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Does 'HTML' come from 'How To Make Lots of dough?
Of course not. Every web-body knows that html stands for HyperText Markup Language, that "coding thing" you have to do to documents to make them available on the World Wide Web.
Since HTML is relatively straight-forward and easy to learn, many non-programming types (lawyers included) have tried their hands at it, and some have even produced respectable-looking websites. But that doesn't mean that savvy marketers don't smell a good opportunity when it's brewing.
Enter the HTML Editor, a piece of software designed to help you write HTML code. In this case, the software publishers have seized the opportunity to offer a product that purports to eliminate that one obstacle users hate more than any other: the learning curve.
Who wants to memorize all those silly codes? Anyway, in today's point-and-click Utopia, you'd have to be crazy to type slashes and dashes when you could glide and tilt. "Hard-core HTML" is for Unix techies and other non-communicative lifeforms. Today one should be to code a web page without knowing any code.
Does this all sound familiar yet? Think back a few years, to the mainstream heavy promotion of word-processing software. "Buy the new Word-Nerd package. With one simple click even novice computer users can produce professional-looking documents, beautifully formatted with columns, graphics and indexes."
Right. "Even novice users," they said, and with a straight face, too. Many sobering hours later, you learned that word-processing was a skill to be practised, despite having a top-notch package at your disposal.
They don't put low-budget commercials on television to sell HTML editors, but if they did, they would sound like this: "Coding in HTML has never been easier or more fun. Why give your hard-earned money to someone else? With only a few clicks, even you can produce beautiful homepages that will make you the envy of all your friends,"...and so on, (don't forget the free faux pearl necklace you receive if you act right away).
You don't believe me? They're doing it already. "Buy our HTML Editing package / module / add-on," the salesperson says. "With the click of a button, you can transform your documents into HTML without knowing a single code!"
It sure sounds good. But if you were fooled with the word-processing package, don't get fooled again. HTML editors only help you with the easy stuff; you still have to climb the learning curve to make it work.
The hard part of HTML is not placing the codes into the document. That may be the tedious part, but it's not difficult by any means. HTML editors excel at putting those codes into the documents at the points you want them.
Nor is the hard part of HTML remembering where the slashes go or how to spell the codes (at least not for an English speaker). The rules are embarassingly simple, and the codes spell themselves. HTML editors also excel at spelling the codes correctly and accurately punctuating them.
The hard part of HTML is knowing what the codes are all about. It's knowing that a given code is standard in HTML level 3 but not in HTML level 2. Or knowing that a certain code is only readable by Netscape. Or is only useful in Java-enabled browers. Or has been superceded by a more efficient code. And so on.
You see, the hard part of HTML is learning which of the list of codes are the non-standard ones (and therefore not readable by everyone) and which are the standard ones. No editing package will help you out with this problem.
Moreover, when you choose to use a non-standard code, you may want to have an alternate code in place for those who haven't upgraded to version 32.5 of software X. No package helps you with that problem either. Corel's new WordPerfect add-on doesn't. Nor does Adobe's PageMill. Nor HoTMetaL nor WebWeaver nor any other package. You have to learn that all by yourself.
Where can you learn enough HTML to make the editors useful to you? Many places. You could buy a book, either an extensive one like The Complete Guide to HTML, or a quick-reference type, like the 10-Minute Guide to HTML. Choose from several dozen HTML books on the market. You could check out some on-line resources. Try A Beginner's Guide to HTML.
If you want some pre-fabricated buttons and bars as well as information, check out an extensive HTML resource page called Nuthin' but Links. Or head over to Yahoo! and look under Internet:World Wide Web:HTML and check out some of the sites listed there.
Once you've learned what the codes are all about, an HTML editor can be an excellent stenographic aid, providing quick ways for you to implement the coding you've decided on. They automate the tedious insertion of character sequences, which in itself may make them worth their cost.
They also remove the possibility of typographical errors in the codes, a feature which lets you eliminate certain problems from the list of potential errors to check out if the page doesn't work.
Whether turning documents into HTML is an efficient use of a lawyer's time is another question still. As Java applets, QuickTime Virtual Reality and webcasting become more popular, the bar is continually rising. The gap between homespun homepages and professionally designed sites gets wider and wider.
On the other hand, adding an article you've written to your website should not have to involve hiring a professional, and the ability to do the HTML coding yourself can only be an asset.
Don't get me wrong. In the right hands, HTML editors can be very useful tools. Just don't expect them to do your learning for you...unless, of course, you're interested in the faux pearl necklace.
© 1996 Lewis S. Eisen