KompoZer Had a Good Year

KompoZer was under the tree for a lot of good little boys and girls. The WYSIWYG web authoring tool fell off the SourceForge sleigh 88,186 times in December.

KompoZer 0.7.10 is the best yet but “KompoZer tutorial” ranks as the most popular search term for folks coming to this site.

Free KompoZer Downloads

The total number of downloads in 2007 was 534,330 with most of those falling in the fourth quarter. Interest in getting something more reliable than Nvu was always there but increased when KompoZer returned to active development.

The release 0.7.9 in July gave us a sample of what was coming. The good news chatter on the web also began to build and with the release of 0.7.10 at the end of August downloads peaked.

This blog contributed to that chatter even when there was no active development because we thought KompoZer was a great application. This blog also holds the position that people without technical background should be able to get their creativity onto the web. KompoZer is the right product for us.

Nvu or KompoZer?

The two classic questions are “Which one should I download, Nvu or KompoZer?” and “I am using Nvu should I get KompoZer?” The answers to those two conditions are different. If you are using Nvu and are happy with the experience then continue using Nvu. Why change something that works for you? It didn’t work for me.

Like many novices I started using Nvu and thought it was great until it started hanging and crashing. I’m sorry to say I don’t remember the circumstances but after six months of that behavior I was ready for a change. Others prodded me to upgrade from Nvu 1.0 to KompoZer 0.7.

It took much more thought to accept a “0.7” as an upgrade from “1.0” than to install and use KompoZer. Nvu was released as a 1.0 but never behaved like one. A comprehensive list of Nvu bugs was prepared and resolving those led to KompoZer. Realistically the KompoZer developer realized that Nvu was not ready for prime time and set out to make it work. In the process he made it better as well.

The answer for folks using Nvu is open ended but the answer for folks who have not started is clear. Get KompoZer. There is no Nvu development nor is there likely to be any. There is a “next generation” editor on the drawing board somewhere and maybe it will serve the next generation. If you need something today the answer is KompoZer.

KompoZer Tutorials

Finding KompoZer under the Christmas Tree didn’t bring happiness to all. Something like 38,000 users sought out tutorials last month on how it works. I always wonder if they found the User Guide which is the operator’s manual for KompoZer. If all else fails read the instructions.

I did a post at the end of November that referred you to tutorials that I found helpful while learning to create a web site with KompoZer. This is a learning process if you are a novice web author so don’t expect perfection on your first try. My personal philosophy is that learning by doing, hands-on with no pressure, is the best approach. I refer to that process as “fiddling.”

That tutorial post also cautions that neither Nvu nor KompoZer has a solid publishing routine. KompoZer’s development plan queues up improving the site manager function for release 0.8. Meanwhile you can use alternatives to move your files from your computer to the web host. (You can build and test a complete web site on your computer without having a web host.) You can upload or publish your web site with FireFTP or other free applications.

Happy 2008

Looking back on last year seems to be worth an electron or two. Doing that is the first step in a prosperous 2008. I hope the KompoZer development team has done that and has sharpened the focus on goals for this year. I know I have.

I’ll take one more look back at 2007 and then tell you what I see as goals for this blog, the web site and wiki in 2008.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope it was helpful and that you will look around while you are here. Have a great 2000 and 8.

Wysi