The HTML Editing Process: 
Notes from Tracy Marks

Students are often confused about how and when to switch back and forth between Netscape browser, Netscape Editor and Notepad or Notespad when doing HTML. The difficulty explaining is that there is no set order of steps - all depends on what you are doing and the troubles you are having.

Notepad or Notespad
I also recommend using Notespad rather than Notepad for four reasons. In Notespad,
you can open eight documents. You can save as (save as box) an Internet document with an html extension. And most important, if you are using an editor, you can use File,
Open Other, Updated in Notepad to open the updated version of a page you edited in
Netscape's editor, rather than close Notespad and reopen it to insure you are looking
at the current version. Finally, Notespad has an excellent find and replace feature.

Get Notespad via http://www.windweaver.com/w95tips2.htm#Replace.  Or go directly to the
download url (w95 version): ftp://ftp.realtime.net/vendors/newbie.net/NotesPad/ntspad32.zip

In Netscape, make sure you set up Notepad or Notespad as your external editor. Go to Options, Editor Preferences, External Editor and browse for the file notepad.exe (in your Windows directory) or notespad.exe (wherever you have installed it).


ALTERATIVE ONE: Working primarily in Notepad
Do all your work in Notepad or Notespad, and check it in the browser. If you make a change in Notepad you must save it first. Then to view it again in Netscape 3.01's browser you must hold down the shift key and press reload so that you are viewing the new page and not the one stored in the cache. The order is:
1) Write in Notepad       2) Save as in Notepad, with an html extension   
3) Check it in browser using file, open file in browser      4) Correct in Notepad       
5) Save in Notepad       6) Press shift, reload to view edited copy in browser


ALTERNATIVE TWO: Using Notepad AND Netscape Editor
If you are working primarily in Netscape's editor, you will occasionally have problems that you have to correct in Notepad or Notespad. The most common problems are:

a) You move a line, but it does not move the right codes. It omits a code or takes a
     code you don't want to move with it, and the formatting goes awry. You therefore
     need to troubleshoot in Notepad, and move the codes to the proper place. If you
     make a correction in Notepad, be sure to save the corrected page, then use view,
     reload in Netscape's editor or shift, reload in Netscape's browser to view it.

b) You create a link, then continue, and your unlinked words or the following image
     remain linked. You can solve this problem in Netcape's editor by selecting the text or      image you don't want linked, and choosing properties, text or properties, link and      deleting the link. Or, open Notepad and move the closing code </a>.

c) This one happens and all the time and is almost undetectable on your computer!
    When you save an image to your page, especially if you have the box save to     document's location checked in your image, properties dialog box, it will put
    in the address of the image on your hard drive rather than list the file as you
    would list it on your Internet site. When you look in Notepad, the url will then
    begin with the word file and include your hard drive letter like file:///D|/netscape\
    mysite\image.jpg. You will be able to see the image on your computer because you     are using your hard drive....but no one else would be able to see it on the Internet!

    Therefore, when you have saved your page, skim through your text in Notepad and
    make sure that all image addresses are ok. The easiest way to do this is to search for
    the word file, because then Notepad or Notespad will take you anywhere on your page
    where the word file occurs, including any image addresses where it doesn't belong.
    Your image should have a relative address like "image.jpg" or "images/image.jpg"
    - the latter if you keep all images in a separate image  subdirectory. If so, keep the
    same kind of subdirectory on your hard drive and  DON'T check "copy image to
    document's location" when you save an image in Netscape's editor.

Using Netscape 3.01's Editor: Editing Steps
1. Create your page in Netscape's editor.
2. Save it in Netscape's editor. Give it an htm or html extension, and save it to
     a special directory where you are saving your site.
3. In Netscape's editor, choose file, open file in browser to see what it will look like.
4. Use your window menu in the browser to return to the editor to make corrections.
5. Do a file, save in the editor to resave the corrected copy.
6. Choose file, open file in browser to view the corrected page.

7. If there are problems that you can't correct in the editor, troubleshoot in Notepad.
    From the Editor, choose View, Edit Document source to open the file in Notepad or     Notespad - depending upon which program you have set up as your external editor.
8. Make your corrections in Notepad. While there, make sure your images are
    referenced as they should be, not to your hard drive.
9. Do a file, save in Notepad to update your page.

10. Use alt, tab or click the minimized icon to return to Netscape's editor. Usually,
    you will see a notice asking if you wish to update the document. Do so. If such a
    notice doesn't appear, choose view, reload to update the document.
11. Check it out in Netscape's browser by choosing file, browse document. If it looks
   like you are viewing an old copy (you shouldn't be unless you switched to the
   browser from your minimized browser icon or via the window menu), hold down
   shift while you press reload to access the current copy
12. Repeat these steps until you are satisfied.

13. If you return again to Notepad to make corrections after you have made corrections
   in Netscape's editor, you may be looking at the old version of your page in Notepad.
   If you edit in Notepad and save, you may then lose any corrections you made in
   Netscape's editor. To prevent this from happening:
   a) If using Notepad, close it each time you make a correction. Then return to it
       using view, edit document source in Netscape's editor.
   b) Better yet, use Notespad. Return to Notespad via alt, tab or your minimized icon,
       and choose file, update (in earlier Notespad versions) or file, open other, updated.