HTML templates

[tdavis]

I am looking for some general advice on HTML templates. They are easy to understand. My issue is with the design of the template itself. I use Adobe GoLive to design pages. I have to manually insert code to add the TMPL variables. GoLive is usually good about maintaining the integrity of the varaible; e.g., <TMPL_VAR NAME="customer">, is not changed. But, every so often the < gets changes to %30 or the quotes are lost. It is especially tedious and more often GoLive changes when I use a TMPL as an HREF value or what I most struggle with - form values (see example below).

<input type="text" name="expire_date" readonly size="20" maxlength="20" class="input" value=<TMPL_VAR NAME="expiredate">

So, I wonder what others do regarding the design of the template. Does Dreamweaver do a better job? Does anyone else use GoLive, and if so, is there a better way that I do not know about?

Thanks,
-tdavis

[FishMonger]

I haven't used either dreamweaver or GoLive, but I hear that they are good, so what I have to say may not help you all that much.

When I write code, I want to make sure that the code I write is the code that I end up with, without having to worry about an application changing or injecting code of its own. So I prefer to use text editors such as textpad, notepad or vim. My choice for an IDE is Komodo which does not change or inject any code.

Nowadays, most of the coding I do is via ssh connections to Linux servers where I use vim to edit my files. I normally have 3 separate connections open so I can edit the template, script and style sheet files at the same time. I also have console access via a Raritan Paragon 32 channel KVM switch.