No More Coda Envy, I got WeBuilder 2008

I have been envious of my MAC wielding friends since seeing the features and capabilities of the Coda text editor. I have used Dreamweaver, Notepad, Notepad++, and tried software such as Aptana (which I really like), Programmers Notepad, Komodo Edit, Top Style, and Ultra Edit. They all have some good features and do things well, but not quite what I wanted. I have just stumbled upon WeBuilder 2008 and I have to say that so far (it's been about 24 hours) I really like it! So I decided to create a quick blog entry to share this resource would be a good idea.

It's important to note that my main reason for a text editor for Drupal development is for theming and some light php. I do not know the extend of this software for hard core developers... but for a themer... me likeee. Here's are some of my initial insights, impressions, and settings for this software.

Things I Like!

• Works with Microsoft Vista
• No need for creating a "project" do perform themeing needs via FTP or within a directory
• Code completion is handled very well. I like the way it default formats CSS
• Code coloring is always a plus
• Easy to understand, use, and create snippets
• In editor previewing
• The FTP allows for some drag and drop of documents
• Auto Spell Check is really cool, cuz I cannt spel

Some Settings for Drupal and Theming

OPTIONS > PREFERENCES > TEXT EDITOR > GENERAL
[inline:cursorandtabs.png]
Indents and Tabs set to two spaces: Drupal uses two spaces as code convention, this is where you can set that default.
Constrain cursor to text: When I first started it up, the cursor was floating where ever I placed it... like a graphics program. It's absolutely necessary for graphics programs, but in my text editor, I want it
to land where the text is.

OPTIONS > PREFERENCES > LANGUAGE OPTIONS > HTML
[inline:htmloptions.png]
Change the default options for tags like strong, em, center, and li: Which makes using the HTML toolbar very handy in some situations.

OPTIONS > PREFERENCES > DOCUMENT TYPES > *
Enable .module to open with php coding, as well as setting other module related files.

I'd Like To See It...

The FTP Explorer interface to be more like the File Explorer interface. It only shows what directory you are currently in. I prefer to see the structure above (ala FileZilla)

I am only about 5 executions (starts) into a 30 execution evaluation limit, but at this point, I can't see any reason I won't be shelling out the $70 for this editor. I will miss Aptana... mostly because it is free and good quality stuff... but the advantages in WeBuilder are too good for me to pass up on.

website: http://www.blumentals.net/webuilder/
download link: http://www.blumentals.net/webuilder/download.php