I am not a professional, but a weekend web designer using only HTML and CSS with "PHP includes." I have been using the free HTMLkit editor for five years. I planned someday to upgrade to Topstyle but they charge $80 plus $30 each upgrade and meanwhile Coffee Cup seems to have taken the lead. Reportedly your HTML editor is beginner-friendly as well as professionally featured. I would like to compare this to the paid version of HTMLkit ("HTML Tools.") I welcome any comments on my errors, or to better explain any differences.

1. Question: does Coffee Cup HTML Editor have upgrade fees?

2. Important features apparently shared by both programs (comments welcome):

• W3C markup validation service.
• Code snippets / custom hotkeys.
• Spell-checking.

3. HTMLkit features that I am not sure are in Coffee Cup:

• Live FTP editing...?
• Installs on USB memory stick...? (Does not use windows registry.)
• Batch Search and Replace...? I just learned about this, not yet tried. Apparently, HTMLkit has a pluggin that can automatically change the email address, or etc., in all of my 500 separate Paypal shopping cart files.

4. Features which I would like but nobody seems to have:

• One-click save to FTP + save on desktop version? (Or some other sort of automatic backup of website version to desktop.)
• Parse PHP pages to see the "included" result without uploading to a webserver? (This gives the same result as one-click FTP+desktop save. I.e., if I can preview the PHP includes without the internet, then I can work on the desktop version and later FTP it all to the website. I have achieved this by installing an Aprelium Abyss on my desktop. However I am interested if there is any other easy site-plus-desktop backup method.)
• One click "save changes + browser refresh" to preview changes...? (I think maybe Coffee Cup HTML editor can do this?)

5. I am also very interested in your "Cart Creator." I usually use Paypal free shopping cart because most other carts have significant monthly fees. The problems with the Paypal free cart are:

• For design flexibility, I have each cart item on a separate PHP include file. Would be nice if everything were in one file.
• Of course, the Paypal cart is on the Paypal server and has no special features such as order memory, assigning customer accounts, etc.

Question: Can the Cart Creator work with the "free" Paypal shopping cart, upgrading it to add features? Or perhaps putting everything in one PHP file?

Thank you!

Hiya Krystofo,

I'll try to answer as best I can all your questions unless I don't know the answer lol.

1. Yes updates are free for life! Never pay another updates fee again.

2. Important features apparently shared by both programs (comments welcome):

* W3C markup validation service.
- ... not built into the program, HTML validation button is though.
* Code snippets / custom hotkeys.
- ... Yes / not sure, never used any
* Spell-checking.
- ... yes

3. HTMLkit features that I am not sure are in Coffee Cup:

* Live FTP editing...?
- ... yes you can update things server side.
* Installs on USB memory stick...? (Does not use windows registry.)
- ... not sure on the USB mem stick install, Yes it uses the registry.
* Batch Search and Replace...? I just learned about this, not yet tried. Apparently, HTMLkit has a pluggin that can automatically change the email address, or etc., in all of my 500 separate Paypal shopping cart files.
- ... need more clarification on what you're asking. HTML Editor can find and replace within 1 page, all open pages, or any directory of documents all in mass find/replace if that's what you're asking.


4. Features which I would like but nobody seems to have:

* One-click save to FTP + save on desktop version? (Or some other sort of automatic backup of website version to desktop.)
- ... more clarification please on what you're asking for.
* Parse PHP pages to see the "included" result without uploading to a webserver? (This gives the same result as one-click FTP+desktop save. I.e., if I can preview the PHP includes without the internet, then I can work on the desktop version and later FTP it all to the website. I have achieved this by installing an Aprelium Abyss on my desktop. However I am interested if there is any other easy site-plus-desktop backup method.)
- ... ok I think the answer to this and the last one is No. You will need to install other applications for viewing SSI or PHP includes.
* One click "save changes + browser refresh" to preview changes...? (I think maybe Coffee Cup HTML editor can do this?)
- ... I'm not sure what you mean here, but if you mean that it can save and then open the saved page for viewing at the same time then .... kind of lol. You can open it to see it in any browser you setup in the program so it will save it automatically then and then will open it in the browser for you to view.


5. I am also very interested in your "Cart Creator." I usually use Paypal free shopping cart because most other carts have significant monthly fees. The problems with the Paypal free cart are:

* For design flexibility, I have each cart item on a separate PHP include file. Would be nice if everything were in one file.
* Of course, the Paypal cart is on the Paypal server and has no special features such as order memory, assigning customer accounts, etc.
- ... Shopping Cart Creators use no databases at all and store no customer information at all. They pass that job to your payment processor such as PayPal to handle the transactions.

Question: Can the Cart Creator work with the "free" Paypal shopping cart, upgrading it to add features? Or perhaps putting everything in one PHP file? - Cart Creator programs are a fully functional cart system that builds a fully operational shop website standalone. They don't "integrate" with other sites or addons or files other than working alongside the Cart Designer programs.

That's all I have for you , hope that answers at least some of your questions

Thank you for the help Jo Ann!


For example. HTMLkit has a drag-and-drop "workspace" FTP. I can open any website, double-click on any .htm or .php source file to open and edit "live" with HTMLkit. Then at any time, I simply click a "save" button (or type CTRL+S) and the changes are saved live via FTP on the website... However... I also want to "save" any changes on an identical version of the website which I keep on my desktop for backup. This can be done by clicking SAVE AS -> "browse" window -> double-click on desktop version -> "Replace existing file?" -> ENTER. Done.

I.e., as I edit a web page, I want repeatedly to "save" my changes in two different locations. The first "save" is just a normal one-click save. The second "save as" takes three extra clicks. This is tiresome. It would be much better if both "saves" happened in one click.

