Mozilla launches Thimble site-building app for HTML novices

Mozilla added a new app to its Webmaker suite today, with the launch of Thimble — a tool designed to simplify website creation. Thimble, in its most basic form, is a visual HTML editor and tutorial that allows users to create and preview sites in real-time, using side-by-side editor and output panels. The app also alerts users whenever they make a coding error, providing simple explanations that underscore its focus on HTML novices, rather than veterans. Coders can either start from scratch, or build their sites from a pre-loaded template. Once a project has been finalized, users can publish it to the web with one click, and instantly share it with a customized URL.

Alongside Thimble, Mozilla has also unveiled a revamped Webmaker.org page, where users can now find more Thimble-related projects, as well as tools like Popcorn (a video authoring environment) and X-Ray Googles (a simplified element inspector). The centerpiece, however, remains Thimble, which, according to Mozilla, is crucial to its “mission to move people from using the web to making the web — and to create a more web literate planet.”