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Being naturally curious I am always keen to try a new web page editor, so far I have not been very impressed by most of the Wysiwyg ( What you see is what you get.) editors on the market, free or not, in fact the non-free ones are often the worst, too complex and using their own file format instead of storing the pages as HTML files.

But included on this page are reviews of simple but good Wysiwyg editors, that allow you to create web pages as if you are simply typing in a word processor, also on this page are any other programs that allow you to easily create web pages, all the programs have been tried by me and I only include those that work well and are not too complex.

At the bottom of the page is a list of all the web page creation programs I have tried, good or bad, with my brief notes on them.

Frontpage Express.

This is what I use to create my web site, it is quite an old program that was originally given away free with Windows 95 and early versions of 98 and despite trying numerous other Wysiwyg editors, I have stuck with Frontpage Express, it has the advantages of being free, simple to use and stable, it also produces relatively clean html and there are plenty of tutorials for it.
Note: Although designed for Win95/98 it will run on XP.

The program is very similar in use to Wordpad that comes with Windows, just with some extra controls for html functions.
All the simpler html features are supported, with tables being about as complex as the program gets, you can insert unsupported functions such as counters by inserting html code directly. Anything Frontpage Express does not recognize it simply ignores and displays a little WebBot icon.

The page is created by simply typing or pasting in the content and the display in the editor is generally what you will see on screen, although sometimes like all editors it gets a little confused.

You can edit the html directly, but it is not possible to paste code into the html editor window, which rather limits its effectiveness, I usually just use notepad once the page is saved.
As with all Wysiwyg editors it is a good idea to learn the basics of html, as they can't do everything.

Despite its age I still rate Frontpage Express as the best Wysiwyg editor, for producing a simple fast loading reliable web site. But if you want frames and fancy features then its probably not going to suit you.
The help file that comes with the program is standard Microsoft, ie pretty poor, but if you do a search on Google you will find numerous tutorials.

The only difficult thing about Frontpage Express is finding a copy, if you have an older version of Windows run a search on your hard drive for the file fpxpress.exe, which is the program.
Failing that I listed a few links below, its actually illegal to distribute Frontpage Express, but some schools and universities are allowed to host it, the file size varies depending on the version, but is generally around 2Mb, I would go for a zip if possible, an installer is not really necessary, just unzip it on to your drive and run the file fpxpress.exe.

http://www.csu.edu.au/webpublishing/install.htm

http://sssd.k12.ar.us/public/general.information/technology.services/downloads/

PageBreeze web page editor v3.0a.

PageBreeze can be used as either a WYSIWYG editor, or as HTML editor, or you can swap back and forth between the two.
The program is free for personal use, with no limitations, it is used to promote a professional version of itself and FormBreeze, but the promotion is not intrusive, being limited to a few mentions in the help file and a web link.

In use the program is a word processor type editor, very similar to Frontpage Express, but with a few more features and a better HTML editor. I have read a few reports of PageBreeze losing pages when swapping between the various modes, but it worked flawlessly for me, using it primarily in WYSIWYG mode, with the occasional foray into the HTML editor for a bit of tweaking.

I did have a problem with the spellchecker, although it finds words that may be misspelt, it replaces the word in the wrong place, which is rather annoying.

There is a moderately useful help file, but it is a bit patchy in its coverage of the editors features and it isn't comprehensive enough for people new to web site making, but it does provide the basics.

In conclusion, PageBreeze is quite good, but it has a slightly unfinished feel, with some features not working as well as they could, I found using it was easy enough, but I wouldn't use it as my editor of choice.

Download size 5.14Mb

http://www.pagebreeze.com/

Mozilla Composer, part of Mozilla Seamonkey v1.0a.

One of the nicest features of the Mozilla Seamonkey suite is the Composer Wysiwyg web page editor, you just press the Composer icon in the bottom left corner of the screen and it will start.
The Composer window will be familiar to anyone who has used Wordpad, just with a few added buttons for links, anchors, images, horizontal lines and tables.
At its simplest level you just type in text, adding graphics and links as you go, when you get more advanced you can use tables for greater control, the help file for Composer is pretty good and if you need more help, typing 'Composer Tutorials' into google will return plenty of hits.

