Macromedia HomeSite
Encyclopedia
HomeSite was an HTML editor
owned by Adobe Systems
(formerly owned by Allaire
and Macromedia
). Unlike WYSIWYG
HTML editors such as Microsoft FrontPage
and Adobe Dreamweaver, HomeSite was designed for direct editing, or "hand coding
," of HTML and other website languages. It was available for the Microsoft Windows
platform.
HomeSite development ended effective May 26, 2009.
in 1995 by Bradbury Software (founded by Nick Bradbury). Bradbury wrote HomeSite after using HotDog and being frustrated with it. In March 1997 Allaire Corporation
from Cambridge, Massachusetts (founded by brothers Jeremy and J.J. Allaire) acquired HomeSite and Nick Bradbury joined Allaire. After leaving Allaire in 1998, Nick went on to work on the CSS/xHTML editor TopStyle
and the RSS
reader FeedDemon
. Macromedia acquired Allaire in 2001 and was in turn acquired by Adobe in 2005.
At Allaire, a version of HomeSite was created as an IDE
for ColdFusion
, selling as ColdFusion Studio. This version was later merged into Coldfusion MX under Macromedia, and was then called HomeSite+. Development of HomeSite continued in parallel, though the standalone HomeSite was still sold separately.
In the days that HomeSite was under Nick Bradbury, and then part of Allaire, it had an enthusiastic following from its user community. While many software companies at the time had WYSIWYG
(What You See Is What You Get) website creation tools where the user never saw the code, Nick Bradbury created a product that was code centric and popular with those that preferred to work directly in the code, a concept that was dubbed "What You See Is What You Need." Further he built in a variety of ways that users could customize the user interface and extend the functionality. Allaire kept this concept going as its target market of ColdFusion
users were code-centric as well. Allaire developers expanded upon Nick's original HomeSite capabilities by adding features like built-in scripting, improved syntax coloring, and VTML
for tag insight and tag editors.
Nick Bradbury and then Allaire had a policy of having an open support forum for those interested in its products, both current customers and prospects. The fans of HomeSite would contribute to the development of the product by making suggestions on-line and refining those suggestions amongst themselves. The Allaire developers would join in the discussion, participating and often incorporating user suggestions. Allaire used the open forum idea for beta programs as well. Allaire used HomeSite as a relative mass-market product, keeping the price at $99 and using widespread distribution. The idea was to get as many web developers using it as possible and then introduce them to ColdFusion. Allaire drove the HomeSite user community from 25,000 in 1997 to over 400,000 in 2001. The focus was on building the community, not revenue. Users responded to that respect and love for the tool by supporting each other and by creating and sharing a wide variety of HomeSite extensions.
Macromedia licensed a copy of HomeSite to include in Dreamweaver 1.0 when it first shipped. This OEM deal started the relationship between the companies and eventually led to the acquisition of Allaire by Macromedia in 2001. Macromedia was acquired by Adobe in 2005. In May 2009, Adobe elected to cease development of HomeSite, and no longer supports the product, though they still maintain a forum for active users (see below).
There was also another version called HomeSite+ which was included in Dreamweaver MX 2004 and greater. HomeSite+ had additional functionality for ColdFusion
application development, and was generally comparable to the version of HomeSite formerly called ColdFusion Studio. HomeSite+/CF Studio versions parallel standalone HomeSite versions.
HTML editor
An HTML editor is a software application for creating web pages. Although the HTML markup of a web page can be written with any text editor, specialized HTML editors can offer convenience and added functionality. For example, many HTML editors work not only with HTML, but also with related...
owned by Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
(formerly owned by Allaire
Allaire Corporation
Allaire Corporation was a computer software company founded by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in Minnesota, later headquartered in Cambridge, then Newton, Massachusetts...
and Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
). Unlike WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...
HTML editors such as Microsoft FrontPage
Microsoft FrontPage
Microsoft FrontPage was a WYSIWYG HTML editor and web site administration tool from Microsoft for the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. It was branded as part of the Microsoft Office suite from 1997 to 2003...
and Adobe Dreamweaver, HomeSite was designed for direct editing, or "hand coding
Hand coding
In computing, hand coding means editing the underlying representation of a document or a computer program, when tools that allow working on more sophisticated representation also exist. Typically this means editing the source code, or the textual representation of a document or a program, instead...
," of HTML and other website languages. It was available for the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
platform.
HomeSite development ended effective May 26, 2009.
