How do I Choose the Best HTML Freeware?

The decision of what is the best hypertext markup language (HTML) freeware is one based on your personal preferences and computing needs. There are, however, some basic features that most people expect to be available in what are considered the best programs. They include the ability of the software to run under more than one operating system, the availability of documentation for it in a language that you understand, bug-free source code, small file size, the ability to view HTML code, highlighted tags and a built-in spell checker.

When you download HTML freeware or any freeware programs, the operating system (OS) under which it runs should always be indicated. For example, a version of Microsoft (MS) Windows®, Macintosh or a distribution of Linux should appear next to the download link or button. If you use more than one operating system, HTML freeware that can run under all of the systems you use gives you the advantage of being able to use one program under two or more different systems. The availability of detailed documentation in a language with which you are comfortable also can be very helpful when you have questions about how to use a particular feature. Documentation preferably should be available by accessing the "help" section of the HTML freeware program itself, but if documentation isn't available by this method, you might want to make sure that you can join a community of users who are knowledgeable enough to give free technical support.

If you have a local disk with low storage capacity or simply do not like to work with "bloatware," or software that has an unnecessarily large file size, the best HTML freeware for you might be software that was developed by computer programmers, not by other software. Small programs usually present much fewer problems in the event that you have to uninstall or reinstall them. Informative reviews of HTML freeware often are available to alert potential users to any errors, or bugs in the source code that cause the program to crash or to perform unexpectedly or incorrectly. You might want to keep in mind that the fact that one version of the HTML freeware has bugs does not mean another version will, because programmers usually fix bugs as they are discovered and release updated versions of their software.

HTML freeware usually is known as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSWYG) program, meaning that you can create HTML or hypertext markup (HTM) documents without having any knowledge of the markup language. It is advisable, however, that the freeware you choose offers at least the ability to view the code behind what will actually appear in a web browser. Even if you do not know how to work with HTML, someone who does and who might help you would want to view the actual code that has been generated when there are display problems to be solved. Highlighted tags also are very helpful when checking code, because it aids in quickly distinguishing what is content from the markup tags. Spell check is another useful feature in the best programs to help prevent the uploading of web documents that contain spelling errors.