Drawbacks with Using WYSIWYG Web Design Software
WYSIWYG stands for 'What You See Is What You Get'. WYSIWYG software is web designing software that allows you to create a web page or website using a visual editor. This software will allow you to design your webpages, much like you would design a flyer or brochure using MS Publisher or a similar program. You can add text boxes, shapes, colors, images and many other things and the software will generate the coding. For beginners, the software can be a big help in learning HTML coding as whatever you do in the visual design area will generate the corresponding code. It is helpful as well because it makes it very easy to focus on the design elements of your website.
There are some uses for WYSIWYG software, but there are some definite drawbacks to using such software as well.
Most WYSIWYG software generate HTML code that is hard to read. This can become an issue if anyone has to correct some coding to fix something on the website. In addition, the generated code usually doesn’t comply with Web coding standards set forth the W3C. You want your code to be up to standards so that you can be confident that your website appears and functions the same in most, if not all browsers. Having a website that is not coded to standard may even have an effect on how search engines rate your website. Many WYSIWYG software generate coding that is specific to the software generating. This may cause difficulty editing or making changes to the website. If you plan to have someone else maintain the website, they will need to have the same software you used or be forced to try and decipher the code that the software generates.Using WYSIWYG software also makes it more difficult to control the elements on the page as precisely as you can with straight HTML coding. You will likely still be able to edit your alt tags, you will probably have to go through several steps to get to them. As you get into more complex functions that require precise coding, WYSIWYG coding, again falls short. Also, if you want to code your website in something like PHP, then most WYSIWYG software will not even generate any code other than HTML. This can stifle some of your websites functionality.
WYSIWYG has it's place and you can certainly create a website that looks good with the software, but you will be sacrificing some things on the back end. The software just does not do a good enough job with generating standardized code. It is a great tool for beginners to use when focusing on design along, but to become skilled you still must learn to code, to some degree.
You will have to use your mouse a lot, which could cause what is known as a Repetitive Stress Injury and cause pain in your wrists or shoulders
