PHTML for Palm OS: Editing HTML on a Palm Handheld

During the Palm OS era, a small category of software let handheld owners do something that seems almost implausible today: hand-edit the raw source code of a web page on a device with a 160×160 screen and no physical keyboard. PHTML was one of those programs. PalmGear, the largest Palm OS software catalog of its day, listed it under product ID 29015, and this page restores what can be verified about it from archived copies of the developer's own site, archived PalmGear listings, and a contemporaneous PalmSource guide.

This is a historical resource, not a product page. PHTML has not been updated since 2004, its developer's web site no longer resolves, and none of the download links referenced below are known to still function. Where the historical record is thin or conflicting, that is noted explicitly rather than filled in with guesswork.

What Was PHTML?

PHTML was a Palm OS application for creating and editing HTML documents — and, from version 2.0 onward, CSS — directly on a Palm-powered handheld. It was built around a menu-driven "Insert Tag" system: a user would select a tag category and a tag name from onscreen menus, and PHTML would insert the corresponding markup at the cursor, optionally wrapping selected text. Developer marketing described it as letting someone "bring your HTML documents with you to make edits to your web sites on the go... without having to bring a large, heavy laptop." It edited native ASCII text files (not a proprietary intermediate format), which meant HTML, CSS, and other plain-text formats such as VBScript could all be opened and saved directly.

Mobile Web Authoring in the Early 2000s

In the early 2000s, editing a live web site away from a desk almost always meant carrying a laptop. Palm OS handhelds of the period — devices like the Palm m505, Palm Vx, or Handspring Visor — were far smaller and lighter, but they were not designed as text-editing machines: input was via Graffiti handwriting recognition or an optional add-on keyboard, storage was measured in single-digit megabytes of RAM, and the screen was a fixed 160×160 pixels. Software like PHTML tried to make that constrained hardware usable for real HTML authoring by pairing a tap-driven tag-insertion interface (to reduce how much text had to be typed by hand) with a bundled FTP client, so that editing and publishing could both happen without returning to a desktop computer.

The Developer: Green Dragon Software

PHTML was developed by Green Dragon Software. This is confirmed independently by two separate primary sources: the archived PalmGear product listing, which credits "Developer: Green Dragon Software" with a link to http://www.GreenDragonSoftware.com/, and the developer's own site, whose footer reads "Copyright © 2002, Green Dragon Software, All Rights Reserved" (later capture: "Copyright © 2006"). The Green Dragon Software site listed a small catalog of Palm OS titles alongside PHTML, including ECLib, NX Movie Aide, and Power DA, plus (from 2006 onward) DragonEdit.

The developer's site was hosted at greendragonsoftware.com, with PHTML's own page at /software/palm/phtml/index.shtml. As of this writing the domain no longer resolves at all — it is not merely parked, it returns a DNS lookup failure — and the Wayback Machine shows the PHTML page itself returning 404 by a February 2021 crawl, with its last confirmed live ("200 OK") capture on December 5, 2008. No further identifying information about the people behind Green Dragon Software (founder names, company location, etc.) was found in the archived material; if it existed elsewhere, it has not survived in an easily discoverable form.

Version History

PHTML's version history can be reconstructed from two independent, overlapping sources: the changelog published on the developer's own site (which records versions 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 with exact update dates), and archived PalmGear listings, which record submission and update dates plus contemporaneous requirements and pricing. Both sources agree wherever they overlap.

Note: No changelog for a version between 1.1 and 1.5, or any version numbered 2.x other than 2.0, was found in any archived source. The developer's own changelog on the PHTML page only goes back as far as "Version 1.5" — it does not document whatever the 1.0/1.1 release contained. Version 3.0 (June 2004) is the newest version referenced anywhere in the material located for this article; there is no evidence of a version 3.x, 4.0, or later.

Palm OS Requirements and Supported Devices

PHTML's minimum system requirement changed as the software matured:

• Early releases (through at least version 1.5, 2001–2002 PalmGear listings): minimum requirement listed as "PalmPilot Professional / Palm OS 2.0." The developer's own 2001-era marketing text elaborated: "PHTML works on every PalmOS device from PalmOS 2.0 and up... PHTML also works with the newest PalmOS 4.0 as well."
• Version 2.0 (April 2003): the PalmGear listing raises the stated minimum requirement to Palm OS 3.0. RAM usage is listed as 116KB in both the 2001–2002 and 2003 PalmGear listings — i.e., this figure did not change between 1.5 and 2.0.
• Version 3.0 (June 2004): added compatibility with Palm OS 5, which the developer's site called out as a headline feature ("PHTML is the first and only HTML editor to work under OS5!"). The 2003 PalmGear listing had already flagged OS 5 support as "Coming Soon," confirming this was an anticipated, then delivered, upgrade rather than something present from the start.

