - good in parts. It does seem though that the software and its guide have not been developed together. Some parts are very sketchy and could do with cross-references to outside sources, for example, editing CSS stylesheets. The interface could do with bringing into the 21st century. That seems negative but it's not a lot really. On the whole, I found HoTMetaL easier than DW3 and more reliable than Front Page. It's very good value for money, but I look forward to the next release!
Rating: Summary: Good Product Review: There's an awful lot to like here and a little bit not to like. First, it writes darn good code. Not perfect HTML but good HTML. That is a huge step compared to other products. Secondly, it's easy to use. This is a very intuitive product and using it just made a ton of sense to me. It was my first HTML generator and it worked well. And it's an excellent value when compared to it's competition (Dreamweaver or Front Page). If you are new to web development don't even consider the other options. It's bad is liveable but it is bad. First, it crashes occasionally. I don't know why but it does. There's no consistency to it. Secondly, the button generator is clumsy and it has a JavaScript error (at least on my version). So, everytime I went to make a button, in addition to stumbling around with it, I could count on an error. The program still ran, it just gave an error. Lastly, the product doesn't look clean. It looks cheap and old. An interface update would do wonders for it's value. Having said all of that I still give this product 5 stars because it's easy, it works and it writes clean code. I beat my head against the wall using other products and I never did that with this one. It gets 5 stars for that.
Rating: Summary: HMP Rocks! Review: There's no way to create professional looking Web pages without knowing HTML. Period. Let's not call what FrontPage generates "professional looking". Pretty cookie-cutter sites, fine. If you're a professional Web developer, or an amateur that aspires to make professional-looking sites, no Web development program will help you more than HoTMetaL. The "Tags On" view, the Attribute Inspector and Element List combine to create the fastest Web development environment. If you're looking to use HoTMetaL on an existing Website, you will likely have some difficulty "migrating" a site with invalid HTML for use in HoTMetaL... HoTMetaL has a built in code validator that will not let you create "invalid" HTML. That said, there is nothing you can do in a Web browser that you CAN'T achieve with VALID code... so why accept a Web editor that doesn't create valid HTML? It's like a spreadsheet that computes "2+2=5". Once you've corrected invalid code, it will be perfect and HoTMetaL will never mess it up again. Users of HoTMetaL PRO can't help but learn how to properly code HTML, with all the feedback and instruction guides; HoTMetaL PRO will help talented Web designers make beautiful Websites with Valid code, quickly. As good as HM6 is, I'd love to see it modernised a bit with a new version 7...
Rating: Summary: If you think you don't need to know HTML, you're wrong... Review: There's no way to create professional looking Web pages without knowing HTML. Period. Let's not call what FrontPage generates "professional looking". Pretty cookie-cutter sites, fine. If you're a professional Web developer, or an amateur that aspires to make professional-looking sites, no Web development program will help you more than HoTMetaL. The "Tags On" view, the Attribute Inspector and Element List combine to create the fastest Web development environment. If you're looking to use HoTMetaL on an existing Website, you will likely have some difficulty "migrating" a site with invalid HTML for use in HoTMetaL... HoTMetaL has a built in code validator that will not let you create "invalid" HTML. That said, there is nothing you can do in a Web browser that you CAN'T achieve with VALID code... so why accept a Web editor that doesn't create valid HTML? It's like a spreadsheet that computes "2+2=5". Once you've corrected invalid code, it will be perfect and HoTMetaL will never mess it up again. Users of HoTMetaL PRO can't help but learn how to properly code HTML, with all the feedback and instruction guides; HoTMetaL PRO will help talented Web designers make beautiful Websites with Valid code, quickly. As good as HM6 is, I'd love to see it modernised a bit with a new version 7...
Rating: Summary: If you think you don't need to know HTML, you're wrong... Review: There's no way to create professional looking Web pages without knowing HTML. Period. Let's not call what FrontPage generates "professional looking". Pretty cookie-cutter sites, fine. If you're a professional Web developer, or an amateur that aspires to make professional-looking sites, no Web development program will help you more than HoTMetaL. The "Tags On" view, the Attribute Inspector and Element List combine to create the fastest Web development environment. If you're looking to use HoTMetaL on an existing Website, you will likely have some difficulty "migrating" a site with invalid HTML for use in HoTMetaL... HoTMetaL has a built in code validator that will not let you create "invalid" HTML. That said, there is nothing you can do in a Web browser that you CAN'T achieve with VALID code... so why accept a Web editor that doesn't create valid HTML? It's like a spreadsheet that computes "2+2=5". Once you've corrected invalid code, it will be perfect and HoTMetaL will never mess it up again. Users of HoTMetaL PRO can't help but learn how to properly code HTML, with all the feedback and instruction guides; HoTMetaL PRO will help talented Web designers make beautiful Websites with Valid code, quickly. As good as HM6 is, I'd love to see it modernised a bit with a new version 7...
Rating: Summary: An Excellent Program! Review: This program is awesome! Not only do you have the option of building a webpage in the WYSIWYG format, but you can also instantly flip to the HTML code,the unique tags on view, or preview it in a browser. While there may not be many books written on this program, HoTMetaL Pro is easy to use by anyone, yet it offers the more advanced features that are commonly found in more expensive programs.
Rating: Summary: HoTMeataL: King of HTML Editors Review: This program is just awesome. Robust and custimizable. I particaly like the "tags on" view, which is an unique feature to HoTMeaTaL. I also like how it has bulit in ftp and the "mapings" feature so you "choose" SRC and it automaticly inserts the proper code to be releative or abs, according to how you configure it. This product is also considerbly cheaper to it's competitors. Reasons HoTMeaTaL is beater than Front Page: 1) Front Page forces you to use abs urls(http://domain.com/html) instead of relative(html/) HoTMeataL doesn't. This also allows you to compose and test your pages localy before you publish them. 2)If HoTMeataL doesn't have a feature you need, it ok, because HoTMeataL produces readable code, so you can edit it by hand, Front Page code is inreadable 3)HoTMeataL uses regular ftp, it doesn't require special "extensions" that are well known to be an crackers attraction. 4)HoTMeataL offers all these features and advantages at an lower price. I hope you find my opinion informative: Robby Robson
Rating: Summary: HotMetal Cool Off Review: When I first started using HoTMetal 6.0 I was pretty happy with it. If you are making one or two page websites it is fine. The larger the website, the less I liked it. I have had a number of the URL conversion and publishing features not work, with no apparent work-around. If you want a website you can view on your computer, but not on the world wide web, this is the program for you. If you need a dependable program for a small business, look somewhere else.
|