Editing html files in Windows 8

I have several webpages that I created in Windows XP using Notepad with simple html coding. When I open one of these files under Documents in Windows XP, it is shown exactly as it appears on the Web. In order to edit the coding, I click on "View" and then "Source" and the html coding appears.

I've transferred these files to my new computer with Windows 8, but there's no way to view the coding and edit. I right-clicked on a file and the dialogue box that appears includes "edit." But when I click on "edit," I get the message "There is no program associated with this file to perform this activity." Well, the "program" that I used to create the file was Notepad. Is there no Notepad in Windows 8, and if there is, is it incompatible with Windows XP Notepad?

Is there no way to edit html in Windows 8 without finding some editing program to download or purchase? (I gather from "Windows 8 for Dummies" that there isn't, since "html" is not even in the index.)

Notepad is available on Windows 8. Swipe from the right side of the screen and you will see a search icon. Click on it and type in notepad in the Search box. When its box appears, right click it and icons appear and you can click on open file location. There you will see a shortcut for Notepad. You can then drag the shortcut from 'Windows Accessories' using the right mouse button to the desktop.
You can also click on 'Pin to start' which will allow you to click on the Notepad tile if you like that better than using shortcuts.
Once the shortcut is there, you can drag it to the taskbar at the bottom of the desktop if you prefer.

Thanks. But I see that Notepad under Windows 8 is of no help to me because there is no automatic transfer of the files (as with Word files from Word 2003 into Word 2013, for example). I would have to copy and paste or completely rewrite every html file into a new Notepad page, and there are simply too many files. I'll have to find some kind of downloadable editing program that the files might transfer into.

I'm loving Windows 8 more every minute.

What I did was copy a shortcut to Notepad into the 'SendTo' folder. (There's another thread here on how to do this). Then you can just right-click the HTML file and 'send it to' the Notepad program where you can edit it. Then save it as an HTML file, and it will be ready to use in a browser.

When you right click the HTML file, what if you go to "Open with..." (instead of "Edit") and select Notepad?

I can't think of any reason why Notepad in Windows 8 should be incompatible as it's just HTML in plain text, however if you're using local pictures in your local HTML page in Windows 8.1 (at least with Enhanced Protected Mode enabled, but I'm not sure if it's the same without it enabled), you may experience problems with the pictures not displaying when you open them in Internet Explorer 11. Even if you have the Mark Of The Web ( <!-- saved from url=(0014)about:internet --> ) in the HTML code, Windows 8.1 is locked down more than it used to be and so it could break the links to your image files and just show an 'X' on the webpage instead.

If you encounter this, there is a way round it that involves saving the image files in a folder with the same name/location as your HTML file. So if your HTML page is called mypage.htm, then the images would be stored in a folder along side it called mypage_files (and the link in the HTML would be something like <img src="mypage_files/image001.jpg"/> ).

I'm not a web developer in the slightest and so cheated when I done it with mine by using a HTML editor to create them as I couldn't get it to work properly (so I'm probably not the best person to ask on how to do it properly). If you do decide to find/download an HTML editing program, Microsoft Expression Web 4 was made available for free about a year ago, so you could always try that.

Hmm, there's a lot to try here. Thank you both for your suggestions. I'll fiddle with Notepad and see what happens. Right now Windows 8 has just about worn me out for the day.

Just read the top line. The rest is just me waffling on about getting local pictures to display (if you have any) in Windows 8.1.

When you right click the HTML file, what if you go to "Open with..." (instead of "Edit") and select Notepad?

Click to expand...

When I right-click a file and select "Open with...", Notepad is not one of the options for an HTML file.
That's why I added 'Notepad' to the 'SendTo' folder. That way you can send any file to Notepad to be edited.
Of course, you can only edit text with Notepad, but an HTML file is text.

If it's not listed, you can select 'Choose Default Programs' then the 'More Options' button. Once you've used it once, it will appear in the list even if you don't tick the box to 'use this app for all files'.

There's a tutorial below. Option 2, Number 3 - "To Select a Program that is Not Listed in Context Menu":
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/7811-open-change-default-program-windows-8-a.html

When I maintained a website, I created directories on the host (besides the main directory).

I named a directory whatever. (Paint Tutorial for example.)

I used Notepad to write the code.

For adding pictures or whatever I just used something like "Paint_text.png" or "Ding.wav" or "Folder.zip" (for downloading several things at once)

I would upload the html file to the desired directory & then upload all the needed pictures & stuff to it.

That's how I could just use "picture.png" in the html file.


That's just how I did it.