PalmGear's specification field for the software listed supported resolution as "Palm Standard (160x160)" — the standard low-DPI Palm screen of the era; no listing found claims support for later high-resolution or color-only-specific display modes. Download size was recorded as 251 KB in the 2001–2002 (v1.5) listings and as 76k in the 2003 (v2.0) listing — a notable drop that no source explains; it may reflect a change in what was bundled inside the distributed archive, but this is not confirmed.

HTML and CSS Editing Features

The feature list below is drawn directly from the developer's own product page and cross-checked against the corresponding PalmGear listings, which reproduce nearly identical text (a common practice at the time, since developers supplied their own listing copy):

• Native ASCII file editing — PHTML could open and save any plain-text file, not just HTML: the developer's copy specifically calls out "HTML to CSS to VBScript."
• CSS1/CSS2 support — added in version 2.0 ("Includes every CSS1 and CSS2 attribute"), letting PHTML double as a bare-bones CSS editor.
• Document switching — up to 3 documents could be open at once (added v2.0), with tab buttons for switching between them.
• Wizards — fill-in-the-blank dialogs for generating more complex markup, including a font wizard, a table wizard, and a script wizard, among others.
• Insert Tag menu — tap the Insert Tag button, tap a tag category, then tap a tag name, to insert it at the cursor.
• Custom Tag list — user-defined tags not present in the built-in list could be added via a custom tag editor; capacity was raised from 10 tags (original) to 100 tags in version 1.5.
• Smart Tag Insert — select text first, then choose a tag (e.g. Bold), and the selection is wrapped in the corresponding opening/closing tag pair.
• Repeat Last — added in version 3.0, for quickly re-inserting the most recently used tag.
• Quick Tag Buttons — dedicated onscreen buttons for inserting <BR> and paragraph tags without going through the Insert Tag menu.
• Categories — saved HTML documents could be organized into categories, matching the standard Palm OS category system used by built-in apps like MemoPad.
• MemoPad import/export — HTML documents could be exported to the MemoPad database for HotSync synchronization to a desktop, for on-device preview, or for uploading via LFtp; memos could likewise be imported back into PHTML.
• External keyboard support — explicitly stated to work with the Palm Portable Keyboard, the Palm/Visor Stowaway keyboard, and LandWare's GoType keyboard.
• Beamable code — exported HTML documents could be sent to another Palm device over infrared beaming.
• No runtime required — PHTML ran as a standalone application, without a separate runtime library, which the developer positioned as making it smaller and faster than editors that required one.

Expansion Card (VFS) Support

Version 2.0 (April 17, 2003) added the ability to open files from, and save files to, a memory/expansion card — what Palm OS called VFS (Virtual File System), used for SD, MMC, and similar removable storage. The developer's own description was specific about the workflow this enabled: "Open and save your documents to a memory card! No need to convert formats, just transfer it back to your desktop or upload it straight from the card by using an FTP application on the Palm."

This is independently corroborated by a third-party source: PalmSource's "Weblogging" Expert Guide (archived March 17, 2004, written by John Winstanley) recommends a separate application, VFSFTP, specifically "to be used in conjunction with PHTML or similar HTML editor that is able to save native HTML to the expansion card." That description only makes sense if PHTML's expansion-card saving used native HTML files that a card-aware FTP client could upload directly — matching the developer's own claim of "no need to convert formats." This VFS feature was new as of 2.0; the 1.5-era feature lists and PalmGear listings do not mention memory-card support at all, consistent with it being introduced in that release.

PHTML and LFtp: Uploading From a Palm

PHTML did not include its own FTP client; instead, its registered (paid) download bundled LFtp, a freeware FTP client, as a companion upload tool. The developer's page describes it as: "LFtp, a free FTP (File Transfer Protocol) application bundled with PHTML, allows you to upload your HTML documents from your Palm, without being at your home computer! If you have a wireless modem, a wired modem that connects to a wall, or Palm's Mobile Internet Kit for connection to your web-enabled cellphone, then you can use LFtp."

