htmlArea Generator - Download

Overview

This old script is one of my early attempts at dynamic code generation and UI design. I include it here partly for sentimental reasons, partly because the UI is still pretty darn cool, but also because it may possibly of some use to someone...

htmlArea is a free script distributed by interactivetools.com, which replaces any textarea with a WYSIWYG editor (a 'What You See Is What You Get' editor, like Dreamweaver, Golive or Frontpage). It enables you to create HTML on-the-fly, without having to actually know any HTML. You just highlight text and click Bold, Italic and other buttons to dynamically change the content. It's written purely in javascript, and only works with Internet Explorer 5.5 or later. The majority of people who use it are developers themselves, wanting to provide a simple way for non-technical users to create HTML.

What it does

After working for interactivetools.com for a short while, it became quite clear that although htmlArea was fully modifiable in what buttons and dropdowns could appear in the toolbar, customizing it proved a rather daunting task for the average user.

Hence the htmlArea Generator. This script dynamically creates htmlAreas for you, simply by pointing and clicking. You can choose the buttons / dropdowns you want, the colours, and all manner of text / style options from within a user-friendly interface. And when you're done, just click 'generate' and it creates the code for you!

Version 1.01 also has optional PHP and Perl add-ons which automatically create the htmlArea files for you. See the user documentation in the top right corner of the demo for more information.

Limitations

IE 5.5+ only!

Demo and User Doc

Click here to see the online demo. Remember, it requires IE 5.5 or later. Click here for the User Documentation.