I've used the HTML editor for quite some time. Recently I had to download it again on my new computer with Windows 7. For some reason I can not get the visual editor tab to appear at the top. All I have is the code editor and preview? Please help!

John - Click on your "Tools" Menu then select "Preferences" on the "General Tab", left hand side in the "Initial Document Mode" you should see a checkbox for "Hide Visual Editor tab", this is selected by default and needs to be UNCHECKED.

Be sure to heed the warnings all over the forums, and within the program itself on using the Visual Editor part of the HTML Editor. The 2 sides do not play nice at all so you need to choose one and stick with it. Don't flip back and forth between code and visual, it will screw up your code badly.

I have a major problem with "don't flip back and forth between code and visual, it will screw up your code badly". Would that be because CoffeeCup is not working properly? I am a web developer and "Adam J." is my client. I signed them up with CoffeeCup because I thought it would allow them to maintain small portions of their site economically but so far, this software is not performing. The whole purpose of a WYSIWYG editor is to allow someone with little or no programming skills to have some autonomy of their own site. I've been a web developer for the last 11 years of my 25 year career and there is not one editor out there that does not allow you to view code so you can tweak it. I'm not able to do simple things (i.e. modifying an existing link) in your Visual Editor AND I can't check my work or fix it in Code Editor. PLEASE explain why "the 2 sides do not play nice" and why you can't fix that. ~ Christine

One of the most difficult things about creating a WYSWYG editor is trying to bridge the gap between code and visual editing. Although it may sound pretty easy, it's actually a very complex task.

Things are straightforward in a code editor, but when you move that code to a visual editing environment, things start getting messed up. Everything needs to be parsed and changed to visual format so page elements can be moved individually. During that conversion process, a lot of code gets modified, and if any of the markup is invalid or has syntax problems, the visual editor has to try to decipher what you were trying to do and make some assumptions about how to interpret your code. Moreover, when you switch back to the Code Editor, all the changes made in the Visual Editor have to be reverted to code, and the result usually isn't valid.

That's why we recommend sticking to the Code Editor and using the split-screen preview option. This gives you a real-time view of how your Website looks as you work on the code.

I can understand this when you are changing the site structure but if someone is simply editing text or changing/adding a photo, the underlying code should not be affected. Other editors handle this quite well, so it's not impossible.

As a programmer, I'm very clear on what it takes to develop software and I know it is not trivial. However, when you say "That's why we recommend sticking to the Code Editor and using the split-screen preview option" you are saying that one must be a programmer in order to use HTML Editor. Therefore "Advanced Web Design for Everyone" is not really true. The way this product is marketed, it looks like you can use the visual editor to do basic things and all is well. But it's not.

Hiya Adam,

It's been many years since CC created the HTML Editor and it works wonderfully for code "or" visual, but if you're looking for Visual only then you should consider the Visual Site Designer as that has truly replaced the purpose of the visual tab in the HTML Editor. The VSD program has not been out that many years and is a great program to replace the visual tab of the HTML Editor. Truly it's a much better choice if you need to be using Visual Designing instead of Coding. Not that complicated of a situation. *still wishes they would remove that darned visual tab from HTML Editor* but... until that possibly happens, the 2 tabs don't play nice together and that's that pretty much.

Check out the Visual Site Designer and take it for a trial run. I'm sure you'll see why it was created and that it's really the program you should be using if your clients need the ease of visual settings.

Do keep in mind that it cannot import though, so you'll need to make sure your clients have all the files once you have it designed, and that you are able to keep eachother updated if you are still planning to work on it after you give them the reins.

Good luck

Ya seems to be a whole lot of covering our butt because we are too lazy to build good software. I had absolutely no problems switching back and forth in 2007 version. If i knew 100% of the code and didnt need the visual i wouldnt need your software and notepad works every time i open it.

Typical good software going to crap once someone tries to FIX it

by the way can you resend me the 2007 version or let me know where i can download it now that i made a huge mistake of updating to 2012