This bundling is verified from an unusually direct source: a PalmGear review of PHTML dated September 24, 2001, was posted by Laurent Thaler — LFtp's own author — who wrote: "I was surprised to found one of my apps in the zip, but after all LFtp is freeware... The 'poor' rating is mainly because that in the demo version all export and copy-to-clipboard functions being deactivated there is no way to test the generated html. In this case, there is no need to increase the size of the zip with PalmScape and LFtp." In other words, LFtp's creator confirmed his own program was included in the PHTML demo archive, even while criticizing the demo's crippled export functionality.

PalmSource's Weblogging guide corroborates this from a third angle, describing LFtp as "a freeware File Transfer Protocol client. This application is bundled with Torpedo and PHTML" — confirming that LFtp was reused across at least two competing Green Dragon/Pine Tree-era HTML editors, not built specifically for either one. The typical workflow this enabled: edit HTML/CSS in PHTML, export or save the file (to internal memory or, from v2.0 on, to a memory card), then hand off to LFtp to upload the file to a live web server over a wireless or wired modem connection.

Offline Preview: PalmScape and Xiino

PHTML itself did not render HTML; for on-device preview, its registered download bundled a demo of a separate third-party Palm web browser. Which browser it named changed over time in a way that traces a real product rename in the underlying software, not an inconsistency in PHTML's own history:

• 2001–2002 (version 1.5 era): both the developer's site and PalmGear listings describe the bundled browser as "PalmScape" — e.g., "Preview your exported HTML documents using PalmScape, a Palm color web browser. The demo version comes bundled with the full version of PHTML," and elsewhere "previewing your web site on your Palm with iLinx's PalmScape." A PalmGear reviewer's note from September 22, 2001 (attributed to "Alex Ehlke") spells out the mechanism: "It is possible to preview the HTML pages on the Palm using the demo version of PalmScape that is included in the ZIP file. Simply export the HTML document to Memo Pad, then use the Memo Pad preview feature of PalmScape."
• 2003 (version 2.0 era): the PalmGear listing text changes to "Preview your exported HTML documents using Xiino, a Palm color web browser. The demo version comes bundled with the full version of PHTML" — the same sentence, with the browser's name updated. iLinx renamed its PalmScape browser to Xiino; the PalmGear listing copy for PHTML was evidently updated at some point between the 1.5-era and 2.0-era snapshots to reflect that rename.
• 2004 (version 3.0, developer's own site): the wording is genericized to "Preview your exported HTML documents using your Palm's web browser," with no third-party browser named at all.

Taken together, these are not conflicting claims about what PHTML bundled — they are consistent snapshots of the same underlying arrangement (a demo of iLinx's browser, first branded PalmScape and later Xiino) as recorded at different points across PHTML's multi-year history.

PHTML versus Torpedo HTML Editor

PalmGear also catalogued Torpedo HTML Editor (product ID 14277), a comparable Palm OS HTML tool. PalmSource's Weblogging guide places the two side by side, describing PHTML as "another Palm OS based HTML editor with a similar feature set to Torpedo," while describing Torpedo itself as "a HTML editor for the Palm OS (2.0 and above)... for the die-hard 'hand-coders' out there. Not a dedicated 'blogging' tool but can be used for the purpose." Torpedo's Internet Archive listing (mirroring its old pinetreesoftware.net distribution page) credits it to Pine Tree Software and describes it as including "assistants" for common tags plus bundled LFtp and a demo of iLinx's Palmscape browser — the same bundling pattern documented above for PHTML.

Only the points below could be confirmed from primary or PalmSource documentation for both products; anything not listed here (e.g. Torpedo's exact RAM footprint or its full version history) was outside the scope of what this research could verify and is not asserted.

Price and License

PHTML was commercial shareware distributed with a working but limited demo. Its price moved around more than a typical single-figure listing suggests:

• ~2001 (initial release): advertised as a "special limited time introductory price of $9.95."
• 2001–2003 (version 1.5 era): PalmGear listings during this period show the price at $18.95 ("Commercial $18.95").
• By version 2.0 (April 2003) through version 3.0 (June 2004): price is back down to $9.95, consistently described (in both the developer's site and PalmGear listings) as including "free upgrades for life."

