Yahoo! hosted their third annual Hack Day this weekend, which basically consists of a ton of hacker/developers hanging out at Yahoo!'s Sunnyvale campus for 24 hours while consuming lots of pizza and trying to write interesting code. The results? A bunch of geeky mashups between one service and another. But there are a few projects that caught my eye.

Will Duff created a What You See is What You Get web page builder that you can open in a browser window. This is hardly the first web-based WYSIWYG editor, but it seriously makes it easy for anyone to build a simple web page in a matter of seconds. You can export the results as an HTML file which you can upload to your web server.

Jordan Sissel developed an app called SnackUpon that uses Yahoo! Pipes and delicious to create a StumbleUpon-type service that will show you a list of web pages you might be interested in based on your delicious bookmarks and tags.

Team Gokuso developed a new method of displaying CAPTCHAs by pulling imagery from Flickr. And the Game Changers team came up with an offbeta idea. Their iHeater web app basically pulls together 4 YouTube videos of fireplaces or space heaters on a single page. The goal? To burn CPU cycles which will overheat your computer and turn it into a space heater. Umm yeah.

If you blog, or use web-based discussion forums, or use any sort of web mail app, then you know just how frustrating it can be to compose rich content with the limited tools provided for word processing on the web . To go from writing in a feature-rich word processor like Word to composing in a stripped-down text box with very little formatting functionality. Forget about embedding pictures, and definitely forget about embedding YouTube videos.

But Wysiwyg Pro from ViziMetrics, now at version 3, makes life a little easier for those of us who spend plenty of time composing content for the web. This tool is a rich, web-based graphical editor that's compatible with Joomla, Wordpress, and Mambo, among other web content management systems. The editor provides full formatting capability, even allowing you to pre-program HTML code blocks as dockable toolbar buttons. This way, if you need to perform a repetitive task (say, put a blank floating table with room for a picture and caption in your posting), you needn't waste time typing code over and over. Wysiwyg Pro includes an editable, color-coded HTML source view as well as a draft preview.

Need a good web page authoring tool but don't feel like pulling out the pocket book? Up until recently we would have recommended the excellent free application Nvu. But development on the open source tool has been pretty much stagnant.

Enter KompoZer, a new web page creator based on Nvu's code. The only reason the application has a new name is because it has a new developer and the Nvu name was trademarked by Linspire and the original developer.

So what can KompoZer do?

• A WYSIWYG editor, much like DreamWeaver
• Built on Gecko, Mozilla's layout engine
• Integrated FTP file management
• Jump between WYSIWYG editor and HTML tabs
• Support for forms, tables, and templates
• Linux, Windows, and Mac support

Version 0.7.10 looks an awful lot like Nvu, but with the addition of undo and redo buttons.

[via Mozilla Links]

The latest public release of WordPress has landed; version 2.2, and it is good. At the top of the new features list (trac list here) is the native incorporation of the insanely popular WordPress widgets plug-in from Automattic; they're built right in now, which should help spread the word for theme authors everywhere to start adding the tiny snippet of code - if they haven't already - to enable the wonders of widgets in their themes.

But handy widgets aren't the only big news here. WordPress 2.2 also brings features like full atom support (of the 1.0 spec), a new Blogger importer that supports the latest version that recently came out of beta, an 'infinite comment stream' that uses AJAX to reload a new set of comments anytime you delete or set some as spam, new protection from enabling a plugin or file (using the built-in editor) that could break the blog, as well as core plugin and filter optimizations that "should make everything feel a bit more snappy and lighter on your server." Also on the list for Safari users in the crowd is support for an upcoming Safari release that will enable WYSIWYG editing (which Mac users might be able to take advantage of now if they download a WebKit nightly edition, the open source build of the core of Safari).

Digging into this new release already, Aaron Brazell - a WordPress evangelist - has published 10 Things You Should Know About WordPress 2.2, an elaboration of the new features that should be of interest to most WordPress users. Austin Matzko, on the other hand, published WordPress 2.2: Three Things Developers Will Like - you get three guesses as to who that one's for.

This looks like a great update to what is possibly the most popular self-installable blogging/CMS platform available. However, unless you know what you're doing with code or built your own theme, we recommend checking in on news from your vital plugin and theme authors to be sure this new version won't break anything on your site.

A post at Blogger Buzz, Google's own blog that covers everything Blogger, proclaims: "The new version of Blogger in beta is dead! Long live the new version of Blogger!" Indeed, that beta they rolled out last August has gotten all growed up, dropping its beta moniker and introducing its new features to the world. As you might recall, the new Blogger has all sorts of new goodies like labels for posts (a lá Gmail), drag and drop template editing, more powerful WYSIWYG post editing, private blogging, a better dashboard and - of course - being able to sign in with your increasingly ubiquitous Google Account.

If you're still using the old Blogger and haven't switched over yet, the login pane at the top right of the page *should* offer you a 'switch now!' option the next time you sign in. However, the Blogger Buzz post warns that while the new version is live and available to everyone, the switching process is still rolling out slowly for the rest of Blogger users to keep their server load manageable. If you don't see the switch button yet, you should soon, and I highly recommend the new version. I'm still a devout Vox convert (though template editing would be really nice, Six Apart!), but this is a strong upgrade from the Blogger crew for one of the most popular services available.

Joe Kraus of Jotspot, has announced today that they have been acquired by Google. Jotspot is a leader in hosted wiki application development. Jotspot was founded in 2004 as the first company to offer this type of hosted wiki solution. Jotspot's goal was to make wiki websites that anyone could update and add to, without knowing coding. Jotspot had a simple WYSIWYG editor, with advanced search and email integration components. Jotspot was not only aimed at smaller personal projects, it was also aimed at corporate intranets, project management, and help desks.

