V.Newbie query re: HTML editting

[peadarpob]

Hi. STUPID newbie question I know, but here goes. I am just starting to do some part-time work, revamping websites etc. I have basic HTML editting & dreamweaver experience, but otherwise just starting from scratch. I've just won a contract to teach a small government agency HOW to update some basic text-files on their website. I have to first have a look at the site files, see how they were designed and then decide on the best way to make it easy for them to update on a daily basis.

2 questions:
- Can you recommend easy, cheap programs for easy editting of basic text files within websites?
- If I look at the source code of a web-page and it does not show the entire HTML (which I am used to editting), does this mean it has been designed with a specific design tool & is there a way to view the HTML source?

Many thx, sorry for stooopidity!

ppob

[photon]

HTML-Kit allows virtual on line editing--i.e., it automatcally handles the FTPing between the server and your box. And it's free.

[griz_fan]

No such thing as a stupid question ;)

From what you've described, it almost sounds like the files you need to edit are part of a dynamic web site. In simple terms, the web server will dynamically assemble the various files (each file being an element of the entire webpage) into a complete web page, based on certain criteria. For example, if a site visitor is logged in, the web server would use a slightly different version of the top navigation bar with special content for logged in visitors, and a different version of the top nav bar for those not logged in. When sites are built this way, you get a lot of flexibility to customize content, but you also wind up with page "fragments" on the web server, instead of entire HTML documents.
So, first thing would be to talk to the person who set up the site and get some info on how the site was built.
You can check out the editors section of HotScripts.com to find all sorts of HTML editors. But, you many not want to... Here's why. If your goal is to come up with a method for people with no HTML experience to update content on a website, the best method is to set them up with a CMS (content management system). This way, they can log into a secure section of the website, then type in the new content (or edit existing content) right from their web browser, then the programming on the web server would update the pages. Take a look at [opensourcecms.com...] to see some of them in action.