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Should I still be using Notepad...?

Well, should I?

         

ronin

1:17 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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I've been using notepad.exe since 1997.
I'm perfectly happy with it.
(If I need search & replace functionality I use wordpad).

All is well apart from the fact that every time I change the page design on a given set of pages, I have to manually go through and change it on each page.

Should I be using something else instead of notepad.exe?

chiyo

1:29 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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you could use a stand alone multifile search and replace tool like BKReplacem or upgrade notepad to an "extended" text editor like NoteTab, TextPad, or the half dozen or so other ones whose names escape me just now. Personally I use NoteTab and i know the multifile search and replace there is very intuitive, powerful and easy.

ronin

1:40 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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Thanks very much Chiyo.
I'll check out NoteTab.

Vermont

1:51 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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Try HTMLkit

I use Homesite.

claus

2:04 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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I'll just give a little extra support for NoteTab. It's as small and fast as notepad and it can completely replace it. You can have more than one document open at the same time as well. And then there's lots more.

But the most important factor no matter what text editor you consider will always end up being the search and replace function. NoteTab is second to none in this respect, imho.

/claus

PatrickDeese

2:56 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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> search & replace functionality

what's wrong with ctrl-h? I use it in notepad all the time. Also, I have had up to 50 notepad windows at once - so that's a non-issue for me as well. It would be nice if you could search & replace all 50 at once, come to think of it...

MonkeeSage

3:24 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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I really like UltraEdit32's replace in files feature, pseudo-regular expressions support, built in HTML tidy and HTML validation (using the external validator library). But I just downloaded the NoteTab trial version, and I have to say that I'm impressed! I really like the snippet insertion pane...thing...on the left. With a few exceptions it seems to do everything UE32 does, and more. Very nice. :)

Jordan

2_much

6:35 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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I use to be very big on keeping the code light and clean, but I think it's becoming less and less important as Google places more weight on hubs & authorities, link communities, webmaps, etc.

If you're not concerned with code, why not use something like Dreamweaver that makes the process of designing quicker? I use a combo of Dreamweaver and 1stpage, and tend to produce decent code but much faster than straight hand coding.

I think other engines are following suit and veering away from on-page criteria, so I think this will matter less and less.

JonB

6:44 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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ultraedit.

George

7:09 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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editplus. Cannot compare with the others. Works for me.

brotherhood of LAN

7:46 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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>what's wrong with ctrl-h

For regex search/replace, and as you say, something that can do it over 50 files in one swoop. I 2nd chiyo's notetab ;) since it does the trick.

ShawnR

9:57 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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My vote goes to Crimson (I always go for the underdog), but just about any decent context sensitive text editor is better than notepad or wordpad for editing code. Regex search and replace and search/replace in multiple files are only some of the features that make this true. Others include syntax highlighting, ability to define macros, ability to run programs and capture results (invaluable for debugging cgi or if you are writing software in a compiled language), column mode....

MonkeeSage

10:36 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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ShawnR:

Wow...seriously...wow! I was impressed with UE32 and then today with NoteTab...but these are commercial programs (they are fairly priced, but they still have a price), so you have to expect what you pay for to some extent...but a FREEWARE program that has the same features? Yeah right. Araneae was about the closest I'd get...I thought.

But I just downloaded and have been toying with Crimson, and I can only say 'wow'! I think I've found a new text editor! I can even use the cygwin'd HTML tidy and the local validator through it's tools menu and output window...good stuff! :D

Jordan

brotherhood of LAN

11:10 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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>FREEWARE / notetab

Try the notetab site for "notetab lite".

claus

11:22 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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yup, the lite version is free - full featured, less syntax highlight (and ftp i believe) but neither are problems when compared to notepad.

>> what's wrong with ctrl-h?

Well, it's two keys - place the cursor in a word and press F3 and it finds the next occurence ;) nah, really Notetab uses [ctrl+f] for find and [ctrl+r] for replace, so you'll still be using two keys mostly.

Anyway, you can input this weird code in the search field:

go.d^P^Td.g

And it will find (and replace with whatever you put in the replace field):

"gold - linebreak - tabulator - dig"
"good - linebreak - tabulator - dog"

-as well as a lot of other combinations that make less sense (the dot can be used for wildcard) - it will even do this across a collection of documents. That's just something that keeps turning out to be a great time-saver.


added:

And it has auto-replace too, just write <tabl and press space (/enter/tab/other custom key), and it prints out what it's set up do do, eg:

<table class="my-class" align="center" width="790" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">

>> 50 notepad windows at once

Well, that's windows. NoteTAB uses one window and 50 tabs inside it in stead - of course you can have 50 windows as well if you like but the tab (default) is convenient. I've had.. well a whole lot more - i can't find any limits in the documentation.

