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Andy36

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Is Microsoft front page a html editor? Will MFP do the html code for you? Can you do the html code yourself in MFP? I understand the basics of html, so would MFP be a good program for me to purchase?
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Bit_Twiddler

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webwoman

I prefer Dreamweaver, mostly because it allows you to see the code AND the design at the same time, and has better CSS support.

However, if you're going to be coding most things, you can use HomeSite (which is very reasonable) or FirstPage (which is FREE). Both are code editors, not design tools as such (though they do have preview modes). The will not do ANYTHING to your code, unlike both Dreamweaver and FrontPage. To be fair, Dreamweaver is less likely to 'fix' your code than FrontPage is, but both have limitations.

I tend to use Dreamweaver for the initial layout, since it handles tables relatively well and allows me to better visualize how the page will look. Then I fine tune and add script in HomeSite or FirstPage (depending on where I'm working).

Be aware though -- neither of them will REALLY show you how the page looks. There will be differences between Dreamweaver/FrontPage and how the page actually looks in the browser. Never go by any graphical web editor -- you must test in the browser.
Just a personal opinion, if you really want to learn to code, know what everything does on the page and how to manipulate it then you want a true HTML editor (I like HomeSite).  

BUT, sometimes you need to bang out a quick, pretty, organized web site and then FrontPage can do it quickly and pretty easily.  The problem really comes when you want to make enhancements to the pages and it's full of Frontpage webbots and other code unique to the tool.  It's hard to deconstruct FP code.  And it produces lots of extraneous files that FP requires, so the web site takes up more space.
Ken is spot on -- for something fast, that won't be changed but recreated, and is going on a server with the FP extensions, FP can be just what you need.

Just don't try to change anything later. And most especially, don't decide you want to change anything the wizards created. Not even MS knows what spells those wizards use... ;-)