What's a good online FTP/code editor?

August 3, 2009 8:13 PM

I need to replace Dreamweaver with something web based. I only use the file check-in/check-out and code coloring. I don't care about the WYSIWYG part of it (which is their main focus). Is anything out there?

Years after starting with Dreamweaver for "design", I'm still using it for some simple functions. I like that:

A -- I can "check-in" and "check-out" files. This helps me to make sure I'm looking at the newest version of a file, whether I'm at home, work, laptop, etc.
B -- The code coloring (and auto-complete) are nice to have.

The rest of it is useless. I don't need the WYSIWYG, CSS, and all of the other fancy tools. What can I use?

I'd prefer something web based, so I'm not always having to add new site profiles to my different machines, but a simple Windows-based app would be fine too. Notepad++ comes very close with the "FTP_synchronize" plug-in, but it's a bit sloppy. Any ideas?

posted by mickmel to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Do you use dreamweaver templates?

If not, would software like filethingy work? It doesn't have code colouring.

The best online editor that I've seen is BeSpin but I'm not sure if the code for that has been released yet.
posted by holloway at 9:31 PM on August 3

Panic's Coda is hands-down the best one I've ever used. I use it all day, every day and I love it.

*Disclaimer: This is a Mac program. If you're married to Windows then ... well ...
posted by GatorDavid at 9:37 PM on August 3

What don't you like about the Notepad++ implementation?
posted by Jairus at 11:25 PM on August 3

I use Notepad++ with WinSCP (that is, I configured WinSCP so that Notepad++ was the default text editor), which enables me to fairly seamlessly edit files directly on the server (obviously, it downloads the file to a temp directory for local editing and then re-uploads it every time I save, but you get the point).
posted by Doofus Magoo at 4:35 AM on August 4

- I don't use Dreamweaver templates.

- Code coloring is important.

- Bespin looks cool, but can't manage FTP sites like I need.

- Notepad++ has two flaws for me.
--- 1: Hard to tell when a file has been pushed back to the server. I like having local control, then pushing when I'm done, not necessarily when I close the file.
--- 2: Have to load all of my FTP info into it at each location (home, work, laptop, etc). I'd love to have that synchronized over the web somehow.

- PHPanywhere.net is REALLY close, but limits you to 10 FTP accounts. I need about 70 to be saved, though I only use a handful each day.

I'm thinking Notepad++ might be the way to go, especially if I can figure out a way to sync my FTP settings across multiple computers. Maybe using DropBox somehow?
posted by mickmel at 6:29 AM on August 4

I think HTML-Kit might be what you're looking for.

It's not WYSIWYG, but it has syntax highlighting, basic auto-complete (like intellisense) for HTML tags and lots of javascript/php/etc languages as well. It also can read and write directly to FTP sites, or local sites and then synchronize them.

And it's free.
posted by Lafe at 7:42 AM on August 4

DropBox would probably work for the FTP Sync settings, it's just an INI file IIRC.

I don't have any problems myself telling when N++ has pushed the file up -- do you have the FTP Synchronize messages window open? If you leave it open at the bottom of your screen you'll see exactly when things are uploaded/downloaded.
posted by Jairus at 12:13 PM on August 4