History
It was originally developed in Borland DelphiBorland Delphi
Embarcadero Delphi is an integrated development environment for console, desktop graphical, web, and mobile applications.Delphi's compilers use its own Object Pascal dialect of Pascal and generate native code for 32- and 64-bit Windows operating systems, as well as 32-bit Mac OS X and iOS...
in 1995 by Bradbury Software (founded by Nick Bradbury). Bradbury wrote HomeSite after using HotDog and being frustrated with it. In March 1997 Allaire Corporation
Allaire Corporation
Allaire Corporation was a computer software company founded by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in Minnesota, later headquartered in Cambridge, then Newton, Massachusetts...
from Cambridge, Massachusetts (founded by brothers Jeremy and J.J. Allaire) acquired HomeSite and Nick Bradbury joined Allaire. After leaving Allaire in 1998, Nick went on to work on the CSS/xHTML editor TopStyle
TopStyle
TopStyle is a CSS/XHTML/HTML editor for Microsoft Windows developed by Nick Bradbury and now maintained by Stefan van As. The editor is code-centric rather than WYSIWYG, with integrated support for previews using either the Mozilla Gecko, Internet Explorer Trident, or Apple Inc. Webkit layout engines...
and the RSS
RSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
reader FeedDemon
FeedDemon
FeedDemon is a free RSS Feed reader for Windows. It was created and developed by Nick Bradbury, author of tools HomeSite, an HTML editor, and TopStyle, a CSS editor. FeedDemon is developed in Delphi. FeedDemon was purchased by NewsGator Technologies in May 2005. It is able to synchronize with...
. Macromedia acquired Allaire in 2001 and was in turn acquired by Adobe in 2005.
At Allaire, a version of HomeSite was created as an IDE
Integrated development environment
An integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
for ColdFusion
ColdFusion
In computing, ColdFusion is the name of a commercial rapid application development platform invented by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in 1995. ColdFusion was originally designed to make it easier to connect simple HTML pages to a database, by version 2 it had...
, selling as ColdFusion Studio. This version was later merged into Coldfusion MX under Macromedia, and was then called HomeSite+. Development of HomeSite continued in parallel, though the standalone HomeSite was still sold separately.
In the days that HomeSite was under Nick Bradbury, and then part of Allaire, it had an enthusiastic following from its user community. While many software companies at the time had WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...
(What You See Is What You Get) website creation tools where the user never saw the code, Nick Bradbury created a product that was code centric and popular with those that preferred to work directly in the code, a concept that was dubbed "What You See Is What You Need." Further he built in a variety of ways that users could customize the user interface and extend the functionality. Allaire kept this concept going as its target market of ColdFusion
ColdFusion
In computing, ColdFusion is the name of a commercial rapid application development platform invented by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in 1995. ColdFusion was originally designed to make it easier to connect simple HTML pages to a database, by version 2 it had...
users were code-centric as well. Allaire developers expanded upon Nick's original HomeSite capabilities by adding features like built-in scripting, improved syntax coloring, and VTML
VTML
Visual Tool Markup Language, a user interface markup language used by Macromedia HomeSite, ColdFusion Studio and JRun Studio.VTML is used for tag editors and custom dialogs shipped with these applications and can be used to extend the user interface and to support additional tag-based languages.It...
for tag insight and tag editors.
Nick Bradbury and then Allaire had a policy of having an open support forum for those interested in its products, both current customers and prospects. The fans of HomeSite would contribute to the development of the product by making suggestions on-line and refining those suggestions amongst themselves. The Allaire developers would join in the discussion, participating and often incorporating user suggestions. Allaire used the open forum idea for beta programs as well. Allaire used HomeSite as a relative mass-market product, keeping the price at $99 and using widespread distribution. The idea was to get as many web developers using it as possible and then introduce them to ColdFusion. Allaire drove the HomeSite user community from 25,000 in 1997 to over 400,000 in 2001. The focus was on building the community, not revenue. Users responded to that respect and love for the tool by supporting each other and by creating and sharing a wide variety of HomeSite extensions.
Macromedia licensed a copy of HomeSite to include in Dreamweaver 1.0 when it first shipped. This OEM deal started the relationship between the companies and eventually led to the acquisition of Allaire by Macromedia in 2001. Macromedia was acquired by Adobe in 2005. In May 2009, Adobe elected to cease development of HomeSite, and no longer supports the product, though they still maintain a forum for active users (see below).
Versions
- Homesite 1.x (September 1996)
- Allaire Homesite 2.0
- Allaire HomeSite 3.0 (November 1997)
- Allaire HomeSite 4.0 (November 1998)
- Allaire HomeSite 4.5 (1999)
- Macromedia HomeSite 5.0 (2001)
- Macromedia HomeSite 5.2 (January 2003)
- Macromedia HomeSite 5.5 (September 2003)
There was also another version called HomeSite+ which was included in Dreamweaver MX 2004 and greater. HomeSite+ had additional functionality for ColdFusion
ColdFusion
In computing, ColdFusion is the name of a commercial rapid application development platform invented by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in 1995. ColdFusion was originally designed to make it easier to connect simple HTML pages to a database, by version 2 it had...
application development, and was generally comparable to the version of HomeSite formerly called ColdFusion Studio. HomeSite+/CF Studio versions parallel standalone HomeSite versions.
