In the early days of the Web, we saw the rise of simple graphical HTML editors like Claris HomePage, Symantec's Visual Page, and Adobe's PageMill. Those applications defined a useful niche between the text-only HTML editors like BBEdit (still preferred by many) and the powerful (and expensive) Web authoring tools like Adobe GoLive and Macromedia Dreamweaver. Useful and obvious though that niche may have been, all those early programs died off, leaving many people using programs with which they were uncomfortable. A few low-end Web authoring tools have popped up over the years, but none has become as well-known as those first programs.

As a result, when I received an email message from Izidor Jerebic, wanting to offer TidBITS readers a chance to win a copy of his company's new graphical HTML/CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) authoring tool, called GoodPage, I was intrigued. The program offers code, structure, and browser (via Apple's WebKit) views of your document; can present the different views simultaneously; and allows WYSIWYG selection and navigation between views. GoodPage provides site management via FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, or any mounted folder (such as a .Mac iDisk). It can display the differences between the remote site and your local copy and update the remote site with either all or only select files. On the code side, GoodPage supports all HTML and XHTML versions, and it has integrated HTML and CSS validation, so you can be sure your code is correct. GoodPage requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later.

I've been spending a lot of time over the last week learning CSS for an update to our Take Control Web site, and as much as I like using BBEdit 8 and its live preview window for HTML work, I'm looking forward to seeing if GoodPage can simplify some of the aspects of CSS that have caused me significant headaches this week (I had no idea the extent to which wacky hacks were necessary to get all versions of Internet Explorer to play nice with CSS!). TARI, the small European company that makes GoodPage, offers a 30-day free trial version, so you can give the program a test drive while waiting to see if you've won a copy.

<http://www.goodpage.info/>

In this week's DealBITS drawing, you can enter to win a copy of GoodPage 1.0, worth $149. Entrants who aren't among our lucky winners will receive a significant discount on GoodPage, so if you've been wanting an easier or more-capable HTML authoring tool than you're currently using, be sure to enter at the DealBITS page linked below. All information gathered is covered by our comprehensive privacy policy. Be careful with your spam filters, since you must be able to receive email from my address to learn if you've won.

<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/goodpage/>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>

Lastly, remember our new way of increasing your chances of receiving a prize. On the confirmation Web page and in the email confirmation message that entrants receive, you'll see a custom URL that you can send to friends and colleagues so they can enter the drawing, too. If our randomly chosen winner entered using your referral URL, you'll receive exactly the same prize. The more people you refer, the more likely it is that you'll win a prize, so feel free to distribute your referral URL widely (without acting like a spammer, of course!)