The Composer toolbar, just a simple word processor with added on features for web pages.

One of Composers best features is that you have a choice of four views, normal view that shows the page with any important features like tables faintly marked, HTML tag page that sort of shows some tags, but I found that a bit confusing, the HTML source page, which shows the page code, nicely laid out for editing and finally there is the preview page that tries to show the page as it would appear in a browser. It is possible to edit the page in any of the four modes and you can swap between the modes at will.

Compared to Frontpage Express, Composer is very similar in appearance and abilities, Frontpage Express has a few extra controls for table creation and horizontal lines and the produced code is neater in my opinion.
But Composer has a much better source editor. ( You cannot cut and paste in the Frontpage Express source editor.)

So in conclusion if you are just starting out at creating your web site Composer is a very good choice, its simple and reliable, it can't do fancy things like frames, but at least you know that your pages will display correctly in any browser. And if you decide you would like a more advanced editor as you become more experienced, you could upgrade to Nvu (See below.) with very little difficulty, as the basic controls are the same.

Note: The program you require is Mozilla Seamonkey, of which Composer is a part, it is a fairly hefty download at 12Mb.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

Nvu v1.0. -- Kompozer.

Nvu is an open source Wysiwyg complete web authoring system. It is based on the Mozilla Composer editor, but is considerably more complex, with new features being added on a regular basis.

Nvu should have enough features for the average home user, as it supports most Html options, as well as having a spell checker and web publish function. You can choose to use standard Html, or CSS and can edit the page in either Wysiwyg mode, or in the standard Html editor.

The program is fairly easy to use and the help file has been greatly improved over earlier versions. Newcomers to web page creation may find the program a little too complex, but it is a good reliable editor.

Download size 7.7Mb Win 98/Me/NT/2000/XP

http://www.nvu.com/

Additional information: NVU is no longer being developed. Komposer is a much improved version of NVU, with many bug fixes and improvements. And I would recommend using Komposer instead of NVU, or upgrading to Komposer, if you currently use NVU.

http://www.kompozer.net/

Namu6 Web Site Editor v2.4.

A Wysiwyg web site builder, very easy to use, with no knowledge of HTML required at all.
Included is a choice of web page templates that you can easily alter to suit your own tastes.
Read the help file carefully, as the controls are a little unusual, also read the information on the web site.

The program creates your pages and menus for your whole site and they can be altered at any time and the whole site is updated automatically. Images are automatically resized to fit your pages.
The program can upload your web site to your web space.

Disadvantages are, adding items such as counters, meta tags, etc cannot be done in the program, although you can publish the pages to your drive and then perform the alterations manually.
The file size of resized images can be bigger, than is optimal for fast page loading and all images are converted to jpg format, so no animated gifs.
Manually uploading alterations to your site could be tricky and altering the site on your drive is slightly awkward, because each page is saved in a numbered, rather than named folder.

In conclusion, a good choice for those people who just want to produce a simple site, with no hassle, with a very easy to update site menu. Not a good choice if you want to have lots of pictures, extra features like counters, or downloadable files on your site.
Download size 3.9Mb.

http://namu6.com/

Trellian WebPage v3 beta.

Trellian WebPage, as the name suggests, is a web page editor. Pages can be created within a word processor style interface, using the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, you can edit the HTML code directly. You can even split the the screen and have the best of both worlds.

The default installation settings include a toolbar and the SEO program, which stands for Search Engine Optimization (demo, not freeware). But both can be unchecked in the install options.

Once installed Trellian is quite straightforward to use, with buttons for most of the common tasks, such as creating links and adding images and a good help file is available on the Trellian web site.
There are some nice extras, including a spell checker, meta tag editor and a basic, but adequate FTP program.
The menus and toolbars initially take up rather too much of the editing area for my tastes, but unused sections can be turned off and groups of controls can be dragged to new positions, by using the mouse on the group separators.
The WYSIWYG editor works very well, with most items being easy to add. I was a bit disappointed with the table support, as I'm used to more options, but I suppose it depends on the features of your previous editor.
The HTML editor worked well enough for occasional editing, but I wasn't very impressed by the formatting. With word wrap on, the code was clustered and confusing, with word wrap off, the code stretched way off screen.
Swapping between the various viewing modes was flawless, but clicking close on a tab, would often close all the tabs and the entire program, losing any alterations made in other pages.