Plus you can print out all open tabs as one ultra fast print job with custom headers, that's convenient too sometimes. Oh, and it can replace the windows clipboard too... i'll stop now, promise, i'll just add that it has it's own scripting language as well, so that if there's a thing it cannot do you can just make it do it.

Found this in the help file about the difference between the paid and lite version:

NoteTab Light is the freeware version. Unlike the commercial version, it does not have a spell checker or thesaurus. The Clip programming language is limited in that it does not support labels, nor the Perl, Gawk, and console commands. Furthermore it only lets you read outline documents and EBCDIC files, and the Search Disk tool does not provide the Replace feature.

/claus

[edited by: claus at 11:56 am (utc) on Aug. 31, 2003]

jamesa

11:38 am on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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ronin, notepad may work fine but I'd go for something more, um, "exotic". Chicks dig that.

ronin

7:33 pm on Aug 31, 2003 (gmt 0)

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Thanks jamesa >;->

However, I never suggest to 'chicks' that I have anything to do with the markup or programming of my site - I claim only to be responsible for the photo-journalism - so my text editor of choice never comes into question.

As for the other (earlier) suggestion to use Dreamweaver... I'm not a graphic designer really, and I find that the occasional unintended result I get from handwritten markup provides inspiration for better visual layout than I would otherwise get from using a WYSIWYG editor which gives you 'exactly what you ask it for'. If I got exactly the visual layout I wanted all the time, my website would be an uninspired disaster (visually).

That said I'm off to check out Crimson and NoteTab Lite.

Thanks very much indeed for all the suggestions and comments!

jamesa

1:35 am on Sep 1, 2003 (gmt 0)

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Also take a look at EditPadPro [editpadpro.com]. Nice feature set plus I love the fact that you can have multiple documents open in one window with tabs.

George

6:06 am on Sep 1, 2003 (gmt 0)

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Just had a peek at Crimson, and if you have not seen it I highly recommend EditPlus.
You also have block edit, buttons for adding basic HTML (bold, tables etc) macros, loads of useful things I never use :)
Also, the trail version lasts forever, just a pop up on first opening, so when it irriates after a couple of years, you might pay :)

moltar

7:28 am on Sep 1, 2003 (gmt 0)

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EditPlus is very good too!

txbakers

5:38 pm on Sep 2, 2003 (gmt 0)

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textpad

George

6:53 pm on Sep 2, 2003 (gmt 0)

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txbakers,
I moved from Textpad to Editplus on a recommendation, (reluctant) and have not looked back. The only disadvantage is that it "takes more clicks to open".
Advantages are numerous, the best are colour coding, HTML tool bar and find and replace in a folder.

[added] OK, fixed the clicks... found the preferences :) (not on the file menu, but tools)
You can also use it as a browser... handy when writing code... [/added]

creative craig

7:50 pm on Sep 2, 2003 (gmt 0)

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Been using notepad ever since forever :)

...untill now, my new job has a 600 page site put together in Dreamweaver :( I have used it before but only lightly, having to do some reading and playing around with a few of my personal sites.

Craig

nancyb

8:33 pm on Sep 2, 2003 (gmt 0)

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Notetab Pro and Dreamweaver - use em both.

love the templates and libraries in dw so I can just change one file and and have it filter through the site - addresses, logos, whatever.

hate the search/replace in dw so I always use Notetab for that.

been using NoteTab for years and if it were a book it would be yellowed, coffee stained with all pages curled. It is always open because I use it for all kinds of things besides html. Pricey? the Pro version is only 19.95 and the standard just 9.95.

Now, if someone could just wiggle their nose and "install" NoteTab clipping in my brain, I would save even more time :) Any nose wigglers out there?

Robert Charlton

4:30 am on Sep 6, 2003 (gmt 0)

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This is going to be another vote for NoteTab... actually for NoteTab Pro.

I could not stand Notepad... can't imagine how anybody could tolerate it for very long. NoteTab Pro not only replaces it... it has changed the way I use my computer. It's practically my basic application. When I started with it, I'd wished the documentation was a less command-centric and more task-oriented, but I use the program so much I now know it in my sleep.

The other application I use a whole lot is Windows Commander (more recently renamed Total Commander to keep M$ happy), which is an Explorer substitute, very much like the old Norton Commander for DOS, with dual panels, navigation shortcuts, file compression and ftp features, directory text search, filename printing, etc.

NoteTab, used together with Windows Commander, is so fast and convenient that I use it for much of my writing; for small project management (using the outline feature, which displays documents as little tabbed books); for taking notes and keeping track of text data; for html; etc etc etc.

I'd get the registered version right off. I think you can try it free for 30 days.