Maybe silly question, can I download from external websites and embed links to webpage and see in the next pane what picture looks like?
Thank you so much for your help.

If your HTML has an image tag with a local/relative URL (like <img src="./images/blah.gif">), then if you download the picture into ./images/blah.gif, the Preview HTML should properly render the image.

If your HTML has an image tag with a full URL (like <img src="https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/assets/uploads/files/1643672206556-55c1067e-6255-4096-8a53-d5ee5f39cd6f-image.png"> – to take an image-url from this topic), then Preview HTML should properly render the image if it exists.

But you didn’t really need me to tell you that. If you had just tried the experiment, you would have found it worked. None of that is Notepad++ / Preview HTML specific: the same thing would have happened if you opened the same local HTML file in your local web browser, like by using #1 or #2 from the list of suggestions earlier, or if you had just opened the local HTML file with your browser without Notepad++ involved at all.

I answered it because maybe you were confused as to what Preview HTML can and cannot do. Preview HTML can be thought of as a single-page web browser: it will render a single HTML document, showing any pictures or CSS that is linked, but it will not allow you to follow links and things like that. If you want to be able to follow links in your local HTML (like from ./this.html to ./that.html), then I highly recommend using #1 or #2 to launch this.html in a real browser, and just use browser refresh after you’ve saved changes in Notepad++ (which is no more difficult than hitting Preview HTML’s REFRESH button after you make a change in Notepad++).

Also, you sound like you’re pretty new at HTML/web development. I would highly recommend finding a good forum who is willing to help you through your beginner steps, because this forum is focused on Notepad++ (and its plugins), and we will not be delving any deeper into “how do I do X with HTML” questions than we already have.

Pick IE11 – there is no reason in the 2020s to choose anything below that. (Really, the plugin author should switch to using the calls to get an Edge-based rendering rather than IE-based rendering, but I doubt that will happen.)

Then, to get the preview, click Preview HTML from the menu you showed (or hit the Ctrl+Shift+H keyboard shortcut that menu shows):

which will then show something like what i showed above, or, if your panel is on the right, like:

The View As menu entries are a setting-change. The Preview HTML (Ctrl+Shift+H) entry is what actually shows the panel.

I have been learning from w3shools, and they split screen,

Thank you for clarifying.

That’s not how Notepad++ does it – Notepad++ is a text editor, not a web browser, so it doesn’t have a built-in HTML render engine like a browser does.

Your options are:

1. Use the Right Click on the tab bar, select View in Default Application, which will launch the HTML in your default browser (this was already explained to you). Once you’ve done that, as you save changes in Notepad++, you can F5 refresh in the browser to get it to see the changes
2. Use the View menu’s View Current File In… sub-menu, to choose whether to look at it in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or the abomination IE. This is essentially the same as #1, but from a different menu, and allows you to select whichever browser you want.
3. Use a plugin like PreviewHTML, which embeds an HTML “browser” (render engine) in a second panel, which you could put to the right to make it look like w3schools, or could put beneath to make it be able to be a wider panel.

The third option is probably the closest to what you want.

Example screenshot

I have been learning from w3shools, and they split screen, when typing html one side and the result of it in css in other half of screen shows what the resulting webpage would look like.
That is what I meant by “link”-maybe used wrong word.

Is it possible to creat that using notepad?
Khal

At this point, if they aren’t willing to say anything new, I don’t think we should spend more time trying to figure out what they want.

(There is a theory that it’s an automated account without a human behind it. We have had those before, which after a few weeks turn into a plain spam account.)

I had started to write up a reply, enumerating again that either it’s off topic as an HTML question, or it was already answered because they had been told how to view HTML in their default browser, but decided against it, because whether they are human or not, they don’t seem interested in expanding on their ideas to get an actual question answered. (And honestly, if there were a bot written well enough that it was trying to learn about how to actually use Notepad++, rather than just parroting the same thing over and over, I would be impressed enough that I’d try to help it learn.)

how do I link the html code file to css

That question is NOT about Notepad++.

You are in the wrong place for asking that question. We’re here to talk about Notepad++. Please find a forum that is better equipped to answer your question.

IF, BIG IF, the question he’s asking is how do I VIEW or as he states:
see what the result would look like in my webpage. then the answer is by either right clicking on the document you want to see, in this case the HTML file tab, and select Open in Default Viewer as seen in this screenshot:

…or by clicking the File->Open in Default Viewer menu selection as shown in this screenshot:

So you see, again, it’s about the point. What is the question, and especially as it pertains to NPP?

Lee

If he’s asking how to link CSS files to HTML files, I’ve given him a link to check out and learn how to “link” CSS to HTML files, but again, is not something that has to do with NPP.

You, like me, and the others posting here have to assume what he’s asking for, and that’s not a good thing to be part of (ASSUME thing. :) ) so we’ve given the best answer we can think of giving him based on his limited statement

So again, as it pertains to NPP, he still has not asked a question that can be answered, right? We would all be just throwing darts into answers, and his response to someone telling him that their assumed question he’s asking has nothing to do with NPP and this is the wrong place to ask “that kind of question”, and he gets indignant, because of his inability to properly phrase or convey his question. Everyone’s trying to be as understanding of what it is he’s asking, but his limited ability to ask, equals others inability to repond properly. :)

Lee

Although Khal has not asked for this explicitly or clearly, it’s not hard to imagine someone wanting as part of their workflow that while working on some kind of source file, when they hit Ctl-s, or after n seconds of editing inactivity, that the program that operates on that file should automatically run, such as launching a browser, adding a tab to a browser, or signaling to the browser to refresh an existing tab.

By the way, what is the question? You’ve made a statement that you’re not a coder… so…okay…what’s the question? If there is any question about how to use Notepad++, I’m sure everyone here able to help you, will. But you haven’t stated a question. Following up on Terry’s links for you, I’ll direct you to the Authoritative website, the W3C Schools link for the CSS Tutorial if that is what your question is about, otherwise, you haven’t asked a question…just asked for help without specifying what it is you need help with. Sorry, no one’s being facetious here, you just haven’t stated a question.

Lee

Is this NOT notepad forum?
And section states “help wanted for…

Sounds like you need to read our FAQ section, specifically the post titled “You’ve asked your question in the wrong place!” here.

Just because you used Notepad++ to code your html and css files, doesn’t mean it is a Notepad++ issue. You could have easily used Word or Microsoft Notepad to do the the coding in, it doesn’t then mean that Microsoft is then supposed to help you figure out the coding.

Also your question is for help understanding how to code, not that you found a bug with how Notepad++ shows the code, or how it shows you the resulting webpage.

There are forums out there to help you code html and css. A quick check found these 2 which will be of more help than continuing to try to get answers here.

CSS Forums here
and
CSS Tutorials here

Terry

Hello. You are in the wrong place for asking that question. We’re here to talk about Notepad++. Please find a forum that is better equipped to answer your question.