Homesite 5.0

The 2nd BEST feature is the ability to customize the way HomeSite behaves. 1) You can turn "Tag Completion" on and off. Tag Completion inserts end tags when you type the start tags. 2) THE BEST feature is you can customize Tag Completion to complete ONLY THE TAGS YOU WANT IT TO. 3) Color-coding and indenting of tags makes your code easy to read quickly. This is also customizable. 4) The files view on the left show the folders and files on your computer, so you can work with files from different folders open. 5) HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF BOOKMARKING A HELP MENU? You can! Wow! 6) You can turn the "gutter" in your work area on and off, and decide if you want it to wrap in the view (doesn't change your actual code), show the REAL line numbers (when the validator shows an error, you can see EXACTLY where it is!), make jump-to bookmarks to easily jump to sections of code, etc. 7) HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ADDING YOUR OWN FILES TO A HELP MENU? It was not easy, and besides the instructions I had to guess a little (which is unusual for HomeSite), but I added some pages about websites I had found on line, as well as a basic webpage I made with some notes. 8) YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN CODE SNIPPETS! This is great for me, since in one of my website's highly formatted sections I repeat blocks of code over and over, but not in the same order or number, so templates wouldn't help. You can create "snippets", or blocks of code, and assign your own shortcut to them, as well as a name by which it will be "bookmarked", in case you forget the shortcut and need to copy and paste quickly. 9) They include common tag shortcuts for HTML, javascript, and the list goes on. You can also decide which toolbars are visible, and even CUSTOMIZE the shorcut buttons that appear on them...I had problems with my computer when customizing the shortcut buttons, though...but then I had 4.0 and Windows ME, so I dont' know which was causing the problem...hmm, maybe it's time to try that again (now I have XP)! 10) The code validator is wonderful and easy to understand. 11) You can click-and-insert non-alphanumeric characters (such as the trademark symbol, angle brackets, etc.) with your mouse if you don't want to remember the HTML code for them. 12) Though HomeSite doesn't work with images except to display them in your webpage in the browser view, you CAN right-click on the image name in the file view in the left and get the properties for it, which is great when you want your PROPER code to have the height and width, which makes your pages load faster.

HomeSite 5.0 is the best software I have ever bought!

Highlights:
1) Code Insight: As you type, a list of HTML attributes appears in a tooltip interface. You can choose one instead of typing it out completely.

2) Validator: It comes with a decent HTML validator that can validate against several browsers and W3C specs.

3) Top Style Lite: CSS editor to make basic style sheets.

4) Global Search and/or Replace: If you produce accurate HTML templates and later need to make a global change to the template, the search and replace is powerful. Search and/or replace within a single directory, a directory and its sub-folders, current document, or all open documents.

5) FTP ability: It has an FTP client that will allow you to connect to a remote server directly in side Homesite, allowing you to edit files "directly" (it really just downloads the file locally, you edit it, and when you save, it goes back to the server). Nonetheless, it saves a little time and money, if you don't want to get another FTP client.

6) Integration with CSE HTML Validator and Top Style Pro:
The validator and style editor with Homesite 5.0 are basic versions. If you buy the more powerful versions, they seamlessly integrate into Homesite.

7) Syntax highlighting for major scripting languages and HTML:
HTML, Javascript, PHP, JSP, ASP, CFML, Perl

8) XHTML support: VERY important if you care about standards-compliance.

9) Extendable dialog boxes/custom dialog boxes:
You can use the built-in scripting language to create custom dialog windows for Homesite, should you need it.

You get the best value for the dollar with Homesite 5.0, so even casual and hobbyists can take advantage of it. If you must edit web pages visually, then this isn't the product for you. If you want to write web pages with attention to code detail, this program helps a lot.