Best Web Architect Hosting: Which Host Is Right For Your Site?

What is Web Architect?

If you need a robust site building and content management tool that gives you direct access to edit your website source code, Web Architect can help you.

Created by mirabyte as the successor to the HTML editor SuperHTML, Web Architect is a desktop application for Windows systems designed to be used by anyone who wants to build a website with full control of the source code. It is not a What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor that hides the source code, but it does include one as a part of its suite of tools if you’d prefer to work in that environment.

If you’re brand new to site creation, but you have an interest in learning to code a site, Web Architect could help you achieve that goal. If you’re an experienced web developer looking for a lower cost alternative to premium tools like Dreamweaver, Web Architect will give you a long list of premium features at a price that doesn’t overwhelm.

Web Architect boasts editors for Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), each with its own set of useful features. It support various JavaScript frameworks and includes a code snippet library for jQuery. The Professional version of Web Architect also has its own content management system (CMS) that includes in-browser editing and a What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor for site content.

Other features of Web Architect include, but are not limited to: integrated browser previews in Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer; integrated spellcheck; support for HTML, Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), CSS, JavaScript, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Perl, Python, SQL, and VB-Script; a secure file transfer protocol (FTP) client; update checker; ribbon-based interface; customizable quick access toolbar; drag-and-drop design and editing; SEO analysis of pages; and enhanced clipboard with the ability to paste as HTML code.

What is Web Architect used for?

There are many text editors on the market, but most don’t offer integrated FTP tools, code completion tools to help you get tricky bits of HTML and CSS just right, a live-preview screen with rendering for multiple browsers, and an optional integrated content management system. Web Architect has all of that and much more. You can get all the features offered by Web Architect in much more expensive software packages, or by using several different pieces of software, but Web Architect is one of the most affordable options on the market to pull all of that functionality together in one package at a reasonable price.

Web Architect is a tool help beginners learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is also a tool to help seasoned web developers create websites quickly with complete control over the source code. Web Architect is also helpful in educational settings, and is a compelling choice for educators to use in courses teaching HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

What does Web Architect cost?

Web Architect offers a free 14-day trial. After the trial period there are two version of Web Architect available for purchase. As of May 2015 the Standard version is $69.95 and comes with one year of free updates and tech support. The Professional version is $129.95 and includes additional features such as a project management feature, support for secure FTP, integrated spell check, preview with web server support (to preview websites that include scripts to run server-side languages), and additional enhancements.

Purchasing either the Standard or Professional version gives you license to use the software without limitation for an unlimited time period. However, tech support and software updates are only provided for one year. If you want ongoing software updates and tech support after the first year they can be purchased for around $50.

Why choose Web Architect?

Using Web Architect can speed up your web development process by providing one set of tools to accomplish all of the major functions of the front-end web development process. If you’re looking for a way to cut down on the number of tools you use Web Architect can replace your text editor, content management system, FTP client, and provide a quick integrated preview so you can keep track of the changes you’re making.

What are some alternatives to Web Architect?

There are many other text editors and rich HTML editors on the market. Here are a handful of popular options to take a look a look at prior to making a decision.

Aptana Studio: An open-source code editor with support for many languages and FTP integration. Aptana is designed with professional developers in mind and is not as user-friendly for beginners as Web Architect. Aptana is also more limited in scope than Web Architect and does not include features such as built-in browser previews, content management, and project management.

Arachnophilia: A free code editor with a built-in FTP client written in Java. Arachnophilia is focused on code development and does not include add-on features such as a a content management system or project management functions.

BlueGriffon: A What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) content editor. The basic version is free to use, but add-ons to provide the sort of functionality you see in Web Architect (project manager, CSS editor, and many others) do carry an additional cost.

Dreamweaver: A proprietary WYSIWYG editor that also offers a full-featured code editor and integration of an FTP client. Dreamweaver is the industry-leader for web development software and is used by many web development professionals. Dreamweaver is offered by Adobe and carries a price tag befitting its reputation as the best front-end web development software on the market. Also, Dreamweaver is focused on web development and does not offer ancillary features such as project management and content management.

Why would use a rich HTML editor like Web Architect rather than a simple text editor?

Web Architect, or a similar full-featured HTML editor will do a few things for you:

• It will save you time by combining the functions of a text editor, content management system, and FTP client.
• It will keep you from making simple syntax mistakes by providing debugging tools and automatic code completion.
• It will help you test out ideas rapidly since the preview screen is built in to the software. Changes you make to the code can be immediately refreshed allowing you to quickly make changes and see the impact.

If you’re looking for an application that will make development easier on you a full-featured editor like Web Architect will help to do that.

How do I install Web Architect?

Installing Web Architect is simple. After downloading the installation script from the mirabyte website you simply run the script and the trial version of Web Architect will be installed on your computer. You will have to go through a few additional steps to set up the FTP connection between Web Architect and your hosting account. You’ll have to look up the necessary connection details in your hosting account cPanel or contact your hosting provider for help.

Server Requirements

Web architect will help you create websites and applications that are built using the latest HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Any shared hosting account will allow you to host these pages on a web server and serve them up to your site visitors. The visitor’s browser will then interpret the data in the files. So any hosting provider should offer the technology necessary to host websites created in Web Architect.

Web Architect will allow you to upload your site to the web server using the integrated FTP client. While you will have to look up account-specific FTP login details, all hosting accounts generally come with the ability to transfer files to the web server using FTP.