WYSIWYG

A WYSIWYG (pronounced "wiz-ee-wig") editor or program is one that allows an interface or content developer to create a graphical user interface (GUI) or page of text so that the developer can see what the end result will look like while the interface or document is being created. WYSIWYG is an acronym for "what you see is what you get". A WYSIWYG editor can be contrasted with more traditional editors that require the developer to enter descriptive codes (or markup) and do not permit an immediate way to see the results of the markup.

A true WYSIWYG editor, such as Microsoft's FrontPage or Adobe's PageMill or Go Live (formerly CyberStudio), conceals the markup and allows the developer to think entirely in terms of how the content should appear. (One of the trade-offs, however, is that a WYSIWYG editor does not always make it easy to fine-tune its results.)