Draw-based editor for web pages

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a draw-based Web page editor in which the user uses a “drag and drop” interface to add, delete, and move display elements to define the layout of a Web page. The present invention automatically generates an initial layout for each page. This initial layout contains display elements that represent the links between pages of the site. After the user has defined the layout of the Web page, the user “publishes” the page. The publish function automatically generates HTML for the page in accordance with the display elements of the page, yielding a true WYSIWYG page.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of allowing a user to define a World Wide Web page comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: 
 displaying a plurality of page display elements on a display device, the display elements forming a page layout on the display device;    receiving an indication that the user wants to add a new display element to the page at a first position on the page;    adding a new draw data structure in a memory of the data processing system for the new display element to a plurality of other draw data structures, the draw data structures corresponding to the plurality of page display elements, where the new draw data structure includes data representing the first position; and    generating HTML that substantially reflects the displayed page layout on a pixel by pixel basis in accordance with the draw data structures.