Jotspots hosted plans once sat from a $199 month for 5000 hosted wiki pages with unlimited users. To a simple Personal account with 5 users, 10 pages, for free. Could we possibly see the integration of one giant free plan from Google?

Currently, Jotspot is offline to users. The Palo Alto based company says to stay tuned to regain access to the system. Google is most likely merging all data and transferring the Jot system over to Google's servers. This is an exciting move by Google, again, in the online application environment, adding to their online suite of applications with the likes of Documents, Calendar, Gmail, Spreadsheets, and Apps for your Domain.

Check out some Jotspot screenshots after the jump...

Realmac Software has released version 3.5.0 of WYSIWYG editor RapidWeaver. The new version is Universal Binary, meaning it will run natively on Intel Macs. New features include CSS-based photo albums, SFTP support, improved blog functionality, and of course, more themes. As in previous versions, there is also easy integration with iLife and .Mac.

Given my general view of WYSIWYG editors (with which you became familiar on Tuesday, if you weren't aware of it already), I tried not to let RapidWeaver's self-congratulatory list of features sway me. I downloaded it with an open - but skeptical - mind.

Well, color me pleasantly surprised! Turns out RapidWeaver is more than just a WYSIWYG editor. You can use the WYSIWYG features if you want, but you can also code by hand. Also, the pre-set templates are much more robust and useful than I've seen in any other site creation tool. For example, the Contact Form template requires PHP - but those who are wary of server-side programming don't have to do the dirty work themselves.

But let's get to the code generated by the WYSIWYG interface, since that's always my bone of contention with "web site creation software." I can hardly believe it it myself, but... RapidWeaver doesn't use tables for layout. And it also doesn't make up for the lack of tables by resorting to divitis. It's not perfect, of course; but then neither is every piece of code I've ever written by hand. All in all? It's as if RapidWeaver is actually an editor of the 21st century.

Via Gmail webclips, I spotted this WebReference News article by Lee Underwood about a web-based WYSIWYG editor called SiteKreator. This immediately piqued my interest--and my skeptical nature--and I clicked through to read more.

If it weren't for the mention of blogs and Web 2.0, the WebReference News article could've been written in the last century. (Check out the lede!) Still, my curiosity prevailed. Lee Underwood had created a test site with SiteKreator, which I visited and immediately viewed the source. I wish I could say I was surprised to find the following garden-variety WYSIWYG offenders:

• No doctype
• Table-based layout
• Spacer gifs
• Attribute values not enclosed in quotation marks
• Unencoded ampersands

...and 54 validation errors.

I let out an audible sigh. Has nothing changed in 10+ years of WYSIWYG editors? Eternally optimistic, I had hoped for a little improvement from a service that touts the ability to let users build "impressive, Web 2.0-ready business or personal Web sites." Even divitis a la iWeb would be preferable to this.

Anyway, I ended up making a SiteKreator account for myself, and whipping up a quick test site (prepare not to be impressed). I chose the "Pirates" template, and was disappointed at the lack of actual pirates.

What can I say about the SiteKreator UI? Well, it features an "assistant" not unlike the much-maligned Clippy - except it's a dragon instead of a paperclip. As for the process of actually building the site, I'll admit I found it less than intuitive. To be fair, though, maybe this is just because I'm so accustomed to hand-coding. The WebReference News article described the interface as "pretty intuitive," so you'll need to decide for yourself.

My final analysis? Nothing new under the sun, other than some Ajax effects.

Having access from your computer desktop anywhere there is a connection and a computer is a dream for some, and a reality for some early beta testers of Desktoptwo.

Created by Sapotek, Desktoptwo is a free web based service that allows complete access of your desktop wherever you are. It has a web instant messenger using the Jabber platform, email, search, MP3 player, address book, WYSIWYG web editor, blog publishing platform, rss feed, layout templates, and 1 GB of free storage.

Subscribers of the tool will find out that Desktoptwo could be very valuable and useful if you're moving from computer to computer. If anyone has experience in using this tool, please let us know how it worked out for you.

[Via TechCrunch]

After a long private beta period, hosted wiki service Wetpaint publicly launched this weekend. If you're familiar with JotSpot, there's not much to tell about Wetpaint: it's a service that lets anyone show up, create a wiki, and edit it via a WYSIWYG interface. It has all of the Web 2.0 trappings, including RSS feeds, tagging, and some nice Ajaxy touches. Pages have a prominent "EasyEdit" button that lets you edit content pretty much instantly without loading a new page. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch found the service a little more newbie-friendly than JotSpot and the many available templates attractive. Wetpaint wikis are free to create and edit, but the service is supported by contextual advertising. If you want to get an idea of what you can do with Wetpaint, a number of active wikis are linked to from the Wetpaint front page, and there's also a sandbox site you can play with to get used to formatting, tagging, and so on.

Flock made big news with its integrated blogging tools, but if you're happy with Firefox and don't want to make a switch, check out Performancing for Firefox. Performancing is a blog editor that integrates into Firefox so you can just hit F8 to bring up a form that will post directly to your WordPress, Movable Type, or Blogger blog, among others. The WYSIWYG editor can be configured to open in a tab, in a new window, or in the current tab as a split pane. It also has drag-and-drop text and image placement. Barb Dybwad over at the Social Software Weblog calls it "the coolest Firefox extension, evar," and she should know.