NWE Help: Web: Authoring: Mozilla Composer: Introduction

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Mozilla Composer is a wysiwyg ("what you see is what you get") HTML editor. Much of the writing we do in the Networked Writing Environment is published on the World Wide Web, and HTML is the special language which allows us to distribute documents over the web.

To create HTML pages, one can just type some text, and add the HTML codes by hand, but that requires more time and effort than is really necessary. Composer allows you to create HTML pages without knowing any HTML. This can be useful once you know what you're doing and want a way to create an HTML without having to write the HTML. Learning to make web pages this way is not the best plan because you don't interact with the code and if something goes wrong, as it often will with composer-type programs, you won't be able to diagnose and fix the page.

Some tips for learning Composer:

• Start simple. Don't try to make a complex document right away.
• Use the tool tips--hold your mouse button over any button to see what it does.
• Ask your instructor for a demo if you're still confused.