If you're going to be using HoTMetaL a lot, the first thing you should do is open the Customize dialog and change the formatting to suit your tastes - the defaults are sensible, but I found that I liked to change a few things. Ultimately this is up to you. Controlling Source Layout in the Customization window. Tags On mode is the default editing mode in HoTMetaL, and rightly so in my opinion. It offers a rough approximation of what the document will look like, but in actual fact the point of this layout is not to preview the document's presentation, but to aid the author in visualising the document structure.
All tags are visible, but attributes are hidden.
If you have the Attribute Inspector window open, you can quickly review and edit the attributes of the element that is currently selected. The benefit of this view is that you can always plainly see your document's structure, including possibly invisible elements such as DIV . On mode was cumbersome for me at the start, because I'm used to editing HTML source directly, but after a while it becomes second nature. On mode will also help you in moving elements and text around your document without too much hassle. Inc. Legal Notices .