Trellian is a pretty good editor, it has a few foibles, but what editor hasn't. Its main strengths are the WYSIWYG editor and the inclusion of just about every tool you need to create and upload a web site.

Freeware -- Download size 7.77MB -- Win 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista

http://www.trellian.com/webpage/index.html

Web page editor -- Web Dwarf v2.50.

Web Dwarf is an easy to use wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) web page editor.
Each item on the page is treated as a separate object and can be precisely positioned, simply by dragging it with the mouse, items can also be resized by dragging the edges of the object box, to the new size.
Objects can overlap each other and be set to link to other pages.
All the basic items of a web page can be added, such as text, titles, images and links, you can also create rectangular, elliptical and freehand shapes, useful for page design.
There are a dozen site templates included, plus a spell checker for text objects and you can alter image size and orientation.

The program interface initially seems quite confusing, as it is very "busy", with the rulers whizzing about with the mouse. But it is actually quite simple, with only a limited amount of options.
There is a help file and some useful tutorials that cover the basics of page creation, although not all the features mentioned are available in Web Dwarf, as the help is for the paid for program SiteSpinner.

After familiarising yourself with the program, it's childs play to make a web page. However there are a several serious drawbacks when using Web Dwarf.
Firstly only projects saved in its own (.ims) format can be opened, you can not open an existing html page, although it is possible to insert an existing html page using the code feature, with a bit of tweaking.
Secondly due to the absolute positioning system used, pages will only display as you intend, at the resolution in which they were created. Thus a page created at 800*600 will be offset to the left in a browser running at a higher resolution, while a page created at 1280*1024, will have scroll bars at lower resolutions.
Thirdly Web Dwarf is only designed to create one page web sites and publishes that page as index.html and will overwrite common graphic files.
However it is possible, providing you understand how a web site works, to create a multi-page site, by publishing each page to a separate folder and then renaming files and restructuring the site manually in a new folder.

I find it hard to fully recommend Web Dwarf, it is free and has some nice features, so if you can live with the programs limitations and only want to create a small site, it could be a good choice.
But personally, I would say that Nvu, or Frontpage Express, would be easier and less frustrating to use in the long term and are far more flexible and useful editors.

Free for Non-Commercial Use -- Download size 4.66Mb

Note: There are further help files and a forum on the web site.
http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/dwarf/

Web Page Creation Programs I have tried, brief summaries.
Note: All the programs should be freeware, but as programs are developed, their status may alter and the stated download size may change.


Alleycode Html Editor v2.15.0.
A very nice Html editor, with a nice layout and plenty of useful features, including support for CSS. Can display your page in a split screen, although you do have to refresh it manually. The program comes with a very good help file.
Download size 1.5Mb.
http://www.alleycode.com


Amaya.
Must have been made by someone very clever, (Or I'm just stupid. ) incredibly hard to understand half the controls and a lot of simple controls seem to be missing, geeky types will probably love it.
http://www.w3.org/Amaya/


AOL Press.
Fairly similar to Frontpage Express, but with quite a few extra features, unfortunately its a little unstable. But it does have a much better help file and there are also quite a few tutorials about, if you do a search.
Download size is around 3.5Mb.
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/webpub/aolpress.htm


Araneae.
A html editor, very easy to use if you want to code by hand, nice uncluttered interface.
http://www.ornj.net/software/araneae/


Cascade DTP v4.
Uses style sheets, doesn't really work with screen definitions below 1024*768, difficult to use because the working page is diplayed at 60% of normal, not all that complex, but fiddly to use compared with word processor type editor. ( Frontpage Express, Composer.)
http://www.price-media.demon.co.uk/


