pageoneresults - 2:33 pm on Feb 21, 2008 (gmt 0)

Great! I was coming back to revisit this topic and ask if you were able to configure everything to your liking and it sounds like you are well on your way, kudos!

Now, this is an excellent topic that applies to all WYSIWYG editors. You have to remember that these programs are designed for beginners out of the box. The default settings are for the beginner and if you use them, you are going to get code that looks like it is from a beginner. :)

All the programs I utilize allow me to customize the toolbars almost to the nth degree. With FP and EWD, advanced users need to reconfigure their workspace to be more in tune with their working environment. This is where many, many people have missed the boat and you hear all the bad stuff about WYSIWYG.

If the program is properly configured out of the box for your editing environment, a WYSIWYG like EWD is going to be a production powerhouse for you, I guarantee it! Yes, I'd put a personal guarantee on that one because I know, I've done it and I've helped many others reconfigure their workspace to do the same. Once you start right clicking those menus, adding and removing buttons, you find all sorts of stuff that you didn't know existed. And, you now find that you can get rid of and add stuff that you really need like the Style Menu. That's the first thing anyone needs to add if they are using an external CSS file.

The other thing I'd like to mention about external CSS is that the goal is not to have to add classes to individual elements within a surrounding div that is styled to begin with. You want your code to be as free of possible from additional markup. All of your primary block level and inline elements should be styled from the external CSS, that way you are not using your Style Menu that much, just the WYSIWYG for your primary block level and inline elements, those that don't generate embedded styles e.g. <h>, <ul>, <ol>, <dl>, <b>, <i>.

I'll share some quick tips with you when you come back for some more. :)

There are a set of buttons up there that are killer when it comes to creating nested lists. I can build a popout dropdown CSS menu in minutes using FP/EWD and the nesting function of the list elements. It is a true sight to behold while working in split view. You're watching your code input in the top pane, and you're watching this nested list develop below in the preview pane. All this is done through input, hitting Enter, input, hitting Enter, perform a nest, more input, hitting Enter, etc... It is really that simple once you've preconfigured everything the way "it should be".