Free Open Source HTML and Website Editor
A Review of Kompozer WYSIWYG Web Page Authoring Software
Jan 29, 2009
When faced with creating a new website, the non-profit or small entrepreneur might naturally seek a free or low-cost web page authoring and editing program. A WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor allows someone with little or no HTML coding experience to develop a basic-to-moderate complexity website.
HTML Editors
Commercial authoring programs cost several hundred dollars. Professional designers charge several hundred to several thousand dollars for a website design plus ongoing maintenance fees.
There are free alternatives available though. Many website hosting companies provide a number of ready to use templates from which to choose. The user can add text and images, but has limited control over basic layout and design. This option can get the entrepreneur up and running, but expansion and flexibility will be limited.
Free Open Source Editor
Another solution is a free open-source software editor, of which several are widely available. This article reviews Kompozer , a free, open source WYSIWYG editor.
The basic attraction of an open source product such as Kompozer is that it is free. Anyone can download Kompozer and use it or even modify it if they choose. The primary disadvantage of an open source product is the lack of support. Since the product is free, support, if available at all, is provided by volunteers.
Kompozer's website says this, "KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding."
Kompozer is based on Gecko, the web layout engine used by Mozilla in its popular Firefox browser. As a stand-alone software product, Kompozer is small, requiring only 21 MB on a Windows XP system.
Kompozer WYSIWYG Features
According to the Kompozer website, "Those who are familiar with the DreamWeaver interface will feel right at home with KompoZer (with these features):
- WYSIWYG editing of pages, making web creation as easy as typing a letter with your word processor.
- Integrated file management via FTP. Simply login to your web site and navigate through your files, editing web pages on the fly, directly from your site.
- Reliable HTML code creation that will work with all of today's most popular browsers.
- Jump between WYSIWYG Editing Mode and HTML using tabs.
- Tabbed editing to make working on multiple pages a snap.
- Powerful support for forms, tables, and templates.
- The easiest-to-use, most powerful Web Authoring System available for Desktop Linux, Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh users."
Kompozer's website was last updated less than two weeks prior to this article indicating ongoing activity. The latest download is numbered 0.7.10, a very unusual numbering scheme, which the authors attribute to Kompozer being a beta release, not yet justifying a whole number version. When this might occur is not addressed.
This writer has found Kompozer adequate for a moderate complexity website of eight pages with text, images, audio links, and embedded flash on a Windows XP editing platform, with execution on a Apache/Linux shared host (1and1).
Tabbed Navigation
Tabs allow one to easily switch between the WYSIWYG editor and the underlying HTML code. Viewing options permit overlaying the page with the HTML actions, blocking out sections and divisions, and previewing.
Figure 1 shows Kompozer in it's Normal mode. Each document div is outlined highlighting the page's organization. HTML tags can be shown as an overlay, so the designer can see comments, scripts, input fields, etc. The different views available are shown in tabs along the bottom. Changing views is a matter of clicking a tab.
The Source tab shows the underlying HTML code for the page. Any highlighted text on the Normal view shows up highlighted on the Source page as shown in Figure 3. Figure 2 shows the Normal view with Block Outline enabled.
A handy feature of Kompozer is an overlay indicator of the size in pixels of the section where the cursor is placed. This is helpful in sizing images, tables, and forms.
Support Caution
The downside of Kompozer is lack of active support. A Kompozer forum and known bug list can be found at SourceForge. There are a few forum responses to posted problems, but the general impression is that one is left to one's own devices for correcting or working around problems.
Still, when faced with expenditures of hundreds or thousands of dollars, the non-profit or solopreneur may find sufficient benefit in Kompozer to warrant the associated risks. Even if eventually a do-it-yourself site needs professional help, the cost will be lower to upgrade than that of starting from scratch.
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