Evaluation versions of all packages are available from the
developer's home sites. Each of the packages tested were
Windows 3.x versions, although versions for other platforms may
be available from the developers. Some non-essential features
have typically been disabled in the evaluation copies used.
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First, an attempt to recreate two homepages was used to test the learning curve and general usability. The pages used were expected to typify common design layouts and items. Second, any obvious extra features were tested on the fly. It was also expected that any tutorials would be examined at this stage. The tutorials were not examined upon startup in order to gain a better feel for the intuitive design factors in the interface, and also to complement the usage pattern we expected from typical users.
The subject test pages which were attempted to be duplicated are available, along with a brief explanation of the items being tested by each page layout:
Since a WYSIWYG editing window isn't used, any browser can be linked to a "preview" button, or alternately, a "real-time viewer" is available. This is essentially a WYSIWYG window that can be run together with the editing window--it updates as the editing window is updated. Unfortunately, using it makes the system very sluggish, and problems arise in positioning it. It covers a portion of the editor, so unless the user has a very large screen, it must be constantly repositioned to make the text or buttons beneath it accessible.
Hotmetal's interface looks similar to HotDog's. The first thing noticed was the huge number of buttons across the top of the screen. Some of the buttons, however, are actually menus in disguise, which drop down when you press them. Graphical tags are displayed in the primary area on the screen along with the text of the document. The graphical tags make it easier to read the text in the document, but difficult to read the settings within the tags. This default mode can be turned off, however, to give text-only tags. To preview the document, a browser can be linked.
InContext Spider's interface is the most unique. It is a WYSIWYG display alongside a graphically displayed hierarchical list of document elements. Clicking on the element in the list selects that item in the document. Although this display looked good to start with, the interaction became frustrating quickly. Strict error checking made it difficult to use, and the error messages are not very helpful. The generic message seems to be, "This element cannot be inserted here." Why not? The error checking can be turned off while editing, but it pops back up when the document is saved with a message informing the user of any errors, but not showing where there are. Another annoying thing about the interface is that block highlighting is done in blue--the same color as the default anchor descriptions. This means that if the user has a link displayed and wants to highlight it, they'll be unable to read it when the highlighting bar is on top of it. On the plus side, there are a large number of templates available to start documents with.
WebEdit's interface was the easiest to use. A "wizard" can be used to
start users off with a template. It creates the template by
asking questions about which popular elements should be included.
It would be useful for a first-time homepage creator. Documents
are listed on the left side of the document window in raw HTML,
while the right side of the window can be used for previewing the
documents. Clicking on the previewer update is required to
refresh it. This makes it much quicker than the update-as-you-
type windows that some of the others editors use. It won't
display everything, however. Forms, for instance, can't be
viewed from the preview window, so a browser would be required
for full-featured viewing. There are fewer buttons to use--most
of the tags are selected from menus. Some might find that this
feature slows them down, but the menus are well thought out and
make it easier to learn than a large number of button icons.
HotDog's tables are adequate. It allows direct editing in it's creation window, but it's not quite as smooth as HotMetal's point-and-click column/row changes and doesn't have as much flexibility as WebEdit's. The form creation, however, is the best of the four. It still only inserts one element at a time, but the options to create the individual elements are simple enough that it's not necessary to know how the tag syntax works. A WYSIWYG form editor would be nice, but none of the developers have come up with one yet.
HotMetal's table editing is one of the best. If only simple tables are required, it's very smooth. After specifying the number of rows and columns, the text of the table can be edited on screen, within the document. If the table structure needs alterations, the "table edit" function allows the rows and columns to be stretched to use the COLSPAN and ROWSPAN tags. Rows and columns can be added in this edit as well. Unfortunately, the form creation is very poor. The form location tags must be inserted, and then individual form element tags can be added, but these tags are only inserted as templates, which can then be edited. The user has to have a strong knowledge of the relatively complex form tags to be able to use it.
InContext Spider's table functionality is very poor. The individual tags can be selected from a sub-menu, but the user has to know exactly how to format them, and there are so many row and column tags in a table that the menu selections are probably slower than typing the tags in. The form creation is above average, but still needs work. The form and input tags have to be inserted and then edited afterwards. A window of options is listed when editing, but it's not as easy to use as HotDog's.
WebEdit's tables are the best I've seen, although they aren't
quite perfect. They can be built up from tags, or they can be
created with the "Table Builder." This table builder is a very
simple to use window that allows manipulation of colors,
captions, borders, padding, rows and columns, and the text. It
lacks one thing--facilities to use the spanning tags (to allow an
element to span multiple rows or columns). The form functions
are typically weak. Like most of the other packages, all it
allows for is the insertion of individual tags. The user needs
intimate knowledge of them to proceed.
HotMetal's help system is the best of the four. It has good references to both it's commands and to the HTML language (and extensions). The interface is easy to figure out as well.
InContext Spider's help is difficult to understand in some sections. The dialogue is too technical for inexperienced users. This is especially unfortunate since this program will probably require the most frequent reference to the help section. As mentioned earlier, the menus are not intuitive, thus results a high frustration level for new users.
WebEdit was the easiest system to learn. The menus are
uncluttered and obvious, and the homepage "wizard" makes getting
started a little quicker. The help menus are not as detailed as
some of the others in reference to the HTML elements, but it is
adequate since the simple interface makes reference to the help
section infrequent.
A spell checker is also included in all the packages except
WebEdit. HotDog was the only one that didn't disable it for
their evaluation version, however. (In fact, kudos to sausage
software for not crippling the software at all--only a 30 day
time limit is in place). The spell checker works as expected,
but it should probably have a few extra words added to it. It
stops on "Email", "Internet", and "HTML". Webster might not
recognize these words yet, but in this context they should be
included.
HotMetal includes a thesaurus and document conversion from DOS text files, Word, WordPerfect, and other wordprocessors. It also supports image maps. These features, however, are disabled in the evaluation version. A very nice mapping feature that maps local files to server files makes transferring the documents easy.
InContext Spider comes with it's large number of templates, plus a selection of clip art. The full version comes with its own Mosaic browser so that items and links can be pulled directly off the web for use in new documents.
WebEdit has the best support for the aesthetic page improvement
elements such as backgrounds, borders, sounds, and colors. Their
"color selector" is especially useful, which puts the most common
colors on screen, and converts to the hexadecimal rgb codes
automatically.
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Support of simple tag elements, images, and links to other documents is generally the same for all editors tested. HotDog needs a shakedown for minor bugs, and it could use some tweaking with its tables. It also needs better error checking. It has a nice (customizable) interface and is better than average in most areas.
HotMetal has nice error checking and a quick editor for simple tables, but its support for forms is woefully deficient.
InContext Spider needs major revisions to its menus, help system, and editor. The graphical display makes it too difficult to pick insertion points, and the procedure to modify new elements is not obvious. Elements should be created in a usable form, rather than forcing an edit by the user after insertion. Support for complex items (tables, forms, etc.) is inadequate.
WebEdit has a very simple interface, good support for aesthetic
improvements to documents, and an almost-perfect table builder,
but doesn't have as many features as the other packages. Support
for forms is very poor.
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For amateurs and new users that want to create personal pages,
WebEdit is the obvious choice. It is the easiest to use and has
the best functionality in the aesthetics department.
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Executive Summary