Tools to write Chinese web pages

General

There are various ways to write Chinese web pages through the use of different software available in the market like FrontPage 2000, Microsoft Word, etc. Here we try to summarize the common problems and highlight the limitation being found in each of these software tools for reference.

Various ways to write Chinese web pages

First, if you are using an English Windows 95/98 environment, you can install RichWin on your PC for typing Chinese characters. For Chinese Windows 95 users, this will not be necessary as your environment is already suitable for Chinese editing. Each of the following software have been evaluated and any problems or limitations were summarized.

Our Suggestions

After evaluating different software tools, we found that using Microsoft FrontPage 2000 to write Chinese web pages on either English with RichWin or Chinese Windows environment is a good choice.
Tools Problems Highlight Our Comments
FrontPage 2000
  • No problem found in using this tool on both English and Chinese Windows. 
  • Chinese characters can be displayed properly in table, form, etc. Copy and paste function on chinese characters is working fine too.
  • Much improved functions available on FrontPage 2000 to make this a good tool to create Chinese web pages. This certainly is the best choice out of all the tools we evaluated.
 Recommended
FrontPage 98
  • No problem found in using this tool on both English and Chinese Windows. 
  • Chinese characters can be displayed properly in table, form, etc. Copy and paste function on chinese characters is working fine too.
  • Only limited by the functions available on FrontPage 98.
 Good
Word 2000
  • It works fine to convert the Word document to HTML format using the "Save as Web Page" functions. Chinese characters can be displayed properly in table, form, etc. 
  • However, using the copy and paste functions, sometimes chinese characters may be jammed together.
  • No direct HTML editing as other HTML editors do.
 OK, but with limitation
Netscape Composer
  • Chinese characters will be converted to an improper format like "&sh12", etc stored in the web page. This can be observed by checking the HTML source of the web page.
  • This problem can be avoided by changing the Character Set to Traditional Chinese (Big5) before creating the Chinese web page.
OK, but with special setting
FrontPage Express
  • Chinese characters will be converted to an improper format like "&sh12", etc stored in the web page. This can be observed by checking the HTML source of the web page.
  • This tool is not suitable for writing Chinese web pages.
 Not Recommended
Word 97
  • Using the "Save as HTML" functions to convert the Word document to HTML format, all Chinese characters will be converted to an improper format like "&sh12", etc stored in the web page. 
  • Text and table alignments will be changed after the HTML conversion.
  • No direct HTML editing as other HTML editors do.
 Not Recommended