I can of course wait until everything is perfect before I "save as" at the very end. However often I am working with several related pages. If I forget one important "save as"--I would never notice that the desktop (archive) version is not the same as the website (live) version.

This problem is solved by using a desktop Abyss webserver. Then, because I can now "preview" PHP-include pages from the desktop (archive) version, there is no need to do "live" editing. I.e., the desktop version now becomes the "save" and the website version becomes the "save as." The difference here is that there is no danger in forgetting to "save as..." Because I will certainly notice if the "live" version has not been updated!

Of course, my whole approach to backups is perhaps rather homespun. There are numerous "website backup" programs. However I much prefer to "save as" while I work. It is simple and flawless, without yet another program to understand, update and monitor whether it is working. Actually my "desktop" version is in a "briefcase" which is synchronized with another copy on an SD card in a memory stick. So the so-called "live" versions are actually copies of the "real" originals. The "real" websites are safe and handy in my pocket on an SD card, if you know what I mean...


For example... I have a directory (folder) on my desktop containing 500 separate .txt files for 500 Paypal "buy now" buttons... Do you mean that--in one action--HTML Editor can "find" the phrase "orders2010a@mysite.com" in every file within that directory--and "replace" every instance in every file--with "orders2011b@mysite.com"...?

Of course any word processor can "find and replace all" within a single file. But to "find and replace all" within dozens of separate files--that would be spectacular...! The need for this is in response to the fact that the email address in a Paypal shopping cart is readily viewable by spambots who seem to specialize in sending endless Viagra and Nike commercials to every Paypal cart address. Currently, I respond to this problem by using a unique address for Paypal orders, and filtering out any messages to this address which do not originate from paypal.com. However it would be better to change the address several times a year... if only this can be done instantly 500 times in 500 separate files...

...P.S... If "batch find and replace" works well... then perhaps also there is no need for PHP includes... no need for Abyss desktop webserver... (as discussed above)...! I.e., if HTML Editor can "find and replace" on every file within a desktop directory, then I can hard-code the navigation menu bar into every page... Because then, I can make changes to this repeated "link list" on every page with a single click... So then, there is no need for "PHP includes" for the navigation menu bar...? And consequently, with no PHP includes, there is no need for an Abyss webserver to "preview" the pages on my desktop...?



What I mean is... every time I "save" after making a change, I need to "refresh" the browser if I wish to see the changes. It would be nice if:

• HTML Editor window and a browser window are kept fully open at the same time. This is no problem. I have large monitors, and also bought a dual-monitor USB adapter.
• Then also, every time I click "save" in HTML Editor, I would like automatically to "refresh" the browser... without that extra click on the "refresh" button...?

I am not saying this is "essential" but it would certainly make website editing more pleasant.

Yep it can do that. It can find and replace multiple files, folders, etc. from any location you tell it to. Take it for a spin and setup a test directory with a bunch of copies of your PayPal button pages and see how it works, it's pretty simple and very intuitive.





This it doesn't do, in order to preview it again you just open the preview menu and choose your browser, or you put the preview on your toolbar above your pages you're working on and hit it and it will open the page again pretty quickly if your browser is already open. It won't "refresh" an already open page, but it will prompt you to save first "I think? not positive on this, give it a shot and see lol. But either way, unfortunately it's not a refresh setup, it just reopens the page to preview it again. I kind of like it this way myself though, especially for subtle changes. This lets me preview both the page I just changed and what it was just before I changed it to make sure the changes took place correctly so it's all good for me

Either way, previewing is pretty easy to do, and not real clicky if you setup the toolbar with it

Thank you Jo Ann!

I think I must give priority to testing HTML Tools--mainly because I have been using HTMLkit for 5 years. If this does not work out, it is good to know that Coffee Cup Editor will do what I need.

Both programs seem almost equal in features. Coffee Cup Editor may well prove to be better, costs $10 less, and seems to have a better organized help forum.

Above all, I am delighted that both Coffee Cup Editor and HTML Tools have "batch find and replace." This is a serious breakthrough for me.

I will continue to use "PHP includes" because:
• Simply naming all pages with ".PHP" provides unlimited interactive potential. We do not want later to lose external SEO linkage by changing names from .HTM to .PHP.
• I also mucho like the way that includes streamline the main source code...

However this does not diminish the revolutionary importance (in my world) of "batch replacements" because...

• As already discussed, I can now mass-edit all those "include" files.
• Suppose I decide to add sound--or some other interactive feature--to an entire 100-page site? I can "batch find and replace" for </head>, thus adding a PHP script just before or just after every </head> code as needed.
• And also, I no longer must resort to the occasional naughty "include within include."
• And also, I no longer need to insist to HTML newbie friends that they immediately learn PHP includes and install a desktop server...! They can indeed maintain that essential navbar, repeated on every page of a site, using only "batch find and replace."

Finally, just for the record, here is my summary of Topstyle, after a day's worth of reading. Currently for $99, plus $30 for major upgrades, includes a seamless package of Topstyle + CSE HTML Validator. I suspect that this offers extremely comprehensive multi-browser code validation. Plus numerous other features that I hardly understand. Probably all this can save substantial time for the 40-hour professional webdesigner, and for them is a very reasonable price. However Topstyle is reportedly less beginner-friendly. For my level, a semi-professional website developer who struggles to remain as human and non-technical as possible, Topstyle seems neither worth the bother nor the cost. I.e., I am no expert, but it seems to me, Topstyle is the sort of software to be used by the sort of people I will hire to perfect my websites after they start making some money... knock on wood...

I wasn't aware that Topstyle had an HTML editor even, I have the Topstyle CSS program, but I never use it since the HTML Editor has a nice setup of CSS codes built into the program. Very helpful when it's all in one place.

Have fun checking out the programs and hollar if you need more assistance