DavPage Standard Edition 1.0.
A fairly basic html editor, but with a split screen so that you can see how your page looks as you progress. It comes with a wizard and an option to insert items in your page, but you really need to know the basics of html to use it.
Download Size 2.0Mb
Note: This is not exactly freeware, but it can be used for free.
http://www.compudav.com/davpage/davpage.htm


Easy Html, by Toni Arts.
This is a fairly straight forward html editor, all the common tags can be entered at the press of a button and blank page templates are available, it has a built in browser and you can split the screen so that you can see your page as you create it.
The program comes with a very good help file, which explains a lot about html for novices, although a separate tutorial on html will still probably be needed.
Overall a nice little editor for those who would prefer not to use a WYSIWYG editor.
Download size 2.2mb
http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ehtmle.htm


FreshHTML.
FreshHTML combines a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor, with a html editor.
Although aimed at both beginners and more advanced users, beginners will struggle to master FreshHTML, due to the lack of a comprehensive help file.
The WYSIWYG editor is easy to use, but there is a lack of automation, for example, image sizes aren't automatically included, they have to be manually added and to edit previously inserted items, you have to swap to the html editor.
The html editor is colour highlighted and works very well, but you can't use the handy insert object (image, table, etc) buttons, which is a little strange, particularly as one is a comment button.
There are a few interesting features, in WYSIWYG mode, you can select an object, or area of text and drag & drop it to a new position. There is also a handy colour picker and an excellent font selector.
Once I got used to the peculiarities of FreshHTML, I found it quite nice to use, but using the WYSIWYG editor (which is what I prefer), still requires you to swap to the html editor regularly, to modify existing page objects.
FreshHTML is a competent web page editor, but is only suited to advanced users, or someone who would like to learn html, where the ability to swap between the different modes would be useful.
Freeware -- 1Mb -- Win XP,2000,Me,98,95,NT4.
Note: You need to register (for free) FreshHTML after 11 days. To protect your email address, I would advise using a temporary email address, such as the ten minute mail.
http://www.freshwebmaster.com


Selida.
Quite a good html editor with a lot of features, you can use it in a split screen mode that displays your page as you create it, there is also a design mode that works as a wysiwyg editor, but I found this a bit hard to use and buggy.
Used as a standard html editor, Selida is quite a good choice, with an excellent help system.
http://selida.camelon.nl/


WebPage maker.
Quite a good html editor, very easy to use if you want to handcode, and you can preview your page at the click of a tab. Nice uncluttered interface.
Download size 187k
WebPage Maker


WebSweep.
Text to html convertor, does convert reliably, but hard to set anything but plain page, and produces very bloated code, for example 3K text becomes 6K Html file, not as good as Text2Html.
http://www.geocities.com/classicmanpro/Files/WebSweep.html


WebWeaver EZ.
This is very similar to NVU, Composer or Frontpage, being a word processor style WYSIWYG editor, although it is not quite as good as the aforementioned programs.
It can produce simple pages, but lacks tables in the basic free version, although it does have an unusual picture placing system, you can drag pictures to the position you want, they aren't inserted at the cursor, unfortunately in practise this is a bit awkward and the pictures are then fixed in position, while the text is not, which can cause problems when the page is viewed at a different resolution.
You can open existing html pages and edit them and when saving them images can be placed in the same folder, no folder structure is created though, so this will only be suitable for small web sites. The help file is rather basic.
Download Size 3.8Mb.
http://www.mcwebsoftware.com/wwez/


Web Wizard.
Very fancy interface, with lots of buttons and options, but basically just a html editor not WYSIWYG. A lot of the options are disabled in the free version. Would be easier hand coding in Araneae or one of the other simpler editors.
http://www.the-webwizard.co.uk/


Window Html v1.1.
Not an editor, just creates a web page with a tabbed set of windows that you can add code to by hand, would be tricky to increase the number of pages later.
Quite a novel idea, looks neat and saves you the trouble of creating page links, but only suitable for those with some knowledge of html, you could use another editor and paste your code into the pages.
The authors web page is created with Window Html, so you can see how it works.
Note: Click on the image by the name to download the program.
http://www.infose.com/jerome/software.html

Rob Goldfish Web Site