The demo version had reduced functionality: per the Laurent Thaler review quoted above, the demo's export and copy-to-clipboard functions were disabled, meaning the generated HTML could not actually be tested or extracted without purchasing the full version.

Reception: Reviews on PalmGear

PHTML's PalmGear listing preserved several user reviews, giving a mixed picture:

• Logan Robinson (September 22, 2001): a five-star review calling it "one of the best programs written for the palm," praising the predefined tag library as a time-saver, though initially unaware that on-device preview was possible.
• Laurent Thaler (September 24, 2001): a "poor" rating focused specifically on the crippled demo (disabled export/clipboard functions), while confirming that his own LFtp was bundled in the archive.
• Ed Acton (October 29, 2001): a critical review referencing "PHTML 1.1" specifically, calling the interface (styled to resemble lined notebook paper) "quite under par with respect to quality" and stating a belief that "there exist better HTML editors for the palm on the market."

PalmGear's listing also displays a "Five Cows" rating badge from Tucows and links to a positive CASLsoft "Developer Spotlight" write-up describing PHTML as "professional grade." No aggregate PalmGear star rating or download-count figure beyond specific snapshots ("Total Downloads: 456" in late 2001; "Total Downloads: 2152" by mid-2003) was found to be authoritative for the product's full lifetime, since these are point-in-time counters from individual archive captures rather than a final total.

From PHTML to DragonEdit

Green Dragon Software's later product, DragonEdit, is widely characterized (including by the TextEditors Wiki) as PHTML's successor. The evidence supports that characterization but stops short of an explicit developer statement to that effect:

• The earliest archived capture of DragonEdit's own product page dates to August 2006 — more than two years after PHTML's last documented update (v3.0, June 2004).
• By the time DragonEdit's page existed, Green Dragon Software's site navigation menu listed "DragonEdit, ECLib, NX Movie Aide, Power DA" — PHTML had been dropped from the menu, even though its own product page continued to exist and return content until at least December 2008.
• DragonEdit's own description overlaps heavily with PHTML's late feature set: it is described as "two applications in one... a full-featured text editor, and a powerful HTML editor," with memory-card file editing, FTP upload, HTML wizards, tag features, and external keyboard support — the same broad feature categories PHTML had built up by version 3.0, extended further (e.g. regex Find/Replace, higher-resolution display support up to 480×320, DOC-format editing, Unicode text support) to match newer, higher-resolution Palm OS devices that had appeared by the mid-2000s.

No source located for this article contains an explicit developer statement such as "DragonEdit replaces PHTML." The successor relationship is inferred from timing, the disappearance of PHTML from site navigation, and clear feature-set continuity — and should be read as reasonably well-supported but not directly confirmed in the developer's own words.

Historical Limitations

Reviewing PHTML today means reviewing it against the hardware and network constraints of Palm OS handhelds circa 2001–2004:

• Screen size: the standard Palm display of the period was 160×160 pixels, monochrome or low-color, which PalmGear's own listing confirms as PHTML's supported resolution ("Palm Standard (160x160)"). Editing and reviewing HTML source on a screen that size was inherently cramped compared to a desktop text editor.
• Text input: without an external keyboard, Palm OS input relied on Graffiti handwriting recognition, entered stroke-by-stroke in a dedicated input area — a significant limitation for typing raw markup, which is part of why PHTML leaned so heavily on tap-driven tag insertion rather than requiring users to type tags by hand.
• Memory: PHTML itself used a comparatively modest 116KB of RAM, but Palm devices of the era commonly shipped with only a few megabytes of total memory shared across the OS, all installed applications, and all user data — making expansion-card support (added in v2.0) a meaningful upgrade for anyone working with larger sites or multiple files.
• Network connectivity: LFtp uploads depended on "a wireless modem, a wired modem that connects to a wall, or Palm's Mobile Internet Kit for connection to your web-enabled cellphone" — all slow, often unreliable connection paths by later standards, and add-on hardware rather than anything built into the base handheld.
• Palm file system: before VFS support arrived in version 2.0, HTML documents lived only in Palm OS's internal record-based storage (or were shuttled through the MemoPad database for sync/export), with no way to save a native HTML file directly to removable media — a constraint version 2.0 specifically addressed.

Frequently Asked Questions