Features
- Customizable interface that includes dockable toolbars with custom buttons, a snippet manager with "tag snippetSnippet (programming)Snippet is a programming term for a small region of re-usable source code, machine code or text. Ordinarily, these are formally-defined operative units to incorporate into larger programming modules...
s," and custom dialogs and wizards written in the VTMLVTMLVisual Tool Markup Language, a user interface markup language used by Macromedia HomeSite, ColdFusion Studio and JRun Studio.VTML is used for tag editors and custom dialogs shipped with these applications and can be used to extend the user interface and to support additional tag-based languages.It...
language. - Extensively script-able to automate tasks or to perform advanced tasks using JavaScript or VBScript
- Macro recorder can record a series of actions to create scripts for later playback
- Enhanced code snippets save time by creating and saving reusable blocks of code, and can prompt for variable replacement when used.
- Customizable syntax color codingSyntax highlightingSyntax highlighting is a feature of some text editors that display text—especially source code—in different colors and fonts according to the category of terms. This feature eases writing in a structured language such as a programming language or a markup language as both structures and...
for ASPActive Server PagesActive Server Pages , also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated Web pages. Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack Active Server Pages (ASP), also known as Classic...
, CFMLColdFusion Markup LanguageColdFusion Markup Language, more commonly known as CFML, is a scripting language for web development that runs on the JVM, the .NET framework, and Google App Engine...
, CSSCascading Style SheetsCascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
, HTML, Java, JavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
, JSPJavaServer PagesJavaServer Pages is a Java technology that helps software developers serve dynamically generated web pages based on HTML, XML, or other document types...
, PerlPerlPerl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
, PHPPHPPHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
, SQLSQLSQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
, VBScriptVBScriptVBScript is an Active Scripting language developed by Microsoft that is modeled on Visual Basic. It is designed as a “lightweight” language with a fast interpreter for use in a wide variety of Microsoft environments...
, VTMLVTMLVisual Tool Markup Language, a user interface markup language used by Macromedia HomeSite, ColdFusion Studio and JRun Studio.VTML is used for tag editors and custom dialogs shipped with these applications and can be used to extend the user interface and to support additional tag-based languages.It...
and XHTMLXHTMLXHTML is a family of XML markup languages that mirror or extend versions of the widely-used Hypertext Markup Language , the language in which web pages are written....
. Syntax-coloring parser syntax and examples are available to help users to extend or write their own. - Search and replace utility
- CSSCascading Style SheetsCascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
editing via the included TopStyle Lite, or via integration with the full version of TopStyleTopStyleTopStyle is a CSS/XHTML/HTML editor for Microsoft Windows developed by Nick Bradbury and now maintained by Stefan van As. The editor is code-centric rather than WYSIWYG, with integrated support for previews using either the Mozilla Gecko, Internet Explorer Trident, or Apple Inc. Webkit layout engines...
, if available - Check your code with the built-in Code Validator, or use CSE HTML Validator with UI integration
- Customizable code formatting formats your code to standards with Code Sweeper or HTML TidyHTML TidyHTML Tidy is a computer program and a library whose purpose is to fix invalid HTML and to improve the layout and indent style of the resulting markup....
. - Integrated help browser shows installed help docs or HTML-format document sets added by the user. Useful for local, searchable copies of standards, tutorials, language references, etc.
- Project management and built-in FTPFile Transfer ProtocolFile Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
help manage and upload websites - Built-in tools for page link-checking, document weight and spell-checking
- Works with source and version controlRevision controlRevision control, also known as version control and source control , is the management of changes to documents, programs, and other information stored as computer files. It is most commonly used in software development, where a team of people may change the same files...
software that supports SCCI, and with other packages via custom toolbars - Assign keyboard shortcuts to most any function, or to your own scripts or code snippets
- The integrated browser view and the external browser list let you view your edited document quickly in your choice of browsers.
- Available in French and German (older versions only, 5.5 is English-only)
- XHTML 1.0 Support
- Extensive right-click menu library including the ability to select an entire tag.
External links
- Official HomeSite Forum
- ASP4HS ASP, PHP, .Net, XML, XSL, SQL development extensions for HomeSite, user community add-on repository
- Homesite Custom Dialogs
- About.com Resources
- Marjolein's Help for HomeSite Users
- Bradbury Software
- Nick Bradbury's Blog