Blackthorn was asking about the HTML Editor's visual editing mode and whether VSD had support for tables. So both.

well, my copy is defective.. I tried for an hour all different ways to get it to select. I can enter content, but that's all

I am running the beta version for testing. I will try it on an old version on another box and see what it does.

version 2008 build 242 works
and
version ?? build 305 works
and
version 2010 build 312 not work

I will dig around and try some other versions

what is the trick for selecting multiple cells to merge the cells

@blackthorn-413, can you tell me what version of the HTML Editor you have and what operating system you are using, thanks
--from the top menu--
help > about this software

I am running 305

And I am only focused now on the visual editor in the HTML EDITOR not VSD as it seems more limited and (thus I assume to be at end of life).

Unfortunately this tool will probably not suit my needs if it is not a goal to make the code editor and the visual editor essentially different viewports of the same page (and it doesn't make a lot of sense)

Coffee Cup gives a warning when activate the Visual Editor about possible incompatabilities. I hope this is only a current state and not a long term direction.

It looks like for the version analysis done by Dave Beal that 305 may have broken the table editing interface. Thanks for all the work.

(It would be my suggestion that Coffeecup do the development to allow authors to switch between the html code editor and the visual editor. These different views both have merits.)

thanks again

I am running 305 which from Dave Beall's analysis, may be broken (with respect to the interface to table editing). Thanks for all the work in trying different versions.

I am only focused now on the visual editor in the HTML EDITOR. I tried VSD and it appears to bemore limited and (thus I assume to be at end of life).

Coffee Cup gives a warning when activate the Visual Editor about possible incompatabilities. I hope this is only a current state and not a long term direction.

thanks for the help

Hiya blackthorn,

The 2 different states of the HTML Editor are exactly that, totally different. They aren't meant to work together but as a choice of one or the other. If you are looking for visual editing then you need to choose that setup and stay with it for the page you are editing or the code will change if you go back and forth. These 2 setups are very different coding and therefore not totally compatible. The visual editor end of it is meant as an alternative to those that cannot do coding, it's not meant as a way to do visual placement of things you are coding. Hopefully that makes sense.

Having said that, I'm curious as to what part of VSD it is that you're thinking is limited. It's always good to hear the opinions of those that use or used it or tried it to get a better understanding of what they feel it is lacking. This helps the developers so they know what to focus on or if it's necessary to focus on it too.

VSD is definitely "The" visual editor put out by CoffeeCup, it has pretty much taken the place of the visual editor of the HTML Editor rather than what you're saying seems to be the other way around. Hopefully your views will enlighten us as to what might be lacking, or maybe we can help enlighten you if it's something that maybe is there and you just didnt' find it or it isn't intuitive to find

Having said all that, I would rather that CC do one of 2 things myself with the HTML Editor:
1. Integrate it so that it's visual/code at the same time similar to what Dreamweaver does where you can target something in one part and it will highlight it in the other.

2. Remove the visual editor completely so it stops giving me headaches having to explain that it's not compatible with the code editor lol.

Other than that, hopefully it's something we can help you with to better understand how VSD is working or we'll find out what's lacking

CoffeeCup HTML Editor
The 'Code Edit View' is compatible with the 'Visual Edit View' if you write your code in the same way that the visual editor does.

In other words, start your page in the visual editor tab and follow that code style when doing any editing by hand. Then when you switch back and forth, all will be well. I haven't done a huge amount of hand editing on a visual page, but have done small changes.

Is that really true though Dave? If you start it in either way, what the program does is edits the code to fit the currently viewed system. So if you start it in visual and then switch to code view what you see is not going to be what the visual side did, but what the code side has already altered to it's own system. You never really see what the code looks like when swapping back and forth.

In your scenario if you start the code in code view and write it as it would be in visual mode that would last for 1 change, when you change it back to code view it's going to alter it to accommodate the way the code view perceives code. It doesn't hold how you code it, it doesn't know you coded it by hand once you change back and forth.

I know what I'm trying to say here, but not sure I can find the right words lol. Let me try this:
You can "never" see what the other side does without uploading it and getting the code on the web. Every time you switch it has already changed it so you "never" see what you actually had on the other side, you only see what the current side has done to change it to fit it's own needs, and if the visual side is the current side then you "have" to get the code from the web, there is no other way to be sure you can put it back if you swap. Does that make sense?

Seems like lot of work to really do a site that way because you'd be constantly changing your code back and forth all the time.

BUT.... DO correct me if I'm wrong here, because this is what I've been told and followed for a long time, I'd hate to think I've been going about this all wrong all this time myself too lol. If it's not true, please please tell me, I'd love for it not to be too