i want to learn web design is using coffeecup agood way to go to start learning html etc cheers?

Answer 1

If you are new to it, start the right way:
NO FRONT END EDITOR... just Notepad. Stay away from coffeecup, dreamweaver and all others.
You write your code in notepad, you FTP it to your site and check the result. If it is pure HTML, you can open your file with IE (from your drive) and see the result.
A good way is to check the source of some websites: this will guide you to what is necessary to make a site.
Need help with coding? go to www.w3schools.com: you will find HTML, XHTML, PhP, mySQL and all you need to know.
Once you master HTML, add a bit of javascripts (Google for scripts: there are masses out there and for free).
Later, get more proficient with PhP and mySQL.
But, in ALL cases, do NOT use editors: they make crap and unmaintainable code...
Good luck.

Answer 2

Not if you use the visual editor component of it. That is a graphical HTML generator that attempts to hide the markup from you.

This means you have to trust that it is correctly converting what you 'draw' into HTML - and since HTML describes meaning, not appearance, the computer has to guess what you mean, and usually gets it wrong.

Graphical tools can be useful for speeding up development of pages once you understand the language underneath and can correct their mistakes, but they aren't suitable as a means of starting out.

(At least, not if you want to produce something of decent quality).

You could stick to the code view of it, but then you are paying money for something you can get better for free.

JEdit is a decent text editor with extra features for supporting HTML, and doesn't come with the price tag that Coffeecup comes with.

http://www.jedit.org/

Answer 3

There are lots of HTML editors you can use. Everyone has their own preferences, do a Google search and decide for yourself which one you feel comfortable with. There is jEdit, which is a great editor, but there are several others also.

Edit+ http://www.editplus.com
PHP Designer http://www.mpsoftware.dk/phpdesigner.php (which does more than just PHP code)
Eclipse (for more advanced coders)
putty, terminal, emacs
Dreamweaver (for novices)

and the list goes on and on.

A good way to start leaning XHTML (I'll explain in a second) would be to go visit these sites:

http://www.alistapart.com
http://www.webstandards.org/learn/external/xhtml/
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/html-css-beginners-guide
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/
http://www.webmonkey.com/
http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/

XHTML is the newset level of HTML. The roots are HTML, the only differences are very minor which you can read about on those pages.

Go with nice clean code, web standards and you'll be making great sites in no time! Good Luck!