Up until several years ago learning HTML was essential if you wanted to create a Website -but thanks to today's HTML editors like Microsoft's "Front Page", and "Dreamweaver", it is no longer absolutely necessary

The new generation of Website HTML editors are often referred to as WYSIWYG editors -"what you see is what you get". To use them, you simply type, cut, and paste your text and graphics onto a page template, all the while the HTML code is being written for you automatically in the background. No HTML code memorization necessary! In the case of "Front Page", you create your HTML pages using a text editor similar in function and feel to Microsoft's word processor, "Word" -so if you use "Word" at home or office, using "Front Page" will be very familiar and intuitive!

If your only interest in creating a Website is to showcase your business or organization, sell products or services, ETC, then a WYSIWYG editor like "Front Page" is the way to go -forget that degree in HTML design. But, if you have intentions of becoming a Web developer, learn HTML, and XML, although it is still likely you will be using a WYSIWYG editor for most of the mundane Web design work.

If you want to get an HTML editor, (recommended) you have several options. In addition to the possibilities already listed here, check out Yahoo's list of HTML editors.    

I can highly recommend Microsoft FrontPage, especially the latest version Front Page 2004. This easy-to-use and powerful Web site creation program works like a word processor and makes your life easy as a Webpage designer. The interesting thing is that Front Page 2004 is not only designed for the beginner, but is capable of designing very intricate and sophisticated Websites, if your skills and design requirements should eventually take you there.

If you don't wish to "fork out" over $129.00(US) to Microsoft for Front Page 2004, you don't actually need an HTML editor to write HTML. You can use a regular text editor like Notepad, or whatever else you have on your computer. Even Microsoft's text editor, "Word" 2004, is now capable of writing HTML. In fact, you might even benefit from this approach because it forces you to learn the HTML tags. But my suggestion is that you get an WYSIWYG HTML editor.

Because no Website is complete without pictures and graphics, you will also need a good graphics or photo-editing program that can handle bitmapped graphics. It needs to be able to read/write in many graphics file formats, including GIF and JPEG -the preferred pic and graphics file format for WebPages. The graphics professionals all use Adobe PhotoShop, which runs on Macintosh and PC's and costs $4-5 hundred dollars for the basic version. Don't fret! If you don't want to pay the big bucks for PhotoShop, a good option is Adobe's "Photoshop Elements", a $100 lean and mean version of Photoshop. Front Page 2004 also has a basic graphics editor built into it and is sufficient for adding and tweaking images, but you will no doubt need a more powerful graphics editor if plan on making banners, animated GIFs, and image maps! We use Microsoft's PhotoDraw (even though it is no longer available from them) -awesome, powerful, easy to use -a perfect choice for the Webmaster who doesn't require an advanced degree in Photoshop. See if you can find a copy of PhotoDraw if you plan on using Front Page as your Web editor -they work together superbly.