How to Use the NVU Web Editor
WYSIWYG Editor Makes It Easier to Create Web Pages
NVU is a free web page authoring system. As a WYSIWYG editor, NVU allows website owners to enter plain text instead of complicated HTML. However, it also creates HTML source code at the same time for each file that the user creates. While an inexperienced website owner cannot easily learn everything about NVU in this lesson, use this as a starting guide and resource for the most common features of NVU and other external web editors. Although NVU may not be as good as other snazzy web editors like Dreamweaver, it is free. So those on a budget can use it and practice with it instead of incurring expensive costs for simple websites.
Get a free NVU download. Follow the download instructions until the software opens. Click on "New" to start a new file and page. Notice a row of options at the bottom. You will primarily use the "Normal" tab and the "Source" tab. The "Normal" tab gives you the plain-text WYSIWY editor. This allows you to type in normal text just like Word or other word processors.
Use the "Source" tab to put it HTML. Newer users may find things like banner ad code or other bits of HTML from other sites to put into web pages. This is where you put this "HTML."
Tip: Always use the "Save" tab as you are going along to avoid losing work.
Notice the row of images at the top. You will use the following features many times: New, Open, Save, Link, and Image. The other features are for more advanced users. For example, you can use the "Table" feature to design a web page with different sections. Using these features requires a good deal of practice.
How to Make Links
Making a hyperlink allows the visitor to the page to click on the hyperlink and visit another page on the same or a different website. Highlight the text for the link and enter the web address. You also have options to open the link in the same page, open it in a new page, and a few other advanced options. Click "OK" to make the hyperlink.
How to Embed an Image
Put the cursor at the place on the page where you would like to place the image. Click on the "Image" link. It is best to first put the image on a web page on your website. You then just enter the website address where that image is located. You can also turn the image into a hyperlink by using the "Link" tab at the top. Click "OK" to save the image.
Tip: You might want to use a free web template. FreeWebTemplates.com has some free templates to use. Just download a template, start a new page, delete the default HTML, click on "Source" at the bottom, and then copy and paste the HTML from the free template into the Source tab. You can then just change the text in the "Normal" tab for your own website.
Use the "A" features to make letters bigger or smaller. The B, I, and U symbols are used to bold text, indent, or underline text. Users should do this to create headlines and make some bold letters throughout text to point out important information.
Some other features you may use when writing text includes text and highlighting. Click on the black and white box to change text color. Click on the pen symbol next to them to highlight text. This is the online version of a Sharpie pen.
You can also create lists or bullet points. You will see the images near the top. There are some other features, but these are the main ones when writing text.
Most of the features in the top menus (File menu, etc.) are the same features found in other parts of NVU. Explore these on your own time, but website owners who have a template may not need most of these features.
After making a page, you then just upload it to your website. Do this with a free FTP utility like FileZilla.
